 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Star Trek: Insurrection
- Review Date: December 11, 2005
- PG
- Genre: Science Fiction
- 1998
Common Sense Media says
Like a long episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that two longtime characters in the Next Generation cast plunge into a playful sexual relationship under the aphrodisiac influence of an alien environment, and they cuddle in a hot tub with alcoholic beverages (by the next movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, they are married). No explicit sensuality or nudity, though. Ray-gun space battles, explosions, and perils include combatants taking fatal falls, and children and families fleeing from an ariel attack -- though rather than being killed the victims are beamed into captivity, making it more like "tag." There is some barely-PG-worthy profanity, and the villains are ugly aliens who undergo frequent plastic surgery. One uses a sort of facelift machine to kill a character.
What's the story?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) of the 24th-century starship Enterprise, receives an emergency summons to a remote, Eden-like planet to corral a member of his crew off on a mission. It's the intelligent android Data (Brent Spiner), gone beserk during some sort of secret surveillance of the planet's civilization, a small society of gentle, contented people who have renounced space travel and technology. Picard and the other crew members do some detective work and discover that behind Data's breakdown is an unethical deal between their commanders in Starfleet and some nasty local aliens to banish the innocent natives and exploit the planet's miraculous resources.
Is it any good?
STAR TREK: INSURRECTION seems uncommonly like a typical episode of the hit Star Trek: The Next Generation cast TV show, with the budget for special effects kicked up a notch, but otherwise a fairly routine escapade for the well-drawn, principled, and likeable space-traveling heroes. Early script drafts called for the famously bald Capt. Picard to find his hair growing back courtesy of alien rejuvenation, or Data getting killed. But these Very-Special-Episode gimmicks were ultimately excised, making Insurrection just an ordinary entry in an admittedly extraordinary and high-quality science-fiction franchise.
Even the big payoffs -- stalwart Picard revolts against an ignoble Starfleet and falls in love with an enticing alien -- carry little impact because much the same happened every week on the various TV shows (especially with Capt. Kirk at the helm). Conclusion: if your family loved the television program and considers the characters like old friends, enjoy the ride and the reunion, but don't expect the loftiness attained by earlier Trek theatrical features.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about Picard's decision to defy Starfleet. Compare the attitudes in this movie with those in the original 1960s TV show, when Starfleet -- pretty much an idealized vision of the U.S. military -- was a righteous authority that simply never made any mistakes. You could also talk about the parallels this script makes with the real world. What historical events are similar? What other sci-fi books and movies draw parallels to real history?
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AGE
A Very Good Star Trek Adventure...
Heroes call for fans,Star trek fans that is!,Star Trek:Insurrection is the next chapter in the PG-rated Star Trek Movies
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AGE
A Very Good Star Trek Adventure...
This movie is tons of fun, and I highly recommend it to any fans of Star Trek. From a person who has seen, now, every Star Trek film but one, I can say that this is one of the best. I am partial to the old Spock/Kirk crew as opposed to Next Generation crew, and this one feels much more like a Kirk/Spock adventure than the good, but threatening, FIRST CONTACT. The story is average Star Trek fare: Picard and his crew must save a utopian planet from a disastrous union between the Federation and a violent race bent on vengeance. There really isn't anything too bad in this PG adventure. Some people are shot, and one man burns alive (off-screen) but none of it's graphic. There is some mild, harmless sexual innuendo between Riker and Deanna, and later they are shown together in a bathtub (no nudity at all). There is also one "d**n" and three "h*ll"s.
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| Topics: | adventures, space and aliens |
| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Director: | Jonathan Frakes |
| Cast: | Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Run time: | 103 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | December 12, 1998 |
| DVD release date: | June 7, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | sci-fi action violence, mild language and sensuality. |
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