Love it or loathe it, Star Trek is part of popular culture and besides the Bond series there are no franchises that have been going on for so long and so successfully. Having had four series and nine feature films to its name its hard to remember a time when Star Trek wasn't in production (in fact I can't remember that far back).

Star Trek: Insurrection, released in 1998 was an awful movie, it tried really hard to be as funny as Star Trek IV, it wasn't. It tried to play out a moral issue and messed up horribly, and what the hell was that joystick all about?

With a tenth film now confirmed, I thought I'd take a look at some of the things that have been confirmed and also suggest ideas which I think would make the movie better.

It has been obvious for a very long time that the people behind Star Trek, the producers and the writers have just run out of ideas. Anyone who has put up with the drivel that is Star Trek: Voyager will know what I am on about. It was also evident in the previous two feature films; both First Contact and Insurrection just weren't anything that you wanted to see again after the initial viewing. First Contact's plot was disjointed and full of holes - did anyone really believe that the away team would accept the lack of communication from the Enterprise as being fine and continue on with their part in the film? I think not. Insurrection was a waste of time, it wouldn't have even been a very interesting television episode, never mind a feature film.

Trek X has to be different or we may have well seen the last of Star Trek on the Big Screen. Rick Berman (creative force behind modern Star Trek) has said that the new film needs to be bigger, more epic in it's storyline and to that end he has brought in some fresh blood to write the film - John Logan, the screenplay writer of Gladiator.

Being new to the Trek franchise should allow him to write a story which is far fresher than any of the previous films I have mentioned. He hasn't been ingrained with the principle behind the show as the previous writers of both First Contact and Insurrection had - maybe, just maybe we will see something original and different.

As far as anyone is aware the new film is going to be based around the characters from The Next Generation and I would think this will be the last such film to do so. Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) , is asking for so much money these days in order to appear in films that I'm sure a time will come when the producers will say to hell with this, we aren't paying you that much. A film without Picard just wouldn't be The Next Generation, expect Trek XI to feature the Voyager crew. Add to this the fact that Brent Spiner has often stated that he feels he is getting too old to play Data (who is afterall an android who shouldn't age) and would like to see him killed off at an appropriate time. Early drafts of Insurrection apparently had Picard killing Data but that was removed when it was decided that the film was going to be "Lighter". Rick Berman, rumor has it, sent a note to Brent Spiner saying "I'll kill you later", chances are that he was referring to the new film.

Early plotline rumors, suggest this is going to happen - the story is going to have the Enterprise find another android which looks like Data and somewhere down the line Data dies and his new "brother" escapes; allowing Brent Spiner to return in future if another TNG film happens and if he wishes to star in it.

Aside from that nothing else has been circulating, and no cast lists etc have been banded about. Jonathan Frakes (Riker) has basically ruled himself out as the films director (a role he has taken in the last two films) as he will be busy with his Roswell TV show and another film, around the time the film is due to start shooting. He will however appear as Commander Riker.

Click Here for Part 2.

//agi. [agi@fsmail.net]