Actor Jonathan Frakes rose to fame as William Riker, the first officer of the USS Enterprise-D, in Star Trek: The Next GenerationHe starred in the series alongside Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner and others, and even returned for the films. He also directed several episodes of the series.
Frakes directed the third film with the TNG pour Star Trek: Insurrection. In the film, the Enterprise rebelled against Starfleet after learning that the Enterprise was aiding the Son’a in their plot to steal resources from the Ba’kus. Frakes mentioned that after showing the studio a clip, they made a demand of him and he had to fulfill it.
Jonathan Frakes was asked to add more action to Star Trek: Insurrection
The Star Trek: The Next Generation Movies have been viewed by fans as a success or failure. While many films like Star Trek: First ContactFilms like Nemesis are not so well received. However, most fans agree that Jonathan Frakes’ second directorial effort Star Trek: Insurrection is one of the lower rated films in the franchise.
Much of the criticism of the film has centered around its low-key premise and made-for-TV aesthetic. However, Frakes revealed that the film would have had even less impact if the studio hadn’t required him to make a change to the editing. The filmmaker mentioned that they weren’t entirely happy with the film when it was first shown.
Jonathan Frakes mentioned that the studio wanted an action scene before the epilogue where all the characters come together. He said in the book: The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From the Next Generation to JJ Abrams,
What was always there at the end was the part where Beverly and Deanna come down the hill, Patrick and Anij go for their little walk, and Brent and the boy play in the haystack. Before that, it was just Murray and Patrick fighting each other, and the Collector.
But the Collector didn’t explode, Riker didn’t come to save the day with the Enterprise, and Worf’s ship wasn’t recaptured by the bad guys. To the studio’s credit, they said, “We would have liked to have seen more action at the end because audiences expect more.”
Frakes agreed that the film was significantly improved by the inclusion of the thrilling action sequence, as he felt the epilogue came much earlier in the script.
The studio also wanted a big explosion in Star Trek: Insurrection
The late 90s were full of action movies, such as Independence Day, Bad Boys, Die Hard, And speed most profitable. All of these films were full of action and emotion, with lots of explosions and shootings to make the sequences dynamic. The studio behind Star Trek might have wanted to achieve a similar effect back then.
Therefore, they reportedly asked director Jonathan Frakes to include an explosion in the climax of the film. Star Trek: Insurrection. So they decided on a three-part climax where the radiation collector had a self-destruct button. According to Frakes, this raised the stakes in the film,
Instead of just having two guys fight to the end, we were able to tie together three stories where the Collector blows up, the Enterprise comes back – everyone wants to see the Enterprise save the day – and the bad guys’ ship is involved.
We have Worf in a ship, Riker in a ship, and Picard about to give up his life. So the stakes have really increased and it’s really ramped up. There were definitely a lot of ups and downs while making this movie.
The film ultimately grossed $117 million on a budget of $70 million (via The Numbers). The sequel was Star Trek: Nemesis.
Star Trek: Insurrection is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
