"We are betraying the principles upon which the Federation was founded," states Captain Jean-Luc Picard 49 minutes into the ninth Star Trek film, "It's an attack upon its very soul." "Jean-Luc," answers his superior, Admiral Dougherty, "We're only moving six-hundred people." "How many people does it take, Admiral, before it becomes wrong," asks Picard in return, "A thousand. Fifty Thousand. A million?"

The above exchange occurs during Insurrection's key scene. The entire first half of the film meticulously builds to this conversation between Starfleet officers. Dougherty (Anthony Derbe) justified his actions because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Picard (Patrick Stewart) sights the Prime Directive, which prohibits interference with other cultures or their natural development. The two officers had remained on a collision course until the moment when something had to give.

The conflict begins during a routine survey. Insurrection opens with a gorgeous panorama of an agrarian village. Children frolic about in the tall grass outside the perimeter. Farmers lift gates to aqueducts, women laugh pleasantly as they slam down their bread dough for kneading and the blacksmith works away. We are treated to long panoramic looks at the restful town and its benign inhabitants, the Ba'ku. Members of a culture survey walk about unnoticed in their isolation suits, invisible to the eye. Director Jonathan Frakes' willingness to take so much time introducing the audience to the setting demonstrates an unusual amount of focus for a movie like this.

The peace is shattered when Data (Brent Spiner) begins acting wildly. He exposes the survey and follows with many more bizarre and aggressive actions. The architects of survey, Admiral Dougherty and the So'na leader Ad'har Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham) orbit above the planet. Data's behavior puzzles and scares them, and they ask Picard how to destroy him.

Delaying his orders, Picard (Patrick Stewart) arrives and successfully captures Data. Against the wishes of Dougherty, Picard stays to determine why his android became a loose cannon. Picard acquaints himself with Anij (Donna Murphy),a Ba'ku woman who informs him that Data told the Ba'ku that the survey team was their enemy. A short investigation uncovers a conspiracy to forcibly remove the Ba'ku from their planet.

The planet, buried deep in a gaseous cloud called the Briar Patch, has rings that act as a fountain of youth to its inhabitants. Dougherty and Ru'afo believe that the planet must be used for medical reasons, and Picard is forced to make the choice to abandon the Ba'ku or violate his orders.

It is at this point when the film accelerates. The conflict becomes a proverbial chess match between grand masters as the Enterprise crew tries to keep the planet inhabited. Both sides devise as many solutions as they can think of to accomplish their missions. The audience is almost invited to participate as the movie keeps them wondering what the next move will be.

The script shines with an abnormal level of polish. It deftly handles the question of whether an officer should obey orders or stand up for what is right. Almost every line flawlessly captures the writers' intent and communicates them to the viewers with beautiful yet easily understood diction. Every character sounds expressive and well educated. The dialogue is free-flowing and enjoyable. There is even a scene where Picard calms Data with a rousing rendition of "A British Tar." I imagine the production staff had a good laugh when they thought of that one.

The acting is of the highest Trek standards. Abraham, one of the true gentlemen in Hollywood, is exceptionally good as Ru'afo. He is so superior that he has every subtlety mastered. The way his face sneers when he says "Eliminate them," his vocal inflections, his different postures, his mannerisms, the passion and disdain in his voice all point to the work of a true master. Hatred seems to perspire from his every pore. A blood vessel bursts in his face and we can almost see hate flowing out of it. His friend Gellatin (Gregg Henry) is constantly talking him out of more extreme decisions. For Ru'afo, it is personal, but we do not find out why until the final act. He tops it all off with the best scream of anguish and frustration ever captured on film. Ru'afo may not quite be the most effective Star Trek villain, but Abraham's acting is the best in the series. He is not the most prolific actor, but he is arguably one of the best ever.

Sadly, some of the story devices fall flat. In First Contact, the Enterprise was the most advanced starship ever made. Its quantum torpedoes were so powerful that it seemed nigh invincible. Here, however, it is too weak. There is one exchange where it is fighting with two So'na ships and seems badly overmatched. The Enterprise-E was designed to take on small fleets and win. If the Federation could defeat "the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion," why can't the crown jewel of its fleet defeat two So'na cruisers? It is even controlled at one point by simple joystick. I never knew flying a 700-meter starcraft was so simple. Redemption does come with the ingenious denouement of the fight. There are also other moments that do not work, and some jokes fall flat.

In the end, Insurrection shoots itself in the foot. It also suffers from following First Contact and the Borg. It is an entirely different production with different goals. It may hurt itself, but in the end it is solid enough entertainment to rate a seven out of ten.

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' may not be quite as influential or as ground-breaking as the original 'Star Trek' series (though it certainly has those elements),but quality-wise it is every bit as good with a few improvements.

Of the four films based off 'The Next Generation', the only outstanding one is 'First Contact', which was also one of the best 'Star Trek' films and a great film in general. It was always going to be a Herculean task following on from 'First Contact', and for it to be every bit as good was always going to be a big ask. Something that 'Insurrection' sadly doesn't achieve. It is nowhere near as awful as those who dislike it as said, from personal view, but in the same way that 'First Contact' is one of the best 'Star Trek' films, along with 'The Wrath of Khan' and 'The Voyage Home', 'Insurrection' is one of the weakest, it's one of the strangest and most glaringly flawed ones too along with 'Nemesis' and 'The Final Frontier'.

'Insurrection' has its strengths. It looks great, then again pretty much all the 'Star Trek' films on the most part do apart from 'The Final Frontier'. Once again, 'Insurrection' has an expansive and cinematic look, benefitting from significant technology advances. Notable also for having the first use of computer digitals for the impressive-looking spaceship sequences. The cinematography is intimate, colourful, brooding and immersive in equal measure, while the sets are meticulous in detail, the spaceship sequences look very impressive and the special effects are very likely to leave one in awe.

Having Jerry Goldsmith on board for composer always promises much, seeing as Goldsmith was a personal favourite film composer of mine and some of the best 'Star Trek' music was penned by him, and the man doesn't disappoint, with a lot of rousing, foreboding and melancholic themes, varied textures and clever use of instrumentation. 'Insurrection' does start off quite promisingly, giving the sense that the film would provoke thought, entertain and be exciting like the best 'Star Trek' films.

Patrick Stewart has the lion's share of the material, and he is effortlessly commanding and brings much dignified gravitas, a sense of fun, heart and a conflicted edge. Brent Spiner enjoys himself with neither his acting or material overdone as with the disastrous emotion-chip subplot in 'Generations'. F. Murray Abraham is on neatly sinister villain duty and Donna Murphy is affecting. The rest of the crew do their best with what they have (which is not much and they deserved better),while Jonathan Frakes does well with limited screen time. Like 'First Contact' though he fares better in the director's chair, loyal but also free.

On the other hand, the script, pacing, story and the way some of the characters are written really bring 'Insurrection' down. While there were some thought-provoking and mildly entertaining moments, the script was far too simplistic, after seeing the best 'Star Trek' films having a good deal of complexity and much better balance of tone, with not enough material to sustain the running time. It was often cheesy, littered with cringe-worthy humour (having Worf as a butt of the joke parody was dignity-destroying) and moments that make you go what the butt (love Gilbert and Sullivan just as much as the next person, and it is a very funny and great song in the context of the operetta it comes from, but it just doesn't belong here and comes over awkwardly).

As for the story, despite starting off well, it was very sluggishly paced and thinly plotted, feeling like a padded out two-parter. The final act really drags, with some of the climactic moments causing a good deal of confusion and an ending that will be a slap-in-the-face for fans. It does absolutely nothing new with its elements, didn't mind that it had all been done before but did mind that it has been done with much richer development before and it felt under-explored here. This was bland, middle of the road stuff with action that never thrills, too many what the heck moments, too much extraneous pointless filler and a romantic subplot that was under-explored, under-characterised, forced and featured too heavily in places. In fact, the film would have fared better without it.

Characters have very little development other than Picard (and even he has been better written),with generally bland villains, most of the crew being well acted but underused and some in caricature form and even those who are not the biggest 'Star Trek' enthusiasts will be embarrassed by what is done with Worf in particular.

Not a complete mess overall, but one of the weaker 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' film and one of the most problematic of the series. 5/10 Bethany Cox

An ultimately hollow STAR TREK movie, especially considering that it followed on from the excellent FIRST CONTACT which was one of the best of the entire series. INSURRECTION feels like nothing more than a strung-out episode of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, with the actors going through their paces and finding themselves challenged by a thoroughly small-scale drama.

The villain of the piece is an almost unrecognisable F. Murray Abraham, who's wasted as one of a race of plastic surgery-obsessed aliens who plan to strip a planet of its nature resources. Anthony Zerbe shows up as a stuffy officious type, while the crew of THE NEXT GENERATION are all present and correct. And for fans of the show, it's not particularly bad either; there's the requisite romance, drama and special effects. It's just that, to me, nothing particularly stands out. It all feels rather passe, and forgettable come the end.