Actor Jonathan Frakes gained fame as the USS Enterprise-D’s first officer William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He starred along with Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, and Brent Spiner among others in the show and even returned for the films. He also directed multiple episodes in the series.
Frakes helmed the third film featuring the TNG cast Star Trek: Insurrection. The film saw the Enterprise rebel against the Starfleet after knowing that they would be aiding in the Son’a’s conspiracy to steal resources from the Ba’kus. Frakes mentioned that after showing a cut to the studio they had one demand from him and he had to fulfill it.
Jonathan Frakes Was Asked To Include More Action In Star Trek: Insurrection
The Star Trek: TNG films have been considered a hit or a miss with fans. While many love films such as Star Trek: First Contact, films like Nemesis are not as well-received. However, most fans agree that Jonathan Frakes’ directorial sophomore directorial effort Star Trek: Insurrections is among the lower-rated films from the franchise.
Much of the criticism of the film has been about its low-stakes premise and the TV movie aesthetics of the film. However, Frakes revealed that the film would have even less impact if the studio had not demanded him to make one change in the edit. The filmmaker mentioned that they were not fully satisfied with the film when first presented.
Jonathan Frakes mentioned that the studio wanted an action scene before the epilogue of all the characters coming together. He said in the book, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams,
What was always there at the ending was the bit with Beverly and Deanna coming back down the hill, Patrick and Anij having their little walk, and Brent and the boy playing in the haystack. Prior to that it was just Murray and Patrick mano a mano, and the collector.
But the collector didn’t blow up, Riker didn’t come and save the day with the Enterprise, and Worf’s ship was not retaken by the bad guys. To the studio’s credit, they said, ‘We’d like to see more action here at the end because the audience expects more.’
Frakes agreed that the film became much better due to the inclusion of the climatic action sequence as he felt that the epilogue came much sooner in the screenplay.
The Studio Also Wanted A Big Explosion In Star Trek: Insurrection
The late ‘90s were filled with action-heavy films with movies such as Independence Day, Bad Boys, Die Hard, and Speed being the most profitable. All these films were high on action and emotion, with plenty of explosions and gun battles to make the sequences dynamic. The studio behind Star Trek at the time might have wanted to achieve a similar impact.
Hence, they reportedly told director Jonathan Frakes to include an explosion in the climax of Star Trek: Insurrection. So, they decided on a three-prong climax where the radiation collector had a self-destruct button. According to Frakes, this improved the stakes in the film,
Instead of just having two guys fight it out to the end, we were able to weave three stories, with the collector blowing up, the Enterprise going back — everyone wants to see the Enterprise save the day — and the bad guy ship is involved.
We got Worf in one ship, Riker in one ship, and Picard about to give up his life. So the stakes went up a lot and it really improved. There were definitely a lot of ups and downs during the making of this film.
The film ended up earning $117 million against a $70 million budget (via The Numbers). It would be succeeded by Star Trek: Nemesis.
Star Trek: Insurrection is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
