Star Trek: Insurrection/Trivia


 * Directed by Cast Member: Jonathan Frakes again.
 * DVD Commentary: A particularly fine one from director/Riker Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis (Troi). Their banter is a joy, and it's pleasing to hear them bring up all the points that critical fans often raise ('so why are the Baku all white and blonde,?' '...They're of Swedish descent'; Marina noting that her character has 'a profound grasp of the obvious' etc).
 * Executive Meddling:
 * Averted; Paramount sent an astute-sounding letter pointing out the holes in the plot, even (accidentally?) offering a valid rationale for Picard's interference -- namely, that the Ba'ku lack the numbers to procreate and thrive in a normal environment, and hence cannot be relocated without dooming them to extinction. Pillar and Berman must not have gotten that memo.
 * Berman played it straight, though, as he demanded that a scene where Picard expresses his sympathies to Worf about Jadzia's death be removed, even though Worf was still suffering through it on DS 9 at the time. Justifiable, since it would have spoiled Jadzia's death for viewers in countries (read: every country bar the USA and Canada) where DS9 hadn't yet gotten that far along in its run.
 * The execs also pointed out that a fight between 600 Ba'ku and the Son'a felt more like "A Gang Fight", instead of an interspecies war.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Antonio Salieri is Ru'afo.
 * Old Shame: Marina Sirtis isn't fond of Insurrection, going as far as saying that Star Trek: Nemesis wasn't as bad as this film, claiming she fell asleep during its premiere.
 * Recycled Set: As with First Contact, most of the Enterprise-E's sets (and the scout ship's cockpit) are actually modified versions of sets from Star Trek: Voyager's The Enterprise-E shuttle's cockpit is also a redress of DS9's runabout cockpit.
 * Rick Bermen ordered a major action beat featuring a cave fight to be deleted, after seeing a trailer for 1997's Titanic. Realizing that Insurrection didn't have anywhere near the budget to do (comparable) justice to the water effects involved in said cave fight, Bermen wanted to avoid a comparison that would have audiences judging the film to be cheap.
 * What Could Have Been:
 * Patrick Stewart wanted Brian Blessed to play Admiral Dougherty.
 * There were some serious rumblings that fan-favorite Q would appear. That ultimately did not pan out and Jonathan Frakes is on record as being disappointed with that.
 * According to Michael Piller's unpublished book Fade In, the first draft was about Picard hunting down his old friend from the academy, Duffy, who has gone native with the Baku against the Romulans. The effect of the Fountain of Youth is amplified as the Enterprise closes in on Duffy, essentially de-aging Patrick Stewart back to Season 1 Picard. It eventually ended with a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-like speech by Picard in front of the Federation council, the crew of the Enterprise about to be arrested, but stopped by a Slow Clap started by Boothby.
 * The chase sequences with Duffy made it into the film, with Duffy replaced by Data. This explains the incongruity of Data being invited on the planet at all, to say nothing of going berserk and buzzing around Ru'afo's ship for no reason.