Before “Star Trek: The Next Generation” began its syndicated run in the late 1980s, the cast of the classic “Star Trek” series moved into the feature film realm. For seven films, William Shatner’s James T. Kirk commandeered the Starship Enterprise on the big screen, with the seventh being his and his crew’s final voyage.
By 1994, it was time for the original “Star Trek” cast to hand over the reins of the franchise to the cast of “The Next Generation,” since the follow-up series was coming to an end. The result was a crossover movie — “Star Trek: Generations” — where most of the classic “Star Trek” cast co-starred along with their “Next Generation” successors. The film was a definitive change of guard, especially when it came to Shatner passing the baton to Patrick Stewart via Kirk’s death in the film.
Naturally, Shatner and Stewart were featured in scenes together, which the “TNG” star admitted to being a bit apprehensive about at first. In “Making it So,” the actor recalled how Shatner appeared cold toward the newer show, claiming in press interviews that he watched little of the series. Instead, working with Shatner on “Star Trek: Generations” ended up being a pleasant surprise.
“Bill was a pleasure to work with, open and generous, and his death scene is moving,” Stewart wrote. “In the film, Picard and Kirk team up to foil a plan by the movie’s villain, Tolian Soran, who was played by Malcolm McDowell, a long way from his days as a Royal Shakespeare Company walk-on background actor.” In the end, the pair worked together to stop Soran’s diabolical plans, with Shatner’s Kirk making “the ultimate sacrifice” and leaving Picard as the Enterprise’s sole captain.
