Chaos on the Bridge

2014 "The Untold Story Behind an Iconic Sci-Fi Franchise"
7| 0h59m| en| More Info
Released: 25 August 2014 Released
Producted By: Ballinran Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Canadian acting legend William Shatner takes viewers inside the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the bold attempt in 1986 to recreate the success of the original television series, in which Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk.

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Reviews

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece
Lawbolisted Powerful
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
moonspinner55 William Shatner, formerly Capt. Kirk of TV's beloved "Star Trek", executive-produced, wrote, directed, narrates and appears as interviewer for this behind the scenes documentary on the popular syndicated science-fiction TV series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-1994). With creator Gene Roddenberry's health on the wane (and his creative output in question), the series met with some sharp turns and thorny paths after finally finding an actor to step into Kirk's shoes (Patrick Stewart--a bald man with an accent!--whose careful but acerbic comments here are the centerpiece of the film). Shatner wasn't able to round up much of "Next Generation"'s cast, but the producers and writers of the show have some interesting stories to share, while Paramount's apparent lack of enthusiasm for the series--and condescension for its actors and crew--is a curious morsel. Shatner's healthy ego maintains that the star of this enterprise is Shatner, and his reactions during interviews are way over the top. His film doesn't have a nostalgic feel (in fact, it's quite icy), while Catalin Marin's country bumpkin music is horrendously out of place. Certainly of great interest to "Star Trek" fans, as well as aficionados of television history. ** from ****
MartinHafer I was very surprised when I saw "Chaos on the Bridge". After all, for decades there has been a mystical sort of image of Gene Roddenberry as an avuncular sort of guru whose vision was THE basis for everything great about "Star Trek". Well, here this is NOT the sort of guy you hear about...that's for sure. It's a shame the guy is dead, as I'd love to see his reactions to so much hostility. But, according to the documentary, everything that was wrong with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was due to Roddenberry and his unwillingness to create any sort of tension within the show. Instead, he insisted on a perfect, Utopian future where all the humans got along and loved each other....which is just fine except it created a rather bland package. Almost no one defended this apart, at times, aside from Maurice Hurley--who alternated between saying how much he hated Roddenberry but how he tried to stay loyal to his image. Some were nice but insisted Roddenberry was a poor addition to the show but others were quite blunt. I was frankly quite shocked to hear all this. While I could see that the show VASTLY improved in the later seasons, why was something I'd never heard anyone talk about before or so candidly. Overall, this is very revealing and well made. However, it did have one problem--the pace was too quick and it seems stretching it out to 90 minutes or so would have made the film a bit stronger...though it still is very well done and I urge Trek fans to see it with an open mind.
Mr-Fusion "Chaos on the Bridge" has a story worth telling (the creative staff disorder during "The Next Generation"'s nascent years), but it suffers from that reality TV editing that ruins everything. You know the kind: the rapid cuts and frenetic pacing, like the producer (or Shatner in this case) has a deathly fear of slowing down. It's the last thing a Star Trek documentary needs. I know it's not comprehensive, but even at a mere 60 minutes, surely there's some room to let the thing breathe.That said, there's enough here to entertain even the ardent TNG fan. I was surprised to learn that Mitchell Ryan and Yaphet Kotto were among those actors considered for Captain of the Enterprise for Paramount's glitzy new Star Trek series. And that the revolving door creative staff was due to a leadership vacuum.I genuinely like the spirit of this thing, and would love to see someone tackle a broader documentary down the road (one that covers the series as a whole). Shatner's onto something here, if he wants to shed light on Star Trek shows.Just stop cutting it like a reality show.6/10
michael-phipps I really enjoy having Shatner lead the documentaries for the development of star trek. My only wish is that they had delved into the writers issues developing TNG more... It just, maybe in hind sight, appears obvious to me that the creation of story conflict is easy between the federation values and of its characters against an antagonist. I think there is more to the story of the first two seasons of TNG than they could have dug into..I'm happy this documentary was made. The interviews with the contributing cast and etc were very I intriguing as both a trekkie and an outsider interested in TV or movie production.