Star Trek Generations took a lot of heat in 1994, mainly for the death of Captain James T. Kirk. Many fans of the Original Series have vowed to never rewatch the movie simply for that scene alone with even Malcolm McDowell himself (the man who portrayed the character that killed Kirk) saying that Kirk should have gotten a better send-off than what the movie gave him. Unfortunately, though, there’s not much we can do to change that part of the past (although Kirk was resurrected in “The Return”, a novel written by William Shatner which isn’t considered part of Star Trek universe), but there was one part of the past that could be changed…and has—the original movie trailer. It’s been modernized to the point where Generations looks like a brand new movie.
The original trailer had the usual voice over with warnings of doom and gloom (and a cringeworthy line about the torch of adventure being passed) with clips of scenes between Captain Kirk and Captain Picard meant to entice fans to come to the theaters.
The updated trailer, though, adds new music with majestic, haunting undertones, voiceovers from the cast, and epic scenes that promise adventure, intrigue, and drama. Even the tagline of “Two Captains. One Destiny” adds a dramatic flair. The trailer closes on the simple, soulful notes of Riaya’s “Hunter.”
And this exquisitely modernized trailer has gotten approval from fans who have called it “hauntingly gorgeous,” “fantastic,” and “well-crafted.” One fan even admitted this was a movie he would go see while yet another one praised the trailer for not giving any indication of Enterprise’s fate, saying the original trailer left nothing to the imagination.
Created by William Renken, this trailer isn’t the first time he’s modernized classic movies as he also took on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and even Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Someone with this much talent should already be working in the movie production business as there’s no doubt these kinds of trailers would draw in the fans.