--- title: "Star Trek: Insurrection" year: 1998 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/star-trek-insurrection" fi1m_score: 58 critics_score: 58 critics_reviews: 10 published: "2026-09-18T12:35:15.083332+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T12:35:15.760317+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) Directed by Jonathan Frakes · 1h 43m · MPA PG · Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Thriller **Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 58 from 10 reviews *In a sentence:* Starfleet’s finest mutiny to protect a village of six hundred smug people with excellent skin > Jonathan Frakes’s second Star Trek film is a pleasant, sunlit episode stretched to 103 minutes. The crew are good company and Goldsmith’s music is lovely, but the moral argument at its centre is small and the film seems to know it. ## Synopsis On a planet hidden inside the Briar Patch, a region of space that plays havoc with starships, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is part of a covert team observing the Ba’ku, a farming community of six hundred who live in a village of pale stone houses and irrigation channels and do not appear to age. He malfunctions, turns his weapon on his own colleagues and exposes the hidden observers to the villagers. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) brings the Enterprise to retrieve him, against the wishes of Vice-Adm. Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) and his allies the Son’a, led by Ad’har Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham), a people who hold their faces together with surgery. On the surface Picard meets Anij (Donna Murphy) and begins to suspect that Starfleet’s interest in this valley has nothing to do with research. ## Review Jonathan Frakes directed [*Star Trek: First Contact*](https://film.one/film/star-trek-first-contact) (1996), a film with a monster in it and a ship to fight for. *Star Trek: Insurrection*, the ninth film in the series, is his smaller, sunnier follow-up. Michael Piller’s screenplay drops the crew into a valley of farmers who do not age, gives Captain Picard a principle to stand on and lets everyone have a nice time in the meadow. It is amiable, it is well made where the money went, and its argument is the size of a television episode. We enjoyed a fair amount of it and cannot quite tell you to go. The good parts are the people. Frakes spent seven seasons on television with this cast and it shows in how easily he lets them be silly. Picard and Worf (Michael Dorn) sing Gilbert and Sullivan at a shuttle to distract a malfunctioning Data (Brent Spiner), and Patrick Stewart delivers *HMS Pinafore* with the same gravity he gives everything else. We laughed out loud, and it is the scene we remembered a week later. Riker (Frakes himself) shaves off his beard and Troi (Marina Sirtis) notices. Worf gets a spot. Data finds he has a flotation device. None of it is new and all of it is warm. Matthew F. Leonetti shoots the Ba’ku valley in a warm haze, low sun through dust, long grass, water in the irrigation channels catching the light, and it is easy to see why people would refuse to leave. Herman F. Zimmerman builds the village from pale stone, timber and hand-turned pottery, and the Son’a ship as its opposite, a dim ochre interior where Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham) lies on a table while attendants pull his face tight. The costumes by Sanja Milkovic Hays and Robert Blackman follow the same line: undyed linen for the farmers, gold quilting and gauze for the Son’a. Jerry Goldsmith’s score is his gentlest for the series, a pastoral theme for the valley on woodwind and strings, and it does more for the place than most of the dialogue. The trouble is the argument, and the film seems to know it, because Vice-Adm. Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) makes the case against Picard better than Picard makes his own. There are six hundred people in the valley. Whatever keeps them young could help billions. Move them, without hurting anyone, and who has lost? Piller’s script asks this squarely and then, instead of answering, makes the Son’a nasty enough that the question can be dropped. We sat through Picard’s speech to Dougherty about how many people it takes before it becomes wrong and found we had no strong view either way. For a film about a man risking his career on a principle, that is the wrong thing to be feeling. It does not help that the Ba’ku are hard to love. Anij (Donna Murphy) is serene, Sojef (Daniel Hugh Kelly) is serene, and everyone in the valley speaks in the calm, slightly pleased tone of people who have been right about everything for centuries. Murphy and Stewart are given a romance built around a slowed-down moment with a hummingbird; it is tasteful and it does not catch. Abraham, who can frighten with a raised eyebrow, spends the film shouting under latex, and Gregg Henry’s Gallatin, the more interesting face among the Son’a, is given almost nothing to do. Peter E. Berger cuts it briskly and it runs 103 minutes, which is a mercy, since the story is thin and a longer version would have shown the bones. Against *First Contact* it is a clear step down; against the best of [*Star Trek: The Next Generation*](https://film.one/tv/star-trek-the-next-generation), which ran on television from 1987 to 1994, it is a middling week. If you love these people you will pass a pleasant Sunday afternoon with them, and Stewart singing is worth the price on its own. If you do not, this is not the one to change your mind. It carries a PG and earns it: nobody is ever in much danger, which may be the problem. *Fi1m score 58, published 18 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics settle on the same description: a big-budget television episode, brisk, good-natured and modest in ambition. Where they praise it, they praise Jonathan Frakes, whose direction is called experienced and well paced, with panache in the battle scenes and humour to lighten the technical talk. Several reviews warm to the story’s simple appeal, a peaceful farming world and the promise of eternal youth defended against exploitation. Empire is warmest, calling it enjoyable even for those who have never watched the series. The spread is wide, from a near-rave to outright dismissal. Reservations cluster on the story: two reviews call it a comedown from First Contact, and others find its political themes underdeveloped. Roger Ebert argues the film never believes in its own ethical premise and goes inert as a result, while Den of Geek and Eye for Film call it the weakest of the series and short on imagination, saving only faint praise for Frakes and F. Murray Abraham. ### Reviews we read (10) - **Empire**, William Thomas (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the film exceptionally well-crafted and paced, with Frakes' direction showing real experience. They single out the sheer feelgood factor, the cast having fun with gags and romance, and the mythical theme of eternal youth as standout elements that make it enjoyable even for non-fans. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/star-trek-insurrection-review/) - **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden (70/100, inferred): The movie is essentially a glorified television episode but retains the series' appealing ingredients, including improved effects and its optimistic belief in human benignity. It offers breezy pacing, good-natured humor, and an appealing vision of eternal youth in an agrarian paradise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/11/movies/film-review-beamed-up-to-yet-another-final-frontier-a-bubbling-fountain-of-youth.html) - **Time Out**, NF (70/100, inferred): It recaptures the appeal of the original TV series as an extended episode with a simple storyline about defending a pacifist culture from exploitation. Frakes keeps a brisk pace with panache in battle scenes and leavening humour amid the techno elements. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/star-trek-insurrection) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (65/100, inferred): Though not as strong or adrenalized as the previous film 'First Contact,' this installment still delivers the franchise's characteristic gee-whiz affability and no adventure of the Enterprise is without it. It lacks some oomph but keeps the series flying with its familiar charm. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-star-trek-insurrection-review-19981211-snap-story.html) - **Sight and Sound**, Kim Newman (65/100, inferred): The film is essentially a big-budget TV episode in the original series spirit, with Picard rebelling against a Federation alliance to exploit a peaceful alien world. It features strong action and effects from director Jonathan Frakes but feels underdeveloped in its political themes. [Read](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/42) - **Variety** (60/100, inferred): The ninth 'Star Trek' feature is a distinct comedown from 'First Contact' and plays more like an expanded TV episode than a stand-alone adventure. It maintains a brisk pace, generates satisfying excitement and quirky humor, striking a deft balance that should ensure respectable business with fans. [Read](https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/star-trek-insurrection-1200456248/) - **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (55/100, inferred): The film satisfies the standards of the Star Trek series without transcending them or falling short, delivering familiar subplots, space battles, and fan service that do not disappoint too terribly. It stands out mainly for including a joke revolving around the word 'boobs.' [Read](https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-insurrection-1798195309) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (35/100, inferred): The film feels inert and unconvincing because the filmmakers themselves question its ethical premise about displacing 600 Ba'ku to grant immortality to billions. It fails to generate much entertainment value from the philosophical debates and comes across as an expanded but lackluster TV episode. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-trek-insurrection-1998) - **Den of Geek**, Alex Carter (25/100, inferred): The critic finds the film not good at all, calling it the epitome of the odd-numbered curse and the weakest Trek film, criticizing the flawed script, unlikable Ba'ku characters, and pointless plot elements. They single out the competent direction by Jonathan Frakes and decent performances but note they can't overcome the bad story. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/star-trek-insurrection-revisiting-star-trek-9/) - **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the film suffers from a lack of imagination, criticizing its sanitized, unoriginal story and bland execution, though noting F. Murray Abraham's performance adds some interest. They view it as a disappointing extension of the TV series. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/star-trek-insurrection-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray) ## Details - **Director:** Jonathan Frakes - **Director:** Jonathan Frakes - **Screenplay:** Michael Piller - **Cinematography:** Matthew F. Leonetti - **Editor:** Peter E. Berger - **Music:** Jerry Goldsmith - **Production design:** Herman F. Zimmerman - **Costume design:** Sanja Milkovic Hays, Robert Blackman - **Producer:** Peter Lauritson, Michael Piller, Patrick Stewart - **Cast:** Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard; Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data; Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf; Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker; F. Murray Abraham as Ad'har Ru'afo; Anthony Zerbe as Vice-Adm. Dougherty; Gregg Henry as Gallatin; Donna Murphy as Anij - **Runtime:** 1h 43m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 11 December 1998 - **Genres:** Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Thriller - **Budget:** $70 million - **Box office:** $113 million ## Where to watch in the US - Paramount+: streaming - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $7.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-18.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Hugo Awards 1999: Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Star Trek: First Contact* (1996), Fi1m 82: The same crew and the same director, with a monster aboard and something to lose. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/star-trek-first-contact.md) - *Galaxy Quest* (1999): The affectionate parody, which understands why these crews are loved better than some entries. - *Cocoon* (1985): Ron Howard’s pensioners find the fountain of youth in a Florida swimming pool. - *Local Hero* (1983), Fi1m 86: An oil company tries to buy a Scottish village; Bill Forsyth’s gentlest comedy. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/local-hero.md) - *Ikarie XB-1* (1963): A Czechoslovak crew in deep space, decades before this lot, and calmer about it. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/star-trek-insurrection