Star Trek: Insurrection undid Star Trek: First Contact's gains to the Star Trek: The Next Generation film franchise so that its follow-up, Star Trek Nemesis, was likely doomed to failure no matter its quality. After six largely successful films starring the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, the torch was passed to the highly popular cast of TNG in Star Trek Generations, which finally saw Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) team up in the film's climax. While Generations certainly has its problems, it was a financial success and paved the way for more TNG films.
The next entry in the TNG film franchise, Star Trek: First Contact, was a huge critical and financial success, seemingly justifying Paramount's decision to end TNG's television run early and pursue big-screen adventures. Unlike the more thoughtful, introspective TNG television series, First Contact was an unabashed action movie, revamping Captain Picard as something of a 24th-century John McClane as he battled the Borg aboard the USS Enterprise-E. Jonathan Frakes – who also portrayed Commander William Riker – proved himself a dynamic director, and the immediate future of the TNG film franchise seemed bright.
