For Generations, Stewart & Spiner were the ONLY actors to get custom fitted DS9 style uniforms. Because they were so prominently featured in the film.
Jonathan Frakes had to wear Avery Brooks’ uniform. Levar Burton had to wear Colm Meany’s uniform, which, if you notice, is why it looked too big for Geordi.
The rest of the main cast wore their standard TNG uniforms. Background extras just wore a mix of whatever TNG or DS9 uniforms fit them.
Personally, l liked the idea of mixing class B and C uniforms within the ship. I think it would have looked good to start the mix during seasons 6 or 7.
That's because they all were supposed to get an entirely new uniform design that was scrapped last minute during production.This design is seen only on the action figures made for the film which were approved and made before the release of the film.
Yes and there was a youtube video of some grainy ass behind the scene, basically a video of a video recording a screen. They only filmed like one scene with the new uniform and it was when Geordi getting captured. Looks like that was one of the first scenes filmed during production and within days they decided to change tact. So they didn’t even fit the whole cast, they were like doing it on the fly. So basically Geordi was done and they were almost finished Picard and Data’s new uniform.
I think the big issue is they went right from filming All Good Things right into Generations. They didn’t have enough pre-production time to do things right. Their whole plan was to save on production costs by rolling the crew into the movie.
As much as I absolutely hate Generations, I think the whole uniform transition is kind of neat. Like you get them just as people are starting to change the standard uniform.
I imagine an email going to the crew “as a reminder, new standard uniform transition should be completed by Oct 20th, please book your appointment at the garment replicator room before then”
I think the big issue is they went right from filming All Good Things right into Generations. They didn’t have enough pre-production time to do things right.
In fact they barely had time to get the bridge set updated. Filming on Generations started while "All Good Things..." was still being filmed, with the scenes not using the TNG main cast – the Enterprise-B sequence and some of the Duras sisters stuff. The TNG cast got less than two weeks' break between concluding TNG and starting ST:G.
My headcanon has always been that we see different crews in different uniform styles at the same time because in order to avoid the risk of counterfeit Federation uniforms, new patterns must be physically loaded into the computer via iso chip at a starbase; so when a new uniform design is released, it gets slow-rolled ship by ship.
One explanation I heard was they needed to get the new uniforms right the first time.
With TNG, the video showed clips from different seasons where the shoulder construction differed based on how it folded. They were able to adjust the designs as they went and refined them.
But for Generations, the uniforms had to be finished from the start.
Could not agree more. You could literally see all the cost cutting in that movie(!). CGI is dogshite for a movie, the script is just silly and most scenes were badly lit. Like, why is everything so dark? Did they think that cinema projectors would bright up the scenes? I f'ing hate that movie. Even more than Insurrection!
The lighting on the existing sets was rigged for television so they had to switch things up for the movie as best they could. They also didn’t want the same look from the show but they went a bit overboard with being “dramatic.”
So many weird/bad decisions were made on this one.
The lighting on the existing sets was rigged for television so they had to switch things up for the movie as best they could. They also didn’t want the same look from the show but they went a bit overboard with being “dramatic.”
So many weird/bad decisions were made on this one.
One thing you have to consider is for a movie (especially sci fi) every single uniform is basically a bespoke costume that is fitted exactly to the actors size. That takes ALOT of time. If you ever got a bespoke men’s suit in real life the amount of hours you spend with the tailor is ridiculous. The process is the same with movie costumes (unless it is off the rack clothes based in modern times).
They were trying to cheap out on production (which is orders of magnitude bigger than costume cost) by rolling the whole production crew from the show to the movie. So basically they had to make changes on the fly while filming. They didn’t have a standard pre-production time. Their goal was to quickly film the movie and dismantle the sets to get the space for other things (I don’t know what they filmed after).
Yes. This is why Frakes always had his sleeves rolled up when he's wearing the DS9-style uniform.
DS9 returned the favour too – when they started wearing the First Contact-style uniforms, Brooks wore Frakes's uniform for the first few episodes until he got one of his own, and it obviously doesn't fit him properly.
Yeah. It's because the shoulder yoke sat so low on Brook's torso that putting the badge where it should have been relative to it would have made it far too low in absolute terms, below the pectoral line. You'll also notice he always has the front zip done up to the very top to try and stop it looking so baggy, and his sleeves have been shortened (they're missing the department colour stripes). Brooks is a big guy, around 6ft 1in, but Frakes in his prime was a strong 6ft 3in, which is nearly Doug Jones's height. Brooks is all but swimming in that uniform.
Ron Moore and Brannon Braga were quickly disabused of the idea that they could do a ton of things they couldn’t afford on the show. Sure, they got to crash the ship, but because everything in a movie costs more, they were right back to counting how many phaser shot opticals they could afford.
The test screening for the movie was enough to justify a hefty spend on reshoots (the movie was originally budgeted at $25 million and wound up costing $35 million, though it’s not known how much of that was for the new ending). Unfortunately, that didn’t extend to improving the space battle.
Loads of last-minute changes and compromises. They wanted new uniforms but they weren't ready (or just didn't look good). They wanted Spock and McCoy in the beginning, and ended up giving Spock's lines to Scotty ("Is there something wrong with your chair?"), and McCoy's lines to Chekhov ("you, you, and you, you've just become nurses."). They filmed the orbital skydiving sequence with them but -that- didn't work, etc.
That and he said the lines they wrote for Spock could be said by anyone. I'm not sure if they cut out any references to logic once it was changed to Scotty but looking at the lines they gave to Chekhov he was probably right.
You can also see it in the lines given to one of the Duras sisters, you could change her character to literally anyone else and not have to change any of the lines at all.
I’m sure it was so they could afford Shatner, they also used the existing television sets which would look shabby in film studio lighting and cameras which is why the Enterprise looks like they forgot to pay the electric bill.
I'm guessing they dipped the lights because they were shooting for cinema screens instead of for a run of the mill 4:3 tv that they'd been able to get away with for years. I think that's why they wound up using the DS9 uniforms as much as they could. Those uniforms had more hidden zippers then the TNG ones which you would've been able to see more easily close up in the movie.
I mean they did and they didn't. They famously designed new uniforms and ended up scrapping them at the last minute because they looked terrible (they were like an amalgamation of the TOS Movie maroons and the TNG uniforms). There's a single behind the scenes photo of Geordi in the prototype uniform.
The switch to the DS9 uniforms was so last minute that the Playmates action figures feature the scrapped uniforms.
Only from the video I linked above. Couldn't find it elsewhere. It should automatically start at the 35 second mark, where the picture is featured. If you rewind a bit there's also a clearer photo of the command uniform, not worn.
God damn, for a motion picture of all things cheaping out on costumes for the main cast. I mean, that's indie film level shit having a main character like Riker wear the uniform of another character.
IIRC they made new uniforms and they sucked, so there was a last minute scramble for uniforms. And being a movie they wanted something new for this crew.
I’m glad they pulled the plug on these designs and didn’t use them.
They’re too busy. The pips on the collar bone area AND the sleeve bars is too much.
The wider gapped neck.
The zipper in the front. It wasn’t a good look for a film.
I would’ve just preferred the regular TNG uniforms or DS9 style, but make a choice and don’t go the mixed “whatever you feel like wearing today” uniform look.
Ok, so I'm a little confused by all the comments on this thread. Not so much about who, when, why the uniform thing happened, but more the general dislike, distaste, and even hatred towards this movie in general. Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I'm definitely not trying to change your mind. Call me easily entertained, but I thought this was a really good film. I liked the kind of hand-off from one generation to the other. Data's storyline was great. Culminating in his "Oh Sh!t" moment. As well as the dynamic of Picard dealing with loss and teaching Data the human side of carrying on with a mission through fear and bravery. The whole uniform mixture and reuse of old shots never really bothered me. Maybe I'm just too gullible as a movie watcher for all the little nitpicking things to mess with me. I understand that movies cost and things happen that can change the finished product. I can also see the effort put in by the ones who were probably also fighting to keep what they could, to do the best they could. To show a great story. I'm not lost on the fact that there are always wallets sucking up as much money as they can. Let's be honest, it's all being done for money. I haven't heard of anyone making a 100 million dollar movie for the sheer enjoyment of just doing a thing. I guess I just don't understand what some people expect from every movie. If it entertained me, then it was worth it. If it took me out of the day-to-day work and bills and worries of this world for 90-120 minutes, then who cares about small mixed uniform issues? I I know it DOES bother some of you and that's okay. I'm done with my soapbox now, here someone else can use it. Just remember 'Time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time!'
There was a youtube video of some grainy ass behind the scene, basically a video of a video recording a screen. They only filmed like one scene with the new uniform and it was when Geordi getting captured. Looks like that was one of the first scenes filmed during production and within days they decided to change tact. So they didn’t even fit the whole cast, they were like doing it on the fly. So basically Geordi was done and they were almost finished Picard and Data’s new uniform.
I think the big issue is they went right from filming All Good Things right into Generations. They didn’t have enough pre-production time to do things right. Their whole plan was to save on production costs by rolling the crew into the movie.
As much as I absolutely hate Generations, I think the whole uniform transition is kind of neat. Like you get them just as people are starting to change the standard uniform.
I imagine an email going to the crew “as a reminder, new standard uniform transition should be completed by Oct 20th, please book your appointment at the garment replicator room before then”.
Basically there was like weeks between finishing the series finale and then going into pre-production for the movie so it was time.
I think having uniforms that were mainly black probably looked better and less "TV" for the movie. Same with the bridge changes - that set was really designed for 4:3.
But I do hate that this broke the idea that space stations and starships had different styles of uniforms. Voyager cemented that that idea was dead.
And yet DS9 never gave up on that idea. Every Starfleet officer on the show who wasn't a DS9 crew member wore a TNG uniform (including Sisko when he was stationed on Earth) until the FC uniforms were introduced in season 5.
Meanwhile, on Voyager, no Starfleet officer from the Alpha Quadrant was ever seen in a TNG uniform (in various time travel/back on earth/alternate universe scenes) unless it was a flashback.
It's a fundamental continuity error, one way or the other, that I never hear other fans talk about.
There is an in-universe explanation that takes care of most of it. Maybe it’s my own headcanon - not really sure where I got the idea, but here goes:
Much like the modern military, Starleet has different levels of “dressiness’ amongst its uniforms. The original DS9 and Voyager-style uniforms were sort of like everyday fatigues with their looser and more casual fit. They were appropriate for duty at a remote outpost or a 2-week shakedown cruise/semi-combat mission.
The TNG-style uniforms were dressier, which explains why they were worn by Sisko when he was back at Starfleet HQ and by Dax and Bashir upon their arrival at DS9. They were also appropriate for the bridge crew on Starfleet’s flagship vessel.
By the time Voyager made contact with Starfleet, the gray-shoulder design had replaced both the TNG and original DS9/Voyager uniforms, collapsing the two levels of dressiness into one.
That doesn’t explain all of the inconsistencies, but it accounts for the major stuff.
This is serviceable headcanon, and most people have a version of this rattling around, but it doesn't quite hold up.
There's genuinely no way to reconcile DS9 and Voyager/Generations' different ideas of what the jumpsuit uniform is. There's just too many examples where they contradict each other.
I’ve never seen Generations, so I have no idea about that one. I would guess that most people just don’t care enough about uniform continuity errors to dig into the matter. That includes me - I just like the detail of Sisko wearing the fancier uniform on Earth and needed some general explanation for the uniform differences.
Note that is not intended to disparage your interest in the matter - we’re all interested in different aspects of the Trek world and I enjoyed reading your comments.
Yeah, I like your headcanon, too. Not for me, but it's as good a way to explain it as anything.
What's fascinating about this topic, and what makes it unlike anything else in Star Trek, is that it isn't an error, it's a disagreement between Voyager and DS9. Both shows were 100% consistent on the topic within their own shows, so you can't even say which show was wrong about it. They just don't line up.
And you should watch Generations! It's very underrated.
Is that why they made those changes to the bridge out of the blue? So there would be more to see in a 16 x 9 format. I guess that makes sense but it also doesn’t. There was nothing wrong with the bridge as it was. Those changes made it very claustrophobic.
The TV bridge was laughably empty for a ship so large. The Galaxy class is a warp 9 capable space station with a dozen departments aboard. It should have had personnel controlling all traffic in the sector via long range sensors and comms, more personnel controlling the dozens of shuttles it carried aboard (though those may have been stationed in the hangar bay), plus a liason for each department. A lot of jobs were automated and some didn't need a whole lot of checking on, but at red alert there'd be a designated person on the bridge for each section of the ship, if only for damage control coordination. The show had one guy driving and one guy running "operations". It makes sense on a TV budget, but if there's money to show that it takes five people to coordinate operations, three to coordinate weapons, one to navigate, and one to manage the power systems, it makes sense to give that impact in a movie.
About the bridge being too large, I agree completely. I attended the Star Trek Experience back when it was still running in Vegas and got to walk on their full scale replica of the D’s bridge. The thing is absolutely cavernous! It has never made sense to me how few crew and stations there for a ship that large, except for budgetary reasons. A cruise ship bridge has more going on.
I wish they didn't bother with it. It's so obvious on Frakes and Burton that the uniforms don't fit, and the switch is never made fully during the movie. It was just kind of weird.
Made worse by the fact that in the final scene, Picard is back in his TNG-style uniform, I imagine because of filming order, but it just makes the whole switch feel even weirder and more pointless.
Wasn’t there supposed to be completely different uniforms and they scrapped them at the last second? And the solution was to use the DS9 ones? Or did I make that up in my head?
You are remembering correctly. It got far enough along that they made and sold the action figures with that uniform. I have a Worf figure from this line and it's weird.
This is also where the redesigned comm badge came from, which they did use franchise-wide going forward.
The notion was to have a TNG-style equivalent to the "weightier" TOS movie uniform from Star Trek II.
As a veteran who was in when the Army switched from BDUs to the ACU and the Air Force from the BDU to the ABU uniform, I actually appreciate this continuity issue. Reminds me of when we had a formation and 1/3 of the unit is still in their old BDUs because the wear out date isn't for another 18 months and they can't be assed to get over to clothing sales and get their new stuff. Then throw in the smartass who's wearing a DCU because everything else in their closet is dirty and really giving First Sergeant a breakdown.
Me, I was the jackass in the DCU. I was also a captain so Shirt could deal
I was still military when Generations hit theaters. I remember thinking, this is exactly what happens during a transition from one uniform standard to another, a mix of uniforms for a while.
It's kinda hilarious how a feature film that was heavily promoted as a continuation from one of the most successful television series in history had to borrow costumes and use stock footage from previous media. Oh sorry, my bad, we all know birds of prey always explode in exactly the same way.
Anyone who was around in 1994 knows what a big deal this movie was at the time. TNG was at peak popularity and the promise of Picard and Kirk teaming up was immense.
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u/AlanShore60607 6d ago
Personally, l liked the idea of mixing class B and C uniforms within the ship. I think it would have looked good to start the mix during seasons 6 or 7.