Why Kirk's Death In Star Trek: Generations Needed to Be Rewritten
Star Trek: Generations writer Brannon Braga talks about having to rewrite the death of Captain Kirk after initial negative reviews in test screenings. Star Trek: Generations was the first film continuation from Star Trek: The Next Generation and featured all the main cast members reprising their roles, along with Star Trek: The Original Series alums Walter Koenig, James Doohan, and William Shatner. Along with Braga, the film was written by Star Trek veterans Ronald D. Moore and Rick Berman.
Star Trek: Generations follows Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) as he faces off against Soran (Malcolm McDowell) an individual fixated on returning to the Nexus, another dimension where time is meaningless. Having been pulled into the Nexus, Picard finds Captain Kirk (Shatner) who had been presumed dead for years, where the two come together to stop Soran, with Kirk being fatally wounded in the process. Star Trek: Generations was the first of four The Next Generation connected film releases.
Related: Why Picard's Father Wears A DS9 Uniform (It's Explained By Generations)
In an interview with Vulture, Braga talks about how Kirk's ending had to be rewritten after negative reactions at test screenings. Kirk's original death saw him being shot in the back by Soran, which was seen as unceremonious and anti-climactic to audiences. Braga saw that the ending needed to be rewritten and so changed the ending so that Kirk had a role in stopping Soran, working together with Picard to bring down the villain, and establishing the poignancy of the film's climax. Read Braga's quote below:
Kirk’s death was originally somewhat unceremonious. We tested the movie, and the audience didn’t respond to the ending at all. They hated it. It felt anticlimactic
Read more on screenrant.com
