20 Things You Never Knew About Star Trek: Insurrection
2. The Original Ending
Michael Piller had serious concerns about the first ending in the script, as he felt that it was too similar to the ending of Star Trek: Generations. Both films came to a close with Picard fighting the villain in hand-to-hand combat, along with both films featuring the villain dying at the controls of their own weapons. The original version of the Collector also saw a device shot into a star, rather than the rings.
Piller changed the weapon's target, and then switched the circumstances of Ru'afo's death. Most importantly, there is a moment before the character's death that sees Picard extend a hand to help him escape, only for them to realise a moment too late that there is too great a physical distance between them.
Ru'afo would then be on board the Injector as it harnesses the radiation from the rings, growing younger and younger until fading into nothing. This version was shot, only to be replaced with the more action-centric ending eventually featured in the film - something closer to the Generations ending after all.