14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek Generations

11. The Nexus Moves At The Speed Of The Plot

Star Trek Data
Paramount Pictures

The Nexus ribbon’s velocity varies for plot convenience. Data says it passes through our galaxy once every 39.1 years…so where is it the rest of the time? Circling around the Local Group of galaxies? Making side-trips to Andromeda?

For it to pop through our galaxy so frequently suggests the damned thing is traveling at Ludicrous Speed, and should flash by stars in the blink of an eye. So how come it apparently slows down to subsonic speed in order to scoop up Picard and Soran? Yeah, sure, someone can make an argument that its velocity varies depending on its proximity to a gravity well or a host of other rationalizations, but none of that’s in the movie.

Maybe we’re lucky the script doesn’t attempt to address this. The last thing this movie needed was more dumb technobabble.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Maurice is one of the founders of FACT TREK (www.facttrek.com), a project dedicated to untangling 50+ years of mythology about the original Star Trek and its place in TV history. He's also a screenwriter, writer, and videogame industry vet with scars to show for it. In that latter capacity he game designer/writer on the Sega Genesis/SNES "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Crossroads of Time" game, as well as Dreamcast "Ecco the Dolphin, Defender of the Future" where Tom Baker performed words he wrote.