The 14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek: Insurrection

6. Bullet Time With Anij

Admiral Dougherty's Death Star Trek: Insurrection
Paramount Pictures

A big point is made about the Ba’ku knowing how to exist in a moment, to slow down their perception of time. Anij demonstrates this to Picard (how her perception is perceptible to him is a contrivance), and later he uses it to keep her alive when she’s injured and close to death.

Except... how? Your perception of time isn’t the actual passage of time. So when Picard goes all bullet time with Anij while waiting for help, what exactly happens? Mindfulness, meditation, and yoga may allow someone to slow down their metabolism, respiration, etc. And maybe something like that could buy you some extra moments when you’re slipping away. But is that what’s happening? Anij flat out says of this ability:

Nothing more complicated than perception. ...You explore the universe. We have discovered that a single moment in time can be a universe in itself, ...full of powerful forces. Most people aren’t aware enough of the now to even notice.

That’s lovely-sounding nonsense. Like so much else in this movie, it’s vague woo which serves a scene but doesn’t serve the story. Another pointless throwaway in a script teeming with them.

 
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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.