10 Most Divisive Star Trek Moments
5. Killing Captain Kirk
Star Trek: Generations has got the reputation of being the film that put the bridge on the Captain. And to be fair, that is 100% correct. However, the film was given the somewhat daunting task of passing the baton from the Original Series crew to the Next Generation crew.
Had the Original Series crew's tenure finished with The Undiscovered Country, the fans would most likely have been fine with that. The ending to Star Trek VI is very nearly perfect. The signatures that come up on screen at the end, while potentially a bit much (though still copied by Avengers: Endgame!), are the cast's way of ending their service with style.
Having Kirk return for Generations, while a solid addition to the script (the cottage scene is perfect), though his ending seems like an anti-climax for one of the most action-orientated captains in the fleet.
However, one way of looking at this is that there was never going to be a death scene that would have pleased everyone. Having Picard bury Kirk though was a beautiful moment of passing the torch.