Chaos on the Bridge
Chaos on the Bridge
| 25 August 2014 (USA)
Chaos on the Bridge Trailers

Canadian acting legend William Shatner takes viewers inside the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the bold attempt in 1986 to recreate the success of the original television series, in which Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk.

Reviews
SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
M_Exchange William Shatner did a great job. I love that he was unafraid to puncture the myths that surround Gene Roddenberry, yet he wrapped up the movie with a defense of the man.I was aware that Roddenberry had a bad drug habit. But I was unaware that apparently Roddenberry's drug habit, even in his advanced age, was so severe that his wife Majel needed to "dump him" onto a train that took him to a detox center. She did it every weekend for months at a time during the first season of The Next Generation. Mind blowing. As the writers who are interviewed for this story pointed out, he was a large, robust figure who could have lived to age 90 if he had not poisoned himself. The launch of The Next Generation forced him to sober up. Ironically, although people pointed out that he just wanted to enjoy retirement and felt somewhat like the new series was being foisted on him, it's likely that he would have died during 1987 if he had not had it in his life.I will probably never forgive Next Gen writer Maurice Hurley for forcing out the loveable and sexy Gates McFadden for a season, but I must admit that he was an extraordinary and colorful character. I'm very appreciative that Shatner profiled him just a year before he died in 2015. RIP, you "wacky doodle" (yet intriguing) man.
kgratton We all love a good gossip fest, and William Shatner's expose of the troubles dogging the early years of Star Trek TNG ('The Next Generation) makes for plenty of entertainment. This show is pretty lightweight and doesn't take itself too seriously, which is certainly down to Shatner's own direction and presentation. I found it enlightening to watch this immediately after the 50th anniversary documentary that paints such an uncritical view of the Star Trek universe. If you believe the actor who played Captain Kirk in the original series might have some agenda at work in denigrating TNG, that may be true, but Shatner plays it fair and even-handed when it comes to doling out blame. And it's not as if the film is a work of fiction. There are plenty of people willing to appear on film shoveling the dirt, including Sir Patrick Stewart himself.Shatner's film is amusing and fascinating more for casting the human condition in sharp relief rather than telling us anything we didn't already know about the TNG series itself. It's likely to affront some TNG fans, but if you accept that the human beings working on the series are more fallible than the crew of Enterprise D, you will likely appreciate and enjoy this minor gem.
moonspinner55 William Shatner, formerly Capt. Kirk of TV's beloved "Star Trek", executive-produced, wrote, directed, narrates and appears as interviewer for this behind the scenes documentary on the popular syndicated science-fiction TV series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-1994). With creator Gene Roddenberry's health on the wane (and his creative output in question), the series met with some sharp turns and thorny paths after finally finding an actor to step into Kirk's shoes (Patrick Stewart--a bald man with an accent!--whose careful but acerbic comments here are the centerpiece of the film). Shatner wasn't able to round up much of "Next Generation"'s cast, but the producers and writers of the show have some interesting stories to share, while Paramount's apparent lack of enthusiasm for the series--and condescension for its actors and crew--is a curious morsel. Shatner's healthy ego maintains that the star of this enterprise is Shatner, and his reactions during interviews are way over the top. His film doesn't have a nostalgic feel (in fact, it's quite icy), while Catalin Marin's country bumpkin music is horrendously out of place. Certainly of great interest to "Star Trek" fans, as well as aficionados of television history. ** from ****
michael-phipps I really enjoy having Shatner lead the documentaries for the development of star trek. My only wish is that they had delved into the writers issues developing TNG more... It just, maybe in hind sight, appears obvious to me that the creation of story conflict is easy between the federation values and of its characters against an antagonist. I think there is more to the story of the first two seasons of TNG than they could have dug into..I'm happy this documentary was made. The interviews with the contributing cast and etc were very I intriguing as both a trekkie and an outsider interested in TV or movie production.