Star Trek: Generations

It is always going to be tricky when you leave the original cast behind, but it's something that has to be done if a series is to continue.
Star Trek: Generations is that step, as the film series boldy goes where it hasn't been before.
Original crew members James T Kirk, Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov all feature as retired personnel who are invited to attend the launch of a new (another) Federation starship - the USS Enterprise-B. The original plan is for the new crew to go on a trip around the Solar System, but as luck would have it, they receive a distress signal and decide to rescue the ship.
Once there they encounter an energy ribbon that is thretening to destroy the ship, and attempt to beam the crew on board. They succeed in saving several people, but become trapped in the ribbon itself. Kirk takes it upon himself to help the vessel escape but not before the ribbon makes contact with that section of the ship.
The story jumps forward some 80 years, where the Enterprise-D comes across a distress call from a solar observatory, and find everyone has been killed - except for a doctor named Soran.
Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) takes the role as captain of the Enterprise, and as such hooks into a potentially reckless rescue mission after one of his crew is abducted. Startling discoveries are made about the energy ribbon and a planet called Veridian III, and it's up to captain Picard to save the day - with help, of course, from an old friend.

This film seemed to improve the longer it went on, and is quite a jump without having kept up with the television series. Apart from the three mentioned earlier, there is no sign of any original cast members, apart from the daughter of a former character and a mention of Spock.
I have reservations about the continued revival of Kirk. When a television/film show or series has to bring characters back from the dead or find a reason to keep bringing them back, I have to assume it is running out of gas. In this instance, Kirk is handing the keys of the franchise over to Picard. I can't imagine how Kirk can make another appearance in the series, but I still think he hung around one or two films too long.

Star Trek: Generations: 113 minutes (1994)