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1* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: A lot of people consider the Ba'ku to be [[VillainProtagonist the true villains of the story]], or take this position as a joke, or both.
2** We honestly ''don't'' know what the effects of the metaphasic radiation has ''long term''. While its kept the Ba'ku alive for over 300 years, we also know that [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything it increases metabolism, energy levels and youthful feelings]] from those affected. Hell, that was even a concern in the film, how much it was affecting the ''Enterprise'' crew's rationality! What exactly is there to say that the Son'a, once deprived of this, eventually suffered [[FantasticDrug massive withdrawal symptoms]]? And while 80 years of normal aging clearly has affected them, they constantly have to undergo medical procedures and blood toxin filtering, despite not seeming to be either infirm nor decrepit beforehand. After 300 years of exposure, who's to say that the real reason they have such BodyHorror is because the radiation simply destroyed their bodies' natural ability to function and they are simply rapidly decaying without it?
3** The Son'a are mentioned as having no issue with taking slaves. Come to think of it, for a society that has rejected the washing machine and the vacuum cleaner, the Ba'ku settlement is remarkably ''clean'', [[FridgeHorror don't you think?]] After all, it's heavily implied they've got a large stash of technology lying around somewhere, how about in that massive system of caves? What ''else'' might they be hiding?
4** As another strike against the Baku's supposed perfection, they're not even indigenous to the planet, so they really have no right to claim rightful ownership of its radiation. And consider that a common tactic of imperialist colonialism throughout Earth's history involved getting the indigenous population hooked on some form of narcotic, which was then used as leverage for trade. Sounds a lot like the Son'a's addiction to the radiation, doesn't it? Not to mention how many online eyebrows have been raised over the fact that the Baku are very, ''very'', um, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything blonde, white and perfectly healthy.]] Taking this into account, especially when you consider [[spoiler:the Son'a were once Baku themselves]], it comes across a lot less like "evil alien drug lords preying on the space Amish" and more like "small group of ethnic purist colonists who got lucky on the right planet hoards control of its riches for themselves to maintain a position of power, leverages control of healthcare and addictive narcotics over an [[spoiler:exiled]] ghettoized population (who [[HeWhoFightsMonsters soon adopted those same tactics to build an empire]]), and then running to the Federation for help when the people [[spoiler:they exiled]] comes back to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turn their own tactics against them.]]"
5* AngstWhatAngst: At the point where Worf is at in his ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' arc, he's just become a widower due to the death of Jadzia Dax and would still be in the grieving process in the subsequent season. The lack of acknowledgement on this was the result of justified ExecutiveMeddling, as the sixth season of [=DS9=] hadn't aired in the UK yet, meaning Jadzia's death would've been a spoiler for international audiences. Still, the fact that Worf does not seem even slightly despondent throughout the film is very odd.
6** Possibly odd, but different people handle things in different ways. For Worf, this adventure would be another chance to be "like warriors from the ancient sagas", how he viewed the Enterprise. And considering he was in a pissy mood most of the time on [=DS9=] anyway, it's not at all hard to see this as a thrilling vacation.
7* {{Anvilicious}}:
8** Picard's monologues in which he speaks of forced relocation in human history, both with Anij and Admiral Dougherty. Justified as he isn't trying to be subtle, he's trying to get through to Dougherty with the import of what he's involved in. Unfortunately, by the time Picard does get through to him, it's too late.
9** The Son'a, a race whose [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is being overly tanned, getting too many facelifts and dealing drugs, are a satire of people from Los Angeles delivered with [[SarcasmMode the level of subtlety we have come to expect from Star Trek.]]
10* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
11** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QigWNr2bS0k theme]] for the [[BigBad Son'a]] is just ''grand''.
12** Few people can deny that this is one of Music/JerryGoldsmith's best soundtracks in the franchise.
13* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
14** The gag of Bolian scientist Hars Adislo approaching Picard on the topic of thermionic transconductance; Picard quickly excuses himself to avoid a tiresome guest. It is never brought up again.
15** The "Have you noticed how your boobs have started to firm up?" scene. Data repeating it to Worf doesn't even merit a punchline reaction, since they get interrupted by drone fire immediately afterwards.
16* CommonKnowledge: A number of common fandom talking points are directly addressed in the film.
17** The blue panels used in the collector set have resulted in the misconception that they were supposed to be keyed out and replaced by starfield backgrounds, but for whatever reason were left in. As behind-the-scenes footage (including from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHJ7opsQnQo the deleted ending]]) demonstrates, however, the film used ''green''screen rather than bluescreen, indicating that the blue panels were a deliberate design choice.
18** It is not expected that all Sona will die before the normal exposure to the radiation can heal them. Dougherty only says that some won't. The rest will return to immortality as expected, and it's unclear exactly how self-serving the Sona's medical assessments actually are.
19** There are no direct benefits to the war effort from a cure for ageing - for however many people can receive the benefits of radiation harvested from a single planet. When Dougherty is talking about giving the Federation new life, and recovering the losses from the war with the dominion, he is being entirely metaphorical. But it is common to treat the radiation as a needed panacea... and ignore the already astounding healing technology the Federation has access to at will.
20* ContinuityLockOut: This movie contains several references to ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' that are meaningless if you weren't watching it at the time.
21** It caused an additional problem for non-US viewers as well -- the UK, for instance, was only about halfway through the show's fifth season when the film came out, but the film made references to stuff that happened in the ''seventh'' season. (This, to the consternation of many viewers, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen left a reference regarding the death of Jadzia Dax, Worf's wife, out]] - UK audiences would be spoiled, given that her death happened at the conclusion of [=DS9's=] SIXTH season, while the US audiences were left seeing no one comment on Worf's development since joining Deep Space Nine, despite Worf's marriage and widowing being something of a major life event.)
22** Riker's fleeting reference to the Son'a producing large quantities of ketracel white, the narcotic used to control the Jem'Hadar, is the only thing in the movie that hints at the fact that they're Dominion allies. For those who don't understand the significance of the reference, it can end up making the Son'a seem more sympathetic than they're intended to be -- and even if you ''do'' understand the reference, it still takes a leap in logic to register that they're actual allies of the Dominion instead of, for instance, someone just carrying out business with one side of a war they have no stake in. One could justifiably argue that the Dominion are clearly evil and that anyone who would even conduct business with them ought to be considered an enemy of the Federation, but the movie doesn't bother establishing ''that'' either.
23* CriticalBacklash: Like a lot of other works from the latter years of Creator/RickBerman's stewardship of the franchise, the film was for a long time criticized for not doing enough with an interesting premise, but has since picked up a number of defenders who actually appreciate that it didn't try pushing the envelope too far and just focused on providing an hour-and-a-half's worth of entertainment. Many of its defenders consider its scenario -- the ''Enterprise'' crew rebelling to stand up for their moral beliefs -- to be one of the truest to Creator/GeneRoddenberry's ideals out of all the ''Star Trek'' films, even if the execution could have been better.
24* DesignatedHero: The film highlights the idyllic nature of the Bak'u society, and we are supposed to draw parallels between them and native Americans that endured genocide from the US government. But it is easy to resent them for claiming a planet that grants immortality and not sharing the knowledge with the rest of the galaxy.
25** Picard defends them by saying that "Forced Relocations have destroyed cultures whenever they have happened throughout history," which is rather seriously undermined when you remember he has taken part in at least ''two'' forced relocations in his own career, including one involving descendants of Native Americans and another using a similar holodeck technique. The situations were different - the Native-descended colony were Federation citizens, while the holodeck incident was an extinction event and was forced on him - but you'd think it would be mentioned. It's true that he might have had a change of heart but it ignores that those other relocations were largely for political reasons, rather than something as momentous as the secret to immortality.
26** On an individual level the film has Data with his ethical subroutines. It is assumed that something must be wrong with Data's brain rather than Data making a mistaken judgement or acting immorally by choice. Though given their long experience with Data as an incredibly moral individual it is, at least, justified that they trust him.
27* DesignatedVillain: Admiral Dougherty, who's intentions are to save billions. The Son'a are Dominion Allies who have no intention of fulfilling their agreement with him, but he doesn't know that.
28* EsotericHappyEnding: The movie ends with [[PerfectPacifistPeople the]] [[SpaceAmish Bak'u]] welcoming [[BigBad the Son'a]] [[spoiler:(who are banished Bak'u)]] into their society and allowing them to keep their planet and its fountain-of-youth powers. Except that it was pointed out that it will take ten years for the planet's rejuvenating effects to really affect the Son'a, and many will not make it that long. Plus, the Bak'u will maintain their monopoly on rejuvenating powers which would certainly benefit billions across the galaxy. Billions, mind you, that will almost ''certainly'' die without the medical technology, as the Federation is in the middle of a war with the Dominion and Cardassians, who outnumber and outgun the Federation, Romulans, and the Klingons ''combined.'' So, the thousands- if not millions- who die in the war who could have been saved after being shot by the Jem'Hadar by the medical techniques and technology developed by studying the healing energy? They can die easy, knowing that the thousand or so Ba'Ku/So'na are going to be all right.
29* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: In this film, Picard is essentially playing Moses, with Admiral Dougherty leading the Philistines. Marina Sirtis joked about this on set.
30* FanPreferredCutContent:
31** Michael Piller's original version is was very different from the final film. Inspired by ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'', it would have seen Picard tracking down an old academy friend who has allied with the B'aku against the Romulans. His first draft can be found in the unpublished book ''Fade In'' and is widely thought to be better than the actual film.
32** The originally-filmed ending, where Ru'afo's escape pod falls into the rings of the planet, exposing him to such a massive dose of the metaphasic radiation that he grows younger and younger until he de-ages out of existence altogether, is considered by many fans to be a more fitting KarmicDeath than the reshot ending, where he's simply blown up with the collector.
33* HilariousInHindsight: This is not the last time we will see Creator/DonnaMurphy [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} playing a]] Really700YearsOld character.
34* InferredHolocaust: Even though they've been welcomed [[spoiler:back]] by the Ba'ku, some of the Son'a will likely die out in the next few years, as Dougherty pointed out it would take 10 years of normal exposure to the planet's rejuvenating radiation to help them, and some will not make it that long.
35* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: While overshadowed by certain other complaints found here, another major one is that the film feels like little more than an episode of ''TNG'', which is doubtlessly a consequence of writer Michael Pillar having worked exclusively in television before this. ''Insurrection'' would end up being the only feature film he ever wrote (he started work on a couple other movie scripts, but passed away from cancer before finishing them).
36** Not only is Insurrection's tagline, "The battle for paradise has begun", almost exactly the same as ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'''s, "The battle for peace has begun", they had [[http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/bonus_ins/posters/ins_poster1a.jpg similar]] ''[[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/81/05/78/810578682de61fb1d0e370c2dde51a35.jpg posters]]'', too.
37** Being like an episode isn't necessarily bad, but Data not bringing his emotion chip and regressing several years in development to have scenes with the kid that occurred years ago on the show is hardly inspiring.
38** Picard has a quasi-midlife crisis and misses exploring. Whether you're a Kirk or Picard fan, most agree that Kirk's StoryArc in his films did it better.
39%%* JerkassWoobie: Ru'afo.
40* MisaimedFandom: While Dougherty's motives are ultimately sympathetic, it's rather disconcerting for some that so many fans of the franchise see his plans - i.e., invading an occupied planet, kidnapping the entire population and stealing its resources in a way that will make the planet uninhabitable, and possibly completely destroying whatever made the resource so valuable in the first place - as completely reasonable simply because he has a couple of legal loopholes on his side. Most likely because the movie is interested in the ethical question of whether this is acceptable, not whether the plan is actually feasible.
41* {{Narm}}:
42** Riker steering the ''Enterprise'' with an obviously [[OffTheShelfFX off-the-shelf joystick]].
43*** That, coming after Riker requests "Computer: Access manual steering column" and the joystick rises majestically out of the floor!
44%%** Anything Ru'afo does usually qualifies.
45** Not even the fountain of youth can bring Picard's hair back.
46* OneSceneWonder: The blue-skinned Bolian theorist Hans Adislo, whose brief exchange with Captain Picard over thermionic transconductance [[{{Pun}} comes out of the blue]] and is then completely forgotten.
47* RonTheDeathEater: A lot of people found the Ba'ku repugnant because they didn't want to share the medical benefits their planet could provide. Supposedly they're preventing medical benefits that could save billions of lives from the Dominion, but considering the people who came up with the "destroy the planet" plan worked ''with'' the Dominion, maybe trusting them at their word isn't the best idea, especially since no one seemed to think they could just set up medical facilities on the opposite side of the planet.
48** The Ba'ku are often blamed for not sharing the knowledge of their planet with the rest of the galaxy. Given that as soon as the Federation - the most idealistic, utopian power in the quadrant - learned about the Planet of Youth they immediately planned to steal it and force them off this seems less selfishness and more justified caution. Especially considering the political state of the quadrant over the past three centuries when they would have been making these decisions. For most of that time the Federation was notably more flawed. And throughout that time it was an open question whether the Federation would be conquered by the Klingons or, more recently, the Dominion. Or wiped out by poking an OutsideContextProblem.
49** Many fans claim the Ba'ku have no right to the planet, having only lived there for three hundred years. Many of these fans live in the United States, which is less than three hundred years old, and was not exactly uninhabited when it was founded, but would still object to its destruction.
50** In the actual movie, the Ba'ku themselves don't actually object to the medical benefits being shared with anyone- many viewers just make this assumption due to the Ba'ku exiling the Son'a for unrelated reasons (the Son'a wanting technology and also losing a rebellion, while the Ba'ku wanted to continue their way of life) and the Federation wanting to secretly remove the Ba'ku so they can take said resource with Picard objecting that the Federation have no right. The Ba'ku just want to be left alone to their ways and don't want to be kidnapped or killed, but because the villains treat them as an obstacle to procuring the medical benefits many viewers think that the Ba'ku were somehow actively and deliberately preventing them from doing so, forgetting that the Ba'ku didn't even know the Son'a or the Federation were there at all.
51** Many arguments used against the Ba'ku (both in-universe and without) are identical to ones used against numerous Native American tribes who were forcibly relocated by the United States, such as the Ba'ku having a precious resource (de-aging radiation, gold, land etc) that a more powerful and advanced civilisation desires, the more advanced civilisation needing said resource due to an ongoing crisis (war, depression etc), the natives not being truly "native" as they only moved to this land centuries earlier[[note]]Many American tribes had only been on said land for decades, while the Ba'ku had 3 ''centuries''[[/note]], the natives being cast as villainous (moralistic elitists, violent savages etc) and this used to justify taking their resources etc.
52** There is no evidence that the Baku would not be open to a compromise, such as setting up city-sized medical facilities on the other side of the planet for regenerative medicine, that could still have helped countless people throughout the Federation. And the Federation had already decided that the Prime Directive didn't apply, meaning there was no reason not to negotiate. But they clearly didn't even try.
53* RootingForTheEmpire: The Federation are considered by many (including some members of ''the cast'') to have had very good reasons for trying to force the Bak'u off the planet to study the anomaly, and they were consistently willing to use non-lethal methods to do so. Of course, "nice" genocide is still genocide and regardless it would have effectively murdered a population of immortals.
54* TheScrappy: Anij, for her DullSurprise acting -- the only time she even raises her voice above a hushed speaking tone is when she's drowning -- and DesignatedLoveInterest status, and Sojef, for coming across as extremely sanctimonious when lecturing the ''Enterprise'' crew about why they don't use technology.
55* {{Sequelitis}}: An interesting example. When it was first released, it had pretty positive reviews, with some reviewers even saying that it broke the StarTrekMovieCurse (even-numbered movies good, odd-numbered bad). But as time passed, [[StrawmanHasAPoint with more viewers agreeing with the villains]], and [[FranchiseKiller the whole Trek franchise grinding to a standstill]], it's now regarded as one of the weakest Trek films.
56* SoOkayItsAverage: Of all the "bad" ''Franchise/StarTrek'' films, perhaps the one that has the fewest defenders ''or'' detractors, on account of being so ineffectual and forgettable. The fact that the film doesn't feature anything as contentious as the destruction of the ''Enterprise''-D or any major character deaths is in retrospect held up as one of the film's strengths, but at the same time, it takes so few creative risks that the end result is something that simply isn't memorable for good ''or'' bad reasons.
57* SpecialEffectFailure: ILM didn't come back for this film (in part due to being busy on ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', though Rick Berman said at the time that he wouldn't have hired them anyway, since he felt other FX houses, in this case franchise regular Creator/SantaBarberaStudios and newcomer Creator/BlueSkyStudios, could provide the same quality for cheaper) and the quality of visual effects suffered a major drop as a result. The effects aren't ''terrible'' for the most part, but they were considerably behind even what other film were doing with CGI in 1998.
58** The hummingbird seen during the slowed time scene looks ''really'' horrible. And Artim's pet almost looks like an animated animal from an old live-action Disney movie.
59** When Picard orders Riker and Troi to do some research on the Son'a, Creator/JonathanFrakes is [[http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/insurrectionhd/insurrectionhd0303.jpg clearly wearing a fake beard]] that looks nothing like [[http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/insurrectionhd/insurrectionhd0326.jpg his normal beard]], suggesting that the scene was shot after principal photography.
60** Admiral Dougherty's death is achieved with some low-resolution computer morphing that would have looked bad even on ''Deep Space Nine'' or ''Voyager'', to say nothing of a theatrically-released film.
61** Speaking of low-resolution, the CG on Ru'afo's harvester ship is noticeably pixelated.
62* {{Squick}}:
63** Pretty much everything involving the Son'a facial procedures. It even counts InUniverse, judging by Dougherty's squeamishness.
64** Dougherty's murder is one of the more graphic in the ''Star Trek'' mythos. Death by skin stretching.
65** The colonists are so over the top "happy" and perfect, some viewers will feel uncomfortable or even literally cringe just watching them.
66*** The [[{{Narm}} overly dramatic]], [[FetishRetardant phone-sex whispers]] the adults all seem to speak in are really the icing on the cake.
67* StrawmanHasAPoint: [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Shouldn't the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?]] While the Bak'u were supposed to come off as innocent victims of an under-the-table Federation plot to steal their planet's resources, viewers tend to interpret them as selfish pricks who won't share (or tolerate anyone of their own who wanted to share) their planet's amazing power of healing, leaving the rest of the galaxy to die of diseases they themselves easily overcame. Of course, the idea of a land grab from them greatly violates their rightful sovereignty, and is in itself wrong, even if it was meant for the greater good of the galaxy. But since the Bak'u are interpreted as such [[JerkAss Jerk Asses]] for not being willing to give up their homes to allow the radiation to be collected and distributed, it's hard for some to feel sympathy for them. Also, the Bak'u don't have a better claim than the Federation to the planet. They were just refugees who just happened to crash land on the planet and decided to eliminate all their technology, fooling the Federation into thinking that they were a pre-Warp civilization.
68** Creator/PatrickStewart himself admitted that if he, [[IAmNotSpock not Picard]], were in that position, he would've made the Bak'u leave.
69** Admiral Dougherty makes a point that many viewers considered a better argument than the writers did:
70--->'''Dougherty:''' They are not indigenous to this world, they were ''never'' meant to be ''immortal''!
71*** Though this ignores the point that a significant number of the Ba'ku ''were'' born on the planet... Though by that logic ''all'' of the Son'a were ''also'' born on the planet and were forced to leave by the Bak'u due to ideological differences.
72** And there are only like 600 Bak'u on ''the entire planet''. Most small towns have more people than that.
73** And worse, as many have pointed out, this movie takes place during the Dominion War, and the medical technology that could have been developed from the planet's energies might have helped give the Alpha Quadrant races a distinct advantage. Also, once the Dominion found out about the planet (as their excellent espionage would have almost certainly allowed them to do) they would ''not'' have hesitated to obliterate the Ba'ku and take the planet for themselves. Ironically, the only thing likely to save the Ba'ku from such a fate would be the Federation!
74** The weird part is that the whole thing could be easily resolved by revealing the Son'a were lying, or at least having the characters suggest it as a possibility. In fact many viewers argue that very thing, as can be seen elsewhere on this page. But this is never even acknowledged.
75* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The original script had Data apparently going berserk and Picard tracking him down and terminating him, only to find out afterward that Data was right, but Patrick Stewart wouldn't go for it.
76** There's also the basic fact that the movie took place during the Dominion War, and the ''Enterprise'' is one of the most advanced and powerful starships in the Federation fleet. And instead of showing the ''Enterprise'' out on the front line they are involved in diplomacy. In general the movie makes more sense as being set in the immediate aftermath of the Dominion War rather than while it is still ongoing.
77*** At least one extended universe novel handwaves the Enterprise going in the opposite direction of the war for plot purposes by stating that it and the crew are just as high-profile in-universe as they are to the viewers, if not moreso, and thus they can't be deployed to the front lines for fear of inspiring the Dominion to throw a completely disproportionate response at whatever force it's assigned to (unfortunately, why no one thinks to use this to bait the Dominion into an ambush or at least an unwise engagement is not covered.) Or just move the crew to another ship for their diplomatic work and put the flagship back in the fight.
78** The Federation were currently operating in a time of war against the Dominion and they are ''losing''. More than one reviewer has noted that it wouldn't have been too hard to have the crew become divided over whether removing 600 people to potentially save ''billions'' is the morally right option. Though the potential to save billions of lives due to immortality is not, in fact, directly relevant to the war effort.
79** The Son'a and their ties to the Dominion. What should be a critical plot point is instead briefly mentioned and treated as an afterthought. The film seems to assume that the Enterprise crew uncovered this in basic research, and assumed that Dougherty knew too, but that should have just raised further questions and immediate red flags.
80** The issues surrounding forced relocation is a complex one that Star Trek normally loves to delve into, but being very explicit that it was only 600 people who were not actually native to the planet graphically undermines the moral dilemma when it came to revolutionizing medical science with a no-strings-attached fountain of youth. A bigger budget to show hundreds of thousands of people on the planet and a resource that was more utilitarian than noble medical research (like a super fuel) could have made something of the plot.
81** Relatedly, the concept of the "flying holodeck" also reveals some of the behind-the-scenes thinking at work: the movie is ''meant'' to be something of a DarkReprise of the fairly well-regarded ''TNG'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E12Homeward Homeward]]", wherein a group of people were rescued from a dying world, in technical violation of the Prime Directive, but which Worf's human brother can't accept ethically. And a lot of viewers sided with him. The movie is meant to show exactly ''why'' the PD exists, especially in these circumstances, and show how, if Starfleet didn't have such a directive as a core part of their operational culture, all kinds of abuses of the less-advanced would be possible, even if one uses the ''very same'' "humane" technique Nikolai employed in "Homeward". Unfortunately, as noted, the rest of the setup for the plot badly undermines the message.
82*** It's also pointed out that the Prime Directive doesn't apply to the Ba'ku, since they are not prewarp - though they choose to live that way - and not indigenous to the planet, and it is not a purely internal matter since the Son'a are involved. But that's textbook LoopholeAbuse, using the letter of the law to defeat the spirit of the law. The letter of the Prime Directive doesn't protect these specific people in this specific instance, but the whole purpose of the Prime Directive is to protect people exactly like this from exactly this sort of exploitation. Much could be raised and debated about when the Prime Directive does and does not apply as opposed to where it ''should'' and ''should not'' apply. It could have been an interesting inversion of the way the Prime Directive usually comes up in ''Star Trek'': instead of finding a reason to break the rule because it would be the morally correct choice, finding a way to apply it where it normally wouldn't because ''that'' is the morally correct choice. Instead, with the revelation that the Son'a are the Ba'ku, the loophole is closed as it is now a "purely internal matter." Of course, while it could have been fascinating, discussing the way the Prime Directive has been used by writers over the years is a fast way to start a fight in the fandom.
83** The plot aside; Data's ethical sub-routine certainly raises a lot of questions. It forces Data to only see things in black-and-white, right-or-wrong terms. Despite being a machine, Data ''never'' thinks in absolutes, so exploring a feature like that would be interesting.
84* UnintentionallySympathetic: The Son'a. Despite being "villains" some viewers tend to sympathize with them because they're dying (of old age) and trying to cure themselves. They are Dominion Allies, but this mention is brief and easy to miss, and you'd think that would be more central to the plot if it's true. Additionally, the potential for the Ba'ku's source of immortality to be used as medicine was meant to be shown as the Son'a being [[ManipulativeBastard two faced]] and caring more about extending their own lifespans than cleaning up their behavior and rejoining the colony - their willingness to ally with the Dominion, conquer pre-warp cultures for slaves, etc gives a clear indication of why they were thrown out. But it could come off as making them seem reasonable instead. And while Star Trek regularly [[NoTranshumanismAllowed takes the position that natural death from old age is unavoidable]] and that obsessive struggle against it leads to evil, this is a very controversial viewpoint both in the fandom and out.
85* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The Ba'ku, to the point where some viewers argue they deserve to die. The intention was to portray them as peaceful people who only exiled the Son'a because they were morally bankrupt and attempted to take over by force. But the way it's presented, they instead come off as moralistic elitists. It's also understandable that they don't want to lose their immortality, but the potential for its source to be used as medicine muddies this a bit. And alternatives to the planet's wholesale destruction for the radiation harvest are not raised or considered.
86* {{Wangst}}: Ru'afo basically spends the whole movie doing nothing but whining and complaining.

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