Strange. I seem to agree with those who love this ending and those who hate it. Or I can understand why people love it and others hate it. I can't really rate it. The main point of the story is sacrifice which Janeway does and doesn't do. How we get there is the problem some have. Plotholes are never a good sign. We have to fall back on the Borg queen having a smug arrogance as opposed to using simple cold hard logic like, you know, the Borg in order to leave the collective open. A possible explanation is having unique access to future technology and that leads to a general issue I have with Star Trek and time travel.
Its the same with Doctor Who when the Daleks acquire time travel. Suddenly the massive plotholes of having villains free to go anywhere in time even tamper with human evolution at its source never seems to enter their grinch like minds. It is always conveniently at a specific time later when it is conceivable for them to be vanquished making it seem like the villains aren't really so villainous. Its like Bond villains always finding a reason to leave Bond alone just long enough to escape after spilling their guts about everything. I think thats why Goldfinger is so well remembered, they did such a good job at justifying leaving Bond alive or Bond actually figures it out on his own. Here, the Borg never bothered to do enough, same as in First Contact. Dont get me wrong, it was a fun movie but still, Time Travel opens plotholes when villains have it. You can even wonder why the Borg don't go into the future to aquire future technology.
Anyway. The well written shows today tend to end with darker conclusions. Sure, outcomes are reached and perhaps they are mostly successful for tue protagonist but with bitter tradeoffs. So would the opening of Endgame be how it would end now? An ugly battle back after 23 years instead of initially facing a journey that was to take 75 years? Crew members gone for various reasons, others aged or gone mad. Frankly, the most moving moment in the two parter is Janeway's farewell to Tuvok as Tuvok, now long gone with a degenerative mental disease furiously writes by candelight while kneeling on the floor, trying to complete a project he will never finish. Moving stuff. That gets undercut with the heroic mission through time and a confrontation with the Borg with future technology.
On the other hand, the story is supposed to be about Janeway's sacrifice, face death for the good of her crew. A fate similar to the three different Enterprise ships at the end of TNG though that was to save the human race from never existing.
Generally, this ending is like sci fi gold compared to what passes for sci fi today. Today there is no wonders to explore, just mental masturbation of the same old boring woke cliches and worn out human obsessions with sexual identity, money and power. No imagination at all. All things Star Trek never was and never meant to be. Any issues to explore were explored via aliens grappling with them, not humans still mired in them hundreds of years in the future. That was the hopeful message of the whole show. We do overcome all this crap and see ourselves and how we act after our conflicts end.
If I had to rate it, this is 10/10 compared to where the bar is set for sci fi today. For those who demand and expect something better from their entertainment, then that number will drop a bit. All and all, I do find it enjoyable enough. The opening stuck with me the most.
Its the same with Doctor Who when the Daleks acquire time travel. Suddenly the massive plotholes of having villains free to go anywhere in time even tamper with human evolution at its source never seems to enter their grinch like minds. It is always conveniently at a specific time later when it is conceivable for them to be vanquished making it seem like the villains aren't really so villainous. Its like Bond villains always finding a reason to leave Bond alone just long enough to escape after spilling their guts about everything. I think thats why Goldfinger is so well remembered, they did such a good job at justifying leaving Bond alive or Bond actually figures it out on his own. Here, the Borg never bothered to do enough, same as in First Contact. Dont get me wrong, it was a fun movie but still, Time Travel opens plotholes when villains have it. You can even wonder why the Borg don't go into the future to aquire future technology.
Anyway. The well written shows today tend to end with darker conclusions. Sure, outcomes are reached and perhaps they are mostly successful for tue protagonist but with bitter tradeoffs. So would the opening of Endgame be how it would end now? An ugly battle back after 23 years instead of initially facing a journey that was to take 75 years? Crew members gone for various reasons, others aged or gone mad. Frankly, the most moving moment in the two parter is Janeway's farewell to Tuvok as Tuvok, now long gone with a degenerative mental disease furiously writes by candelight while kneeling on the floor, trying to complete a project he will never finish. Moving stuff. That gets undercut with the heroic mission through time and a confrontation with the Borg with future technology.
On the other hand, the story is supposed to be about Janeway's sacrifice, face death for the good of her crew. A fate similar to the three different Enterprise ships at the end of TNG though that was to save the human race from never existing.
Generally, this ending is like sci fi gold compared to what passes for sci fi today. Today there is no wonders to explore, just mental masturbation of the same old boring woke cliches and worn out human obsessions with sexual identity, money and power. No imagination at all. All things Star Trek never was and never meant to be. Any issues to explore were explored via aliens grappling with them, not humans still mired in them hundreds of years in the future. That was the hopeful message of the whole show. We do overcome all this crap and see ourselves and how we act after our conflicts end.
If I had to rate it, this is 10/10 compared to where the bar is set for sci fi today. For those who demand and expect something better from their entertainment, then that number will drop a bit. All and all, I do find it enjoyable enough. The opening stuck with me the most.