YouTube The interrogations scene with Malcom McDowell as Soran and LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge from "Star Trek: Generations"
The first TNG movie, “Star Trek: Generations,” served as a passing of the torch from the cast of “Star Trek: The Original Series” to the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” It’s the only “Star Trek” movie that featured the majority of the cast members from two different “Star Trek” shows.
In “Generations” Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard and William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk teamed up the vanquish the villain, an El-Aurian named Soran, played by Malcolm McDowell. Soran did many villainous things throughout the movie in pursuit of his goal — finding a way back into the Nexus.
However, one of Soran’s most heinous acts didn’t make the movie’s final cut.
Soran Tortured Geordi La Forge
After the crew of the Enterprise discovered that the Romulans were looking for trilithium, Captain Picard sent Data and Geordi La Forge to search the observatory. While aboard, Soran attacked Geordi, knocking him out. Data surrendered, unable to control his fear because his emotion chip was malfunctioning.
Soran held Geordi and Data captive on the observatory until Commander William Riker and Lieutenant Commander Worf came to rescue them. Unfortunately for Geordi, Soran was able to grab him and transport off the observatory before Worf, Riker, and Data could intervene.
Soran took Geordi aboard the Duras Sisters’ ship, where he proceeded to interrogate him. The scene that made it into the movie was only an abbreviated version of the one that was actually filmed. The original scene was about three times longer and included Soran not just interrogating Geordi, but also torturing him.
The video above is a very low-quality portion of the original scene. The dialogue can be heard clearly, though, and it shows just how much darker the scene was intended to be.
When Geordi didn’t give Soran the information he wanted, Soran knocked him out and implanted Borg nanoprobes into his bloodstream. When Geordi awoke and the interrogation continued, Soran explained that the nanoprobes had traveled to Geordi’s heart. Soran then demonstrated how he could use the nanoprobes to stop Geordi’s heart every time his answer was unsatisfactory.
Soran grimly informed Geordi that a human heart could be stopped for more than six minutes without causing brain damage, driving home the point that he could do a lot of damage without killing him. Eventually, Soran stopped Geordi’s heart for a full 30 seconds.
The Torture Scene Editing Error
The interrogation scene that made it into the movie’s final cut was much less brutal. A lot more was implied rather than shown. Notably, the scene that made it into the film makes absolutely no mention of the Borg nanoprobes.
However, a later scene in the movie did mention the nanoprobes. After the Duras sisters beamed Geordi back aboard the Enterprise in exchange for Captain Picard, he was sent to sickbay for a thorough examination. During that examination, Dr. Beverly Crusher told Geordi that she had removed the Borg nanoprobes from his chest.
Somehow, this line made it through the editing process, even though every other mention of the Borg nanoprobes was removed from the film. Fans who saw the movie in theaters were very confused by the reference.
The entire deleted scene is available on YouTube, split into three different clips. The quality isn’t good, but the dialogue is crystal clear.
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