Which Star Trek film was the first to feature the Next Generation television cast?

Star Trek: Generations was the first Star Trek film to feature the Next Generation television cast.

Released in 1994, Generations transferred Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the other principal Next Generation characters from television to the cinema. It also connected them with the original series cast through William Shatner’s return as Captain James T. Kirk.

The film’s plot involves the Nexus, an unusual energy phenomenon, and Tolian Soran’s attempt to reach it. Picard’s investigation eventually leads to a meeting with Kirk, creating a deliberate handoff between the two generations of Star Trek films.

The later films First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis use the Next Generation cast without the original crew’s major crossover role. Generations therefore occupies a special place in the series: it is both the seventh theatrical Star Trek film and the first one built around the television era that began in 1987.