Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Let's face it: Picard's generation aren't made for the action-smash movie set. They don't fit with it. Kirk and company were made for brash brawling and gunning down Khan and the Klingons, which made for great movies that were true to the original series; Picard's series dwelt on the more cerebral affairs of diplomacy, temporal paradoxes and altered realities. The higher-concept stuff of Star Trek: The Next Generation doesn't feel right squished into a movie setting, where flashy explosions and high energy levels are expected. "First Contact" is a good action/sci-fi flick - but it takes one of TNG's better sci-fi concepts and trashes it in the name of marketability.

Yes, "First Contact" has great action sequences - the zero-g fight, the weird radioactive gas thing in the end, even the delightfully kitchy holodek mobster fight. The plot on earth works wonders simply because of James Cromwell's portrayal of Zephram Cochrane - his character and his story are compelling. And Picard's "Ahab Syndrome" was pretty sweet too.

The problem in this movie is the Borg - and more specifically, with the introduction of a "Borg Queen." The reason why the Borg are so frightening in the Next Generation TV series was not merely because they were powerful, but because they were so incredibly alien: they were a race in which no individuals exist. The Borg are not a "hive of drones" who are ruled by a "queen"; they are a single mind spread throughout billions upon billions of bodies. A single Borg is not akin to a drone in a hive, which has an individual nature but which is oppressed in a rigid hierarchy; rather, it is akin to a cell in an organism - it has no free, meaningful, or distinct existence beyond the larger body. There is no head or "ruler" of the Borg, any more than there is a single cell in your body that governs what you do. What makes the Borg's outlook on the rest of the universe so disturbing is that they cannot comprehend individuality, and thus individual lives are utterly insignificant to them... they take life without compunction because to the Borg, they aren't really taking lives - killing a human is like scraping a cell off someone's skin, an inconsequential act. The Borg are a truly alien species with a completely alien mindset - a rare gem in mainstream sci-fi.

But "First Contact" gives them a Queen who struts around and acts for all the world like a nasty human in some expensive makeup. She exchanges quips with Picard. She drips sexual innuendo over Data. She acts more like a James Bond temptress than a member of an alien cybernetic overmind. It completely demystifies them, makes them more human, when what made them so compelling is that they are so completely inhuman.

Without the Borg Queen, this movie would have perhaps been less approachable to casual moviegoers - after all, most expect their villains to have a face they can react to, and the Borg are nothing if not faceless - but it would have kept the Borg at their chilling and pure best. Instead, "First Contact" waters down Next Generation's brilliance and replaces it with some smirking one-liners and a lot of stuff that gets blown up.

6/10

Fmovies: It is the 24th century ,it is the rebirth of a saga, the start of a new scenario when Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew (Brent Spiner as Data , LeVar Burton as Geordi , Michael Dorn as Worf , Gates McFadden as Beverly , Marina Sirtis as Troy) pursue the Borg (into the Borg Sphere, the Cube's smaller counterpart, makes its first on-screen appearance) , a race of part humanoid, part machine , beings face the Federation in what would be the biggest battle of all time , with domination their goal . Enterprise chases a group of Borgs and enters a time distortion created by the Borg . They end up in the mid-21st century in order to save the Earth of the future and from Borg . Their only chance of stopping the Borg from assimilating Earth is to help cockeyed scientific named Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) make his famous first faster-than-light travel to the stars and fulfills his role in history , as part of crew (Jonathan Frakes's movie direction debut , best known as Riker) land and carry out the plans . As Picard and his crew go back in time to stop them from preventing Earth from initiating first contact with alien life . Meanwhile , Captain Picard is transformed into a character "Moby Dick's Captain Ahab¨ for his obsession with destroying the Borg, as Ahab was obsessed with killing the white whale ; but also Picard even has a dalliance with one of the women (Alfre Woodward) there and facing a villain who is an evil She-Borg queen (Alice Krige) .

This epic story is concentrated on characters as well as thrill-packed action and special effects although there're numerous of those too . The movie has action , tension , comedy , emotion , suspense and sensational spacial scenarios like is customary development of the franchise whose series buffs will have no complains . Spectacular, exciting , fast-paced , thrilling this is the description of this new outing of Star Trek , following two concurrent threads . Film that reinvents the saga through a perfect pulse narrative that does not give a second of rest to the spectator who is trapped for two hours approx. in a genuine visual spectacle . Idealism , humor , humanity , several agreeable characters and trademark effects abound and will please the enthusiasts such as the neophyte . The top-notch acting convinces , especially the nasty but seductive Borg , Alice Krige , in a super-villain role , while other players also make a nice work as James Cromwell and Alfre Woodward . The stirring final amazing the spectator , in which the moving and spectacular scenes create a perfect union that terminates with an ending that leaves you stuck in the armchair facing the formidable spectacle as a privileged witness . Magnificent special effects by ILM (George Lucas' Indutrial Light Magic) whose animators created several new classes of Federation ships for the huge CGI animation sequence against the Borg . Exceptional soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith , he composes an impressive musical accompaniment to the film and helped by his son , the recently deceased Joel Goldsmith . Furthermore a colorful and evocative cinematography by Matthew F Leonetti . Efficient direction by Jonathan Frakes, the notorious Star Trek's commandant Riker . At the end of filming, actor/director Jonathan Frakes got the nickname: "Two takes Frakes" because of the efficiency of his style .He's an expert filmmaker of Sci-Fi genre and TV episodes : ¨Star Trek¨, ¨Roswell¨ ,¨Masters of science fiction¨, ¨The Librarian¨ , ¨Twilight zone¨ , among them and occasionally

The next generation crew of the Enterprise star in their best movie. Picard and his crew hitch a ride back in time to save the Galaxy from being infested with Borg, by saving the drunkard who invented Warp Drive from being killed by the Borg. This Star Trek movie is nuanced enough for the 'trekkies' to get into, while still being very accessible to the rest of the cinema going public. Johnathon Frakes, for all of his smarmy, cocky demeanor, still I have to admit that he hits a home-run in this initial outing (now his "Insurection" is a whole nother story, one for a different day) This film is action-packed, features good performances, and is just plain fun. All those aforementioned traits easily puts it among the top echelon of Trek films.

My Grade: B+

DVD Extras: Disc 1) Commentary with director/actor Jonathan Frakes; Second commentary with writers Brannon Braga and Ronald Moore; Text Commentary with Michael and Denise Okuda Disc 2) 12 featurettes (Making 'First Contact', The Art Of 'First Contact', "The Story, The Missile Silo, The Deflector Dish,From 'A' to 'E', Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute, The Legacy Of Zefram Cochrane, 'First Contact': The Possibilities, Unimatrix One, The Queen, and Design Matrix); 3 Scene Deconstruction;Storyboards, Photo Gallery; Teaser & Theatrical Trailers; and Trailer for the Borg Invasion Hilton show in Vegas

3 Easter Eggs: In the Main Menu, click on the sun for a list of all the alternative titles considered; In the Star Trek Universe menu highlight a circle for an interview with Ethan Philips; In The Borg Collective menu highlight a circle for an interview with Alex Jaeger

Star Trek: First Contact fmovies. When the Borg launch an attack on Earth, the Enterprise is sent to the neutral zone due to the Admiralty's mistrust of Picard's abilities as he had been assimilated in the past. The Enterprise however, disobeys and returns to help destroy the Borg ship. However a smaller ship escapes and travels back in time, causing the assimilation of Earth in the future. The Enterprise follow the ship back in time and have to undo the damage the ship did on the surface to an experimental warp drive unit that will led Earth to it's first contact with alien life. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, survivors of the Borg ship begin to assimilate decks within the ship itself.

The trend of the `even good, odd bad' continues in Star Trek with this good entry in the series. Linking to previous story lines, the film starts immediately and continues at a good pace. Where the previous time travel excursion for the crew was more funny than anything else, this film goes down a more dramatic route with the main plot not turning out to be on the ground (as I first thought it would be) but on the ship where the crew struggle to contain the Borg's advances. This aspect works well - it is not edge of the seat stuff, but it is dramatic and involving.

In contrast the stuff on the surface is more a side issue that is used well to contrast with the pace on the Enterprise itself. There aren't many laughs but it does have a nice little bit of self mocking humour that raises it's head occasionally. The cast (crew?) all do good work, but it is Stewart's film and his Borg past help to enrich his character well. Frakes does an able enough job as director but as an actor he has little to do, as indeed do most of those on the Earth aside from a cameo from Cromwell who adds humour. Woodard is OK in her role but not as good as I've seen her be in other things.

Overall this is a solid Star Trek film, which although not excelling in any one area, has a strong backbone of drama and action aboard the ship that works well with the lighter stuff on the earth.

Star Trek VIII: First Contact - Stardate: 50893.5

Finally, after the dismal Generations outing, they got it right with this one! First Contact indeed is on par with the very best of the Star Trek films - The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. Unfortunately, they won't get it right again to the present day (with the above average but still not as good Insurrection and awful Nemesis). The script is very solid, the acting above par (with kudos going to Alice Krige as the seductive Borg Queen and Alfre Woodard as the trusting Lily Sloane), and the score by Jerry Goldsmith again another hit. All of that combined with visual effects that service the story and not is the story makes this outing a spectacular success - a solid 9 out of 10!

Star Trek:First Contact is the best Star Trek film in my opinion. Far better than the average Star Trek:Generations or any of the films featuring the original crew.

I won't go into the plot too much because I hate spoiling it for fans and it is easy sometimes to give away too much. Let's just say that the cast of The Next Generation take on the inhuman Borg, one of the best race of Star Trek villains ever.

There are no slow spots in this film. It is one big long action fest and every character is utilized. There are some terrific scenes and there is quite a bit of tension between the crew, particularly Worf and Picard. Picard has some harsh words for Worf at one point in the film and it really does look as though Worf will hit Picard. You could cut the tension in this film with a knife.

I'd also like to mention the great job done by the beautiful Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. Again, there is not a wasted moment in this film and Krige does a brilliant job as the Borg Queen.

I strongly recommend Star Trek:First Contact-it is the type of film which you finish watching and feel as though you have spent your money well.