Star Trek: First Contact Review
by Philip Richard Yabut (freek AT gwis2 DOT circ DOT gwu DOT edu)December 9th, 1996
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STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
A film review by Philip Richard Yabut
Copyright 1996 Philip Richard Yabut
Release date: November 22, 1996
Author's viewing date: December 7, 1996
The (very) long-awaited sequel to TNG "The Best of Both Worlds" has arrived, mixing the Borg, time travel, a little history, some humor, a new soundtrack, and eye-popping special effects. It has proven to be a winner in the eyes of the critics and box office receipts.
<SPOILERS FOLLOW THIS PROMPT>
SPELLINGS: Zephram Cochrane
* Defining moment
FC wasn't just about the Borg and time travel and rearranging history. This was also the continuation of the journey that Captain Picard has taken as he continues to recover from his assimilation to the Collective six years prior. Here we see something that looks totally out of character for Picard: the thirst for revenge. But one has to remember that Picard was violated beyond imagination, stripped of his humanity and forced to murder thousands of his own people. Ironically it is Lily, a woman he had just met who had never even heard of the Borg, who reminds Picard of his duty to humanity...and himself. The Captain Ahab references work beautifully to illustrate the self-defeating aspects of Picards personal vendetta.
* Best cameo
The movie featured appearances, some uncredited, by other ST actors, like Robert Picardo as the Enterprise's EMH and Dwight Schultz as Lieutenant Barclay. But did you notice that Ethan Phillips was the first guy to get thrown around by the Borg in Picard's holodeck program? He acted a little like Neelix, too.
* Recycling away
Speaking of other ST actors, there were a couple of recycled guys, too. James Cromwell, last seen on ST as the Karemma representative Hanok in DS9 "Starship Down," is the most obvious. But did you know that Jack Shearer (Admiral Hayes) was last seen in VOY "Non Sequitur" and DS9 "Destiny?"
* Look Ma! I'm a real boy!
Data's quest to be more human took a bizarre turn when the Borg Queen kidnaps him and starts giving him some skin. This is the opposite of what the Borg usually do to other races. And it looks like Data as finally mastered the art of the bluff, as he fooled the Queen and Picard (and probably the unspoiled viewer) into believing he was loyal to the Borg (assimilated, as it were).
* A few words on those weird opening credits
It looks like the TNG movies are going to use the same font for the credits, first seen in "Generations" (if anyone can identify the name of that font, please tell me). The credits themselves looked like they were introducing a second-rate B-movie, and they made me dizzy.
* Useless factoids
There were plenty of 47s in the film, including Picard's access code...The entire final scene with the settlement, the trees, and the musical score was reminiscent of ST5's close. Thankfully, you couldn't hear Kirk, Spock and McCoy singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"...I guess the Borg don't have to breathe. Assimilated Earth didn't have oxygen in its atmosphere; and they seemed to survive just fine outdoors while Picard and Co. donned spacesuits...That music Picard was listening to at glass-shattering volume sounded a lot like Klingon opera...2063 happens to be 2 years after the next flyby of Halley's Comet. It's also 98 years before the founding of the Federation and exactly 300 years before the Enterprise-D was commissioned...That part of Montana looked pretty good considering the world was just ten years removed from World War III...Past episode references: TNG "The Best of Both Worlds" [I & II], "The Naked Now," "Generations"...The "Borg Queen" was never referred to as the "Borg Queen" by anyone, although that's what the credits call her...Riker described the Defiant as a "tough little ship." Tom Riker used the same words to describe Captain Sisko's warship in DS9 "Defiant"...Was it just me, or did Marina Sirtis use her real hair in the film (as opposed to a wig)?...The Enterprise-E's bridge was reminiscent of Voyager's. And Engineering bore a resemblence to its counterpart on the Defiant. Could they be redressed sets?...The Typhon sector, the area where Starfleet made its last stand, was also the setting for that temporal causality loop in TNG "Cause and Effect." Interestingly, the USS Bozeman also figured in both of these stories.
* Top three lists
Best f/x --
- Third prize: That first majestic shot of Hawk, Worf and Picard walking *on* the ship.
- Second prize: The battle against the Borg in the Typhon sector.
Definitely first-class.
- First prize: The souped-up Borg are an f/x marvel by themselves. But the spectacular opening shot of Picard/Locutus on the Borg ship is one to remember.
Best lines --
- Third prize: "You broke your ships." -Lily
- Second prize: "Assimilate *this*." -Worf
- First prize: "The Borg? Sounds Swedish." -Lily
Best moments --
- Third prize: Deanna gets drunk with the legendary Zephram Cochrane. - Second prize: Cochrane meets the Vulcans--and can't do the salute. - First prize: Picard and Lily square off in the Observation Lounge.
* Score
"Star Trek: First Contact" 100 (A+)
More on 'Star Trek: First Contact'...
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