STAR
TREK - FIRST CONTACT
 
STARRING: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan
Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina
Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell, Alice Krige,
Neal McDonough, Dwight Schultz
1996, 112
Minutes, Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
 Description:
Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his able crew travel back in time to
Earth in the year 2063, where they hope to ensure that the inventor of warp
drive (played by James Cromwell) will successfully carry out his pioneering
warp-drive flight and precipitate Earth's "first contact" with an alien race.
—
Amazon.com
After
bidding a fond farewell to the old Starship Enterprise crew of
Kirk, Spock, Scotty, etc. in Star Trek
VI - The Undiscovered Country it was
time for the much younger Next Generation crew to take
over the movie franchise. Which only made sense if we wanted our
regular dose of Star Trek on the big screen. Except that Star Trek
- Generations was a
mess that didn't bode well for the future at all . . .
So
that's why Star Trek - First Contact is such good news.
There is a future with the new crew of the Enterprise-E
("lots of letters in the alphabet" you know) since First
Contact is one of the best Trek movies we have been treated
to in a while. Why, it might even be accessible to non-Trek
fans!
First,
the plot. The Borg (no, they are not Swedish), a fiendish race of
cyborgs that assimilates other cultural groups, is invading Earth
by traveling back into time and changing key events in the past
and it is up to the Enterprise and her crew to stop them. Don't
worry about not having seen any of the television episodes or
previous films since all is explained in the film itself - even
though there are references to events chronicled in the
television series.
First Contact is an action-packed joy
ride, offering excellent special effects and sets, a genuine
sci-fi story, literary allusions and even some Berlioz thrown in
for good measure. After idiocies such as Independence
Day it
usually takes a movie like this to restore one's faith in the
sci-fi genre. Even if you don't count yourself as trekkie
you should see it too for the same reason.
Further sequels based on the Next Generation TV show are Star Trek - Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek - Nemesis (2002).
Voted
# 74
of the
Top 100 Sci-Fi
Movies
of all time
by:
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