Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. It is very fast past. See it. It is better then the TV show. It is better then the first 7 Star Trek movies. This is a great movie. The 9th Star Trek movie Star Trek insurrection is also better.

Highly entertaining entry in the Star Trek Universe. In fact, there are more laugh-out-loud moments than I recall in any other ST film. And it's always fun to see dynamic actors like James Cromwell ("Babe") and Alfre Woodard in roles from their younger days. I have one overriding question and it concerns the soundtrack. Which one of these actors (or producers or the director) is the Sun Records fan? I was shocked to hear an extended guitar solo from Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby." It wasn't the original Sun Record from 1956, but it was an almost note-for-note recreation. Too bad they didn't use the original, but it was still startling to hear this bit of pop culture resurrected 40 years later.

This thoroughly entertaining movie is probably the best of the Star Trek movie series, thanks to a fast pace and a complex plot which throws in a number of different ingredients into the brew and keeps things moving at a speed, without ever becoming too technical or confusing. While the film is clichéd in places (that old "countdown to self-destruction" is pulled out of the stock ideas closet AGAIN) and guilty of being a rip-off in others, the sheer quantity and quality of the action, acting, set design, and fluid direction make it a rip-roaring adventure in the best old fashioned sense. Only a few times does it throw in some sickly sentimentalising, which is another plus.The main problem with the film is the lack of characterisation - as there are so many characters and situations packed into so little time, a lot of people get left out. A good portion of the film is made up of action and events, which leaves us little time to get to know the characters. Female crew members Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden are near forgotten and get only a few lines after the inclusion of Alfre Woodard as a tough female heroine, who is admittedly good but hogs too much of the limelight. Meanwhile, Jonathan Frakes and Levar Burton are relegated to near-cameo roles after being earthbound for most of the movie. This is understandable with Frakes, as he was busy directing after all, but it doesn't give much opportunity to check out Burton's cool robotic eyes very much.Patrick Stewart is as good as ever as Captain Picard, and here he's given plenty of opportunity to be tough and sweatily frightened in equal measure. The character of Data, the android, is also explored, which is quite interesting as he is mainly used as simple comic relief. Michael Dorn is wasted as Worf, the klingon member of the crew, and has little to do aside from run around and grunt a lot. Non crew-members include James Cromwell as the drunken inventor (very different role here) and Alice Krige who gets to play the chief villainess - a memorably slimy addition to the baddies, who gets a memorable introduction via her head and spine being inserted into the rest of her body.As time travel is used as a plot device, there are the expected number of plot holes which have been brushed over smoothly with lines of jargon as throwaway explanations, something which annoyed me a little. My favourite parts of the movie involve the crew exploring the parts of their ship which have been taken over by the Borg, including quite a few spooky moments which resemble the best bits of ALIENS. The Borg are an impressive army of cyborg killers, and the scenes of them being put together are a lot of fun in a grisly-but-tame kind of way. As a special effects-laden blockbuster (the CGI is incidentally pretty good), this movie is action-packed enough to appeal to both fans and non-fans of the series, and a lot of fun to watch - just don't expect anything too heavy.

A good follow-up film to Generations. For first time viewers: you do not have to watch Generations to know what is going on in First Contact but it would help you to know Picard's history with the Borg (although Picard does briefly explain it in this film).The Borg is out to assimilate and go back to the 21st century in order to alter the course of history, to stop Earth's first contact with intelligent alien life. The enterprise gets caught up in the shockwave of the Borg's time travel and end up in the 21st century with some of the Borg on the Enterprise. The captain and crew must stop the Borg from assimilating the crew and make sure the first contact happens for the Earthlings with the aliens (Vulcans).Excellent film for sci-fi and Star Trek fans. Well worth watching.10/10