First Contact begins with a stunning dream sequence where Jean
Luc Picard, Captain Of The USS Enterprise, relives his captivity at the hands of
the Borg, those creepy/cool cybernetic zombies who seek to enslave the entire
universe. Picard awakens from his nightmare to discover that it was a prophetic
dream: the Borg has launched a new assault against Earth. But Starfleet Command
has ordered Enterprise not to join the armada that is massing to engage the Borg
in battle. Instead, they are sent to the Romulan Neutral Zone to "guard the back
door" of the Federation as it were. Picard realizes that Starfleet does not
completely trust him, thanks to his previous assimilation by the Borg. After
listening to the battle on audio, and hearing how badly things are going, Picard
decides to disregard his orders and charges into the fray with phasers blazing.
With the might of the Enterprise against them, the Borg ship is destroyed, but
not before launching a smaller vessel that transports into the past, assimilating
Earth in the 21st century. Picard and company is caught in the time wake left
behind by the Borg ship, which explains why they weren't wiped away when the
timeline changed. And so the crew of the Big E follow the Borg ship back into
the past in an attempt to set things right--if only they could save the rest of
the movie. Once the Enterprise-E (it's a brand new ship, and a very nice design,
too) enters the past, the relentless pace that First Contact had enjoyed from
its opening shot comes to a screeching halt. The whole time travel plot is
getting a little weary by now, and the major problem I had with it is this: if
the Borg had planned on sending a team back in time to defeat Earth, then why
launch an assault on 24th century Earth at all? Launch the team into the past
while still in the safety of Borg space, and then, once they've arrived in the
21st century, THEN go to a helpless Earth and assimilate it.
Not only does the film's pacing suffer back in the past, but we are also treated
to some pretty lame scenes, such as Counselor Troi getting drunk; Picard hiding
from the Borg in the holo-deck in yet another aggravating 1940s Dixon Hill
detective story (if he needed a weapon, why not just have the holo-deck make him
one, instead of going through all this play-acting nonsense) and countless
scenes of the Enterprise crew fawning over Zephram Cochrane (who is well-played
by James Cromwell), the inventor of faster than light space travel who the Borg
have come back into the past to kill. However, on the plus side, the special effects, supervised by
John Knoll, are superb. The brief Borg battle with the Federation armada is
spectacular. And as I mentioned before, the newly designed Enterprise is a real
beauty.
And I also enjoyed the nods to the rest of the Star Trek universe, such as the
original series design of the engine nacelles on Cochrane's ship, and by having
Worf command the USS Defiant during the opening Borg battle. This is an
effective way of bringing Worf back onto the Enterprise (he was a regular cast
member of Deep Space Nine at the time), as well as giving a nod to DS9. Voyager
fans will also have cameos of the Holographic Doctor, as well as actor Ethan
Phillips, who plays Neelix, (sans his hedge-hog alien makeup) to look forward to.
And then there's the unexpectedly uplifting ending, which, combined with the
exciting opening, is ultimately what saves First Contact from being a complete waste of time.
Jonathan Frakes (AKA first officer Commander Riker) CAN direct; he just needs a decent script.
The two-disc DVD has two sets of audio commentaries, one by the film's director,
Jonathan Frakes, as well as a surprisingly good commentary by the film's writers,
Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, who jokingly nitpick the film. There's also a text commentary by Michael and
Denise Okuda. The second disc has several very good "making of" documentaries
that deconstruct the film. And there is a tribute to the late Jerry Goldsmith,
who wrote the score for this and several other Trek films. The film looks and
sounds great (be sure to watch the Borg battle scene in the dark for best effect).
While I disagree with the contention by many Trek fans that First Contact is the
best of the Next Gen films, it's still a fun ride. --SF
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