Review of Star Trek: First Contact (1996) by Byron B — 16 Sep 2013

The story-line from the television series that seemed to be forgotten or ignored this time was the two-parter Descent. Data's brother Lore was sending negative emotions to Data's circuitry and together they became cult leaders of a group of Borg. Overall, Braga's, Moore's, and Berman's story here is successful.

I loved the design of the new model Enterprise. Spoiler: Too bad it gets destroyed at the end like the ship in the previous movie. Bonus points for Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo from Voyager appearing as well as Dwight Schultz making a cameo as Lt. 'Reg' Barclay. Jonathan Frakes, who plays First Officer Cmdr. Riker, directs this blockbuster adventure as Leonard Nimoy, the First Officer of the former series, did for movies III and IV. The Borg are a great villain for big special effects filled battles. Michael Dorn as Worf returns from DS9 to assist and the Enterprise must chase a Borg sphere into the past. The crew must stop a Borg attack designed to prevent humans from ever making their first warp flight. Stewart, Dorn, Spiner, and McFadden as Captain Picard, Worf, Data, and Dr. Crusher go back aboard Enterprise to fight the Borg trying to take over the ship. Alfre Woodard as Lily is injured on Earth and taken back to the ship too. Data is kidnapped and seduced by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) with the possibility that biological material, skin with working nerve endings, can be grafted onto his android form. Frakes, Burton, and Sirtis as Commander Riker, Lt. LaForge, and Counselor Troi are assigned to make sure Zefram Cochran (James Cromwell) down on mid-twenty-first century Earth finishes repairs and makes the historical first warp flight on time. Woodard as Lily is a screaming damsel in distress for Picard to sooth, but in other scenes she participates in decision making and appears to be the responsible friend of Cochran, who would have pushed him to venture to space for the first time if the Borg hadn't interrupted the normal flow of history. After an exciting zero-G walk on the exterior of the ship and Picard/Locutus facing the Borg Queen our heroes foil the Borg plans. The ensemble all get to do their thing. There is a fair amount of humor in this entry. The production design on Earth and throughout the Enterprise, including where the Borg are resetting environmental controls, is stellar. Costuming, lighting, and camera work are all an improvement over the previous movie. Jerry Goldsmith is back writing the music score too.