The Borg attack Earth, and after disobeying orders not to interfere in the battle, Captain Picard takes the Enterprise back to Earth. Thanks to his knowledge of the Collective, Picard is able to turn the tide of the battle and destroy the cube. A sphere is launched from the dying ship and travels back in time using a temporal vortex to the moment of First Contact between Earth and Vulcan with the Enterprise following them.
Star Trek First Contact's Big Screen Borg
The eighth Star Trek film is the best of the bunch. The Borg are the perfect enemies to be taken from the small screen to the big screen, and their make-up has been tweaked, making them look truly diabolical. The moment in which a drone injects nanoprobes into an officer’s neck, and as he is slowly assimilated he reaches out for his captain and begs for help is a terrifying sight to behold. The episode voted by vans as the best in Star Trek, The Best of Both Worlds (in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg) features heavily as the back story as Picard become increasingly obsessed with destroying the Borg infesting the Enterprise.
The main cast from the Next Generation all reprised their roles. Picard (Patrick Stewart), Data (Brent Spiner), Worf (Michael Dorn) rescued during the battle from Deep Space Nine’s USS Defiant and Crusher (Gates McFadden) make up the main crew trapped on the Enterprise as it is slowly assimilated. Whilst Riker (Jonathan Frakes who also directs), Troi (Marina Sirtis), and La Forge (LeVar Burton) are on Earth. They are trying to repair the first warp capable ship built by Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) which was damaged when the sphere attacked, and before the Enterprise destroyed it (the Borg beamed over to the Enterprise after they followed them back through the temporal vortex).
First Contact introduces the Borg Queen, a singular mind that controls the desires of the Collective. The Queen functions as the face of the Collective and tries to seduce Data (an android) into joining her by giving him flesh and blood. Taking him closer to humanity than he had thought possible. During Picard's time as the assimilated drone Locutus of Borg, the Queen was present on the cube and she had selected him because she wanted to have a counterpart within the Collective. Picard resisted her and was assimilated. This time Data is the object of her attention.
Attack survivor Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), Cochrane’s assistant, is injured during the Borg attack and transported to the Enterprise for treatment. Essentially Sloane is the person who doesn’t know what is going on and through her, the audience learn about the Borg and Picard, which makes First Contact accessible for fans and nonfans alike.
What a Good Cast and Director Can Do
Star Trek: First Contact is the best Star Trek film in years and is the best of the original ten (and even the new Star Trek film). The Borg being on the Enterprise means that the crew don’t have their own ship to escape to any longer. Sequences in which weapons are being fired at the drones, some fall, but the rest adapt and keep coming are nail biting. Q (John De Lancie) in Q Who? (the Next Generation episode in which the Borg were officially introduced) describes the Borg as being “relentless” and in First Contact they truly are.
The special effects are flawless, from the battle between Starfleet and the cube, to the visual feast of the unfortunate Enterprise crew members being assimilated. All are a joy to watch. This film is the perfect example of what a good story, coupled with an excellent cast, and a director who knows his subject inside out and back to front can accomplish. Frakes easily directs his co-stars into giving powerful performances, and manages to make the usually unshakable Picard seem like a Captain Ahab prepared to sacrifice anyone and everyone to get revenge on the Borg for assimilating him.
10/10
A Star Trek film done so well is a rare and wonderful thing.
Enjoy it.
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