Star Trek: First Contact
I remember when I used to hate Star Trek. Whenever it came on TV, I quickly changed the channel to avoid watching it. I remember watching one of the old episodes and was quickly bored. One day at school, I heard my friends talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation. I never had watched an episode of it, but I decided that I would try watching one of them. I loved it. I became an avid trekkie. However, I was disappointed with the first Next Generation movie, Star Trek Generations. Then I saw the previews for this movie, Star Trek: First Contact, and I hoped that it was better than the first one.
And when I finally heard the reviews raving about the movie, I became very excited. I went and saw it the night it opened and there was a line that went outside and wrapped around the building. In fact, that's how the line looked when I came out of the theater as well. And I just have to say that it is the best Star Trek movie to date.
Actually, I haven't seen all the old movies yet, so this is a pre-judging of the old movies. The fact of the matter is that I really don't want to see the old ones because I am not a fan of the old series. I realize that movie critics should not be biased in this way, but if I do get the time to watch the old movies, I will review them as well. However, from what I have seen, Star Trek: First Contact, beats out the competition by far. Not necessarily in special effects (but they do exceed the old movies because they are now dated), but in plot and characterization as well. Many critics seemed confused as to what was happening during the movie and wondered what time period they were in. It didn't confuse me one bit, except that I kept wondering how and when LaForge received his new eyes.
In fact, director Jonathan Frakes managed to keep everything moving along and pretty easy to follow. The critics that did get lost probably weren't "trekkies." The plot is sort of complicated as the crew, lead by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played wonderfully by Patrick Stewart), of the Enterprise-E is forced to engage the Borg, a half-human, half-robotic alien who all "share the same brain." Their main goal in life is to assimilate all the species into their collective consciousness and improve themselves. At the end of the third season of Star Trek: TNG (entitled "Best of Both Worlds"), Picard is taken by the Borg and assimilated into their conscience. This creates a background for much of Picard's characterization. It also makes Starfleet wonder if they should allow Picard to do battle against them, fearing that the captain may endanger himself or the ship and crew to get vengeance on the aliens.
This time, as the Borg head for Earth, they create a temporal vortex and travel back in time to the early 21st Century. The Enterprise gets caught in the vortex and realize that the Borg has assimilated Earth. They follow the Borg back in time to stop them from changing history. This plot is probably the most complicated of all the Trek movies. But Frakes, who also plays Commander William T. Riker in front of the camera, directs it with high skill (mainly from his training from the TV show) and fast pacing. In fact, I was never bored once during this entire movie. There were a lot, and I mean A LOT, of memorable scenes, such as the fight on the outside of the ship (an ingenuine moment that is filled with tension) and even smaller scenes such as when Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis, who really needs a bigger part considering she stole every scene she was in) gets drunk.
The cast also has to do with the greatness of this movie. Everyone is perfect, especially Brent Spiner, who plays Data, who manages to have a sensual scene with the Borg Queen. Spiner pretty much steals the show with his humorour one-liners. The Borg Queen is a new invention that creates a character who can interact with Data and persuade him to defect against his own people. Alice Krige plays the Borg Queen and she plays it with sensitivity as well as an evilness that is present even during scenes of sensuality. Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Michael Dorn (Worf, who is actually funny for this movie and provides great lines), LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge), and Lt. Hawk (Neal McDonough) are the crew of the Enterprise and all provide great little moments, except that they really need bigger parts.
Two big surprises in the movie were Alfre Woodard and James Cromwell. Alfre Woodard was terrific and provided some great lines such as "It's my first ray gun." She also provides a love interest (though a slight one) for Picard. James Cromwell is superb as Zefram Cochrane, the scientist who invents warp drive. After his success in Babe and this movie, it appears that his best roles are still to come.
Star Trek: First Contact is rated PG-13 for violence, sensuality, and language, along with some drinking. This movie is terrific entertainment filled with suspense and tension. I almost thought that they were going to have to destroy the new Enterprise (which I really didn't want to happen). As Picard mentions, "There are still plenty of letters in the alphabet." The movie is perfect from the casting, to the directing, to the writing, and especially, to the story. Is this the best movie yet from Star Trek? Of course!