What can I say about this one? As a kid, I watched the TV spots showing starhips firing at a Borg cube for thirty seconds. There was nothing on this planet I could have been more excited about. When I finally saw the movie I was slightly disappointed in the structure. The big space battle should have been at the end, not the beginning! All the space action was over in the first 30 minutes! Grrrr! Watching this film years later, I realized that this was about much more than space battles.
What I liked:
This movie had two killer ideas, making the Borg a villain, and putting Star Trek itself in jeopardy by endangering first contact. They could have made fine movies separately, but together it ups the stakes considerably, even though it creates a big can-o-worms, but we'll get to that later. It seems everything came together just right for this one. The energetic direction by Jonathan Frakes, the snappy script by returning writers Moore and Braga, the acting, set design, visual effects, it's all top quality. And this is a movie made for under 50 million dollars! Is that even heard of anymore?? Throw in a great score by Trek veteran Jerry Goldsmith and a memorable guest cast and you have by far the best and most successful movie from the Next Gen crew.
What I didn't like:
Obviously, when you give the Borg the ability to time travel, it raises a whole host of questions. Why don't they just keep going back in time until they assimilate everyone in the past? Send more ships to make it easy. And though the Borg Queen is a neat idea, trying to say she was with the collective the whole time is a stretch. It would have made more sense if the need for a Queen arose naturally from the experiment with Locutus as well as the rogue Borg problem with Hugh. The Queen goes on to be a recurring villain on Voyager, which is fine, but again it isn't explained well. Of course, as a Star Trek fan, I eat continuity problems for breakfast. You can work it all out in your head if you try.
Some Trek enthusiasts complain that there is an emerging difference between TV show Picard and movie "action hero" Picard. And, yes, the guy is different here, but you know what? There are certain things you can't do on television. I, for one, liked how they were able to show how wounded Picard had become from his assimilation. It's real. It's interesting. And Stewart delivered. Just like this movie.
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First Contact is a decent flick, some good action, the (way too brief) epic assault on the Borg Cube, even some good unusual stuff like the saucer fight and Data's "seduction". The only time I think it doesn't work well for me is most of the stuff on the planet surface. There's just something pedestrian about the Zepham Cochran stuff.(until they launch) I like the use of Moby Dick, but it was a bit too "on the nose". Plus as my sister pointed out, they deflate her character by her saying "I never read it". I also think the final action scene looks a bit too B-movie with Picard hanging on crap, etc. But overall a decent one.
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