Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Director:

Jonathan Frakes

Writers (WGA):

Gene Roddenberry (television series Star Trek)
Rick Berman (story) ...

Release Date:

22 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Resistance is Futile.

Plot:

Capt. Picard and his crew pursue the Borg back in time to stop them from preventing Earth from initiating first contact with alien life.

Plot Keywords:

Borg | First Contact | Alien | Captain | Nuclear Missile

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William Riker / Holodeck Musician
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (as Levar Burton)
Michael Dorn	...	Lt. Commander Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Alfre Woodard	...	Lily Sloane
James Cromwell	...	Dr. Zefram Cochrane
Alice Krige	...	Borg Queen
Michael Horton	...	Lieutenant Daniels
Neal McDonough	...	Lieutenant Hawk
Marnie McPhail	...	Lieutenant Eiger
Robert Picardo	...	Emergency Medical Hologram
Dwight Schultz	...	Lieutenant Reginald Endicott Barclay III

Also Known As:

Star Trek VIII: First Contact (Australia) (USA) (DVD box title)
Star Trek 8 (USA) (informal alternative title)
Star Trek VIII (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Borg (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Destinies (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Future Generations (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Generations II (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Renaissance (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Resurrection (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi adventure violence.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Italy:T | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Angeles National Forest, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The eyepiece of one of the Borg contains the front canopy of a 'Star Wars TIE Fighter' toy made by Kenner.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Worf confronts Picard on the bridge and declares that if "he [Picard] was any other man, he would kill him," Worf does not have his sash on. In the bridge scene where Picard decides to destroy the Enterprise Worf has his sash on. Possibly, when Worf was ordered off the bridge he went got it and put it on before returning.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Borg Queen: Locutus...
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Angry Video Game Nerd: Chronologically Confused About Sequel Titles (#1.15)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Vallon Sonore

The "Action" Entry

Many of the Star Trek Films have relied heavily on character interaction, dialogue, and suggested events to tell the story. Star Trek: First Contact breaks from this tradition by producing a sharp, fast paced action film that never relents from beginning to end. There are moments of reflection for the characters, but the movie has an inertia that makes the other entries in the franchise seem as if they plod along at five miles an hour. The result is one of the most satisfying films in the series.

Part of the appeal of Star Trek: First Contact, is that the central enemy is the Borg Collective, which has surpassed all other villainous races in the Star Trek universe in popularity. The central villain in this chapter is the Borg Queen, played by the chilly yet seductive Alice Krige. Krige is confident, convincing, and absolutely threatening in her performance, and seems to almost border on a character from a horror film. She lends an edge that is unique from other villains in the series, and is perfectly suited to the nature of the Borg. The design for both the Queen and the rest of the Borg is unsettling, and the story line and history of this race serves to illicit an emotional continuity between the events in the television show and the films.

Star Trek: First Contact probably has the widest appeal of all of the episodes, in much the same way as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home did in 1986. It is action packed, filled with decent visual effects, clearly plotted, and supplies a threatening villain. This is definitely the best Next Generation film to date, and one of the strongest movies in the entire series.