Star Trek: First Contact

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Several days ago, I found myself browsing the rows and rows of DVDs at Astrovision in SM North Edsa when I chanced upon a copy of Star Trek: First Contact (ST:FC). What's a self respecting trekkie to do? What would any trekkie do for that matter? Well, needless to say I bought it, another DVD to add to my already sizeable collection of Star Trek series and movies.

Image hosted by Photobucket.comST:FC, originally released in 1996, is the eighth Star Trek movie and the first to revolve solely on the characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This also has to be my favorite movie in the entire series.

In it, the crew of the Enterprise-E led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard thwart the attempts of a malevolent cybernetic alien race known as the Borg from going back in time and preventing a key moment in human history - Zefram Cochrane's historical first warp flight. This event was a turning point in human history, and led to first contact with the Vulcans. This meeting of two races ushered in a new age of peace, prosperity and exploration which led to the founding of the Federation and of Starfleet. If the Borg succeeded in preventing humanity's first warp flight and thus altering the timeline, it would have led to an alternate future wherein the Borg have completely assimilated Earth and the entire human population.

The movie, in summary, is a thoughtful depiction of the confrontation between Starfleet's best represented by its flagship and the highly adaptive Borg who are bent on assimilating Earth and humanity at all costs. The plot is well written, the special effects astounding, and the movie as a whole quite entertaining, better than the average Trek movie. In fact, this is probably one of the few Trek movies which are able to successfully cross over and appeal to a broader audience, not just die-hard trekkies.

All in all, ST:FC is a very good sci-fi yarn on its own, and epitomizes a very well thought out and made installment when set against the events of the entire Trek universe. It's just good old sci-fi storytelling in the finest Trek tradition. If you're a trekkie, do yourself a favor and get a copy.

The DVD version consists of two discs, one containing the movie itself, and a second disc chock full of special features, including production notes, interviews, trailers, etc. Perfect for the trivia buff. :-)

Now if I can only find a copy of Star Trek: Generations. :-)

Other Star Trek blog entries:

My own Star Trek awards....
The trekkie in me....
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series review....

Comments

Jepoy said…
First Contact is far the best Trek movie for me. We had a Laser Disc copy before. Too bad someone borrowed it and never returnd the disc.
October 09, 2005 7:23 PM
Ronald Allan said…
It happens. So I learned to threaten anyone who borrows my Trek DVDs without returning them with a phaser set on kill. :-)
October 09, 2005 8:56 PM
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