First Contact - 20 Year Anniversary
- Thread starter Horizons96
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It's funny growing up in the 90s I remember theaters being sold out all the time....I vividly remember the theater being packed if not sold out for Generations and First Contact. I can't remember the last time I ever saw a movie be sold out in the last decade or so...a sign of how movie viewership has changed.
That being said, First Contact was at the time and probably remains my all time favorite Star Trek movie. I think I saw it in theaters six or seven times. It's somewhat sad watching it now because at the time it seemed like the franchise was going to go on for years and the TNG movies were only just starting.
I still want to know why the Borg used a drill bit to enter Picards eye and not a hollow probe or something, where they planning some torture as that seemed inefficient.
First Contact is occasionally fun (though hideously shot and directed), but there is absolutely nothing qualifying it as a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant film," which are the criteria of the National Film Registry.
I don't need a bunch of bureaucrats telling me what is and what isn't. For me at least, First Contact most certainly IS culturally, historically and aesthetically significant. So much so, that I've got planned a special little ritual this coming night of the 28th, the 20 year anniversary of not only my country's release, but my experience watching it.
Photos can be expected.
First Contact is great fun. It's a bit flawed, but it is so much fun and has a great level of intensity, that any of its nitpicky sins are easily forgivable.
I remember seeing this movie on opening night with a large group of friends. I worked 2 minutes from the theater, so I went and bought tickets at my lunch break for everyone. There was a woman in line at the box office in front of me who bought 30 tickets for the same show I went to. Very cool!
I remember really enjoying it, but also being just a little disappointed. I think the scale of the movie felt a little small (particularly the battle against the cube), especially after the epic "Best of Both Worlds," and I've rarely been a fan of time travel in Star Trek. One of the best scenes in the movie franchise is the observation lounge scene between Stewart and Woodard. No special effects, no aliens, just two great actors and a lot of intensity.
It is arguably the best of the TNG films, and I like it better than TUC and TVH as well, which are my bottom two TOS movies.
I remember seeing this movie on opening night with a large group of friends. I worked 2 minutes from the theater, so I went and bought tickets at my lunch break for everyone. There was a woman in line at the box office in front of me who bought 30 tickets for the same show I went to. Very cool!
I remember really enjoying it, but also being just a little disappointed. I think the scale of the movie felt a little small (particularly the battle against the cube), especially after the epic "Best of Both Worlds," and I've rarely been a fan of time travel in Star Trek. One of the best scenes in the movie franchise is the observation lounge scene between Stewart and Woodard. No special effects, no aliens, just two great actors and a lot of intensity.
It is arguably the best of the TNG films, and I like it better than TUC and TVH as well, which are my bottom two TOS movies.
Yeah this mirrors my feelings towards the film, I was expecting to see a post apocalyptic 21st century earth when the crew got there then when i saw the small scale sets I was quite disappointed. It all looked so generic and penny pinched. I positively HATED the enterprise sets too, they all looked so plasticy compared to the D and I think the film as a result has aged worse than generations, which was shot beautifully.
The film cracks on at a fair lick though and is arguably the fastest paced trek movie before the reboots. Most of the humour hits it's mark, unlike insurrection and there's some decent action and drama here. Great score too.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was sold out when I went to see that in 2003. I ended up seeing Bad Santa instead.
The Dark Knight Rises sold out a few customers ahead of me in line its opening weekend. That was on a Saturday night. I ended up going the following night, though I contemplated going early Sunday morning.
That's my exact feeling -- occasionally fun, poorly shot and directed. On top of that, the story is a tonal mess; the stuff with Cochrane doesn't belong in the same film as the Aliens-esque techno horror stuff. Narratively and visually, it's not an ambitious film; it's a television-scale film that was accidentally shot in 35mm.
Well, that's how Frakes works as a director -- he really has no visual eye. Neither did Nimoy, of course.
Generally speaking (and considering the amount of education required to become a librarian), I'm not aware of librarians being referred to as bureaucrats. And it is a whole bunch of librarians who make the final selections each year for the National Film Registry.
The films are selected every year by the members of the National Film Preservation Board, which draws from industry professionals, archivists, scholars, and filmmakers (Martin Scorsese, Alfre Woodard, and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel are among the current board members).
Yes, we love Star Trek. Star Trek is fun, and occasionally it has something meaningful to say (usually delivered in a manner about as subtle as a brick with a lemon slice tied to it). That does not mean that the Trek movies fit any definition of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." TV was where Trek truly made its mark.
Yes, we love Star Trek. Star Trek is fun, and occasionally it has something meaningful to say (usually delivered in a manner about as subtle as a brick with a lemon slice tied to it). That does not mean that the Trek movies fit any definition of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." TV was where Trek truly made its mark.
Agreed. Nimoy's direction in Star Trek III is astonishingly flat. I think Nimoy and Frakes both do a better job behind the camera with their second Star Trek films, but the location filming they both had in those films masks some of their deficiencies. There's a reason I put them at the bottom of the Trek directors list.
I've sometimes wondered what a Levar Burton First Contact would have been like. It would have had the same story problems, obviously, but Burton's film would have been more visually interesting than Frakes'.
CHER as the Borg Queen???
Yikes! Talk about dodging a bullet! I had a small local "art house" theater sell out of seats for Tommy Wiseau's "The Room" a few people ahead of me a few weeks back
but a major theater? I don't think I've had that happen in years.BTW, for big movies, I'll go to a matinee. Usually less crowded.
Yes, it had an absolutely gorgeous score. That is often overlooked.
I think First Contact's theme (which is great) often gets conflated with its entire score. Goldsmith wasn't exactly turning in masterworks in the last decade or so of his career, and outside of that majestic theme, First Contact's score is ... well, pretty close to the sonic wallpaper that so many people complain about.
The musical score of FC is one of the best Trek movie scores. I have the CD and love it to bits so much so that I play it when I go to sleep sometimes as I find the music relaxing.
plus the AFL (Australian Football League) has used some of the music for some promotional stuff over the years and it's amazing the number of odd places you hear some of the music from First Contact, or even Star Trek in general..
I'd love to know of other places or programs that have used Star Trek music.
On the movie itself I love the movie but it does feel like a TV episode made for the cinema if that makes sense. It just doesn't have the feel or look of a movie you would see at a cinema.
plus the AFL (Australian Football League) has used some of the music for some promotional stuff over the years and it's amazing the number of odd places you hear some of the music from First Contact, or even Star Trek in general..
I'd love to know of other places or programs that have used Star Trek music.
On the movie itself I love the movie but it does feel like a TV episode made for the cinema if that makes sense. It just doesn't have the feel or look of a movie you would see at a cinema.
The music was the best thing about that film.
For the anniversary this guy has done a metal cover of the soundtrack.
The first contact music starts at 1:50
For the anniversary this guy has done a metal cover of the soundtrack.
The first contact music starts at 1:50
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No confusion on my part. I believe the entire soundtrack to be very good. Not as good as TMP and TFF...but very good.
I didn't realize how bad a tonal mess the movie was for years after seeing the film, not until I got the ten-movie DVD set. I had somehow gotten the impression the Cochrane Follies and the Zombie Borg storylines interacted at some point, but they're really both off in their own little films and just wave to one another briefly near the end.
I suppose it's not something that has to be fixed per se, any more than Kirk and Khan need to do more than eat scenery at each other over the view screen. But it does give this impression of the movie being more casually thrown-together than is probably good for it.
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