I officially began my journey through all Star Trek on October 9th...
- Thread starter Shalashaska
- Start date
Ugggh, such a bad episode.
That is a particularly bad and stupid episode. I think even the writers were embarrassed by it. One of DS9's worst. Be happy the season only goes up from here. Season 5 is all about the back half. And it gets really good. Begining with "For The Uniform" the show starts a climb that largely does not stop until the end of season 7. There are really only 1 bad episode and maybe 2 or 3 soso ones remaining. (be warned the bad one is DS9's entry into the top 5 all time bad trek episodes. It's not quite Threshold... but it tries. It's a whole different level of ick from Threshold or Sub Rosa.)
To be fair, they say they would want a second crack at it.
But Dax in swimwear! Just saying...
"We swear if you would just let us rewrite it we can write Terry Farrell into a bikini!"
And we'll also send Kira!
Star Trek: First Contact
6.5/10
A big improvement over Generations. What's my first impression? Well, the music was gorgeous. The score as a whole is good, but there are a few really great pieces that stand out very much in my mind. The main reason for this score being so good is a wonderfully majestic and sweeping main theme that is used well throughout the film. It really made a few scenes for me, namely First Contact with the Vulcans. Bring it back as the intro music for Star Trek: Discovery! The Klingon theme returns in this film as some kind of cue for Worf, and it's as heroic as ever! And of course, the Theme from The Motion Picture is brought back for the end credits.
The film, I think Frakes did a good job as director. The action is well-directed, light on it's feet and confident, the guest actors in Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell and Alice Krige all put in great performances, and it's just a good-looking movie, it's cinematic and doesn't feel like an extended episode of TNG like Generations did.
I love the new uniforms, they're a nice hybrid between the working man's uniform from DS9, VOY and Generations, and the more formal uniforms in the original crew films. I like Geordi's new android eyes, that visor was beginning to look clunky after seven years in action. I like the Enterprise-E. Not sure if I like it more than the D, but it's better suited for the big screen and looks like a real monster of a ship. Looks less like a ship for exploration and more like a ship for combat if you ask me.
And there's the segue to my next point. It's a fairly well-made action film that I'm sure you could definitely enjoy, but I'm not so sure if it stands up well to scrutiny or analysis. Like Generations, it didn't exactly feel like the TNG crew of the Enterprise. Well, it did, but... you know, it's different. Picard and Data are the big two, Riker was relegated to a supporting character along with the rest of the characters outside of those two. The plot as a whole doesn't give me any good feelings, time travel stories always hurt my brain whenever I give them more than a moment's thought. The writing is, I don't know, like I said, the film is nice on the surface, but I can't say I didn't notice a few strange plot holes and inconsistent writing (and I'm writing all this only an hour after finishing the movie, I'm sure I'll have more on my mind by tomorrow).
Why did the Borg try to assimilate the Enterprise? Why didn't they just beam down to Earth and wreak havoc in the comfort of knowing they won't have to deal with any 24th century beings trying to ruin their plan? Why was Picard so weird? Picard isn't Ahab, he doesn't go on away missions, he doesn't risk his life walking around on the exterior of the Enterprise with a group of Borg nearby. One moment he says "Mr. Redshirt, please don't shoot near the thing or it'll blow up and take the Enterprise with it!", one moment later we see Picard shooting right at the thing after just saying not to shoot at the thing. He's pretty obviously the Ahab character of this story, except Picard doesn't kill things just for the sake of killing and revenge. I, Borg would like to have a word with those writers. And why does he get so angry and shouty so often? I gave it a pass in Generations, now I'm wondering why they turned Picard into an anger-fueled man of action in these films.
Why did the Borg try to kill Cochrane instead of just staying in the comfy Delta Quadrant and stocking the past Borg up with their modern technology and advancements? There was a million other things they could have done with their Borg time machine to easily assimilate humanity and wipe the Federation off the map than going toward the 24th century Alpha Quadrant. Shit, why didn't they go back to the beginning of the Universe and literally be the Universe, form it around their own image? Why are the Borg so dumb? Who the fuck is this Queen and where was she hiding all this time?
Silly things like that. Things I'm wondering about like "how did the writers think they could just get away with that?".
Maybe that's just me being too cynical, I did enjoy the film. It was a whole lot better than Generations. I'm just not sure if I can look back as fondly at it with those things in mind as I can with most of the original series films.
After you watch Insurrection look up Michael Pillers unpublished book about his time writing for Star Trek, especially the movies. It's very insightful and answers several of your points in regards to Picard and Data. I can't recall the title at the moment but a google search will find it. I got it off these forums years ago.
Also, I'm somewhat personally offended at how weak the Defiant looked next to the Enterprise.
It didn't hurt my head as much as it hurt my heart
Especially since the Defiant was specifically built to fight the Borg, one of the rare pure combat vessels in Trek.
There's rumours that the people making DS9 weren't happy about it either, which is why FC was unreferenced in the show.
The impression I got was the battle lasted several days (the time it would take the Enterprise to travel from the neutral zone to Earth) so I really don't think the Defiant did too badly considering dozens or hundreds of other ships were destroyed while it kept fighting.
It often feels as if the movies and VOY diverged from DS9 (or vice-versa, if you like).
I've thought myself that Picard being more of an action hero in the TNG movies seemed somewhat out of character for him.
Well, the Enterprise only won because Picard was playing in god mode.
Originally the movie folks planned on destroying the Defiant. Behr had a stroke over that and went all Sisco on them.Also, I'm somewhat personally offended at how weak the Defiant looked next to the Enterprise.
It didn't hurt my head as much as it hurt my heart
First contact is a lot like Star Trek 2009. Great fun and well paced, so long as you don't stop and think too hard on it.
As for why the Borg have such a hard on for Earth and want to go back in time to destroy it...
They've met Janeway. You will find this is a common theme with any Delta Quadrant species that has the misfortune to have dealings with the Insane Pirate Queen and her crew of tormented and damned souls.
Last edited:
First Contact is definitely the best of the TNG movies. I don't hate Insurrection as much as most seem to, and I've warmed up a little to Nemesis over the years, but FC just seemed to get most of the ingredients right. I think Star Trek on the big screen works best as an action film - obviously the beauty of Trek is that it can be action, it can be high brow Science Fiction, it can be pulp SF, it can be an allegory for the political and social issues of the day, it can be funny, it can be scary, and it is frequently all of those things on TV, but in the cinema action is what puts bums on seats. They've tried other approaches, but they never really work. TMP tried the thoughtful high brow SF (and I love it for that), but it failed in the cinemas. The Voyage Home was funny (and very successful), but verged on being a farce in places (and obviously not every Trek movie could be a comedy, else it'd turn into Star Trek: Police Academy). Final Frontier and Insurrection feel the closest in tone to the series they spawned from, and again neither were particularly well received (TFF rightly so, as it was a badly-directed, badly-written, cheap looking mess. Insurrection to me feels like a decent 2-part TNG episode, and I enjoy it on that basis, but I see why a lot of people don't). The rest of the movies stick to the action, and are the better for it, though that's not to say they're all great movies (Nemesis and Into Darkness, I'm looking at you).
Picard's shift from the thoughtful diplomat to the Kirk-type action hero I believe came from Patrick Stewart himself, who demanded more for Picard to do in the movies. The inclusion of the Borg Queen was the result of TPTB wanting one central villain to 'defeat', and the implication was that she was there all along, pulling strings behind the scenes.
I was also a touch disappointed with how the Defiant appeared to have been treated, but as others had mentioned, we don't know how long the battle had been going on for and she was still salvageable by the time the E swooped in to rescue the crew (of which Worf was the only regular cast member, despite the entire senior staff of DS9 manning the ship pretty much every other time she left the station). As Riker said, "Tough little ship".
The score is absolutely beautiful, I'm a big fan of Jerry Goldsmith anyway, especially the work he's done on Trek (the TMP/TNG theme, the wonderful discordant V'Ger theme from TMP, his Klingon theme), but this was the only movie I felt compelled to buy the soundtrack to. The section when Picard takes the Enterprise away from the Neutral Zone into the battle with the Borg is fantastic, we get a sort of fanfare of a rearranged snippet of the TMP/TNG theme as the E warps off, a sense of hopelessness and despair from the music that's playing as the Borg are decimating the fleet, the Klingon theme used as a hero's theme for Worf as he's about to ram the Cube, a reprise of the the TNG theme as the Enterprise arrives and then a tense 'preparation for battle' type theme with marching drums as Picard takes over and gives his instructions to the fleet. It's really quite remarkable:
Picard's shift from the thoughtful diplomat to the Kirk-type action hero I believe came from Patrick Stewart himself, who demanded more for Picard to do in the movies. The inclusion of the Borg Queen was the result of TPTB wanting one central villain to 'defeat', and the implication was that she was there all along, pulling strings behind the scenes.
You'd better get used to the idea, because it won't be the last time you see her.
I was also a touch disappointed with how the Defiant appeared to have been treated, but as others had mentioned, we don't know how long the battle had been going on for and she was still salvageable by the time the E swooped in to rescue the crew (of which Worf was the only regular cast member, despite the entire senior staff of DS9 manning the ship pretty much every other time she left the station). As Riker said, "Tough little ship".
The score is absolutely beautiful, I'm a big fan of Jerry Goldsmith anyway, especially the work he's done on Trek (the TMP/TNG theme, the wonderful discordant V'Ger theme from TMP, his Klingon theme), but this was the only movie I felt compelled to buy the soundtrack to. The section when Picard takes the Enterprise away from the Neutral Zone into the battle with the Borg is fantastic, we get a sort of fanfare of a rearranged snippet of the TMP/TNG theme as the E warps off, a sense of hopelessness and despair from the music that's playing as the Borg are decimating the fleet, the Klingon theme used as a hero's theme for Worf as he's about to ram the Cube, a reprise of the the TNG theme as the Enterprise arrives and then a tense 'preparation for battle' type theme with marching drums as Picard takes over and gives his instructions to the fleet. It's really quite remarkable:
Last edited:
Yes, you are too cynical. Star Trek 8 is the best of all TNG-Movies and you have just to accept it like it is. Maybe it is an action movie, yes, maybe it is missing its spirit from the series itself, yes, but it has his heart and his attitude on the right spot.
In my opinion there are 2 iconically scenes:
Enterprise gets feedback about contact in battle with the borg. Picard feels the danger of the Borg, doesn't accept orders and flys to earth. He rescues Worf and Defiant. You have to see Trois's face in moment, when Picard take command of the fleet, it is one of the best scenes. He makes his orders, wait for a few seconds and give the command to fire at this particular spot, unpriceable. In this moment he is a man with principles, there is not a hesitation, there is just wild decisiveness.
The woman from the other century convinces Picard to blow up the ship to destroy the borg. Dont need to describe anything, just watch the few minutes in the mentioned Link.
This are scenes, you can watch 3 times in a row and you will always find new things in it. They are the best of the best, and this makes the movie itself a very good one.
TNG The first contact is really one of the best movies after The Wrath of Khan and part 6.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, DS9 didn't handle this character well and I think it was a mistake to bring Worf to DS9.
I think First Contact is arguably one of Jerry Goldsmith's finer scores. Just sweeping and majestic. All the more bittersweet because it is the one he collaborated on with his son Joel, who also sadly passed away at a young age a few years ago. You probably know Joel best for his beautiful scores for Stargate Atlantis.
You're not being cynical. TNG's my favorite series, but the movies didn't do it justice. I thought FC was ok when it came out and enjoy it still, but that it's the best of the TNG movies (by far) doesn't mean it's a spectacular film.
I want to say, I'm enjoying your journey through Trek; thanks for letting us in on it. It's amazing to me how much I'm remembering having similar reactions to yours, and I think it is spectacular that your watching it all in the "right" order.
Where do you get your Trek info from? I'm often surprised how informed you seem to be going into eps/series.
I want to say, I'm enjoying your journey through Trek; thanks for letting us in on it. It's amazing to me how much I'm remembering having similar reactions to yours, and I think it is spectacular that your watching it all in the "right" order.
Where do you get your Trek info from? I'm often surprised how informed you seem to be going into eps/series.
Everybody, hear these words of wisdom!
Similar threads
