Star Trek: First Contact
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that I’ve always been a bit more of a “Star Wars” fan than a “Star Trek” fan. That being said, there are a handful of the “Star Trek” films I’ve enjoyed watching over the years, and 1996’s “First Contact,” the first one to feature the crew of the “Next Generation” TV show exclusively, is one of those films.
I’m not about to get into a debate over which part of the franchise was better– original crew or “Next Generation” both have their strong points, and compelling characters all around. However, you ask which character is better between William Shatner’s Admiral Kirk and Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, and you might as well throw a hand grenade into the middle of a firefight; that’s how volatile things get. In a lot of head-to-heads, I think you’d find the original crew come out on top, but the Next Gen crew is probably the most diverse and fascinating group, and in “First Contact,” even if you’ve never seen an episode of “Next Generation,” it’s very easy to find yourself drawn in by the characters, and subsequently, the story. And as written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Jonathan Frakes, “First Contact” has not only a great “Star Trek” story, but a great sci-fi story, in general.
The film begins with Jean-Luc Picard having a nightmare about the Borg, a collective of half-human, half-machine beings who attack species through assimilation, a form of bringing others into their “hive mind.” Captain Picard has a unique perspective on the Borg, having once been assimilated himself. Now, the Borg is attacking the Federation, only Picard and the Enterprise are being kept out of the fighting as a result of his history. He is unable to stay away for long, though, because a group of Borg have traveled back in time in an attempt to change history, and undo the Federation forever. You see, in the early 21st century, a scientist and engineer by the name of Zefram Cochran (James Cromwell) develops the first warp technology, and during a landmark launch, is the one who makes first contact with alien life. This unites humanity like never before, bringing on the peace responsible for the Federation. Picard and his crew have to make sure that launch occurs, although the Borg, led by their queen (Alice Krige), have some surprises in store to keep the crew on it’s toes.
It didn’t occur to me until watching it again this morning that this has a lot of similarities in story structure to “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” widely considered one of the best “Trek” films. The Enterprise must travel back in time, and figure out a way to preserve a piece of the past, in both films, to save mankind’s future. Culture clash bits of humor ensue, although in “Voyage Home,” it was more overt, topical comedy. And as with Kirk, Picard becomes attached to one of the people (Lily, played by the great Alfre Woodard) who will bring forth this new era for man, although it’s not necessarily a romantic connection, but one of the mind. I can see why some people prefer Picard over Kirk– as played by Stewart, Picard is a cerebral captain, more oriented in his mind, so that when he does something impulsive, neither the characters, nor the audience, really see it coming. I can’t imagine anyone else in either this, or the other roles, for the “Next Generation” crew, whether you’re talking about Riker (Frakes); Geordi (played by LeVar Burton); Data (the superb Brent Spiner, given one of the more interesting arcs in the film); or Worf, the Klingon Federation leader played by Michael Dorn. Of course, six years ago, people were saying the same thing before J.J. Abrams and his expert cast changed the game. Still, one hopes that the reboot of the “Trek” universe will start creating new characters instead of just telling tales of characters we already know. After all, with the “Next Generation” crew in 1987, the “Trek” universe expanded into something much larger, and as the years have passed, “Trek” has moved into rarefied air as one of the bigger genre worlds in the history of science fiction.
