10 Things You Learn Revisiting Star Trek: First Contact For First Contact Day
April 5th, 2063 is the day Humanity first encounters the Vulcans. They made a little film about it!
Star Trek First Contact is easily the best of the Next Generation era films, standing head and shoulders above the others thanks to superior writing, acting and effects. It's got a truly engaging story with chills and thrills for all concerned. Even now, almost 25 years after its initial release, it finds new audiences thanks to the return of Picard on the small screen.
The film was important for many reasons. It expanded on the assimilation storyline from the Best of Both Worlds. It gave us the new Enterprise. It returned the Borg to a truly frightening and seemingly unstoppable force. It even tied the three franchises entries of the time together. Alice Krige entered the lists of superior Star Trek villains as the unsettling and erotic Borg Queen.
With a lot to cover in a short space of time, the film's pacing and delivery was the best of the four films starring Patrick Stewart et al. While the Wrath of Khan may still rank as the best overall Trek film, this film, along with the Undiscovered Country, make a trifecta of truly excellent film making, displaying the darker side of the Utopian future.
On the anniversary of First Contact, this list offers a few key points to both take away and enjoy from the eighth entry in the Star Trek film saga.
10. Why Is It So Good?
After the somewhat disappointing Star Trek Generations, the producers knew that they had to come back with something truly special if this new film series was to succeed. They had now lost the built in fanbase that the Original Series crew brought with them. While Generations was enough of a box office success to guarantee a sequel, franchise victory was far from a done deal.
What had worked in the past was a film that was a sequel to an episode. The Wrath of Khan was a sequel to Space Seed, from the Original Series. The decision was made to create a sequel to the Best of Both Worlds, which was and remains one of the Next Generations best stories.
This would offer Patrick Stewart the chance to show some of his best work to date as he deals with PTSD from his time in the collective. The plot was written to race while still keeping the character moments that Trek was used to. The Borg were always the baddies that would benefit the most from a big screen adaptation, allowing the audience to truly feel the scale of their massive ship and destructive power.
On top of the established excellent effects and character work, the film succeeds in introducing new protagonists to root for. Lily Sloane is one of the best additions to the series, bringing her no nonsense attitude to slap Jean Luc in the face with reality. Alfre Woodard owns the screen with every second. This was a film unlike the others. This one came to play.