20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek: First Contact

20. It Had A Considerably Bigger Budget Than Generations

First Contact's final budget was set at $45 million, making it the most expensive film in the franchise up to this point, tied with the very first film in the series, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

After the release of The Motion Picture, the sequels received considerably smaller budgets, with First Contact's predecessor originally priced at a slender $25 million, before reshoots and overages pushed it to $35 million.

First Contact having $10 million more to play with allowed the production team to plan and stage more elaborate, effects-driven action sequences, as ultimately became a large part of the movie's mainstream appeal.

Its subsequent box office success prompted Paramount to drop a stonking $70 million on the direct sequel, Star Trek: Insurrection, which wasn't nearly as well-received either critically or commercially.