10 Things You Learn Revisiting Star Trek: First Contact For First Contact Day

The ship that was designed to beat the Borg finally gets its chance in the this film but it is a disastrous meeting. Captained by Worf, the ship races to Earth to fight but is outmatched and outgunned by the Cube, though survives long enough to be saved by the Enterprise.

There was a bit of controversy around the Defiant's cameo. Worf had to come back for the film as, though he was now a regular on Deep Space Nine, he was very much a part of the Next Generation crew as well. So, it made sense to have him meet the crew in battle. But, he had to arrive on the Enterprise and so the Defiant was written to be destroyed. That would create some fairly large issues with Deep Space Nine which was not only on the air but was also ramping up toward the Dominion War, during which that ship would be badly needed.

The decision was made instead to overpower the Defiant, allowing the Enterprise to rescue the crew and leave it adrift in space. It's not the most satisfying moment when one considers the importance of that tough little ship in the Trek franchise. Its later destruction at the hands of the Breen was one of the more heart-wrenching moments of the series.

The fact she was treated with little respect here wasn't the best moment of inter-series camaraderie. However, it was fantastic to see the ship on the big screen, even if only for a few moments.