Star Trek: First Contact - 5 Things That Worked And 5 That Didn't

2. Suspension Of Disbelief

When I say "suspension of disbelief," I'm not talking about the fact that you have to believe in starships, time travel, or alien races; it's more so that some of the characters and/or rules established in the Trek universe are bent so badly it temporarily throws you out of the movie. For example: Before he beams down to Earth, Geordi La Forge - allegedly brilliant engineer - dismissively tells one of his underlings to "check the environmental controls" because it's getting a little toasty in the Enterprise. McFly? Hello? In a tightly controlled environment like the Enterprise - which is technically called life support - the environmental controls being even just a tad off should not only be a big deal that requires immediate attention by its Chief Engineer, but should also be a tipoff that the Borg are on the ship. If the environment goes from "toasty" to "broil", the crew of the Enterprise isn't going to have to worry about the Borg. In fact, as the Borg are shown later to be outside on the deflector dish without any life support gear, it makes one wonder why they just didn't turn it off altogether and leisurely assimilate the rest of the ship. Another example? Lily takes a phaser away from Picard - set to kill no less - and she's apparently able to fire it by Picard's reaction. Yet, she shouldn't be able to. In the 21st century we're starting to develop weapons that won't fire unless they're biometrically matched to the user€”you're telling me in the 24th century, all phasers aren't coded to operate only if the person holding it is authorized to? One could argue that it's an unnecessary precaution... yet in a future where you have these immensely powerful computers that run everything, why not have that safeguard in place so your own weapons can't be used against you? It's not solely a First Contact or even a Star Trek issue€”writers of all mediums conveniently bend or forget the established rules of the fictional universe when it benefits the story€”but the little things detract slightly from an otherwise well-crafted narrative.