The 14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek First Contact

13. Data's Bullet Time

Star Trek: First Contact
Paramount

Data may not be faster than a speeding bullet, but in this movie, he’s certainly as impervious to bullets as the man from Krypton, as Lily unloads a hail of ammo from her automatic weapon and while his clothing is perforated, Data is unharmed.

Is his skin made of Kevlar?

Just how impervious to harm is Data anyway? Even on TNG his abilities and limitations vary by the needs of a given episode, so expecting small matters of continuity to carry over into the movies is probably pointless. But, for those paying attention, in “Thine Own Self” a spear is driven through Data's back. Sparks fly, and he falls to the ground. And in “Time’s Arrow,” one Samuel Clemens pulls a revolver on Data and the android stops in his tracks.

Is this dumb? Well, it makes Data into a Swiss Army knife capable of whatever the writer wants in a given moment. And that's pretty dumb.

 
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Contributor

Maurice is one of the founders of FACT TREK (www.facttrek.com), a project dedicated to untangling 50+ years of mythology about the original Star Trek and its place in TV history. He's also a screenwriter, writer, and videogame industry vet with scars to show for it. In that latter capacity he game designer/writer on the Sega Genesis/SNES "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Crossroads of Time" game, as well as Dreamcast "Ecco the Dolphin, Defender of the Future" where Tom Baker performed words he wrote.