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MY RATING: 8.7

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

DIRECTED BY: Jonathan Frakes

STARRING: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: After a decisive battle with the Borg, The crew of the Enterprise-E travels to the year of First Contact in order to prevent the Borg from changing history.

PROS: Darker edge, excellent suspense, further development of Picard and Data.

CONS: Yet another time story, occasionally melodramatic.

BOTTOM LINE: Star Trek: First Contact took the franchise where no movie had gone before, and was one of the greatest films made to date.

The first thing you'll notice when watching First Contact is that it's darker and grittier then previous Star Trek films have been. This change was taken to the next level thirteen years later with J. J. Abram's Star Trek but in 1996 this made First Contact unique among its peers, going where no Star Trek film had gone before.

Apart from the darker edge to the film, the best part about the film is the suspense/horror elements of the film. Star Trek hasn't often indulged the horror genre, at least in the films, so the change of pace was refreshing. It also gave the Borg an added sense of evil, though I admit the Borg Queen was a bit odd.

The characters of Picard and Data were both significantly developed in this film. During the run of The Next Generation Picard was assimilated by the Borg, which one would think is a traumatizing event, though Picard didn't seem to show it. It was therefore nice to see the reaction, though delayed, in First Contact. Data is also brought closer to his goal of being human then ever before, and it is cool to see the inner conflict that this produces.

One of the trademarks of Star Trek is the time travel scenario. While this can be told in original ways, First Contact fits the usual pattern. This takes away from the originality of the story. Additionally, there are a few moments that become somewhat melodramatic. It is difficult to see what causes Melodrama. Let's just say that the character reactions don't always seem to fit the situation.

Though it is not my personal favorite, I cannot argue that Star Trek: First Contact is among the best Star Trek films made up to 1996.