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Star Trek - First Contact

Star Trek - First Contact

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $15.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: one of the best
Review: A Star Trek movie good enough for even non-Trekkies. Not as good as TWOK, but close enough. Lots of action, not too much corny Data dialog, and no Wesley!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best acted of the Trek films
Review: Reviewer: Reginald D. Garrard from Camilla, GA USA
Space battles and political intrigue may abound in contemporary sci-fi but the characters portrayed onscreen are remembered long after the last explosion or assassination occurs. "First Contact", the second feature with the cast of the "Next Generation" series stands out because of the brilliance of Patrick Stewart, Alfre Woodard, Alice Krige, and Oscar nominee James Cromwell. The verbal bouts between Stewart's "Picard" and Woodard's "Lilly" are flawless; Krige's seductive and malevolent Borg queen is villainy at its best; and Cromwell deftly portrays Zephraim Cochran, a scientist torn between his desire to complete the initial warp drive test and the adoration bestowed on him by the futuristic crew for his achievements.

Trek has always been more than just a story about space exploration; it is a tale of humanity and its ongoing improvement. The film shows all that is good about mankind, even if it's in the guise of a space opera.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good Concept, Ruined By a Huge Plot Hole
Review: I am most definitely a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and was one of the people there on opening weekend for each movie as it was released in theaters.

After the bomb that was Star Trek: Generations, I was hoping they'd improve and give us a movie with quality worthy of being an adventure with the TNG crew. But wishing doesn't make it so.

This movie gives us our first glimmer of the new Enterprise E, to replace the 1701-D, destroyed at the end of Generations. It is a pretty ship, worthy of the TNG crew, though a little less luxurious looking, and more functional.

It's going to be tested quickly, also, as Picard and crew are forced to face their toughest enemy from the past, the Borg collective, which seems to have become obsessed with taking over Earth and assimilating humanity. Only this time, they've decided to attack from a new angle - launching themselves into Earth's past, to assimilate humanity before they have the technology to resist.

A Borg cube manages to get to Earth, and launches a capsule at the planet, which heads back in time to when Cochrane was about to test the first warp drive - and make first contact with the Vulcans, bringing humanity into the level of a true space-faring race. The Enterprise attempts to chase down the capsule, and gets pulled back in time along with it, offering them a chance to prevent the Borg from destroying Cochrane, and keeping the planet from becoming just another part of the Borg collective.

So the crew must convince Cochrane to test the warp drive, after the Borg attack the launch site. During all of this, the Enterprise is slowly being consumed by the Borg, crew members becoming resources for the Borg, as the ship is assimilated, and the Borg try to erect a beacon to draw the collective of that era to Earth.

Overall, it seems like a great, quality Star Trek adventure. Until you take a few minutes and evaluate the plot.

Simply put, there is no reason that the Borg have to come to Earth to launch the capsule into the past. This could just as easily be done by the Borg launching the capsule into the past with all the information they have, only doing it at a planet they controlled at that point in the past also. Thus, they could tell the Borg of the past about Earth, and a cube could zip over to assimilate Earth at any point in the past they wanted.

Of course, this same technology would allow them to create an infinite loop of feedback - learn something, send it into the past Collective, which can integrate that into their knowledge before the original point at which they'd learned it, allowing them to learn something else instead, and so on. Meaning they could concievably learn everything they could possibly learn just by going through as many iterations of the loop as needed.

What does it all mean? Simply, that the whole concept is fundamentally flawed - that if the Borg had that ability of time travel, to use it in the manner done in the movie makes very little sense.

All in all, it means a possibly good movie is ruined by an unacceptably large plot hole. If you want your movie without gaping flaws in the story, well, look elsewhere.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nice recovery from a bad previous film.
Review: All of the areas where the last Star Trek film failed, this one excelled. From the start, by using the Borg as the established villain they were able to get right to the story/action rather than set up a mystery as to why.
The special effects were excellent, the plot was solid, and the overall story was interesting. All were things that the last film did not have ... at all.
The only possible downfall was the lack of explanation as to how Picard (Patrick Stewart) came to be so close to the Borg. I did not watch the television series as to explain why, but still was able to understand most of what was going on. I actually wanted to watch the series episodes concerning the abduction of Picard after watching the film, so obviously I was somewhat interested.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the best star trek movie ever filmed
Review: First I would like too say that I am not a star trek fan. In fact I hate star trek. But star trek first contact was the best star trek movie I've ever seen. I own the DVD version. The sound and picture are good. the story in star trek first contact while good and does not let up is nothing special.Time traveling as everyone knows has been done before in countless movies. Star trek first contact has everything from space battles to some comedy and a little drama. this great movie can be enjoyed by any star wars fan or babylon 5 fan. as for the villians in this movie they are called the borg (any true star trek fan knows who they are) but for those who do not know the borg they are cyborg like beings that take over everything that cross there path. you do not reason with them you do not talk to them you battle them. I just wish that they filmed more star trek movies like this. I hope that the up coming star trek nemesis movie is like this one or better but I myself am not going to put much hope as everytime I watch a star trek movie it is a big and I DO MEAN A BIG disappointment. I also recommend star trek deep space nine the way of the warrior part one and two. this can also be enjoyed by any fan of star wars or babylon 5.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: not the worst star trek ever
Review: I can put Insurrection that that spot. This one wasn't very good either. They destroyed the borg. And I ain't talking about blowing up one cube. The great thing about the borg was there single mindedness. Now, they, like so much of Trek are just wishy-washy. The film starts off with some action, but this ends quickly. With it goes any thought of further pleasure from this film. Cochrane is not the character he has been established to be. And, as much as I love Alfrie Woodard, she was stealing Beverly's line. Beverly should have been the one character to really confront Picard. Instead, she has probably the most "out of character" line in the movie. I did like Alice Krige as the borg queen, but the borg queen should never have been created. If they have time travel, why not go back to the past before they get to earth? Why not just send 100 borg cubes? Because Rick Berman doesn't care, and many Trek fans would rather have [junk] than lose it all. I LOVE Star Trek, but if it can't get better, just cancel it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: So far, it's at the top.
Review: I love the ST:TNG cast, so I am partail to which of the Star Trek movies I like. (I do respect the loyal fans of the original cast as well). This movie is, so far, my favorite movie. Maybe it's because Captain Picard finally gets his revenge (as far was we know) or maybe it's the way the movie was produced (congrats to Frakes on his dual hats he wears as actor and director for the film). The special effects (both computer effects and makeup design) were well done. And I'm happy with the story and character development. I think it's a disappointment when Hollywood pops out sequels with no believable character development since we've last seen them or a original story that hasn't been rehashed from earlier films in the collection.

Because the film is distributed on DVD it will display great picture quality as I'm sure the producers intended to be. It also won't wear down as quickly as tapes do, which is a good thing for those who like to watch and watch and watch until it's engrained into the subconscious. I think it's worth the money I spent on it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best Star Trek movie
Review: This is far and away the best Star Trek movie. What I liked best about it is the ultimately very positive and hopeful future that it envisions for humanity. "Disease and war, within 50 years, they'll all be gone." YES! And the movie ultimately explains how this will come to pass, in an entirely believable way that is consistent with "Star Trek history." Too bad they had to throw in another world war first...

I thought that the acting by all of the main characters was pretty good--some of their best. Great direction by Jonathan Frakes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
Review: Truly the BEST STTNG film of all time in which Picard must tackle his arch-enemy the Borg who have traveled back in time to prevent the birth of Starfleet.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 41/2 stars -clearly could benefit from a director's cut
Review: One of the strongest Trek films, First Contact is also flawed. Clearly there was footage cut from the film prior to release. Like Wrath of Khan, First Contact would benefit from a director's cut restoring some scenes. There are a number of scenes where the transitions are a bit awkward and it's clear that more character development and exposition is missing from this film than some of the other films in The Next Generation series.

While recycling the Moby Dick motif has received much criticism (it was used to great effect in Wrath of Khan), it works perfectly in First Contact. Picard's cool, controlled persona finally cracks here and for good reason; his character underwent emotional trauma. It's only natural that he would respond with anger and frustruation. Sure, we expect reason from Picard's character but this actually contributes to the Picard.

All of the characters benefit from the expanded screen time although, again, it does feel like there is more missing. Perhaps it was sacrificed to keep the pace of the film. Regardless, it wouldn't hurt to restore it to its rightful place. After all, it benefited Nicholas Meyer's Wrath and (for the most part)the reediting on ST:TMP also helped clarify and improve the narrative flow.

First Contact was an improvement over Generations. While that film is solid and entertaining, it always felt that it was made for television and not for the big screen. The epic element always has worked well for Trek when the big screen adventures were made. The same holds true here as well. With Nemesis coming out in December it's time that Paramount and director Jonathon Frakes return to First Contact and let it live up to its five star potential.


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