Cast
Picard: Patrick Stewart
Riker: Jonathon Frakes
Data: Brent Spiner
Worf: Micheal Dorn
Crusher: Gates McFadden
LaForge: LeVar Burton
Troi: Marina Sirtis
Barclay: Dwight Schultz
EMH: Robert Picardo
Zefram Cochrane: James Cromwell
Lily: Alfre Woodard
Borg Queen: Alice Krige.
Directed by: Jonathon Frakes; Screenplay by Brannon Braga and Ronald Moore
Released:November 22, 1996. Domestic Gross: $92 million
My Rating: *****. Position on Top Twenty: #3.
Plot
Picard gets a communication form Starfleet alerting them to a Borg invasion.
The new Enterprise-E is not ordered to battle, but to the Neutral Zone. The reason is that
Picard's history is considered an unstable element concerning the Borg. After the Fleet
begins to lose, Picard orders the Enterprise into battle anyway. The ensuing conflict is short and
spectacular. The Borg cube is destroyed, but a sphere is launched toward Earth.
Of course, one of the ships the Enterprise rescued is the Defiant, with Worf in
command. He joins the crew of the Enterprise as they follow the Borg sphere toward
Earth. Then, the sphere generates a time vortex, which allows them to assimilate
Earth in the past. Naturally, the Enterprise follows to stop them. They succeed in destroying
the sphere, but not before some damage could be done to the surface; and not before
a few doomed Borg manage to beam to the Enterprise.
It turns out that their position in time is on the eve of "First Contact" with the Vulcans,
and Zefram Cochrane, the man who made that contact, may be dead. Picard, Data, Crusher and a security team beam
down, and find the ship intact. They beam Lily, Cochrane's friend, to the Enterprise. However, Cochrane is nowhere in sight.
Then, Picard, as a result of his assimilation, hears the "Borg song". They managed to live.
He and Data beam up while an engineering team, Riker, and Troi beam down. Then, the Borg cut the
ship off from the away team.
The action ensuing deals with Picard's fight to destroy the Borg, and Data's capture and assimilation.
The Borg Queen seduces Data, giving him Human flesh. In the end, Picard decides to set the self-destruct,
(a very Kirk-esque move), and leave. But, he stays to get Data.
The last scenes are tense, with Riker, LaForge, and Cochrane launching the warp flight, and Data firing on the ship.
The torpedoes miss, just as the ship jumps to warp. Then, Data and Picard defeat the Borg Queen. Humanity's future is
once again ensured.
My Comments
This is the best of the best! My favorite of all the Trek movies. The action and claustrophobic tension makes
this movie worth watching. It rocks. Frakes, as director moves the movie along at a brisk pace, only explaining new
things when needed. This was the movie which truly revived the Trek Franchise.
Once again, cameos were awesome. Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips (both from Voyager) and Dwight Schultz shine in their
little roles. And Frakes puts Picard through the wringer, making him face the Borg, and especially the Queen. His biggest fear
is confronted, and Picard is better after the experience.
This movie also showcases the newest character; the Enterprise-E. She's beautiful beyond words. The best Enterprise of the set.
Thank God they didn't destroy her.
Data is also one of the main stories, as he was in Generations. He has emerged in the movies almost like the Spock of the Originals.
The story lines of Picard and Data are refined and showcased, just like the Kirk and Spock story lines were. The rest of the crew may have its
moments, but Picard and Data are the focal points of the movie.
Okay, they released the Collector's Edition of this one, and it has answered all my prayers. The features are excellent, the interviews are excellent. This is the best movie they have done. Yes, Wrath of Khan is my favorite, but this one is so technically perfect, and it just feels better than the other films. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted, and it translated so well on the screen. Rick Berman actually said this was the best of the four they did as the Next Gen crew. I agree.
When this film was released in 1996, I went and saw it like a week after it opened. I can still remember sitting in the theatre and being totally blown away. I have since seen it way too many times to count, but I intend to watch it more often now that I have it on dvd. The thrill of watching each scene still gets me, even after watching it so many times. That's the mark of a great movie. If you can see it many times, and still love it, then it deserves to be had and be a great movie. Its the same with the Princess Bride for me. If I can still watch it and laugh, get giddy over it, and even be shocked by the cheap thrills, its a great movie.
