Star Trek - First Contact (1996)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Michael E

  
  no one knows if cyborg technology is possible, but if it is, then Star Trek the Next Generation is what gave us one of our first glimpses at this idea, and with the First Contact, they go full force with it. First Contact revolves around Captain Jean Luc Picard of the U.S.S.… More
  no one knows if cyborg technology is possible, but if it is, then Star Trek the Next Generation is what gave us one of our first glimpses at this idea, and with the First Contact, they go full force with it. First Contact revolves around Captain Jean Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise having constant flashbacks to his time when he was Locutus, his Borg Persona. While these flashbacks are happening, the Borg are starting to strike back and go for the ultimate blow, they go back in time to stop man having first contact with the Vulcan Race, so its up to Picard and his team from the series to go back in time to fight his old enemy. The whole cast from the show returns in this film like in Generations and the two sequels after this, and they all do their usual great jobs, especially Patrick Stewart as Picard. Stewart was always one of my favorite actors and he always played my favorite captain out of the two main captains from the two main series, and here he goes all out because this movie mainly focuses on him and his struggles with the borg. The two new actors are JAmes Cromwell, Alice Krige, and Alfre Woodard and they all do very well for one time characters in this film. James Cromwell does very good at playing the alcoholic pilot Zefram, he's both a funny character and a serious character just being a drunk trying to make sense of everything, and Woodard does a good job as his best friend who is stuck on the Borg ship trying to get out. Though the one person who steals the show in terms of newcomers is Alice Krige as the Borg Queen, she is just chillingly well acted and she is up there with some of the creepiest villains of all time. You may have known Krige as Morgana in the Sorcerers Apprentice or Christabella in the Silent Hill movie, which she also does very creepily well. The villains in general are also very creepy and many points in the movie actually scared me and they made the film feel like a horror movie and though I will admit that that feels weird for a star trek movie, it is very well done. Though many of the Star Trek movies are very slow films and are very long with very little amounts of big entertainment value, but to me, this is the most entertaining of the star trek movies, and while I like Generations, Search for Spock, and think that Journey Home is funny, they just don't hold a candle to the entertainment that this movie gives to the viewer. The effects look great, the characters are well acted and developed, the action is spectacular, the film has some good comedic moments, and the entertainment value is fantastic. If you can see any star trek movies, see this one. My overall rating 4.5*s out of 5

• xGary X

  
  The greatest nemesis of the federation, the Borg attempt to assimilate Earth in this hugely enjoyable addition to the Trek franchise. There are some great effects, and director Frakes had obviously done his homework; the space battle is spectacular (if a little brief), and he cleverly… More
  The greatest nemesis of the federation, the Borg attempt to assimilate Earth in this hugely enjoyable addition to the Trek franchise. There are some great effects, and director Frakes had obviously done his homework; the space battle is spectacular (if a little brief), and he cleverly chooses to transform the sterile, neon-lit corridors of the Enterprise into the kind of gloomy, atmospheric locations that would not look out of place on the Nostromo. The Borg are rightful favourites from the series, a seriously creepy race of "bionic zombies" who can assimilate their enemies through touch and render their weapons useless. It's also nice how the characters are given shades of grey, notably Picards almost pathological hatred of them and Data's "seduction" at the hands of the coldly fascistic Borg queen. It does have it's weak points; while all the best characters are battling robotic corpses through darkened corridors (cool), the crap ones are all planet side indulging in feeble comic relief (about as cool as Celine Dion covering "Achy breaky heart" in bri-nylon slacks and sewn-in mittens.) These sequences are brief enough to avoid wrecking it however, and James Cromwell is quite good fun as the boozy astronaut who bears little resemblance to the legendary figure the crew were all expecting. As a whole it cracks along at a fair old pace and with some knowingly self-referential lines and Trekkie-friendly cameos thrown in, it's a great slice of action-packed and fun family entertainment. Still the best Trek film by some way, and yes that includes the ill-advised "update" .

• Alexander D

  
  STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is great, yes, and certainly fun, even as the eighth entry in the overall film series (and the second based on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), but especially for a Star Trek flick, Jonathan Frakes (who played Commander Riker in this one), turned what could… More
  STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is great, yes, and certainly fun, even as the eighth entry in the overall film series (and the second based on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), but especially for a Star Trek flick, Jonathan Frakes (who played Commander Riker in this one), turned what could have been a straightforward, serious masterpiece into a whacked-out, somewhat sickly gross (in its first PG-13 style), science fiction thrill ride. Imagine SAW with aliens instead of Jigsaw and camera cutaways before we can even see the gore we know is coming. There's the apparently new STAR TREK way to create a twisted PG-13 flick.

• AJ V

  
  This movie is very cool, especially if you're a trekkie like me. They go back in time (again) to when the first starship with warp drive was being invented and have to stop the borg from attacking the people in the past! What could be more exciting than a time travel story with… More
  This movie is very cool, especially if you're a trekkie like me. They go back in time (again) to when the first starship with warp drive was being invented and have to stop the borg from attacking the people in the past! What could be more exciting than a time travel story with the borg? I loved this movie.

• Christopher A

  
  A film for fans and non fans alike, Star Trek: First Contact follows the crew into the past to prevent the Borg from preventing Earth's most important historical event that would see them reach for the stars. Patrick Stewart is perfection in the role of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard… More
  A film for fans and non fans alike, Star Trek: First Contact follows the crew into the past to prevent the Borg from preventing Earth's most important historical event that would see them reach for the stars. Patrick Stewart is perfection in the role of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and steers this film from the very off. As a fan of the series I know that the films dont always live up to expectation but First Contact is a joy to watch. A good stooryline, action, the BORG and enough emotional involvement as Picard struggles to draw the line between taking a stance and revenge. If you havent seen this film - "Make it so". Star Trek: First Contact is first class. "Borg? Sounds Swedish. "

• Dean !

  
  I'm not a Trekkie fan by any means but I have to say I'm suprised so many rate this so highly? I found it rather slow and boring and void of any real action whatsoever. The borg can just be walked past half the time, hardly an intimidating or a fearsome enemy. The latest… More
  I'm not a Trekkie fan by any means but I have to say I'm suprised so many rate this so highly? I found it rather slow and boring and void of any real action whatsoever. The borg can just be walked past half the time, hardly an intimidating or a fearsome enemy. The latest Star Trek film going back to how the original crew got together is the best by far.

• Chris W

  
  Supposedly this is the best TNG-era film, and, while I can't confirm or disconfirm that personally (yet), I can say that this is a damn fine film on it's own, and in Trek overall. Frakes provides strong direction with great pacing, lots of action, some decent comedy… More
  Supposedly this is the best TNG-era film, and, while I can't confirm or disconfirm that personally (yet), I can say that this is a damn fine film on it's own, and in Trek overall. Frakes provides strong direction with great pacing, lots of action, some decent comedy (although it is the film only real weak point), amazing special effects, and excellent characters and character development. The film's plot isn't very original and the debt it owes to films such as Aliena, Close Encounters, Moby Dick, and others is noted, but it doesn't fully rip all those off, either. Instead it combines bits and pieces from all of them and stitches them together with a stroy involving the Borg, who, I feel are some of the best Star Trek villains, and some of the most interesting sci-fi characters in general. Another cool thing about all of this is how fairly balanced it all is. There's a lot going on here: sci-fi yarn, time travel nuttiness, zombie space horror, etc, and it fits. This is a hard thing to pull off. The cast regulars are all great as usual (although some of the humor seemed a tad forced in laces), but the new players (Krige, Cromwell, and Woodard) are fantastic. Woodard is the weakest, but still does a good job. Cromwell is going against type, succeeds at it, and looks like he had a fun time with it. Krige is absolutely chilling as the creepily seductive Borg Queen-a pretty memorable villain. The music rocks and the visuals (the general look and especially the special effects) are outstanding. Like Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home, this is a film where newbies and non-fans can come to it and find something to enjoy, but at the same time its not dumbed down so much that the die hards feel alienated. That's another one of those tricky things that's hard to pull off: trying to please the broadest audience possible-everyone. Watching this is a terrific way to spend a couple of hours, so, for that reason, and many others, I highly recommend this one.

• Carlos M

  
  First Contact, the eighth installment of the Star Trek films, presents incredible makeup and special effects in a surprisingly good, urgent plot that boasts a most sinister villain - and the subplot involving Data (Brent Spiner) captured by the Borg is definitely the highlight.

• Anthony L

  
  First Contact is Ok but the comedy element is not there anymore, neither is the homoerotica of the first crew! Oh well, you can?t have it all! It does explain a few historical issues within the Star Trek universe though, although they don?t quite match up with previous and subsequent… More
  First Contact is Ok but the comedy element is not there anymore, neither is the homoerotica of the first crew! Oh well, you can?t have it all! It does explain a few historical issues within the Star Trek universe though, although they don?t quite match up with previous and subsequent time lines but that?s just me being an anal trekkie who should get out more.

• Red L

  
  Stories about time travel are so hokey. If the Borg can go back in time to "fix" some history that isn't to their liking, why can you go back one day earlier and blast them out of the sky when they arrive? And if Picard releases some gas killing all organic matter on… More
  Stories about time travel are so hokey. If the Borg can go back in time to "fix" some history that isn't to their liking, why can you go back one day earlier and blast them out of the sky when they arrive? And if Picard releases some gas killing all organic matter on every deck of the ship, and yet Picard survives? Come on now. But, logic aside the movie keeps your interest. It is always great to view the battle between the evil Borg and the crew of the Enterprise. Great makeup of the Borg.

• Candy R

  
  Captain Picard goes back in time to stop the Borg destroying Earth's first contact with alien life.

• Cassandra M

  
  Star Trek VIII: First Contact - Stardate: 50893.5 Finally, after the dismal Generations outing, they got it right with this one! First Contact indeed is on par with the very best of the Star Trek films - The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. Unfortunately, they won't… More
  Star Trek VIII: First Contact - Stardate: 50893.5 Finally, after the dismal Generations outing, they got it right with this one! First Contact indeed is on par with the very best of the Star Trek films - The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. Unfortunately, they won't get it right again to the present day (with the above average but still not as good Insurrection and awful Nemesis). The script is very solid, the acting above par (with kudos going to Alice Krige as the seductive Borg Queen and Alfre Woodard as the trusting Lily Sloane), and the score by Jerry Goldsmith again another hit. All of that combined with visual effects that service the story and not is the story makes this outing a spectacular success

• A.D. V

  
  Simply the best of the franchise

• Lenny M

  
  Best Stew led Star Trek film.

• Ken S

  
  Only second to Khan

• David L

  
  From the opening scenes, which re-introduce the 'Next Generation's' greatest villains, the Borg, finally achieving their long-time goal of attacking Earth, and literally tearing Starfleet to shreds, as Picard and the Enterprise are ordered to stand down (Picard had been… More
  From the opening scenes, which re-introduce the 'Next Generation's' greatest villains, the Borg, finally achieving their long-time goal of attacking Earth, and literally tearing Starfleet to shreds, as Picard and the Enterprise are ordered to stand down (Picard had been 'assimilated' once by the cyborgs, and the success of his 'deprogramming' was in question), there was an intensity that 'Trek' films hadn't shown since THE WRATH OF KHAN. When Picard decides to disobey orders and go 'in Harm's Way', you nearly want to cheer! Turning the battle around, the Enterprise sees victory at hand...until they discover that the 'core' of the Borg mother ship has plunged into Earth's atmosphere, and gone back in time. As the crew glimpses a 'changed' Earth, with humanity totally assimilated by the Borg, they plunge after the mother ship, to prevent history from being rewritten. Quite an opening scene! The film breaks into two stories, each entertaining. In an era two hundred years earlier, with Earth reeling from internal wars that have devastated much of the planet, Picard realizes that the Borg is attempting to prevent warp drive creator Dr. Zefram Cochrane from ever completing his prototype spaceship, thus denying the galaxy to the human race, and leaving them defenseless against the Borg. As First Officer Riker and most of the series' regulars protect the feisty engineer (first introduced in the original 'Trek' TV series by hunky Glenn Corbett; in FIRST CONTACT, the role is played by James Cromwell, hawk-nosed, antisocial, and hooked on ancient Rock n' Roll music), Data and Picard must deal with the growing Borg infiltration and assimilation of the Enterprise, and the imperious Borg Queen (lovely Alice Krige), who seduces Data with a chance to become 'human'. Jonathan Frakes proves an excellent director, balancing the action, comic, and dramatic elements with sensitivity and skill. While most of the series' regulars have little to do (a problem that would never be resolved in the 'Next Generation' films), Frakes still manages to give each a bit of on-screen time to at least remind fans that they are present, and he even manages to provide a brief but funny cameo by semi-regular fan favorite Dwight Schultz, as the terminally shy Lt. Reggie Barclay. FIRST CONTACT has so many memorable moments that it is nearly impossible to pick a single favorite one out. Cochrane's use of Steppenwolf's 'Magic Carpet Ride' as launch music for his guided missile/spaceship...Alfre Woodard's Lily Sloane, hiding in terror from the Borg, but still able to lecture Picard on doing the 'right thing'...'Star Trek: Voyager' regular Robert Picardo in a cameo as his medical hologram character, at a key moment...Data delivering the famous Borg 'tag line'...the Vulcan science party (led, although unmentioned, by Sarek, Spock's father), bemused at meeting the 'new kids on the block' for the first time...this movie has it all! There is only one major continuity error; the Borg, as cyborgs, depend on their human 'host' bodies to survive (a key factor in the film's climax), yet in one whole sequence they operate in the vacuum of space without spacesuits! I cringe each time I see the scene, but I still love the movie. One other key element of the film cannot be praised enough; Jerry Goldsmith's score is one of his finest, combining the best elements of the STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE theme with a sweeping inspirational hymn for Cochrane, and eerie, discordant music for the Borg. The score is so profoundly moving that it could stand alone, as a symphonic work. Sadly, Berman and company never achieved the same heights with either of the subsequent 'Trek' films, but at least we have FIRST CONTACT, to show that a 'Next Generation' feature could be done 'right'.

• Curtis L

  
  Okay for a star trek movie.

• Lafe F

  
  A serious Borg invasion on the Next Generation Enterprise, threatens to change the course of history. The takeover of the Enterprise by Borg drones was creepy and effective; showing how dangerous the Borg can be. It was all done seriously and systematically. It's superb… More
  A serious Borg invasion on the Next Generation Enterprise, threatens to change the course of history. The takeover of the Enterprise by Borg drones was creepy and effective; showing how dangerous the Borg can be. It was all done seriously and systematically. It's superb when Data is held prisoner by the sexy but creepy Borg Queen; great interaction occurs. The side plot had Picard, Riker, Troi and Geordi down on Earth of the past, assisting with the launching of a legendary cosmonaut's (James Cromwell) warp-drive rocket ship, which would allow for the First Contact between Humans and Vulcans to occur. Picard meets a love interest (Alfre Woodard) who helps him overcome his Borg stubborn behaviour to win the battle. It's a nice balance having a primitive forest setting against a space battle; I couldn't help thinking of "Return of the Jedi" though. But this movie is quite well-done and enjoyable.

• Steve K

  
  The stuff on the ground is total cheese, but the parts with the Borg are gold!

• Jason S

  
  One of the best Trek movies and a great performance by Patrick Stewart.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings