There have been 8 Star Trek movies made to date, the first film
came out in 1979 and even by todays standards is still an excellent watch.
The latest film First Contact does not contain any of the
original characters only those from the Next Generation. I love
to watch the interaction between Spock and Bones some of the lines
they come out with are very funny, there are many humourous lines in each
movie and I think it really adds to the enjoyment of watching these films.
An alien phenomenon of unprecedented size and power is approaching Earth,
destroying everything in its path. The only starship in range is the U.S.S.
Enterprise, still in drydock after a major overhaul. As Captain Decker
readies his ship and his crew to face this menance, the legendary Admiral
James T. Kirk arrives with orders to take command of the Enterprise and
intercept the intruder. But it has been three years since Kirk last commanded
the Enterprise on its historic five year mission. Is he up to the task
of saving the Earth?
It is the twenty-third century. Admiral James T. Kirk is feeling
old; the prospect of accompanying his old ship, the Enterprise which is
now a Starfleet Academy training ship, on a two-week cadet cruise is not
making him feel any younger. But the training cruise becomes a deadly serious
mission when Khan appears after years of exile, and holding the power of
creation itself...
Picking up exactly where Star Trek II left off, the Enterprise
and crew are returning to port for some essential repairs to their ship.
When they arrive, they are shocked to discover the Enterprise is to be
scrapped. When Dr. McCoy starts acting strangely, Kirk is forced to steal
his old ship back and fly across space to a lonely planet to save a friend.
A space probe appears over 23rd century earth, emanating strange sounds
towards the planet, and apparently waiting for something. As time goes
on, the probe starts to cause major stomes on earth and threaten its destruction.
James T. Kirk and crew are called upon once again to save mankind. They
discover the strange sound is actually the call of the humpback whale -
which has been hunted to extinction. They have only one choice - to attempt
to time travel back into the 20th century, locate a whate, and bring it
back to 23rd century earth to reply to the probe.
When the newly-christened starship Enterprise's shakedown cruise
goes poorly, Captain Kirk and crew put it into Spacedock for repairs. But
an urgent mission interrupts their Earth-bound shore leave. A renegade
Vulcan named Sybok has taken several ambassadors hostage on the planet
Nimbus III, an event which also attracts the attention of a Klingon captain
who wants to make a name for himself. Sybok's rag-tag army captures the
Enterprise and takes it on a journey to the center of the galaxy in serch
of the Supreme Being.
After an explosion on their moon, the Klingons have an estimated 50 years before their ozone layer is completely depleted, and they all die. The Klingons have ony one choice - to join the Federation, which will mean an end to 70 years of wars. Admiral James T. Kirk and crew are called upon to help in the negotiations because of their experience with the Klingon race. Peace talks don't quite go to plan, and eventually Kirk and McCoy are tried and convicted of assassination, and sent to Rura Penthe, a snowy hard-labor prison camp. Will they manage to escape? And will there ever be peace with the Klingons?
In the late twenty-third century, the gala maiden voyage of
the third Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) boasts such luminaries as Pavel
Chekov, Montgomery Scott, and the legendary Captiain James T. Kirk as guests.
But the maiden voyage turns to disaster as the unprepared ship is forced
to rescue two transport ships from a mysterious energy ribbon. The Enterprise
manages to save a handful of the ships' passengers and barely makes it
out intact...but at the cost of Captain Kirk's life. Seventy eight years
later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves
at odds with the renegade scientist Soren...who is destroying entire star
systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soren's scheme...and he's been
dead for seventy-eight years...
With the highest hopes and expectations riding on the highly-anticipated movie, First Contact, millions, including myself, hit the theaters the first night of release. The eighth Star Trek film, and the first solo job done by the cast of The Next Generation, was released on November 22/96. High hopes for the movies financial success were milling throughout Paramount, as First Contact has to be a hit in order for their to be future films. The success and the future of the Star Trek big screen franchise is riding on the films success.
While the seventh film, Star Trek Generations, was meant to serve as a bridge between the original cast and TNG, many fans were disappointed in the movie. The cast, crew, writers and producers of the film were also disappointed with how it turned out. It had a decent showing in the box office, but by no means was a definite smash hit. Once people learned of the plot behind First Contact, about 6-8 months ago, everyone instantly got excited. The Borg, probably the greatest villains in television history, were heading back for Earth. Paramount needed something like this to generate more interest.
It worked. Even with all the buzz and excitement regarding the release of First Contact, it came through as a spectacular film. The only thing this movie lacked from Generations was the pitiful plot holes. First Contact's pace, action, intensity, story, acting and the characters were all absolutely fantastic. The writer's for First Contact did something they didn't do for Generations - editing. They made sure this time there were no discrepancies in the story line, no big questions marks for the audience, or any confusion with how everything plays out on screen. The story is fascinating, the action intense, and this move wouldn't slow down even if a black hole were in its path.
The story once again revolves around Picard, this time dealing with the Borg invaders and what they did to him in the past. Data also plays a major role as he continues his growing with the emotion chip, and is forced to meet up with the Borg Queen. Worf enters the movie almost immediately, attacking the Borg in the Defiant, - which is not destroyed.
The cameos came in the form of Robert Picardo, as the Enterprise E's emergency medical holographic doctor. Also was Ethan Phillips, who plays Neelix on Voyager, as a holographic character as well. Barclay and Nurse Ogawa also appear in the movie. The three guest stars were all excellent. The characters Lily Sloane, Zefram Cochrane and the Borg Queen were all played to perfection.
Once again, everything received a brand new look for the big screen, including the more gruesome looking Borg drones. The uniforms were different (see Main First Contact Page) , as well as a few hairstyles and Geordi La Forge's eyes. (Pretty cool zoom lenses replace his VISOR from the series). Of course, there was the new Enterprise. Sleeker, armed to the teeth and shinier than the previous Enterprises, this ship packed one hell of a punch before more than half of it is altered by the Borg. Don't worry, there will not be an Enterprise F in the next movie.
While this can be considered the darkest of the eight Trek films, it still had a lot of good one-liners, (mostly from Commander Riker and Data). In one scene, Lily shoots Data a dozen times with some sort of automatic weapon, in which he replies with a polite: "Greetings". The best scenes in film include the big battle at the beginning, a space walk on top of the deflector dish, and of course the struggle for control inside the Enterprise E. But the pace remain quick throughout the entire movie. This was because of some excellent directing by Jonathan Frakes. He was one of the primary reasons this movie turned out so good.
With action and effects that come close to ID4, and a plot that
goes beyond pretty much all other "action flicks", First Contact
is definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen