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STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT (Paramount) Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Alice Krige, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell. Screenplay: Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga. Producer: Rick Berman. Director: Jonathan Frakes. MPAA Rating: PG-13 (profanity, violence) Running Time: 105 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Paramount's "Star Trek" franchise needs the current crew much more than the crew needs the franchise, and that is something of a shift in the balance of power from the original crew. With the surviving "Trek" television series -- "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" -- in ratings free fall and the original cast finally retired, the film projects with the "Next Generation" cast are the last, best hope for the survival of Gene Roddenberry's beloved vision. To be even more specific, the franchise needs Patrick Stewart. Far and away the best actor ever to don a Starfleet uniform, Stewart is the standard bearer for a series which has the opportunity to thrive as long as stories can be built around Captain Jean-Luc Picard, a character with unlimited potential in the hands of such a talented performer.
STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is built around Stewart's Picard, which is the first of many things the eighth TREK feature does right. Picard is leading the newly commissioned Enterprise E when the alien Borg -- a race of cybernetic beings whose only purpose is the conquest and assimilation of other races -- attack the Federation. The Enterprise, however, is asked to stay out of the fray, since the admirals don't quite trust Picard to remain objective about a race which once captured and assimilated him. Their concerns are validated when Picard joins the battle anyway, and ends up following a Borg ship into the past, where they intend to conquer the earth the easy way. In the mid 21st century, the Borg plan to prevent the maiden warp-drive flight of Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), which brings earth into contact with benevolent alien races for the first time. It is up to the Enterprise crew to make sure that flight takes place, despite a Borg takeover of the Enterprise itself and the surprising reluctance of Cochrane.
The STAR TREK films have often walked a fine line between being love-ins for the die-hard fans of the television series and accessible adventures for a general audience, and FIRST CONTACT walks an even finer line than most. Though brief flashbacks and bits of exposition explain the nature of Picard's previous encounter with the Borg, familiarity with the episodes of the series in which it took place makes his trauma much more clear, and his obsession more compelling. There are obligatory cameos as well (including one "Voyager" cast member) which will likely blow right over the heads of the uninitiated, and at least one moment which will be a Trekker delight: the generally serene Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) drunk on tequila shots. Still, the surprisingly effective work of first-time feature film director Jonathan Frakes (who also portrays Commander William Riker) makes FIRST CONTACT a solid, suspenseful action film for any fan of the genre, particularly in a tense encounter between Borg and crew members which takes place on the hull of the Enterprise.
If there is likely to be a disappointment for Trek fans, it is a change in the nature of the Borg which works to mixed effect. The anonymous and group-conscious Borg are given a much more individualized queen (Alice Krige) who acts as their mouthpiece in their interaction with crew members, notably the captured Commander Data (Brent Spiner). Krige is creepy and seductive in the role, and the design of her character is sensational, but something is lost in giving the Borg a de facto leader. Writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga attempt to explain it away in classic Trek fashion -- it is one of those mysteries, the queen rasps, which limited minds simply can't understand -- but they are unable to explain away a Borg which seems concerned about its own individual survival. Somehow, they become less frightening as an army than as a single entity.
Krige is nasty enough, however, to make such matters insignificant while you're watching FIRST CONTACT, and she is part of a phenomenon which makes this TREK somewhat unique: the acting is good enough from top to bottom to drive the film. James Cromwell (BABE) gets the entertaining role of Cochrane, a self-interested sot who finds himself terribly uncomfortable with the notion that he will be considered a hero by history; it is a comic performance which is not simply comic relief. The always-reliable Alfre Woodard is also on hand as Cochrane's colleague Lily, and Spiner (whose Data persona has been the best cushion against his tendency to over-act) has some choice moments with Krige. But it is Stewart who commands both literally and figuratively, making his personal mission to destroy the Borg a solid sub-text to a conventional action film. It takes conviction to sell science fiction, and Stewart is an actor simply unwilling to play a flat character. Frakes keeps the story flowing while switching between the various plot threads, and his steady hand helps make FIRST CONTACT the best TREK since 1986's STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME, and shows that it is far too early to begin the eulogy for this franchise. This is a smart and snappy adventure in which Patrick Stewart doesn't just say "Make it so" -- he does it.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 captains courageous: 8.
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