Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Deanna Troi: If you're looking for my professional opinion as ship's counselor: he's nuts.


Oh, man. Here it is.  The pinnacle of Next Generation movies.  Which is sad, cause its only the second one starring them, and the first with only them.


Moving on...


Where did Worf come from?
Easy!  At this point he was stationed on DS9, basically in command of the Defiant.  Said Defiant was specifically designed to fight the Borg.  Makes sense that the Defiant is there...getting its ass kicked.  Moving on.


This movie will always have a special place in my heart.  This was the first Star Trek movie I was aware of prior to its release.  It was right around this time that I started buying Star Trek magazines.  So naturally, this movie was everywhere.  i remember getting excited about the design of the Enterprise-E (bad ass), the uniforms (finally they get it right).


I was 13 when this came out, and it was also the first Star Trek movie I saw in the theater.  What an experience.  The battle at the beginning of the movie...epic.  I loved seeing all the different classes of ships.


And then we go back in time...


See, the Borg have an idea to assimilate Earth in the past, when its unable to defend itself.  Of course, they go back to the couple of days before Cochrane's first warp flight.  Cause going back to say, the middle ages, mad no sense whatsoever.  Anyway, Picard, et al, realize the time that they have arrived in and immediately jump into action violating the Temporal Prime Directive in the process.  And probably the Prime Directive since TECHNICALLY, this Earth is still a pre-warp society.


Meeting Cochrane is some of the most fun in the movie.  He's an arrogant, drunk ass and tons of fun to watch.  And to drink with.  Just ask Troi.  So, to sum up this plot arc, all is well, flight is made.


Then there is the other arc.  That of Picard dealing with the Borg that have taken over his ship.  Cause, he so totally has some prior issues with his past assimilation.  (Think Moby Dick)  We meet the Borg Queen who totally has the hots for Data, cause she is all into making him the perfect specimen.  Creepy.  There is some great acting my Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard (Lily) as Picard becomes more and more obsessed with stopping the Borg, and Lily snaps him back to reality.


In the end, the Borg are stopped and the Enterprise returns to its own time.  This is one of the greatest Star Trek movies, and a damn fine sci-fi film in its own right.  Not something you can necessarily watch as a stand alone, but it does stand on its own merits.  Star Trek fan or not, I think there is something every film fan can find to appreciate about this movie.


I give it 7/9 assimilations.