Star Trek: First Contact

In case you haven't heard, the Borg are back and they are itching for a fight. This simple idea is the overwhelming focus of Star Trek: First Contact, the eighth big screen entry in the series and the first full blown excursion by The Next Generation crew (minus those old guys). The result is the wildest and most action-packed adventure since Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Occasionally,the movie is almost too exciting as it attempts a tricky balance between humanitarian ideals and raw terror. Both ethics and good judgement can take a pounding when the Borg are on the loose.

The horror of it all is already bothering Capt. Picard(Patrick Stewart) when he jolts awake from a nightmare rooted in his own experience with Borg-style assimilation. Picard is equally bothered by the fact that Star Fleet still doesn't
trust him where the Borg are concerned. Despite rumors of a Borg ship heading toward Federation space, the Enterprise E has been sent to chill out along the Neutral Zone. No wonder Picard is in such a foul and snappish mood.

But the Federation's effort to destroy the Borg vessel through a massive attack turns into a disastrous failure(again) that is barely salvaged by the traditional wiliness of the Enterprise crew to conveniently disobey orders whenever they feel like it. But Picard's uncanny (and unexplained) ability to blow up the enemy's big cube doesn't help him to comprehend what is happening when a small sphere escapes from the exploding Borg ship. The sphere rushes for Earth, does the time warp bit, and presto - the 24th century is now thoroughly assimilated.

Thanks to an irrational combination of pseudo-science and techno-babble, the Enterprise E follows the Borg sphere back to the 21st century. Suddenly it becomes clear that the real target of the Borg attack is the legendary inventor of warp drive, Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell). It is the eve of Cochrane's first test flight (and mankind's first encounter with an alien race) and the Borg intend to end humankind involvement with interstellar history at its origin.

Too bad the Borg didn't go for the easy way. Another round of drinks should be enough to put Cochrane out for a couple of years. In the history books, Cochrane is a great man. In the flesh, he's a bit of a drunken lout who seems quicker with the leer than the equations. If history is to be fulfilled, Picard has to successfully fend off the Borg(who have seized the Enterprise's engineering room and begun assimilating the crew) as well as sober up the world's shakiest rocket scientist.

The double narrative of Star Trek: First Contact is both its strength and weakness. Many of the scenes with Cochrane provides the movie with a zesty sense of fun, especially when Troi (Marina Sirtis) makes the mistake of trying to keep up with the tequila habits of this seasoned, soused pro. Likewise, the dim awakening of Cochrane to his historic role provides Star Trek: First Contact with a nice dose of Gene Roddenberry's old-school concerns about humanity.

But the real action takes place on the Enterprise as Picard turns the battle against the Borg into a very personal(and increasingly demented) campaign. The cybernetic bad boys of deep space have just assimilated over half of the ship's crew, are converting portions of the Enterprise into a Borg environment, and have kidnapped Data so he can be a boy toy for their queen (Alice Krige). So what. Picard is solely interested in avenging himself. It's Capt. Ahab time on the USS Enterprise as Picard picks up a phaser, drops some quotes from Moby Dick, and starts blasting at anyone who even has a lousy paper clip dangling from their face. In other words, he goes slightly nutso.

Which may explain why Star Trek: First Contact has an odd, distant feel to it. The movie is strongly dependent upon the viewer being familiar with the TV series and runs the risk of being difficult for the non-Trekker to follow. In turn, it deviates enough from the show's standard characterizations (as well as from its continuity) to be slightly confounding to the fans.

But a combination of strong acting, and surprisingly solid direction from Frakes, pulls Star Trek: First Contact through most of its weaker moments. Stewart is able to keep the increasingly obsessive Picard sympathetic, even while ripping a circuit out of the entrails of a Borgized shipmate. Likewise, Spiner is allowed to return to his more low key portrayal of Data ( the recently acquired emotion chip is mercifully down played). When the Borg Queen goes to seduce Data, Spiner is able to maintain the android's childlike sense of naivete without a single false moment of bad histrionic (unlike Star Trek: Generations).

The new movie is also more generous with the rest of the cast than was its half-baked predecessor. Marina Sirtis has a great drunk scene while Star Trek: Voyager's Robert Picardo unloads one of the funniest moments in the movie. As Cochrane, Cromwell manages to breath life into a weakly written role as he successfully transforms the deadhead professor into a figure of destiny. Only Alfre Woodard comes across as substandard, and her poor showing is clearly the result of playing a character who has no real function in the story. Even Woodard's one big moment in the film was obviously "borrowed" from another character (hey, only Dr. Crusher is allowed to talk to Jean-Luc in that manner).

But thrills are the main focus of Star Trek: First Contact as the movie takes the Enterprise on one of its most harrowing rides. Not only do the Borg get to be as bad as they want to be, but their Queen (Alice Krige) manages to throw in a bizarre set of sexual come-ons and snotty put-downs. Besides, Krige is also given one of the most impressive entrances in recent movie memory.

Best of all, Star Trek: First Contact is a sure sign that The Next Generation crew is bound to live long and prosper on the movie screen. That prospect alone turns the new film into an absolute must-see for fans.