Star Trek - First Contact (1996)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 52
Fresh: 48 | Rotten: 4
While fans of the series will surely appreciate it, First Contact is exciting, engaging, and visually appealing enough to entertain Star Trek novices.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 2
While fans of the series will surely appreciate it, First Contact is exciting, engaging, and visually appealing enough to entertain Star Trek novices.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 93,423
My Rating
Movie Info
The first "Trek" film to feature the cast of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series without any of the members of the original series, this action-packed hit was well received at the box office. The Federation comes under attack by its ongoing enemy, the Borg, a cybernetics-enhanced race that once kidnapped Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), "assimilating" him into a drone. As a former prisoner of the Borg, Picard is ordered to stay out of the new battle, but he cannot resist and
Nov 22, 1996 Wide
Oct 6, 1998
Paramount Pictures
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Cast
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Patrick Stewart
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard -
Jonathan Frakes
Cmdr. William Riker -
Brent Spiner
Lt. Cmdr. Data -
LeVar Burton
Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForg... -
Michael Dorn
Lt. Cmdr. Worf -
Gates McFadden
Dr. Beverly Crusher -
Marina Sirtis
Lt. Cmdr. Deanna Troi -
Alfre Woodard
Lily Sloane -
James Cromwell
Zefram Cochrane -
Alice Krige
Borg Queen -
Neal McDonough
Lt. Hawk -
Robert Picardo
Holographic Doctor -
Dwight Schultz
Lt. Barclay -
Patti Yasutake
Nurse Ogawa
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All Critics (52) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (4) | DVD (38)
In zooming out from Picard's glinty eyeball, this eighth feature film from the Trek factory displays a zippy new energy and a sleek, confident style fully independent of its predecessors.
Top CriticFirst Contact is no grab bag of camp gewgaws; it stands proud and apart, accessible even to the Trek-deficient. This old Star, it seems, has a lot of life in it.
The elegance of the story is enhanced by the sure direction of Jonathan Frakes, who also plays Commander William Riker.
A smashingly exciting sci-fi adventure that ranks among the very best in the long-running Paramount franchise.
This makes little concession to non-initiates.
The series now lacks all of its original stars and much of its earlier determination. It has morphed into something less innocent and more derivative than it used to be, something the noncultist is ever less likely to enjoy.
The problem with most of the Next Generation Star Trek movies is that they feel like extended episodes of the television show. First Contact is the one time that it really feels like they made a Movie, with a capital M.
The Borg make a formidable enemy, more dangerous and more ruthless than the Klingons or Romulans ever were. (Blu-ray Edition)
...a huge step beyond Generations.
It does a good job of serving up elements that will please the fans of the show, but it does not quite stand on its own as a memorable motion picture event.
Star Trek finally gets imaginative, exciting and - dare I say it? - kinky.
Intense, gory Starfleet adventure earns series' first PG-13.
Action-packed yet intelligent, this takes the very best of the TV show and gives it epic grandeur.
The historic first Trek movie entirely divorced from the original cast is no blot on the franchise.
Among the two or three best of the Star Trek films.
It robustly apes James Cameron's Aliens, even down to the head villain, played with kinky boo-hiss relish by Alice Krige, who appears to be channeling equal parts Cameron's Alien Queen and Marlene Dietrich.
Paramount's two-disc 'Special Collector's Edition' ... is arguably the best-produced DVD so far in the Star Trek line, and one of the best all around for home-theater digiphiles.
This film is going to have lots of return viewers and will be one of the more successful of the franchise.
Audience Reviews for Star Trek - First Contact
Super Reviewer
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 Alien, 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 story 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.
Super Reviewer
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- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: The line must be drawn here. This far, no farther.
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- Lt. Cmdr. Deanna Troi: Time line?! This is no time to argue about time! We don't have the time. What was I saying?
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- Borg Queen: Was it good for you?
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- Lt. Cmdr. Worf: Assimilate this!
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- Lily Sloane: Jean-Luc blow up the damned ship!
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: NO!
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- Cmdr. William Riker: We've finished our first sensor sweep of the Neutral Zone...
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, fascinating... 20 particles of space dust per cubic meter and a class 3 comet... Wow, this is certainly worthy of our attention...
- Cmdr. William Riker: Captain, why are we out here chasing comets?
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Because Starfleet has every confidence in the Enterprise and its crew, they're just not sure about her captain...
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Foreign Titles
- Star Trek: First Contact (DE)
- Star Trek: First Contact (UK)
