"Star Trek: First Contact", the eighth Trek film and the first to focus exclusively on the cast of TV's "Star Trek: The Next Generation", follows the pattern set by its seven predecessors. In one of the oddest trends to emerge from Hollywood, the odd-numbered Trek films have been disappointments or worse while the even-numbered films have been of a higher caliber. Although by no means the best of the series, "First Contact" is a treat for Trekkers. Whether non-Trekkers will be so admiring, however, remains to be seen.
As the film embarks Starfleet, the military arm of the United Federation of Planets, is battling the Borg within the Earth's solar system. The Borg, part man and part machine, were the most menacing of villains on the TV series and will stop at nothing to assimilate mankind into their galactic collective. Before their massive cube-ship is destroyed, the Borg send a smaller ship towards earth. This spherical craft opens up a vortex and travels to the past wherein they intend to wreak havoc. Instantly, as far as the 24th century is concerned, Earth is now inhabited solely by millions of Borg.
Only the recently-commissioned U.S.S. Enterprise-E remains unaffected by the change and so follows the Borg ship into the past to prevent whatever catastrophe was caused. The catastrophe, the destruction of the world's first warp-capable craft and its creator, can be averted, but it isn't the Enterprise's only concern. It seems that shortly after the two space craft journey to the 21st century, the Borg set up shop on Starfleet's flagship. Is resistance really futile?
Directed by cast member Jonathan "Riker" Frakes, "Star Trek: First Contact" is the action film that Trek fans have been clamoring for. The entire regular cast has returned, as well as two or three other faces that will be familiar to those devoted to the various "Star Trek" television incarnations. They all get a chance to shine, which is more than can be said for stars Alfre Woodard and James Cromwell. Averting the assimilation of the planet turns out to be the subplot rather than the main plot, and the scenes on Earth are consistently dull.
With impressive, if not overly-spectacular, special effects and a good dose of humor, the film still manages to fall frustratingly short of being great. Good character interaction and tight editing don't completely erase the feeling of "been there, done that" that the movie creates. Still, after the lackluster seventh movie, nearly anything short of a bomb would look good in comparison. "Star Trek: First Contact" fits the bill and does it well enough. Lets hope that the Trek movie pattern ends here.