Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - Illustrated Reference

Star Trek: First Contact was directed by Jonathan Frakes. It premiered on the 18th November 1996. Starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Alfre Woodard, Alice Krige and James Cromwell. Screenplay by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga. Music by Jerry Goldsmith. 111mins.

After a battle with the Federation, a Borg ship escapes and travels back in time to interfere with Earth’s history. The Enterprise-E under the command of Jean-Luc Picard follows the Borg vessel back to 2063, the year of First Contact.

The Borg are a race of cybernetic beings from the Delta Quadrant, they move through the galaxy assimilating worlds and turning sentient races into Borg. Their favourite catchphrase is “Resistance is Futile”. The Borg first appeared in the ST-TNG second season episode Q-Who? (1989), followed by the Emmy Award winning The Best of Both Worlds p.1-p.2 (1990), in which Captain Picard is captured by the Borg and assimilated, calling himself Locutus of Borg. He is rescued by the Enterprise crew and the Borg Cube destroyed.

Lily: Jean Luc, blow up the damn ship!
Picard: No! Nooooo! I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already; too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done.

Patrick Stewart (1940-) / Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Born in Yorkshire, England, Patrick Stewart has played Picard in 178 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and the films Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek First Contact (1996), Star Trek Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek Nemesis (2002).

Jonathan Frakes (1952-) / Commander William T. Riker

Born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, Jonathan Frakes has played Riker in 178 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and the films Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek First Contact (1996), Star Trek Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek Nemesis (2002).

Brent Spiner (1949-) / Lt.Commander Data

Born in Houston, Texas, Brent Spiner has played Data in 178 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and the films Star Trek Generations (1994), Star Trek First Contact (1996), Star Trek Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek Nemesis (2002).

Lily Sloane: Borg? Sounds Swedish.

Alfre Woodard (1952-) / Lily Sloane

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Alfre Woodard was Oscar nominated Best Supporting Actress for Cross Creek (1983). Her films include - Scrooged (1988), Grand Canyon (1991), Crooklyn (1994), Primal Fear (1996), Dinosaur (2000), K-PAX (2001), The Core (2003) and The Forgotten (2004).

Zefram Cochrane: So you're all astronauts on some sort of... star trek?

James Cromwell (1940-) / Zephram Cochrane

Born in Los Angeles, California, James Cromwell was Oscar nominated Best Supporting Actor for Babe (1995). His films include - Murder by Death (1976), Explorers (1985), The Babe (1992), Eraser (1996), The People vs Larry Flynt (1996), LA Confidential (1997), Deep Impact (1998), The General's Daughter (1998), The Green Mile (1999), Space Cowboys (2000), The Sum of All Fears (2002), I, Robot (2004), The Queen (2006), Spider-Man 3 (2008), W (2008) and The Artist (2011).

Borg Queen: I am the beginning. The end. The one who is many. I am the Borg.

Alice Krige (1954-) / Borg Queen

Born in Upington, South Africa, Alice Krige won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for Star Trek First Contact. She reprised the role of Borg Queen in the Star Trek Voyager episode “Endgame” (2001). Her films include - Chariots of Fire (1981), Ghost Story (1981), King David (1985), Sleepwalkers (1992), Reign of Fire (2002), Silent Hill (2006), Solomon Kane (2009) and The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010).

Dwight Schultz (1947-) / Lt. Reginald Barclay

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Dwight Schultz played Reginald Barclay, a recurring character on Star Trek The Next Generation. Barclay has social anxiety disorder, suffers from Transporter-phobia and is addicted to the Holodeck. The actor appeared as “Howling Mad” Murdock in The A-Team (1983-1987).

We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.

Star Trek: First Contact was at one time to be titled Star Trek: Resurrection but after finding that the next Alien movie was named Alien Resurrection it was changed. An early story draft was titled Star Trek: Renaissance. Another title considered was Star Trek: Borg.

The movie opens with a spectacular sequence which begins on a close up of Patrick Stewart’s eye and the camera pulls back and back until the massive interior of a Borg ship is revealed. It was the last scene to be filmed.

Zefram Cochrane: I've gotta take a leak.
Geordi La Forge: Leak? I'm not detecting any leak.
Zefram Cochrane: Don't you people from the 24th century ever pee?

Zephram Cochrane was first played by Glenn Corbett (1933-1993) in the classic Star Trek episode “Metamorphosis” (1967).

According to the DVD trivia track, the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars is among the Federation ships during the battle with the Borg Cube. Award winning effects company ILM dropped the Falcon in as a joke, but I’ve never spotted it.

The phrase “Star Trek” is uttered for the first time in a Star Trek movie (or series). It is spoken by James Cromwell in a scene with Frakes, Burton and Sirtis.

Jean-Luc Picard quotes Moby Dick at one point in the film after Lily compares him to Ahab. Khan Noonien Singh also speaks lines from Herman Melville’s classic novel in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (1982). Patrick Stewart would play Captain Ahab in the TV movie Moby Dick (1998) receiving Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the role.

Robert Picardo (1953-) appears briefly in the film as the Emergency Medical Hologram. Picardo is popular among Trekkies as the EMH in Star Trek Voyager (1995-2001).

Georgi La Forge’s visor is replaced with ocular implants in the movie. Actor LeVar Burton hated wearing the visor. In the next film he won’t be needing the implants either.

After the destruction of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek Generations (1994) Picard gets a brand new ship - the Enterprise-E. Launched in 2372, the most advanced ship in the fleet, it was 685 meters long and had 24 decks. All this advancement and the Borg still beam aboard undetected.

One of the most memorable and startling effects in the film was the first shot of the Borg Queen, just her head, shoulders and spine lowered down by cables and attached to the rest of her body. ILM took months to finish the shot.

The Borg and Borg Queen makeup effects were effective enough to receive an Oscar nomination. The film also received 10 nominations from the Academy of SF, Fantasy and Horror, and a Hugo nomination for Best Dramatic Film.

Star Trek: First Contact cost $45m to produce and opened with an excellent $30m in 3 days, with a US total of $92m and $146m worldwide it was the highest grossing Star Trek film at the time.

The 8th Star Trek film was well received and a fan favourite, in my opinion the best of the four Next Generation Treks. The Borg are an effectively creepy menace. Patrick Stewart is superb in his ‘raging Ahab” scene with Alfre Woodard. Excellent direction by Jonathan Frakes and another superb Jerry Goldsmith score.

The Critic’s Wrote –

"Trekkers should beam up in droves to the next available screening of "Star Trek: First Contact." The latest "Star Trek" movie is a thoroughly enjoyable visit with the crew of TV’s "Star Trek: The Next Generation. You don’t have to be insanely devoted to "Star Trek" arcana to appreciate the series’ consistent quality over the years. "First Contact," pulsates with great imagination, amusing characters and the fundamental optimism handed down by founder Gene Roddenberry. " (Desson Howe, Washington Post)

"Indebted to films as disparate as Alien and Back to the Future, with space-flight sequences that will soon be outdone by the 20th-anniversary release of Star Wars, this Star Trek hasn't much visual novelty to recommend it. As directed by Jonathan Frakes, who plays the hearty, four-square Riker in a manner that can only be called Shatneresque, it offers an unengaging and sometimes surprisingly violent series of crises." (Janet Maslin, New York Times)

"Star Trek: First Contact is one of the best of the eight Star Trek films: Certainly the best in its technical credits, and among the best in the ingenuity of its plot. I would rank it beside Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), the one where the fate of Earth depended on the song of the humpback whale. This one benefits from the latest advances in f/x artistry, starting with its sensational opening shot, which begins so deep inside Picard's eyeball, it looks like a star-speckled spacescape and then pulling back to encompass an unimaginably vast Borg starship" (Roger Ebert)

"The Borg are back, the future is in peril and the "Star Trek" mythos proceeds apace. "Star Trek: First Contact" is a smashingly exciting sci-fi adventure that ranks among the very best in the long-running Paramount franchise." (Variety)

"Is it just me, or does Krige manage to make a bald woman with a pointy head lacerated with cables the year's sexiest screen siren?" (Time Out)