Star Trek: First Contact (1996) Reaction & Review! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!
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- čas přidán 22. 06. 2024
- Star Trek: First Contact was definitely an improvement over Star Trek: Generations and the best Next Generation film I’ve seen so far. The new Enterprise crew lead by Patrick Stewart’s amazing portrayal as Picard really cemented their legacy on the big screen. I can confidently say that the Next Generation can stand on their own two feet without the influence of the original crew. That in itself is worth the watch here but thankfully, the film offers so much more. The Borgs were compelling villains and they were a challenging counterpart to our new crew. This is a film that made me think of the individual, the collective and what humans can achieve if they really put their minds to it and I’m so looking forward to the next film, Insurrection!
Full Length Reactions to ALL the films I've watched and Early Access at Patreon: / shanwatchesmovies
0:00 Intro
3:14 The Film
22:04 The Review
27:30 Outro
Hey guys, I'm Shaneel (Shan). Welcome to the channel!
My reaction and review to Star Trek: First Contact (1996) for the first time. Hope you enjoy the video!
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The "I'm a Dr not a doorstop" is definitely a call back to Dr Mccoy in an episode where he said the iconic line " dammit Jim I'm a Dr not a bricklayer"
The Emergency Medical Hologram was one of the best aspects of the Voyager series. Particularly enjoyed the episode where he thought someone was tampering with his memory.
McCoy was famous for his "I'm a doctor, not a (something)!" Line.
And two dozen other variants over the three years.
@@Panzer4F2 "Latent Image.. Ugh that episode was simply fantastic. Voyager as a whole undelivered on its premise but it also had a really decent number of top tier sci fi stories.
You're a healer. There's a patient. That's an order.
During this period, Worf was a full time character on Star Trek Deep Space Nine and the Defiant was the ship from that show, The holographic Doctor was a cameo from the actor Robert Picardo who plays the Holographic doctor on Voyager.
>Wolf
I see you Lwaxana!
@@DurkMcGerk Worf!
@@DurkMcGerk "Mr. Woof" never failed to make me laugh.
Yeah, we should have recommended a couple more episodes to watch to poor Shan.
I forgot Warp was on DS9. Despite me loving the show I had forgotten.
Fun fact, when Lilly referenced Moby Dick, it was a nod to Patrick Stewart who portrayed Captain Ahab in a TV movie adaptation of Moby Dick, which coincidentally came out the same year as First Contact.
It was also a nod to Wrath of Khan since Khan quoted Moby Dick as he died.
Robert Picardo Picard
I'm actually imprressed at how well you got pretty much all of the nuances of the story simply by having read the important episodes, rather than view the whole TNG series. The only parts that you may have missed (And they are not important ones but rather inside jokes and references for the fans) would be that:
- Worf was not part of the crew at the start of the episode because the series called Deep Space Nine had requisitioned the character to their roster mid series. The ship that he flew, called the defiant,, was suppose to be one of the most battle-strong ships of the Federation and is from that series too. Bringing him onboard for this film was always going to be a bit messy under these circumstances, but I think the writers did it well enough; and the fans never would have forgiven them had they NOT brought Worf back.
- The Holographic doctor that Beverly activates as a distraction for the Borgs is actually a character from the series Voyager, which had started already, and was introduced there as a "new" standard emergency doctor in case of loss of medical personnel; and was played by the great Robert Picardo. So bringing him on as a joke reference was a nice wink to the fans (And keeping continuity between series intact as the Enterprise-E was a new ship and, by Star Trek lore therefore should have the same standards as other newer ships.
-The officer who gushes over Zefram Cochrane and asks to shake his hand is a fan favorite character from the series, named Reginald Barclay, who had a recurring role on TNG and was first presented as the only officer in the federation who suffered from extreme anxiety and who had difficulty adapting to the demands of the job (Though he eventually proves his worth and grows as a character). So again, seeing him in the movie was a big nod to the fandom.
... But yeah: Cudos, man! And so glad you liked it so much! I consider this movie the absolute best Star Trek movie ever (But I am a self-admitted TNG shill! lol!) The special effects and the writing were indeed top notch, Stewart's acting is impeccable (As always) and having Alfre Woodard to play the no-non-sense opposite to Picard's decent into his own private hell was pure casting excellence!
There was Rumours swirling before release that Captain Sisko would have been in the movie, but internet folk law either suggests it was scripted but dumped or filmed and cut, adding him into the mix would have caused even more trouble down the line for writers.
Reginald Barclay aka H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (A-Team)
@@DavidRobinson1978 Sisko not being there actually makes sense do to his personal trauma regarding the Borg if they thought it was a good reason to keep Picard away. The other character from DS9 who should have been there was OBrien. He was prior TNG cast and played a significant role getting into Locutus and stopping the Borg in BOBW. And of course he's key Defiant Crew. Could have been background with Reg and Geordi getting the Phoenix up and on time.
No. You cant have a TNG movie without Worf.
That being said, I love the Klingon theme when we first see him
And I loved seeing Broccoli (Barclay) in a TNG movie.
I'm not a fan at all......
The nervous guy who wants to shake Cochrane's hand was a semi-regular on Star Trek: TNG named Barklay and he was hilarious. He was also a main character on the old "A-Team" show named "Howling Mad Murdoch" and he was also hilarious on that show, too.
just last night my partner was discussing a work issue. They were concerned people were using a scathing nickname too much. They agreed it best to avoid a "Broccoli moment" lol
I love Barclay, he was one of the most relatable characters out of all of the Star Trek shows. Everyone else on TNG was just a little too perfect.
One of the most amusing moments in Next Gen was when Picard himself accidentally called him "Mr. Broccoli."
Dwight Schultz (Lt. Barclay) is an absolutely amazing actor, one of the most underrated actors, IMO, he also played "Murdock" in the A-Team.and a ton of other pivotal TV and Film rolls over the years.
Barclay would also appear occasionally in Star Trek Voyager including the series finale
The "I am fully functional" is a call back to an episode "The Naked Now" of TNG.
Specifically, in which Data has sex. This was referred to later in TNG at various times.
@@NoHandleGrr And a few conventions. LeVar Burton told Jonathan Frakes to ask "Mr. Fully Functional," looking over at Brent Spiner.
The score by Jerry Goldsmith is incredible. The First Contact score at the end of the movie gives me goose bumps everytime.
There have been a lot of good composers in the Star Trek franchise but to me, Goldsmith is to Star Trek as Williams is to Star Wars, except for the beginning bars from the original series Goldsmith came up with the most iconic themes and First Contact has always been one of my favorites!
I’m so glad you liked this one so much, it’s my favorite of the entire series. Despite all the action, it really does have a central theme of friendship, love, and hope (something missing from most modern ST material). Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard do an amazing job building up a relationship between Picard and Lily. Goldsmith’s score is exemplary, especially at the end during first contact.
This is certainly one of the best of all the ST movies and it's clearly the best of the Next Gen movies by far.
You summed up exactly how I feel about this movie too. The movie is so nostalgic and means a lot to me
"Assimilate this!"
Some people say the idea of a Bog Queen ruins the Borg. I disagree. She doesn't control the Borg, she is the Borg. She is the expression of the Borg. She's the face of the Borg. Much like Locutus, she is the focal point of interaction.
Fun Fact: Although his name is never given in this film, according to Star Trek canon, the Vulcan who salutes Zefram Cochrane is named Solkar. As mentioned in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984), Solkar is the grand father of Sarek, and subsequently the great-grandfather of Spock.
Absolute Defiant Fact: The U.S.S. Defiant, introduced on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), was built for the sole purpose of fighting and defeating the Borg. This film features the only time the ship fights the Borg.
Twelve Parsecs Fact: Industrial Light & Magic animators created several new classes of Federation starships for the huge CGI animation sequence against the Borg. Classes include the Akira, Sabre, Steamrunner, and others. In addition, the Industrial Light & Magic animators had a little fun with this by placing a shot of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars in the battle, which can be seen in several DVD versions of this film. The scene showing this can easily be seen by going to the Star Trek fansite, Daystrom Institute Technical Library, and looking at the sixth and last image for the Akira-class starship. There, just under the Akira's port nacelle, you can see the Millennium Falcon just after she made a strafing run on the Borg Cube.
This is my favorite of the ST:TNG movies. I think the biggest strength of this movie is the storyline of Captain Picard's struggle with his PTSD from being assimilated. It's such a departure from his normally calm and cool demeanor, and Sir Patrick Stewart does such a phenomenal job. It has a lot of emotional impact especially for the fans of the show.
This is by far, the best TNG film. I remember driving about 60 miles to see it in 70mm at a huge theater on the opening Saturday. There must have close to 1000 people in the auditorium. One of the extra treats I recall was the preview for the release of "Star Wars: Special Edition". The thunderous cheering and appluase from the audience was something I won't forget. "First Contact" was pretty darn good too.
Top notch Trek. Frakes did a hell of a job with it.
Outside of Wrath of Kahn, this is my favorite Star Trek film ever, this movie was so much fun theatrically with a audience.👍
The EMH program (Emergency Medical Hologram) is a cameo of a character on the series Star Trek Voyager. In that show the starship Voyager is lost on the other side of the galaxy and lost their entire medical staff in the process, among others. They reluctantly are forced to rely on the new EMH program to function as the ship's doctor. Eventually the EMH becomes a full member of the crew rather than treated as a computer program.
And opens a long storyline persisting into STAR TREK: PICARD about the rights of holographic beings.
James Cromwell played a farmer in Babe(1995). He was also cast as a nasty police officer in LA Confidential(1997).
The EMH's "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop" is a callback to the original series when Dr. McCoy would use the "I'm a doctor, not a..." line. We have two Star Trek: Voyager stars in this film. Robert Picardo, as the EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram) who also plays the EMH on the USS Voyager, and Ethan Philips, as the holographic host in the holodeck who also plays Neelix on the USS Voyager. At this point, Michael Dorn (Worf) is now a regular cast member on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The USS Defiant, the ship he was commanding in the battle with the Borg cube, was introduced in season 3 episode 1 of DS9 and is attached to space station Deep Space Nine.
Picardo is almost unrecognizable as the evil serial killer/werewolf Eddie Quist in "The Howling."
Zephram Cochran who invented the warp drive, was first introduced during the original 60's show with James T. Kirk.
"If you were _any_ other man, I would kill you where you stand!" BEST line in the film.
A lot of what happened in First Contact carried over to the Prequel Series Enterprise, later retitled Star Trek: Enterprise set in the 22nd Centaury about a 100 years before the Original Series Characters, I'd highly recommend looking at the pilot "Broken Bow Parts 1 and 2" and Season 2 Episode 23 "Regeneration" which directly deals with the fallout of the Borg going into the past and is a sequel of sorts to First Contact.
Zephriam Cochrane was first introduced as a character in the TOS episode "Metamorphosis," during the 1967-68 season. In that episode, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy discover a remote planet on which Cochrane, now well over 200 years old, has been kept alive and young by a powerful creature he calls the "Companion,," which is in love with him. Ultimately they leave him there, now fated to live the remainder of a human life and then die, and keep his secret. Later in the various Trek series, the name Cochrane was referred to repeatedly -- a "Cochrane" is a measurement of warp-field strength; there is a maneuver called the Cochrane Deceleration; and so forth.
And born either in 2013 or 2032, depending on references - to Jesse and Hilde Cochrane (teachers)
05:59 LCDR Worf was transferred and assigned to the Bajoran/Federation outpost Deep Space Nine as Strategic Operations Officer. He was commanding their 'little' Starship the USS Defiant, which was originally designed and built specifically to fight The Borg.
Little? 😉
@@ursus3295 "No Families, no Science Labs..."
I was waiting for this one! Glad you were so engaged with this. Just something you said, Riker and Picard were actually originally swapped with Riker on the ship as Picard was more of the historian however I believe that was in an early draft prior to the Borg being involved in the story. If you were to reference any episode from the next generation on the next movie, perhaps Season 3's "Who watches the watchers". It's not a direct tie in, however it does provide some context. The next movie also has some references to the Dominion War which was a very long arc storyline on Deep Space Nine, but it's more to reference the world building they had done on TV than anything needed to be known. Insurrection is more of a stand alone. Also beardless Riker is a down for me ;)
My favorite opening theme of all the ST movies. Sets the table with a majestic score and graphics 🙂
For me, the pinnacle of trek films.
I absolutely agree with that
Realistically, the beginning of the end of the franchise ...
6:02 That shot of the Enterprise flying into view, amazing! One of my favorites of the Trek films, along with The Voyage Home.
I still get goosebumps when Picard announces to the crew he is about to violate his orders.
This is my favorite TNG movie. I have my own DVD copy. One bit I liked a lot was that Lily was the one to set Picard straight. Despite all that she saw in WW3 she was still shocked at Picard killing his own crew and his refusal to listen to the crews advise.
I was just re-watching this last night; i finally found this one Star Trek - First Contact scene I've been wanting to find on youtube for the longest time. The scene where Cochrane says "I didn't build this rocket for science, but money"
The best Star Trek film of all times. I love it.
For Star Trek Insurrection, I would suggest the only thing you might research, prior to watching, would be some background into Star Fleet's Prime Directive. Otherwise, your knowledge of Star Trek should be sufficient for maximum enjoyment. I hope you enjoy your next voyage. Also, the scene with the Borg and the EMH (emergency medical hologram) was a callback to Star Trek Voyager series.
One of my fondest memories of the many Star Trek Conventions I attended, was being seated next to Alice Kreige ( the Borg Queen ) at the evening dinner. We talked mostly about Engand and her part in "Chariots of Fire". I was stationed near Oxford in the USAF at the same time she was filming the movie. Both of us being foreign to Britain ( she's South African ) we compaired initial impressions. It was a wonderful evening.
This is my absolute favorite Star Trek movie, followed very closely by The Voyage Home. Funny how coincidentally they both involve time travel. Glad you liked this one!
Nah the voyage home is crap.
@@geofftottenperthcoys9944 Your opinion has no bearing on what my favorite Star Trek movies are. (Or more accurately: Double dumbass on you!) :P
Is that the one with "Oh, well, double dumbass on you!"? If so, I agree with you, First Contact is the best and The Voyage Home is second best.
@@Real_LiamOBryan Yep, that's the one, lol.
Great review as usual! Unfortunately the films that are left do not hold up as well as First Contact. I highly, HIGHLY recommend that you watch the Next Generation episodes Sarek, Unification 1&2 and Relics. Not for the coming movies, but just as great stories on their own.
Insurrection may be a step back but Nemesis was good when i first watched it in 2002
@@jameslane2326 Insurrection is better than Nemesis
@@5ilver42 Take that back!
That opening shot was the longest pull back in cinema history at the time. Probably still is.
I've been waiting for this one. I have a particular appreciation for this film because I consider it an incredibly efficient way to get someone who may not otherwise be interested in Star Trek or TNG in particular and equip them with a familiarity with all the main characters- it's really hard to do that!
Shan, this is "technically" "Star Trek 8", and as you likely know by now, the even numbered ones tend to be the better ones. Now, for the last two of the series (9 and 10), personally, I think that gets reversed, as I like 9 more than 10, but that's not saying that 10 is a bad movie by any means.
Also, Frakes is known as an "Actor's Director", because he himself IS an actor. So he knows very well how to relate to them, and give them the essential information they need to turn in their best performances.
One last thing... I legit LOL'd when you called him "Fraker", because I knew you had accidentally combined his real name (Frakes) with his character name (Riker). It actually kinida fit. LOL!
"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."
Two of the main reasons I went back to complete Voyager (I dropped it early, like second season early) were: 1. The Borg and 2. Species 8472.
DS9 was a bit different. The owner of the local tv station that showed it passed away and the station became state owned so they dropped it. THEN I heard about the Dominion Wars and had to finish it. Wasn't disappointed.
When Star Trek meets The Terminator. The Borg knew they were going to lose the battle, so they sent some of their troops back in time to annihilate the person that originated the foundation for the Federation to prevent First Contact, which in turn lead to the Enterprise crew helping that said person build a warp drive to get *First Contact* with the Vulcans.
Pretty much the same premise, except the Enterprise crew was able to go back in their own timeline which Kyle Reese couldn't do.
Brent Spiner, "Data," is a quirky yet awesome actor. He has made a few appearances on the 80s show Night Court among others. He also plays various generations of the Soong family in a few Star Trek series, including Data's creator Dr. Noonien Soong.
He's playing Lore in Picard S3.
Quite simply THE best ST movie ever. Almost a Cronenberg film at times. Beautiful score from Jerry Goldsmith. Astounding SFX. The best villains...the works!
The best of the TNG series for sure, but I'd still give the top spot to TWOK. That movie is still the one referenced the most in pop culture, and what pretty much put Star Trek into the broader public consciousness. But I'd definitely put First Contact right behind it.
I love this movie, especially as a fan of all the shows from that era. So many great fanservice moments.
The scene in the holodeck was a nice callback to the show because Detective Dixon Hill was a character that Picard played in an episode "The Big Goodbye". Holodeck episodes were a recurring thing in TNG. I think everyone loved the fantasy of being able to enter a fictional recreational world in a near realistic simulation. Of course the safety features often got turned off, leading to actual danger in the otherwise safe environments. Hence Picard turning them off in order to kill the Borg with otherwise harmless weapons.
Robert Picardo had a cameo as his character from Star Trek Voyager, who is a hologram that can exist outside of the holodecks. He was designed to function as the ship's emergency doctor in the event that the real medical officers are killed or incapacitated. In Voyager, he has to become the ship's full time doctor when Voyager is stranded and there were no other doctors left alive. He was definitely a stand-out character from that show.
Lt Barclay, the character who shook Cochrane's hand, was another recurring TNG character. He was a deeply flawed man who was always fighting his array of phobias and insecurities. He was one of Troy's patients, and at one point was hooked on using Holodecks to escape reality. He might have been Star Trek's away of addressing the fans who have a hard time separating fantasy from reality. He had problems but always overcame them and demonstrated he was an imporant part of the crew. Barclay ended up being a fan favorite character who also played a small role in Star Trek Voyager.
So lots of references to holograms in this movie, now that I think about it. Holodecks and holosuites were a memorable part of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
The actress who played the Borg Queen just died young, at the age of 45, of cancer, the day before yesterday.
There are so many call-backs in this movie to previous Trek, it's impossible to know where to start.
There are all the Borg episodes of TNG: Q WHO, BEST OF BOTH WORLDS 1 & 2, I, BORG, DESCENT (wherein Data's emotion chip first entered), VOYAGER'S "Unity," and then a slew of VOYAGER episodes taking place after FIRST CONTACT, including the introduction of 7 of 9, a Borg character, in VOYAGER's second season. The Borg played a huge role in VOYAGER after that, down to the finale.
But there's also Worf's having moved to be a star of DEEP SPACE 9 in their 4th season, the (holographic EMH) Doctor as a primary character of VOYAGER, various TNG episodes about Geordi's VISOR, the previous use in every series of "self-destruct," the introduction of Zefram Cochrane in THE ORIGINAL SERIES in "Metamorphosis", the DEFIANT from DS9, minor characters from TNG such as Nurse Ogawa, a vast number of holodeck-based episodes of TNG (the holodeck introduced in the two-part series premiere), the use of the holodeck scenario "The Big Goodbye" private detective Dixon Hill episode, the many misadventures of Reginald Barclay in TNG (and later VOYAGER). and on and on.
Without familiarity with the relevant series episodes, all of the movies lose about half of their content.
In any case, STAR TREK is always a television series and all the movies, every single one, are drastically inferior. They emphasize non-STAR TREK values, such as fighting and war and weapons and explosions, and totally lack the main STAR TREK messages and virtues, as well as the character development and depths. ST movies that live up to the overall series just can't be made, because you need those dozens and dozens of episodes to build up the full backgrounds and exemplify the traditional STAR TREK values.
Just saying; you've missed out on a great deal, and synopses of a handful of episodes don't begin to compensate.
That said, FIRST CONTACT is probably the best movie, surpassing WRATH OF KHAN. The later TNG movies don't live up to it.
Great Reaction! If you ever get the time to watch STTNG and DS9 on your own there are many beautiful emotional and philisophical gems buried in those shows.
+ Voyager
@@thewinner7382 Yeah, they all have good stuff.
It's Borg. Singular. There is one individual, & that individual's name is Borg: the Drones are the cells of Borg's body; & their minds components of Borg's Mind.
It's not the "first" warp drive, since Vulcans & other species have already independently developed their own warp drives. This was *Earth's* first warp drive!
The series ST: Enterprise tells the story of United Earth's expansion into interstellar space. It follows from this movie.
Cracking film, the absolute high point of the TNG movies.
Insurrection is a perfectly decent film, but really just feels like a TV episode.
Obviously, the most maligned TNG film is Nemesis. Most criticisms of which are perfectly valid, but it has one of the best space bound scenes.
I loved the audio cameo by Kelsey Grammer in callback to his series cameo as a captain.
At this point, Worf was stationed on Deep Space Nine in command of the Defiant.
BTW, the name is not PEEcard, it's piCARD (short i as in pick, stress on 2nd syllable).
The standard-issue EMH (emergency medical hologram) is a callback to The Doctor on Voyager, a hologram who's run so long that he's become a sentient photonic lifeform. Same actor too.
"Australia, New Guinea, Solomons." But no New Zealand. NZ was inexplicably absent.
12:43, the best quote of all of Star Trek. After the series canceled, some people did not get why Star Trek was so popular. I always thought, this quote, was the best written quote in Sci Fi movies, especially Star Trek.
"I can't wait for the next Star Trek film!"
That's what we all said walking out of the theater ... how innocent and naive we were.
Great reaction!!! If I had to nitpick...you left out the Troi drunk scene!!! That was almost worth the price of admission on its own. (And the "leak" stuff was pretty funny too.)
This crew had 7 wonderful seasons to hone their relationships and get in their respective character's skins, so it was bound to be good. The writing really produced a feeling of destiny and necessity in the events, with some great lines and insights along the way. It's my favorite of the NG films and right up there with the best of TOS films.
That bit with Picard touching the Phoenix always gets me.
By the time this movie came out, the character of Worf had already moved to the station DS9, which was the TV show "Deep Space Nine", and the ship he commanded the "Defiant" was part of that show. The Emergency Medical Hologram who did complained about not being a "doorstop", was a variant of "The Doctor" character from the TV show "Voyager". The character of Cochrane was created for this movie, but has become a huge linchpin of the star trek lore.
Not totally correct on Cochrane. This is spoilers for TOS but he makes an appearance there
Zefram Cochrane appeared in the TOS episode Metamorphosis.
The ship Worf was commanding was technically the USS Sao Paulo, which was renamed Defiant (why it wasn't Defiant-A, I don't know) to replace the original Defiant that was destroyed in Deep Space Nine.
@@Jay-ln1co actually this is not the Sao Paolo. This is still the first defiant class defiant. The battle of sector 001 happens right at the beginning of the conflict portrayed on ds9. Word has been stationed on ds9 about a year
@@shotarohidari7417 Fair enough, I had my timeline mixed up.
@@Jay-ln1co Riker and Worf both referred to it as "The Defiant". "Adrift, but salvageable."
Made me evening Shan! As always will comment when done. Hope you enjoyed it. Think you will have
Good review Shan.1996 I was in the army stationed at Ft Hood,Tx,me and 5 other soldiers went to see this film at the cinema,what a GREAT time we had !!! LOL.WE were wooping and hollering at certain scenes,just having a good ole time.There are many Star Trek and Star Wars fans in the army and it was nice to have others who share your love of both franchises. Live Long and Prosper.
Just watching your reaction is the first time I thought about an Easter egg in the movie. Data in the TV show plays poker but gets beaten by Riker, because the human bluff Data cannot read. So Data lies to the Borg Queen to convince her he will destroy the warp ship. Being able to fool her shows again Data becoming more human.
During the First Contact film and at least the Star Trek insurrection film Worf is Stationed at DS9. Speaking of which, I hope we get a new Star Trek tv series starring Avery Brooks ( if he is willing to) to catch us up with “The Sisko” after the DS9 end.
To me, this is the most SATISFYING Star Trek movie. I still prefer ST IV: Voyage Home, but only barely... more like a 1a and 1b than one of them being my favorite, and the other the 2nd best. I thought Patrick Stewart's performance was Oscar worthy. The whole "the line must be drawn here. This far, no farther!" to me, is one of the most triumphant in Star Trek history (but you'd have had to watch all of ST:NG to get that), and I was sorry to see you cut it out. I think Stewart was speaking not just for himself, but for every Star Trek fan who hates the Borg as he said that.
In regards of acting Alfre Woodward and Alice Krige are on par with Patrick Stewart and Spiner to my mind. They share many scenes and certainly the most relevant, and their chemistry make every scene very powerful
7:50 Picard: "Computer, mid-21st century civilian clothing."
In the novelization, Cochrane was manic-depressive; Beverly cured him with a hypospray.
One of the Star Trek movies I watched with my dad back when I was little. Watching this brought back some good memories. The concept of the borg giving Data human flesh is such a simple, yet such an interesting twist. It's creating a cyborg in reverse; rather than adding mechanical parts to a living person, it's adding living parts to a mechanical person.
I have never been a big fan of next gen Trek, but I must say that the Borg are one of the best villain ideas to come out of the whole Trek-verse. They don't see you as an enemy to be destroyed, but rather as material to be assimilated, and that is truly terrifying.
The Dominion in DS9 is also great. A dark, authoritarian version of the Federation.
This movie is among one of my favorite Star Trek films. It is the only one of the TNG films that I like because it has a lot of "heart", which is a hallmark of the original TV series that made it so endearing and enduring. To me, the TNG characters were always so stiff but here, they are much more relaxed and exhibiting more natural emotion, even Picard.
What a great Jerry Goldsmith opening!!! Superb movie and score
One of the reasons I like watching rxns (and Shan's in particular) is to get the perspective of someone who isnt steeped in lore. That way we get to see if this is actually a good movie or not from an objective point of view. Glad you enjoyed! You're gonna love going back and watching the relevant episodes.
8:33 "For humans, touch can connect you to an object in a very personal way -- make it seem more real." What foreshadowing for Data's experience with the Borg. This might be my favorite Trek movie because of the screenplay's level of layering throughout, all brought to life by the cast's fine performances and Frakes' invigorating direction.
Found you channel specifically looking for reactions to this movie. Love the detail you give and the way you research what you need to know without spoiling the movie. I will definitely be watching more.
The opening theme was my wedding march. The husband was a dud but the music was a great choice!
9:35, don't worry about him, the actor is Robert Picardo, sort of the same character in the show Star Trek: Voyager but became more advanced as the seasons progressed, Voyager's own Data so to speak. The call back was certainly the quote, "I'm a Doctor, not a door stop". Dr. McCoy aways said "I'm a Doctor, not a ???" in various episodes.
Curious question, are you watching some Star Trek on your own? May I recommend a CZcams channel? It's called Taget Audience, 2 guys reacting and reviewing all the Star Treks in order. They have already finished 2 full seasons of the original Star Trek, taking forever to start season 3, that's their only flaw, but still a great YT channel for cheating and their reviews are excellent, as your way is.
Oh, more news on the YT front, another reactor, Jen Murray is catching up on James Bond movies. Here, next one will be The Man With The Golden Gun coming soon. She's also tackling The Planet Of The Ape movies so she's beating you on that, lol.
Also, the great TBR SCHMITT with his wife Samatha are on The Dirty Harry series, just recently did The Enforcer, so hopefully you can catch up, lol.
Keep doing what you're doing, still loving your channel, enjoy, and have fun!!! Thank you.
'Fun' fact, Robert Picardo was the voice of the Johnny Cab in Total Recall.
As always really good critique at the end. Glad you are continuing....while Insurrection is often panned as its a lighter departure from the action of First Contact the story for me is really compelling...still action but its a very morality and "human" driven story. As always as soon as notification pops up...will drop whatever I am doing to watch :)
This and VI are probably my 2 favorites of all the Trek films. As to the next one, remember the rule of Trek films; beware the odd numbered ones.
Minor point for context. The character Wrof was transfered a few years prior, to Deep Space Nine another TV show that overlapped the last yr of The Next Generation show. The ship Worf was assigned to was at Wolf 459 where the Borg attacked the fleet
I needed a great star trek reaction tonight. You killed it, my man. Thank you, loving your channel.
Another great review 👍👍👍👍
This is easily my favorite of the Star Trek movies, for all the reasons you've already mentioned 👍👍👍👍
Another of my favorite aspects about it, is the actor who portrayed Lieutenant Hawk: He was 'doing *something* ' every time he was in a shot, but never once crossing the line into scene-stealing from the principle actors... I think that this really brought the character to life, as a competent junior officer (with a very prestigious assignment to the Federation's flagship) who showed proper deference to his superior officer 👍👍👍👍
Something I only learned recently, was that there was a battle in French history, where French soldiers retreated without being given the order to fall back. This, explains Picard's reaction to Worf's suggestion, as essentially a cultural revulsion, to what he sees as Cowardice in the Face of the Enemy, hence his reaction...
The episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, ''Regeneration'' is essentially a sequel to First Contact, and well worth watching 👍👍👍👍
My 3rd favorite Trek film behind Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country.
We honestly thought back in 1996 that Lt Hawk would become a beloved addition to the cast. Competent, easy on the eye, nice voice.
For about one hour.
He would then go on to play Damien Darkh on the TV series Arrow amongst other CW shows.
One thing I really like that this film got right, was that the Borg "queen" was NOT a leader, she WAS the collective, essentially an avatar that personified the will of all of them together. This is why destroying her did not prevent her from appearing in other places at other times, within canon.
"Insurrection" is a great story if you haven't watched the tv series. ANYbody can follow the film without having seen the series, and since you did so well and understanding THIS one, you will have absolutely NO problem following "Insurrection".
Okay, some context, between Generations and First Contact, Worf becomes a regular on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. The Defiant was created as a direct response to the Borg, it's a war ship. During Deep Space Nine's run the Federation ends up in a war with a faction called the Dominion. All new Federation ships in this time were designed to fight the Borg, Voyager included (another Star Trek spinoff and where the EMH is from) which saves the Federation from the Dominion.
First Contact is set during Star Trek Voyager's 3rd season where it's revealed the Borg are engaged in a conflict with an alien race the Borg has designated as Species 8472. This alien is resisted to assimilation, which might explain why the Borg's Plan B is to go back and assimilate the Earth in the past with more primitive technology, they need the extra bodies to throw at 8472
And for Insurrection read up on an episode called Tapestry to understand young Picard
There was no grand plan for the films. At the time two series were airing, set at the same time. Deep Space Nine, which was gearing up for a war with the Dominion (In fact the new uniforms are called Dominion war uniforms) and Voyager, which was about a Federation ship stranded on the far side of the galaxy trying to get back. They were in Borg space by the time this film came out
This is my favorite ST:TNG movie. Frankly, just about anything involving the Borg is good. Thanks for the reaction.
Glad you enjoyed this one. It is really my favourite. It also got a spinoff tv series called "Star Trek: Enterprise" which deals with the ramifications of first contact.
It's not stated on-screen, but it's in the script, the novelization, and expanded universe materials. The captain of the Vulcan ship at the end is supposed to be Solkar. Sarek's grandfather, and Spock's great grandfather. Which works out just right, since Vulcans live more than twice as long as humans (they usually live at least 200 years).
This isnt a good star trek movie, its a good movie. This movies brilliance (and I feel the only one to do so) is it found a balance between the long term fans and people who knew nothing. A+ film
Side note. The Emergency Medical Hologram that Doctor Crusher uses is a duplicate of the Star Trek: Voyager Series Chief Medical Officer. This allowed for a cameo by a member of that show in this movie crew. The a hologram on the Holodeck is also played by a actor from that crew, out of his alien make-up. The Captain of that series shows up in a brief cameo giving Picard orders in Nemesis after being promoted to Admiral. Worf I believe is the only Series Regular from Star Trek Deep Space Nine to make an appearance in the movies.
If Zefram had this much trouble wrapping his head around being a hero and meeting the Vulcans, I'm glad nobody told him about his eventual fate of being trapped on a planetoid for 100 years, held prisoner by a horny cloud. Because Star Trek is weird.
But I don't think Kirk ever actually told anybody about that.
When I first saw this in the cinema, the surround sound system had the Borg hive chat whispers sounding very eerily.
8:00 The scenes with the missile in the silo are from the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley, AZ south of Tucson. I've taken the tour where they take you down to the underground bunker. They didn't take us into the silo itself. The actual missile's top cone has a rectangle cut out of it to prove it a dummy, and the silo doors are blocked at half open with a Lexan/plexiglass cover so that Soviet/Russian satellites could verify that it was not violating SALT and other disarmament treaties. Wikipedia has a short entry on it along with a photo of the missile with the hole in the cone.
The Titan missiles were constantly being upgraded, sort of like the B-52s are now, so that while they were old most parts had been modernized. This missile would have been, by the mid-21st century, probably around 80 years old. Disregarding the fact that they were all decommissioned by 1987. This particular site was decommissioned in 1984. I first visited the museum about 1989, I think.
Turning the Titan Missile Key
czcams.com/video/FVZmFISzqwY/video.html
I love the Star Trek Next Generation series and the movies.
I'm a big Patrick Stewart fan, I loved the Moby Dick reference in this movie because Patrick once played Captain Ahab in a film adaptation of Moby Dick.
Shout out also to Brent Spiner, his ability to switch between the emotional Data & emotionless Data is very impressive.
Great movie and my favourite of the franchise
One important information you should know: The hologram doctor is in fact one of the main characters on the series "Star Trek: Voyager" that was at its second season when this movie was released
CONTEXT FOR STAR TREK INSURRECTION: The next film takes place during the Dominion War which was a war that lasted many years during the DEEP SPACE 9 series (its the station where Worf goes after the end of Generations).
For CONTEXT, you should watch the episodes CALL TO ARMS and A TIME TO STAND to show you where Worf has been, how brutal the war is, and why the Federation is in desperate need of new allies to fight.
Plus Deep Space 9 is the BEST STAR TREK OF ALL TIME! You really should watch the whole series. No joke.
My parents love that movie! They know it so well! The first time it came to cinemas, my parents saw that movie on a date night.
"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 farther! And I...will make them PAY for what they've done."
This movie is almost counter to how the show is, because usually Picard is stoic, honorable, thoughtful and slow to fight, a true diplomat who sees fighting as the last option of a man who at all costs wishes to preserve peace and decency. That's why for fans of the show this performance from Patrick Stewart is so great - you can see his PTSD, you can feel his angst and his fear, and when he unleashes all that Shakespearean training to growl out this monologue you feel every ounce of his pain. He is fucking PISSED. They took him, they stole his humanity, his individuality, everything that made him who he is, and though the medical crew was able to reverse it, it still stands as a moment in life where his body existed but his soul was suppressed, and that has to be a feeling unlike any pain any of us have ever known. And he knows that every single member of the Borg collective has gone through or is going through exactly that same feeling, except they will not be saved, and that pains him. Truly he is pushed to Ahab levels of obsession with destroying the Borg because of this and lost sight of who he was which oddly parallels to the experience of being the Borg - anger and pain and resentment are somewhat equivalent to the Borg in how they imprison us within ourselves.
Jonathan Frakes is a very competent director who never struck me as the kind of guy that wanted to chase stardom at all. He made plenty of money from his association with Star Trek and I think he chose to just take it easy and I respect that, but he could have moved into non-Trek sci-fi or horror very easily at that time in Hollywood and might have gotten big because of it. The rest of the Trek crew have obviously not become huge names besides Stewart, but what a legacy they leave behind.
PS - the spirit of Star Trek: TNG lived on, oddly enough, in Seth Macfarlane's show The Orville. Despite all the other new Star Trek shows that have come out since this, including current iterations. The Orville is the only one that seemed to understand TNG enough to be a worthy follow up.
This film pushed all the right buttons for franchise fans. Time Travel? Check. Classic baddies from the TV series? Check. (Although Alice Krige as the Queen was new and inspired. In the series the Borg seemed to be just a headless collective - not a hierarchy ). And of course, it wouldn't be Trek without someone quoting Shakespeare or Melville.... it worked for Khan, it worked for Chang, and no one can deliver those classic lines like veteran thespian Patrick Stewart. He got to chew the scenery in the most satisfying (and least Shatneresque) way possible.
My only worry is that your Trek viewing experience may have peaked. The remaining films are ....fine.... but First Contact (arguably) joins Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home and Galaxy Quest (😏) as "Best Trek Movie" contender.
The scene in Sickbay when Dr. Crusher activated the EMH (emergency medical hologram) is a nod to the Star Trek: Voyager series, where in The medical staff were killed early on, and the ship had to rely on a similar program for its extended trip , far from any support.
My absolute favorite thing ever made in the Star Trek Universe.
Got to see this one in theaters and it was absolutely amazing.
I’m sorry and saddened to say the “Picard” show has been an absolute Dumpster Fire…
Yes I’ll watch the third and final season, but I’ll be watching it reluctantly, with low expectations and I bet they’ll kill a few of our TNG characters off..
Picard is way past saving. If you want to see some real Trek, the only one to watch is Prodigy, which started slow but quickly became the only new trek show that actually captured the actual spirit of old school Star Trek. It's basically a direct sequel to Star Trek Voyager.
My top 3. I like Wrath of Kahn, Voyage Home and First Contact. Great reaction.
9:40 Kind of, it's 'The Doctor' - the Emergency Medical Hologram from the series 'Voyager'
Also, the line "I am a doctor not a doorstop" is the homage on McCoy who used the line, "I am doctor not a bricklayer" in one of the TOS episodes.
It's just Borg, it's already plural, you wouldn't say Chineses! Keep up the great work bud.
Since you loved this film, feel free to hit TNG series… which is pretty great. You may want to have a Top 20 episodes poll, if you don’t want to watch the whole thing. Also, you would ADORE Ronald D. Moore’s series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (a brilliant reboot of the cheesy 70s series). It’s a cinematic masterpiece… and top-tier sci-fi… that ruined mediocre sci-fi forever for me.
I never saw TNG until I saw this movie and I never had trouble understanding it eventhough the TNG background gives more insight to understand the personnalities involved.
The Borg Queens are a particular species that are specialized into information treatment, they are summoned only when the Collective require them in times of chaos.
And Yes I said QueenS because the Collective had multiple branches, not just one. The Borg are not globally dead...
BTW Warp mechanics and equations were written by Miguel Alcubierre in 1995, the movie was written around tha same time. I don't know if it was influential or not but there you go.
Zefram Cochrane on the other hand appears in an episode of TOS.
There is an east egg in the movie.
"According to director Jonathan Frakes, the blinking lights on each Borg spell out the name of a different Trek cast or crew member, using Morse code."
The smaller flat ship at the point when the Enterprise comes in to fight the cube is the Defiant from Deep Space nine. And the EMH is a major character from my favorite series Voyager
EMH is definitely the best character in Voyager.
"Doc" was definitely a great character.
Worf was such a badass in the deflector dish battle! Apparently Spiner is a joker who does a great Patrick Stewart impression -- there are a whole bunch of stories and YT videos... Spiner phoning Stewart's wife, posing as an audience member when Stewart at conventions 😅
IIRC the Enterprise E was largely CG, the D was physical models, basically because the technology was not up to the task in '87