REVIEW: STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT (1996)
april
Steve Rhodes wrote in article <57cm0n$1...@nntpb.cb.lucent.com>...
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>
> STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
> A film review by Steve Rhodes
> Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
>
>RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
>
> When a new Star Trek comes out, there is always excitement in the
>air. Star Trek has fans like no other series. Trekkies have almost a
>religious devotion to the series. I still remember the first time I
>met a master level Trekkie. I was at a party where a TV was playing,
>and she was reciting not some, but all the lines before the characters
>spoke them. I stared in awe at her. This review is not for her or her
>likes. This review of STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is aimed at the rest of
>us. She will undoubtedly recognize and appreciate nuances in the
>picture that mere mortals will miss.
>
> First, an admission. I have seen some of the films in the Star
>Trek series but not all. Some I've liked, and some I haven't. I do
>not remember any that were bad nor any outstanding. As a non-devotee,
>I find the films good solid entertainment, but nothing more. This is
>not meant as a put-down. As a critic, it is a relief not to have every
>film try to force your emotional systems into a complete meltdown.
>Being able to kick back and just enjoy an old fashion adventure is a
>welcome respite for my nervous system.
>
> "I am a computer cyborg. Resistance is futile," says Captain
>Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) remembering the time six years ago
>when the Borgs assimilated him. He is healthy now, but the earth
>isn't.
>
> The Borgs have gone back in time to the year 2063 so they can stop
>earth's first contact with an alien spacecraft. If they can do that,
>they will populate the earth with nothing but Borgs. The film is about
>the Captain and his crew aboard the newly commissioned U. S. S.
>Enterprise-E as they follow the Borgs back in time so they can stop
>them. This plot device lets much of the movie be filmed in a pine
>forest.
>
> The Borgs start taking over the Enterprise, and try torture on
>those they capture. "I am unlike any life forms you have ever
>encountered before," tells Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) to the
>Borg Queen (Alice Krige). He asserts that he can not be broken. She
>resorts to that age old temptation -- sex. While he is strapped down,
>she blows over the new skin on his arm and purrs at him, "Was that good
>for you?" The script by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Ronald Moore
>never takes itself too seriously. The show is peppered with little
>bits of humor.
>
> The twenty-first century earth hero of the story is the original
>inventor of the warp drive, Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell from BABE).
>Costume designers Robert Blackman and Deborah Everton chose the outfit
>of a geriatric hippie for him. Cromwell has great fun playing the part
>of a reluctant legend who would rather drink whiskey than do anything
>else. His goal is to get rich and find a desert island full of naked
>women, but his destiny is to have high schools named after him instead.
>
> When Alfre Woodard (HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT), playing
>Cochrane's sidekick Lily Sloane, is taken up in the Enterprise, she has
>a rude awakening. As she looks wide-eyed back down to earth, the
>Captain explains to her, "You are not in Montana anymore." This is one
>of many homages to older movies.
>
> When Lily and Picard become trapped by the Borgs, they turn a room
>into a 1930's dancehall so that they can get an old fashioned Tommy gun
>to mow down the Borgs. The show is full of logical flaws like this.
>Why didn't he just dream up the gun? Why the whole room full of
>dancing strangers? Logic, of course, is not the point, and the scene
>is a colorful diversion.
>
> Woodard gets to say some of the cornier lines including, "It's my
>first ray gun," and "watch your caboose." Her performance, however, is
>too removed. She never gets in sync with the rhythm of a science
>fiction film. Brent Spiner as Data is the most fun to watch. Quite a
>complement to Stewart's brooding as the Captain. Lily makes fun of
>this with, "Captain Ahab has to have his whale." At times, the show
>takes itself seriously as when Picard barks out about the Borg battle,
>"The line has to be drawn here. This far and no farther."
>
> Having recently watched sci-fi films from 50's classics to STAR
>WARS to INDEPENDENCE DAY, I found the special effects by Terry Frazee
>in STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT closer to the hokey 50s' material. Watch
>especially the cheap model they used in the scene where they look up at
>the Enterprise from a telescope on earth. I once read that the reason
>the studio likes the STAR TREK series is that since they are relatively
>inexpensive to film, they are always quite profitable. STAR TREK films
>have a basic appeal, and fancy effects would probably just detract
>anyway.
>
> STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is directed by Jonathan Frakes who plays
>number one, known more formally as Commander William Riker. Like an
>old orchestra, the cast seems to run on auto-pilot so I still have
>little opinion on his directorial skills.
>
> The final question becomes: Is there enough here for non-Trekkies,
>and I think the answer is yes. A completely forgettable, but pleasant
>enough time at the your local Bijou. A good popcorn movie.
>
> STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT runs about 1:50. I missed getting the
>press kit at the screening, but that is about what my watch said. The
>film is rated PG-13 for cartoonish violence and a few profanities.
>There is no sex or nudity. The film would be fine for kids, but my
>guess is that they would need to be 8 or 9 to understand it. I give
>the picture a thumbs up and rate it ** 1/2.
>
>______________________________________________________________________
>**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film.
>*** = Excellent show. Look for it.
>** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable.
>* = Poor show. Don't waste your money.
>0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
>
>REVIEW WRITTEN ON: November 20, 1996
>
>Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
>You bite.