The Borg travel back in time to assimilate humanity and disrupt Earth’s first warp drive test. The Enterprise follows to stop them, with Picard having Borg flashbacks and the Borg Queen attempting to seduce Data.
Like multiple of the films that came before it, a cast member takes over the director’s chair. This time it is Jonathan Frakes, who knows what to do with a camera. He also knows how to follow studio desires to not do anything too interesting.
A sequel to the two-part Best of Both Worlds Borg-centric TV episode, First Contact is primarily about Patrick Stewart overacting with Post-Borg-Traumatic-Stress syndrome, and Brent Spiner one-upping him as emotional Data being tempted. The first is annoying (really annoying as it goes on and on and on), with Picard throwing a tantrum, demonstrating that no one connected to the film had a firm understanding of psychology or character. The second brings the compensation of Alice Krige as the Borg Queen, which is a whole lot of compensation. The existence of the Borg Queen weakens the concept of the Borg, but less than later Next Gen episodes, and she’s worth it. In a film that flops between meaningless action, faux-tragedy, and weak comedy, she brings much needed sensuality and is a memorable villain, something too often lacking in Star Trek. Still, she has to ballance out silly scenes of Data moaning and pretending he’ll give in when we all know otherwise, and that’s too much to ask of her. (Hint to filmmakers: Do not make your film hinge around the suspense of a character’s temptation when we all know exactly what is going to happen.)
James Cromwell plays a funny drunk, which is amusing if you enjoy watching funny drunks. I could have skipped it, but it is a personal preference.
When it’s done, all is as it was (except for some continuity breaks with the character of Zefram Cochran). First Contact is an above average episode of the TV show. Not as good, or as epic as All Good Things, Yesterday’s Enterprise, Q Who, or its predecessor, Best of Both Worlds, but it’s enjoyable enough to make it to #10 on my list.