Star Trek: First Contact
User Score
8.4 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 46
  3. Negative: 2 out of 46

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  1. CritiqueGirl
    Mar 4, 2011
    4
    For me the movies were a great disappointment. The only thing I liked about the movie is that it was about the Borg. But, not worth watching again.
  2. Spielberg00
    Aug 31, 2011
    7
    STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT is great, yes, and certainly fun, even as the eighth entry in the overall film series (and the second based on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), but especially for a Star Trek flick, Jonathan Frakes (who played Commander Riker in this one), turned what could have been a straightforward, serious masterpiece into a whacked-out, somewhat sickly gross (in its first PG-13 style), science fiction thrill ride. Imagine SAW with aliens instead of Jigsaw and camera cutaways before we can even see the gore we know is coming. There's the apparently new STAR TREK way to create a twisted PG-13 flick.… Expand
  3. Necromus
    Dec 6, 2012
    10
    Alright when I heard there was gonna be a Star Trek movie about the Borg called First Contact I was dreading the thought that it might just be a movie remake of the episode where they had first contact with The Borg. I was relieved to find out this was not the case. Out of all the TNG movies, this is the only one I absolutely loved. The other three TNG movies were mediocre but this one was excellent. Maybe it was because this one was a really dark no BS movie that got to the point of the TNG crew having to confront and deal with their most menacing , dangerous and scary enemy. This movie is also friendly to people who might not be familiar with TNG or the Borg in that there is a human character introduced who also isn't familiar with them and Picard has to explain to her what is going on. While it gets TNG newbies up to speed it's done in a way that isn't cheesy and doesn't ruin the film for us Trekkies/Trekkers. SPOILER ALERT: I like the way this movie actually has Picard acting irrationally because he is psychologically scared from the time in the TV series when he was assimilated, it was realistic.

    Excellent movie, I wish all the TNG movies were this good. 10/10    … Expand
  4. Delta_Assault
    Sep 28, 2011
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm gonna go ahead and explain one of the biggest flaws I found with First Contact. And this isn't one of the common ones like Picard being an action hero or Cochrane being silly or whatever. Those have all been covered.

    The flaw is... the Borg Cube at the beginning of the film is destroyed.

    Now, this wouldn't be a problem if it was destroyed in some way that made sense. Like at the end of The Best of Both Worlds, that was a really creative and interesting way to defeat the Borg. Also, it was really the only choice they had, because the Borg were **** unstoppable juggernauts of no-resistance-making and you couldn't defeat them through sheer firepower or combined arms. That was what Q Who and Best of Both Worlds taught us. I mean, the Battle of Wolf 359 is still scarred into every Trekkie's living memory, right? That's for a reason. Wolf 359 was probably the most memorable space battle on the series, and it was one we never even saw! That sorta thing stays with you for a long time.

    Well, First Contact comes around and shows us that Q Who and Best of Both Worlds were both wrong. You apparently can defeat the Borg through sheer firepower and combined arms. And that's just wrong, man. That is straight up **** retarded. The Borg are as scary and powerful as they are for a very big reason. It is not because they build giant **** cubes. That helps, but that by itself wouldn't make them all that special.

    The Borg's main advantage comes from their ability to adapt. It always has been. This is the trump card that they revealed in Q Who. You fire phasers and photon torpedoes at a Cube, and you'll be able to get in a few shots, but afterwards they will adapt, regenerate, and your weapons are now completely useless. This is an amazing ability which means that they are able to access God mode from the console after you hit em a few times. Even with changing phaser frequencies, you'll only buy yourself a few more shots before they adapt. This has been shown over and over again in the series.

    Well, for some reason... the Borg Cube in First Contact seems to have lost the ability to adapt. It's true, don't think I'm making this whole schtick up. After the battle begins, the Enterprise E goes from the border of the Romulan Neutral Zone to the Sol System. This presumably takes some time. I dunno how long, let's just say a couple of hours at least, right? That's probably pretty reasonable. And the cube battle begins from the Typhon sector and ends up at the Sol System. So from start to finish, it's a couple of hours. And the Cube apparently doesn't adapt in that amount of time. Because when we finally get to see the battle, on Earth's doorstep, the Borg Cube's still taking hits from phasers, photon torpedoes... all manner of crap. Enterprise E shows up and fires phasers and quantum torpedoes... no adapting on the Cube's part. Where did this adapting ability go? It was on the TV series, but didn't make the transition to the films? WTF guys?

    And don't tell me that the Enterprise E's quantum torpedoes worked because they were new weapons and the Cube hadn't had time to adapt yet. Yes, the quantum torpedoes were new, but you can't honestly expect me to believe that the Enterprise E was the first ship at the battle to employ them. There was an enormous fleet fighting the Borg for several hours before the E arrived, surely some of them must have had quantums. I mean, the Defiant has quantum torpedoes, doesn't it? The Defiant sure fought the Cube for a long time. So it surely must've used quantum torpedoes.

    So they're peppering it with everything, and the Cube's taking all kinds of damage, even though the Cube from Best of Both Worlds decimated the entire Wolf 359 fleet without taking a scratch. Because they adapted to phasers and photon torpedoes in Best of Both Worlds. Something this Borg Cube apparently can't do. Now Picard on the Enterprise E hears something in his head that lets him know to fire at a certain spot. So all the remaining ships fire at this spot and the Cube blows up.

    Now, this is ridiculous in several ways. First of all, how the hell does Picard know what the Borg are thinking? He hasn't known what the Borg were thinking during the last few goddamn seasons of TNG. He was completely cured and rehabilitated after Best of Both Worlds. They drained all the borg nanites and implants and whatnot from his body, right? He doesn't have any Borg stuff on him anymore. So what the hell, how is he receiving it? And why would he be receiving nothing other then the exact way to destroy the Cube? Why would the Borg feel like telling him the exact weakness to exploit to destroy them? In I Borg, did the Borg also somehow tell Picard to insert a virus into Hugh to destroy them as well? And if he has the ability to read the Borg's thoughts, doesn't that mean it could also work both ways?    … Expand
  5. pauljohnson
    Nov 23, 2011
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Succeeds, despite its obvious flaws. The time travel story is sketchy a best, and has some considerable loopholes, such as, why don't the Borg do it again? or, why don't they go back into the past 30,000 light years from Earth, where Starfleet couldn't blow the hell out of them, and then go and assimilate Earth?
    There are a lot of things in this film that I loved style wise, the new design to the Borg for instance made them extremely menacing, and the Borg attack scenes coupled with Jerry Goldsmith's out and out FANTASTIC score for this film made the fight scenes palpable, suspenseful and great. They did get a bit repetitive after a while, however. The story focus on Picard in this film is definitely good; we have a story of a captain who thus far, has lost two Starships under his command, the second - the Enterprise D - because he wasn't there. You know that Picard is the kind of captain who would wonder if it had been different if he had been there - if his presence had made the difference. Now, he faces losing his newest ship, and to his most hated nemesis - the Borg. We've scene from Family, I, Borg and Descent (as well as the Deep Space Nine pilot) how he feels about the Borg; how he feels personally defeated, violated by them, and now he faces losing his ship and most of his crew to that enemy; making it unthinkable to do so. The big criticism I would direct at this movie is the Borg Queen. A character introduced only because Studio Executives wanted to have a "focal point for the villainy". Well, you got one, and at the cost of making the Borg look ridiculous. The Borg don't have a single leader, we've been told that's why they're so efficient; a single leader would be liable to make mistakes. The Borg Queen was not in any way an embodiment of the Borg Collective, she was seductive, emotional and individualised. I wouldn't have minded if she was something along the lines of Locutus or Seven of Nine (when she was allowed to converse with the Voyager crew in Scorpion Parts 1 and 2). In all, Johnathan Frakes' first outing as a theatrical director is quite impressive, although the film is definitely lacking in its writing.    … Expand
  6. spielbrick90
    Oct 27, 2011
    10
    One of the best original Star Trek movies without doubt. The film has a brilliant begginning, a marvelous ending and a fabulous, action packed, Borg filled middle which I am sure all film critics will look for in films. Excellent!!!
  7. CursedKnight187
    Jul 31, 2012
    8
    A surprisingly good Star Trek movie that actually feels like a feature film rather than an extended television episode. Well acted and professionally written. Jonathan Frakes adds his own spice as a director, and the fact that he also acts as Riker makes him a suitable choice to direct.
  8. jamesensor
    Jan 7, 2012
    4
    Cheeeeeeesy omg... only the original trek gang was worth watching.. now this cast and story, its a total cliche and flooded with nonsense creativity. Also, SFX doesn't make a movie score 10.
  9. HenryP1983
    Jan 18, 2011
    10
    FIRST CONTACT is considered to be the best TNG film. And when you watch it you see why. FIRST CONTACT features the Borg, perhaps the most popular villain in science-fiction history or at least in the Star Trek universe. Picard and crew return aboard the new Enterprise-E and in order to save the future must travel back in time to 2063 to save the past. At the time FIRST CONTACT was the most successful Star Trek film (world wide) up until J.J.Abrams STAR TREK (2009) film. There are great action sequences, acting (notably Patrick Stewart gives his best performance second only to NEMESIS, as well as Alice Krige as the Borg Queen). Simply put, FIRST CONTACT is one hell of a film! A must see!… Expand
  10. CoryB.
    Mar 15, 2007
    8
    Star Trek: First Contact is a good movie, it does however lack here and there, but I think that can easily be ignored.
  11. GerrickC.
    Jul 20, 2006
    10
    First Contact takes the battle Jean-Luc had with the Borg in TNG and made the climax into a movie. Finally seeing a Borg offensive is nice, and seeing how cleverly the humans fend them off is pretty entertaining. The movie also gives a pretty graphic picture of the Borg assimilation process throughout. This movie was most definitely Star Trek, and anyone who liked TNG, the Borg or both will find much to like about First Contact.… Expand
  12. ItayM.
    Mar 13, 2008
    8
    OK movie, better since Enterprise came out.
  13. JonathanC.
    Sep 16, 2006
    10
    Awesome movie.
  14. ShaneH.
    Sep 2, 2006
    10
    This movie is Jonathan Frakes' directing at it's best. With the almost Star Wars-like space battles and epic action it is easily one of the best sci-fi movies of the 20th century. The acting talents of the lead characters are absolutely their best performances.
  15. CharlesS.
    Jun 2, 2007
    10
    This movie brings together everything that is star trek, a rich history, clever story line, and the fate of humanity at stake.
  16. JohnH
    Sep 13, 2009
    10
    This is an absolutely fabulous movie that everyone should see! I probably liked it even better that the new Star Trek movie in 2009. Great acting, special effects, suspence,etc. Seeeee this movie!
  17. Sam
    Dec 16, 2005
    10
    If there's one thing I can say about this movie, that will state my love for it, one stupid, but frank line, it's "Damn, that was fun!"
  18. RickyB.
    Aug 21, 2006
    0
    You guys are all wrong!! Dis movie is really boring and no fun, it was soooo boring that it keeps making me fall asleep.
  19. BusterB.
    May 16, 2008
    10
    I'm an original Star Trek series (you know, Kirk, Spock) fan myself, but I can honestly say that this is not only one of the best Star Trek films ever, but this may be one of the best Sci-fi movies ever. Period. Kudos to Jonathan Frakes.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    Certainly the best in its technical credits, and among the best in the ingenuity of its plot.
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  2. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    First time director Jonathan Frakes (who also plays Riker, the Enterprise's second-in-command) injects some badly-needed energy and inventiveness into a series that, prior to this effort, was sinking under its own weight and boldly going nowhere.
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  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    75
    The fine quality of the new film is good news for anyone disappointed by "Star Trek Generations," which got the new "Star Trek" feature film series off to a shaky start two years ago.
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