Star Trek VIII: First Contact (1996) [LV332433-WS]
I believe I speak for everyone here, Sir, when I say: To hell with our orders.
Here it is, the crowning achievement of the Next Generation's tenure as the head of the Star Trek canon. After the wishy washy response from critics and fans towards Star Trek: Generations, they needed to reel in their audiences with an appealing film to prove to theater goers that Picard, Troi, Data, Worf, Riker, and Geordi could pick up the slack that Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country left for them. To do this, they combined the two things that the theatrical Star Trek features did best - kickass vengeance tales and amusing time travel stories. Throw in one of the more popular bad guys from the Next Generation's 7 season run, The Borg, and there's almost no way this movie can fail. And it doesn't.
Directed by cast member Jonathan Frakes, First Contact tells two separate tales - the first of which deals with the film's namesake. It deals with the Enterprise crew traveling back in time to stop the Borgs from stopping first contact with the Vulcans, which would launch humanity into its next phase of evolution. Half of the Enterprise is crew is tasked with repairing Zefrm Cochrane's(played wonderfully by James Cromwell) ship the Phoenix, the first ship to utilize warp drive. Zefram is hailed as an idol by the futuristic crew members, and he begins to lose faith in himself as he fails to meet their out of proportionate expectations. This drives the Enterprise crew members into a race against time in order to restore Cochrane's spirits and convince him to make his first warp flight which would in turn lead to first contact through several entertaining sequences, several of which include some classic rock pieces from the 50's to the 70's.
The second tale depicts a Borg invasion of the Starship Enterprise E, which runs parallel to the first story. It deals with Picard's festering obsession with vengeance on the Borg, who at one point had assimilated him into his collection. Here's where the film earns its action merits, as Picard leads his team of crew members to resist Borg assimilation of his prize command. Not much can be said of this portion of the film without spoiling the goods within though, so much of it must be witnessed for yourself.
The film has an excellent pace, and keeps you on edge throughout the close to two hour run time. It brilliantly highlights not only the lighthearted side of the Next Generation crew, but also the hardened action side, which leads to one of the most balanced adventures in Star Trek history as well as the finest outing the Enterprise D crew would ever have on the big screen. Time has been good to this flick, and while it isn't as bombastic and as fast as J.J. Abrams new reboot of the franchise, it packs a punch and keeps you interested in the characters that it presents before you.
Video:
Presented in a letterboxed 2.35:1 aspect ratio, Star Trek: First Contact explodes onto Laserdisc with a proficient encode, as many Paramount products usually do. Detail is present to the extent that Laserdisc can produce, with every eerie aspect of the Borg's costume design well represented on screen. Colors seem well balanced with the green foliage of Earth's surface shining just as much as the holodeck's night club brims with activity. I saw no evidence of aliasing or any other issue with the presentation that might cause problems with the viewing experience. The print used for the transfer seemed pristine, without any evident damage seen by this reviewer's eyes. Be warned, there is a rather evident layer of signal noise present throughout most scenes, but if you've viewed a 90's Laserdisc transfer before than this is nothing you haven't seen before.
Audio:
Encoded with a stereo surround Dolby Pro Logic track on the digital audio tracks, as well as an AC-3 5.1 digital surround track on the right analog track, Star Trek: First Contact gets the job done without little sparkle or shine. Dialogue never gets lost in the shuffle and sound effects do an excellent job of immersing you in the sound field, but for the most part never goes beyond that. I really was hoping for more of a low frequency kick whenever the Enterprise soared across the screen, or a Borg ship was obliterated, but it never quite reached the level where I felt it was adequate. This might represent the original sound design however, as I don't quite remember feeling a huge kick in my numerous Blu Ray viewings of the same film, so perhaps it was intentional. Regardless, don't expect this film to blow you away with its AC-3 or Pro Logic tracks.
Overall:
I absolutely love this film and would easily place it above all other Next Generation films, as well as many of the films featuring the Original Series cast. It's just that good. It's fast paced, keeps you on your toes, and gives us another chance to see Captain Picard duke it out with his mortal enemies. What's not to love?
|
