It’s the 25th birthday for Star Trek: First Contact.
Star Trek: First Contact is arguably the best film in the Trek filmography. Sure, you could argue between this and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan but keep in mind that those are the only two films you’re going to be arguing between.
First Contact has lasted as long as it had in the Star Trek zeitgeist because at its core, it’s a timeless story. It’s not based on any modern point of view or any type of timely topic, it’s focused on the one thing that will always stay consistent; history. It’s the historical story of Star Trek; where it all began. It is one of the more obvious reasons that 25 years later that we’re still talking about it.
It’s also really freaking good, too. It tells the story of Zefram Cochrane’s first warp-flight, and the subsequent first encounter with another alien race, The Vulcans. It was the meeting between humanity and the Vulcans that spurred forward The United Federation of Planets and Starfleet as a whole. Without the Cochrane’s first warp flight, there’s no telling where the Alpha Quadrant would be all those years later.
It wasn’t just the meeting between humanity and the Vulcans that defined the story, it was the emotional journey of Jean-Luc Picard dealing with the post-traumatic stress disorder that had been haunting him since his time being assimilated into the Borg collective.
Both stories were beautifully told and both stories did a great job embracing past events in the canon and bringing them to a satisfying conclusion.
The time travel aspect.
The whole movie worked, but still, let’s look at the three best things. Seeing the first contact with the Vulcans was a treat, as was seeing a bit of how Montana looked following the Third World War. It was a great idea to place the bulk of the movie in that time frame, as it not only highlights a time period we don’t often get to see in Star Trek but also adds more tension to the film. It eliminates the ability to just rely on backup or technology to defeat the Borg and forces the writers to get creative with this specific conflict. That’s key, as each encounter with an alien race should feel unique and authentic.
Zefram Cochrane and Lilly
Both Zefram Cochrane and Lilly were huge to the story. It was also kind of a treat to see Cochrane mostly with Will Riker and Lilly mostly with Jean-Luc Picard. Riker served as the audience surrogate for the past, allowing older fans a chance to see something new, while Lilly served the same role for newer fans, with her allowing first-time viewers a chance to understand what was going on around them.
Resolving some interesting plot lines
Whether or not you feel these were already resolved prior to the film is up to you but the film did a good job resolving Jean-Luc Picard’s emotional affliction due to the Borg, Data’s desire and journey to be more than he is, and of course how the human’s and Vulcans finally met. With Picard, he had to go back in time to find Lilly, the woman who helped Picard realize what he had lost and what he had become. Ahab chasing his white whale. Data also showed that he would rather be who he is and be a good friend than get what he always wanted; the opportunity to be human. And of course, we got to see Cochrane drunkenly shoot himself into space; what a treat.
Zefram Cochrane and Jean-Luc Picard should’ve met
Keep this in mind, Jean-Luc Picard was a history fan but never once had a conversation with Zefram Cochrane. He never even met the legendary pilot. For someone who is so in love with history and the past, you’d have thought the writers would’ve given Picard a chance to show off not just his historical knowledge but his appreciation for all the things Cochrane has done.
More of Cochrane dealing with aliens
We got to see Zefram Cochrane shake the hand of a Vulcan and teach them to dance. That was a hoot. It would’ve been even more interesting to see more of how Cochrane dealt with the very boring and bland alien race, as well as what he would’ve done if he had to face down a Borg drone. Cochrane was drunk most of the movie, and a lot of his scenes were a bit more humorous compared to the rest of the film. Seeing how he would’ve dealt with a Borg drone could’ve been great, even if it wasn’t played for laughs.
More of the post-war/pre-Federation Earth
While we got to see Montana in the post-war, we only got to see a small snippet and not a larger view of the world pre-Federation. While Star Trek has gone back in time before both before and after the events of First Contact, it has never really explored that time period. It remains an undefined and little-explored even. While showing the events of the fictitious Third World War wouldn’t have made sense in the context in the film, at least exploring it through dialogue would’ve been nice. It also would’ve been good to see more of the world as it was. Not just a small settlement in Montana.