The best Star Trek film of them all!

If you're a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fan, this is the film for you. The Federation's most deadly enemy, the Borg, are en route for earth --- and in "Terminator" style, they're headed to earth's past to assimilate earth while they've still got technology worth assimilating, but are too vulnerable to fight off the Borg's superior firepower.

Excellent performances by the entire cast including the awesome Alfre Woodard and Oscar nominee James Cromwell.

Relationships among the crew (especially between Worf and Picard) are explored and developed further. The friendship between Picard and Data is also put to the test when the Borg Queen seeks to seduce them both with her promises of power and perfection.

The DVD is lacking in that it just has a couple of theatrical trailers and that's it. It would have been nice to see some behind-the-scenes footage, special effects, out takes, etc... it's almost a waste of the medium. I first bought this on VHS, which included an interesting motion photo of Picard, the Queen and Data (who morphs into an assimilated Data when you tilt the image)... the DVD doesn't have this cool motion photo on the box/case. I definitely prefer DVD to VHS because (unless you set it on fire or let your dogs play frisbee with them) DVDs essentially last forever and tapes are not a permanent medium and are subject to skipping, tracking errors and eventually, decay. It's nice that you can quickly jump from scene to scene w/ a DVD and there is never a need to rewind before you eject... but other than the inherent advantages of the DVD medium over tape, the DVD offers nothing else you can't view on the tape. The tape version is also in letterbox format.

Other than the lack of extras, this film is awesome. I sat on the edge of my seat when I saw this in the theater and I see it at least once a month now that I have it on DVD. It is exciting and entertaining and definitely the best Star Trek film yet.

Wonderful! An amazing addition to the series!

This is my favorite Star Trek movie of all nine currently on the market... This movie's got everything you could want.

The acting is great, most notably from Patrick Stewart as the valiant Captain Picard, Alfre Woodard as Lily Sloane, and Alice Krige as the perfectly creepy Borg Queen. Nearly all of the crewmembers got good lines and moments (the only one whom I think was a bit stiffed was Crusher, but its always like that somehow), especially Deanna Troi. If you want a laugh, watch Chapter 12, it's great. Picard got some absolutely awesome lines and the scene between him and Lily in the readyroom is powerful stuff.

Of course, the Borg are stupendous in this movie. They're downright scary at times, and the special effects have just the right amount of gruesomeness. Alice Krige as the Borg Queen is mysterious and creepy and plays off well with Picard and Data.

Although it was a bit off-putting to some, Zefram Cochrane was portrayed as a drunk "hoodlum" more interested in money and wealth than scientific progress. His performance is interesting and the joke about "taking a leak" with Geordi is very funny.

All in all, this was a great movie. It starts off right away with action, has fabulous acting, the lines are emotional, the humor is not forced or overdone, and, of course, the Borg make it just scary enough so that you may sleep with the lights on.

Best scenes: Deanna and Cochrane bum out over tequila, the assimilation sequence when the Borg are gunning down all of the defense checkpoints, the conversation between Lily and Picard in his ready-room, and Crusher's escape from sickbay.

Best lines: "It's a primitive culture. I'm just trying to blend in." "You're blended, all right." (Deanna and Will)
"If you want my professional opinion as ship's counselor: he's nuts." (Deanna)
"I'm a doctor, not a doorstop." (EMH/Voyager's doctor)
"They destroy our ships, and we fall back. They conquer entire worlds, and we fall back. But not this time, the line must be drawn HERE." (Picard)
"Don't you people from the twenty-fourth century ever pee?" (Zefram Cochrane)

Rated PG-13 for language, sci-fi violence (phasers), and sensuality (Data and the Borg Queen, eeww).

Special features: Two trailers (theatrical and teaser) and different selections in language. Watch it in French, its a riot. And look for glimpses of the Enterprise-D, "Generations", and the episode "Best of Both Worlds" in the teaser trailer.

The best of a mediocre "Next Generation" movie lot

The Next Generation movies in the Star Trek series, generally speaking, stink. Which is unfortunate, since in some ways the TNG series was better than the original Trek. However, the movies generally vary from pure cheese to holier-than-thou piffle.

First Contact is a good, fun movie overall, with pretty good effects shots and plenty of generally well-executed action. However, it also has some defects that can really get on your nerves.

-The plot is dumb. Time travel has been done to death in Trek, and is a real groaner when you realize that it is being done yet again.
-The movie beats into the ground the Star Trek plot gimmick of "we've found a mysterious energy field, let's duplicate it/follow it/etc." We've gone from the first Star Trek movie (crappy in other ways), which at least gave a nod to real science, to the end of TNG, where they just make up fake scientific-sounding B.S. AT WILL as a plot fix.
-Picard acting like Ahab from "Moby Dick" is way overdone, the worst acting by Stewart EVER. Pure scene-chewing cheese, and the PC bit of having the skinny black chick talk reason into him is just dumb and annoying, since she was a throw-away moron of a character. If you are going to be PC for no reason, at least have Geordi do it, we've established that LeVar Burton's character has a brain, and he can actually ACT, unlike what's-her-face.
-Making the Cochrane character such a total jerk was a BIG mistake. Yes, it was intentional, but it was a bad decision... it makes you hope he gets shot in the head instead of fulfill history, and makes the whole middle section of the movie drag.

Overall, however, it is a fun movie and the only TNG movie worth watching.