Star Trek 8 - First Contact (DVD)

Before we start on the Star Treks ‘Epic’, First Contact, it is important to point out that the Special Edition of this movie isn’t available on region two until the 25th of April this year. The review I am giving is on the region one version that is available to buy NOW. All the special features of the movie etc are listed below ‘The Movie’ section.

~THE MOVIE~

(Some parts below may spoil your viewing if you have not ...
...of the mighty Sovereign Class Star Ship, USS Enterprise ‘E’.

So it’s begun, after six years of Picard waiting, the Borg have now started their invasion of the Federation in the Alpha Quadrant, and the lone Borg ship is on a course heading directly for Earth!

However, the Enterprise and her crew are not invited to the party as it’s believed that due to Picard’s previous involvement with the Borg, it may compromise the ... more

Before we start on the Star Treks ‘Epic’, First Contact, it is important to point out that the Special Edition of this movie isn’t available on region two until the 25th of April this year. The review I am giving is on the region one version that is available to buy NOW. All the special features of the movie etc are listed below ‘The Movie’ section.

~THE MOVIE~

(Some parts below may spoil your viewing if you have not seen the movie before).

The movie starts with a wonderful opening sequence of titles and an amazing opening score, as usual written by Gerry Goldsmith. This eventually pans out to Captain Picard’s, (Patrick Stewart), eye, and what appears to be a drill piercing the membrane of his eye. Picard is has become ‘Locutus of Borg’. He gets further away as we start to see that he is inside a Borg ship. Picard wakes up in his quarters onboard the Enterprise, goes to the mirror, splashes water over his face, and then a Borg implant springs from his right cheek. The com systems goes, and he wakes again, this time for real.

Picard picks up the communication, it’s from Admiral Hayes, informing Picard that he has just received a communication from Deep Space 5, telling him that the colony on Ibor Prime was destroyed this-morning, and before the Admiral has finished, Picard butts in… “Yes I know, The Borg”.
We then see the first shot of the mighty Sovereign Class Star Ship, USS Enterprise ‘E’.

So it’s begun, after six years of Picard waiting, the Borg have now started their invasion of the Federation in the Alpha Quadrant, and the lone Borg ship is on a course heading directly for Earth!

However, the Enterprise and her crew are not invited to the party as it’s believed that due to Picard’s previous involvement with the Borg, it may compromise the Federations position in disabling the Borg. So the most-up-to-date Starship in the Federations fleet is sent to the Neutral Zone, on the Romulan boarder, in case the Romulans wish to take advantage of the Federations situation.

They hear that the Federation Fleet has engaged the Borg; they immediately tune in and start to listen to the fight. Picard then orders Lt. Hawk to head to Earth at maximum warp. We see the Borg Cube ship near Earth, loads of Federation ships are firing at the Borg Cube, notably the USS Defiant, under the command of Lt. Worf, (Michael Dorn). When all seems lost for the Defiant, the Defiant’s Ensign says, “Sir, there’s another Star Ship coming in… It’s the Enterprise”! (As a massive Star Trek fan, I couldn’t help but get a shiver down my spine). Worf and his crew are losing life support of the Defiant, and so they are all beamed aboard the Enterprise.

Data, (Brent Spiner), informs Picard that the Borg have excessive damage to it its outer hull, Picard hears voices from the collective Borg again, then announces to the entire fleet, that he is taking command and everyone is to fire at the co-ordinates he is sending. Data questions it, Picard says “trust me Data”. The Borg ship eventually explodes, in what has got to be some of the best special effects on a Star Trek movie. ever. Although the Borg Cube has gone, a Borg Sphere has launched in time so that it wasn’t caught in the explosion and attempts to escape, so the Enterprise follows.

The sphere starts to emit chronometric particles, (this creates a temporal vortex that allows time travel), the Enterprise gets caught within the temporal wake, then they see Earth, the population is approximately nine billion… all Borg! The Earth has been assimilated!

(Here the Enterprise crew explain how this has happened and why they haven’t been affected).

Picard: “We must follow them back; repair the damage they have done”!

The Enterprise ends up alongside the Borg sphere, 10 years after the 3rd world war, where 600 million had died… the year is 2063, April the 4th, the day before ‘First Contact’.

Zeframe Cochrane, (James Cromwell) is down on the planet at the missile site in Montana. (For all you non-trekkers, Cochrane invented warp drive and piloted the first warp ship, ‘The Phoenix’). The Borg start to fire at the site attempting to destroy any chance of the launch the following day. Picard orders to fire upon the Borg sphere, and, as a result, blow the borg sphere up. Picard and some of the crew go down to the surface to ascertain what damage the Borg has done to the missile site. Following this, various engineering crews are dispatched to fix the missile site and the Phoenix.

Picard starts talking to Data and Troi, (Marina Sirtis), about why Cochrane has disappeared, that it doesn’t make sense, and that all he lived for was his dream the Phoenix… how little they know him!

At the same time there is trouble on deck 16 aboard the Enterprise the humidity level has increased to 73%, the temperature has jumped to 39.1 degrees… the same as a Borg ship. Down in sick bay they have trouble and Dr. Crusher, (Gates McFadden), turns on the EMH to distract the Borg while she escapes with her medical staff. Primary power has been cut and the Borg just won’t be satisfied until they have complete control of the Enterprise, sent for reinforcements and exterminated the Human population… the movie continues! And gets even better!

~OPINION~

I would love to go through the entire movie, but compared to all the other TNG movies, this is without doubt the all-time best, and my second favourite Star Trek movie of all-time.

The story is brilliant, they more or less tie up all loose ends in the Star Trek Universe with regards to Cochrane. The acting is good and fresh as the characters, especially, Frakes, Stewart, Sirtis and Spiner. You will never see TNG finer than this one. Jonathan Frakes who plays Commander Riker also directs the movie, his vision throughout and his knowledge of the cast really shows.

Like the previous DVD release of the same title, the new 2-disc Special Collector’s Edition of “Star Trek: First Contact” features an anamorphic widescreen presentation, measuring in at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Looking at both you will noticeably see a slight difference in the quality, (the special edition being better), it is a far brighter picture with real strong colours and detail. The best bit of everything new on the movie is the new English Language DTS 5.1, (Digital Theatre Sound), audio track offering a huge difference over the DD 5.1, (Dolby Digital). The amazing clarity of the DTS track gives you a superfluous bass, great sound from the front and the surround is something else. In comparison to DD 5.1 there simply is no alternative. Listening to Jerry Goldsmith's soaring musical score on the DTS track provides the audience with a remarkable and immersive orchestral experience like no other. The best way to hear the difference is during the battle with the Borg Cube, it’s like nothing you heard before!

This movie has made me remember why I am such a huge fan of Star Trek. I can always count on this movie to bring back all the nostalgia surrounding TNG.

This is a movie not just for fans but for anyone who is interested in either Sci-Fi or action and adventure!

~FAVOURITE QUOTES~

DATA: “I think I can speak for everyone here when I say, to hell with our orders”.

WORF: “May be today is a good day to die”.

RIKER: “You do remember how to fire phasers”?

~SPECIAL FEATURES~

Please note that the special features are spread over two discs.

DISC ONE:

You will be given a choice of three commentaries on disc one, these being two audio, Jonathan Frakes on the first, then screenwriters Brannon Braga and Ronald D Moore on the second. The third is screen text by Michael and Denise Okuda; this is overlaid on top of the second audio text.

DISC TWO:

This is what I mean about tons of extras, over THREE hours of it on this disc! It’s put into six sections, it is very thorough, and nobody will be disappointed.

PRODUCTION;

Making first contact is a twenty minute feature with the producer, Rick Berman, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart and a whole host of other cast members giving great reviews of Frakes first directorial motion picture. It also looks at the Borg Queen, (Alice Krige) and has interviews with James Cromwell and Alfre Woodard with regards to their roles within the movie.

The Art of First Contact

The illustrator John eaves introduces a 16 minute segment about the visual effects done by Industrial Light and Magic, (ILM). “First Contact” was the first Star Trek movie to undergo the transition between CG effects and the use of miniature models. Also the design of the bulkhead for the Phoenix was overlaid on top of a real nuclear titan missile!

The Story

Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore talk about the freedom of writing “First Contact”. more or less everything they talk about is covered on the movies commentary.
The Missile Silo

Herman Zimmerman, the chief production designer offers a historical overview of the decommissioned missile silo in Arizona that was used as the silo that held Cochrane’s ship, the Phoenix, in the film. The actual silo is now a museum dedicated to the cold war relic

The Deflector Dish

This 10-minute segment offers some information from Eaves, Zimmerman and Berman

From ‘A’ to ‘E’

I would of thought this would have been about the all the ships as suggested in the title, however, it’s purely about the Enterprise E.

SCENE DECONSTRUCTION

Borg Queen Assembly

ILM visual effects supervisor takes us through how they shot the impressive sequence where the Borg Queen’s head and spine descends from the ceiling.

Escape Pod Launch

ILM visual art director explains how CG is utilized to create the effects of the escape pods jettisoning from Enterprise.

Borg Queen’s Demise

Describes how ILM created the horrifying visual effects of the Borg Queen’s skin stripping off Alice Krige’s face.

THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE

Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute

The late Jerry Goldsmith, who passed away, last year, is fondly remembered in this segment as a legendary Trek icon.

The Legacy of Zeframe Cochrane

James Cromwell talks about the importance of Zefram Cochrane, the character that he plays in this film, in the context of the Star Trek universe

First Contact: The Possibilities

This segment discusses the prospect of the existence of extra terrestrials and of making first contact.

THE BORG COLLECTIVE

Unimarix One

This feature explores the history and the birth of the Borg as told by the various TNG crew, including Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes. They all talk about how the Borg figures so importantly in “First Contact”.

The Queen

Alice Krige takes centre stage on this one as she talks about her fortunate experience to have been given the chance to play the Borg Queen.

Design matrix

This section deals specifically with the new and improved look of the Borg, making them look more menacing than the ones from television series.

ARCHIVES

Storyboards

In “Storyboards”, we are given the chance to flip through the storyboard drawings of a few of the scenes from the film. Those scenes are: “1930’s Nightclub”, “Hull Battle”, “Hull Battle Alternate Shots”, “and Worf vs. The Borg Alternate Shots”

Photo Gallery

This is a collection of production photos.

TRAILERS

There are three trailers in this section: Teaser Trailer and Theatrical Trailer of the film and the Borg Invasion trailer for the Star Trek Experience ride in Las Vegas.

~CAST~

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell, Alice Krige, Michael Horton, Neal McDonough, Marnie McPhail, Robert Picardo, Dwight Schultz, Adam Scott, Jack Shearer, Eric Steinberg, Scott Strozier

~PRODUCT INFO~

Video Format(s): Widescreen 1.85:1 Colour (Anamorphic)

Audio Format(s): ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 / ENGLISH: DTS / FRENCH: Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Release Date: March 9, 2005

Disc/Layers/Sides: 2/Dual

Region: 1

UPC Code: 097360688740

The cost of the DVD is amazingly low at just £10.99 at www.dvdworldusa.com

I bet any money that it won’t be as cheap over here in the UK nor will it have DTS, we will see, however I’m not to fussed as I already have my copy!!
 

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