Many people believe this is the best of the ten Trek films, probably because the special effects are the most advanced, and it has the most violence. It's definitely the best of the Next Gen movies, and not a bad action flick, but it doesn't really feel like Star Trek to me.
There are two parallel stories that play out in "First Contact," and sometimes it feels like two separate movies. In Movie A, Picard and the crew of the Enterprise, having traveled to the 21st century in pursuit of a Borg ship, must defend the Enterprise as it is assimilated from within by the evil Borg Queen. It's a lot like "Aliens," but without the cussing and acid blood. The corridors of the ship are dark and foreboding, the Borg are unemotional and quite scary, and fighting them seems hopeless. The Borg Queen, however, never really comes across clearly because it's obvious the writers just had no idea what she was supposed to be.
Movie A is dark and exciting. Movie B, on the other hand, is light and fluffy, and a little slack. The more comically-oriented members of the crew beam down to 21st century Earth to help Zefram Cochrane repair his groundbreaking warp ship in time for a historic rendezvous with the Vulcans, and have to convince him to become the heroic character he is in the history books. Cochrane is understandably skeptical, not to mention drunk on tequila.
The characters on the ground are oblivious to what's going on in space, so the two parallel plots are entirely separated by tone and content. One is dark and serious, the other light and funny. The writers tried too hard to make their movie appeal to everyone, and they end up with a bit of a mish-mash. The comic relief is forced and not very funny, and the action sequences on board ship lose some of their power once you realize how clean they are. After all, there's no blood in the future, and only extras get killed.
Picard and Data get the most attention, with a few scenes reserved for Worf and a cameo from "Voyager's" holographic doctor. The other characters don't contribute much more than background exposition. The show was based solidly on its ensemble cast, so it's a little jarring to have that ensemble reduced to a hero and his sidekick.
There are two parallel stories that play out in "First Contact," and sometimes it feels like two separate movies. In Movie A, Picard and the crew of the Enterprise, having traveled to the 21st century in pursuit of a Borg ship, must defend the Enterprise as it is assimilated from within by the evil Borg Queen. It's a lot like "Aliens," but without the cussing and acid blood. The corridors of the ship are dark and foreboding, the Borg are unemotional and quite scary, and fighting them seems hopeless. The Borg Queen, however, never really comes across clearly because it's obvious the writers just had no idea what she was supposed to be.
Movie A is dark and exciting. Movie B, on the other hand, is light and fluffy, and a little slack. The more comically-oriented members of the crew beam down to 21st century Earth to help Zefram Cochrane repair his groundbreaking warp ship in time for a historic rendezvous with the Vulcans, and have to convince him to become the heroic character he is in the history books. Cochrane is understandably skeptical, not to mention drunk on tequila.
The characters on the ground are oblivious to what's going on in space, so the two parallel plots are entirely separated by tone and content. One is dark and serious, the other light and funny. The writers tried too hard to make their movie appeal to everyone, and they end up with a bit of a mish-mash. The comic relief is forced and not very funny, and the action sequences on board ship lose some of their power once you realize how clean they are. After all, there's no blood in the future, and only extras get killed.
Picard and Data get the most attention, with a few scenes reserved for Worf and a cameo from "Voyager's" holographic doctor. The other characters don't contribute much more than background exposition. The show was based solidly on its ensemble cast, so it's a little jarring to have that ensemble reduced to a hero and his sidekick.