Star Trek First Contact is my favourite Star Trek movie. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our beloved franchise. In this video, I geek out with delight over the movie, and yes, I point out a couple of things that could have been even better. Join me as I review the 10 episodes and movies that you should watch before Star Trek Picard.

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Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven.I’m Adam David Collins, the author of Jewel of The StarsAnd I am a nerd.

This is episode 6 of the podcast, and we’re continuing our look at the 10 episodes and movies you should check out before watching Star Trek Picard, which goes live late January.

Today, we’re looking at Star Trek First Contact.

The IMDB description for this movie readsThe Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth’s first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.And this movie first appeared in cinemas on the 13th of November 1996, which was in the UK, prior to the american release on the 22nd of November. Here in Australia, we didn’t get it until the 28th.

Let’s do it.

This is my favourite Star Trek movie. It came out during the year of the 30th anniversary of Star Trek. What an awesome year that was. We got Trials and Tribble-ations, which was amazing. We get this movie, which was amazing, and we got Flashback over on voyager, which was really good.

There are some nice 30th anniversary tidbits in this movie that link it to other Star Trek shows. We’ll cover them as we get to them.

Let’s start by saying that the music in this movie is incredible. Jerry Goldsmith composed a hauntingly beautiful theme for First Contact.I always sit through the opening credits just to listen to it. Plus, the names slowly coming into focus looks pretty cool.

Nice little callback at the start, seeing Picard in his TNG uniform for the flashback to Best of Both Worlds.

That pull back shot gives us a sense of the vastness of the Borg ship.

And as Picard wakes from his nightmare, we get our first glimpse of the new TNG movie-era uniforms. This is my favourite Star Trek uniform. It looks so cool. I really want one.

Picard is still having nightmare about his assimilation. I image, after going through something like that, the nightmare would never stop. Of course it’s implied that the nightmare is caused by the proximity of the Borg ship.You gotta wonder what made the Borg decide to send another shop to assimilate Earth at this moment. Clearly, they still think one cube is enough.

And then we get another first. Our first glimpse at the new USS Enterprise, NCC 1701-E.The last Enterprise was destroyed in the previous movie, Star Trek Generations.The Enterprise E looks fantastic. Sleeker, meaner than the D. Of course, I also loved the D. But this new Enterprise was made for the big screen, and it fills it beautifully.

Gorgeous image of a nebula behind the ship, too.

Do you think Starfleet’s reluctance to let Picard anywhere near the Borg is more related to his previous assimilation, or his handling of the Hugh situation? Either way, it’s a foolish decision. No one knows the Borg better than Picard.

The voice effect used for the Borg collective in this movie is creepier than in the TV show.

I love the bridge of the Enterprise E. Those little screens for Picard, Riker, and Troi, the little corner desks for Data and Hawke. Fantastic production design.

And that Borg cube. So much more detailed than the model used on the TV show.

And here’s a first connection to other Star Trek. The Defiant from Deep Space Nine has joined the fight against the Borg. Obviously. This ship was designed to fight the Borg. It was likely one of the weapons shelby was working on prior to Best of both Worlds. Remember, those new weapons that weren’t ready yet.

The Defiant gives us the perfect opportunity to bring Worf into the story, who was a