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"Star Trek: First Contact" Special Collector's Edition
Rated PG-13
Written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
Directed by Jonathan Frakes

Movie
"Star Trek" is usually pretty good. But rarely is it ever badass. "First Contact" is one of the few and best times that Trek has ever tried harder to be "cool" and badass and actually succeeded. Whatever one wants to say about "destroying the Borg" as a race, as a villain, "First Contact" is a first-rate action script, that moves with a good pace, and has some great drama between the characters to boot. It also features some great production values, special effects that look great a decade down the road, and one of Jerry Goldsmith's finest scores.

Video
Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, "First Contact" looks great. Blacks are nice and solid, and colors aren't over-saturated or washed out. There are no glaring defects in the print, and grain is minimal, allowing for great detail to be present in the picture. Of course, the TNG crew was beginning to show their age, and having such a good picture can sometimes be a reminder of that fact...

Sound
"First Contact" comes with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and DTS surround. Lacking a DTS system, I can't comment on that, but the Dolby Digital mix is big and dynamic. Goldsmith's score shines, and action sequences have great room-shaking bass to them. My subwoofer really liked this movie. Dialogue is never lost amidst all the noise, which is always a plus.

Extras
I have yet to sample either of the two audio commentaries, or the Okuda text commentary for this one. But Disc 2 houses a vast array of featurettes, most of which are genuinely interesting. The best featurettes, in my opinion, are the ones focusing on more technical aspects of the production. There are some effects deconstructions, showing how CG, practical and miniature model effects were merged for shots like the "Borg Queen Assembly," and the escape pod shot. Less interesting is the 20-minute featurette praising Jonathan Frakes' direction, but there are some good interview bits and behind the scenes footage of the cast and crew having fun on the set. Keep an eye out for Patrick Stewart getting... a little goofy. There are also featurettes on the history of designing the Borg, from their first appearance on TNG's "Q Who?" through the end of VOY's "Endgame". Also interesting is an interview with Brannon Braga, who talks about previous drafts of the script that had been vastly different from the final movie, including having the Borg travel to medieval times (which was shot down by Patrick Stewart, who claimed he did not want to wear tights) and another draft which had Picard on Earth helping Cochrane's warp flight and Riker on the Enterprise fighting the Borg.

Overall
All in all, a great set. For under $20, this is a great special edition to have. Kudos to Paramount for putting together a great set of extras for this movie. Of course, it goes without saying that the special features for the TNG DVDs were going to blow away those of the TOS features, simply because the movies were coming in an age where keeping record of all that goes on behind the scenes was becoming much more commonplace.

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