Wednesday, February 12, 2020

FTM 526: STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT

Patrick and Rob assimilate the best TNG movie.



Download this episode here. (40.3 MB)

Listen to F This Movie! on Spotify and on Stitcher.

Also discussed this episode: Birds of Prey (2020), Doctor Sleep (2019), Code 8 (2019), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), Miss Americana (2020), My Valentine (2020), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

15 comments:

  1. Yay! I've been watching TNG for several months now, and am half way through season 7. First time I revisited them since the 90's, and I've loving it. I was planning to watch the TNG cast movies after, so this episode is timely. First Contact is the only one I've already seen (based off of Mike's recommendation), but I may as well start with a rewatch before delving into the others.

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  2. I'm just waiting for the day my kids get the reference when we're at the grocery store shopping and I shout out, "The Line Must Be Drawn Here!"

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  3. The first half of First Contact is indeed solid, but I've come to really dislike the whole character of the Borg Queen, whose "seduction" of Data is honestly pretty cringe-inducing. We know Data can't be corrupted of his own free will, and reducing the empress of a fearsome intergalactic civilization (if we must have one at all, which we shouldn't) to a woman looking for a man to complete her is... not great. And, no disrespect to Alfre Woodard, but the Lily character mostly just slows things down and acts as a sounding board for Picard. She doesn't really contribute anything to the plot, and Beverly could have had just as dramatic a confrontation with Picard, if not more so. (Not helping is the fact that neither of the next two movies give Beverly anything to do, either.)

    Generations, on the other hand, has the epic meeting of Picard and Kirk while the latter is making breakfast and actively ignoring him, which is great. Its writers have since said those two should have met on the bridge of a ship, but I disagree; I love the weirdness of that whole Nexus encounter. Generations therefore gets my Best TNG movie vote.

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    1. I tend to like Insurrection the most, it's the closest the movies got to the feel of the show.

      Now all we need is someone stepping up and stanning Nemesis, and we've got a full house.

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    2. i'm here. i really like Nemesis. don't really care for Insurrection

      having seen all of TNG recently, but not being a die hard Trek fan, i think First Contact is a fun time

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    3. On one hand, Alfre Woodward is simply an audience surrogate, and that's not great. But one the other hand, she does tell Picard to "BLOW UP THE DAMN SHIP" so I'm conflicted.

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    4. @Brian: Again, though: picture Dr. Crusher saying that to Picard, knowing that he's already lost two ships under his command (the Stargazer and the D). Wouldn't that have been even better?

      @Mikko: I won't pretend to not have a soft spot for Insurrection also, but I'm not sure the fact that it does indeed feel most like a TNG episode is a compliment to a movie. Most of those eps, while on balance charming and enjoyable, weren't great, and Insurrection's Picard/Anij romance is pretty weak sauce. Nemesis' Donatra gets my vote for best movie female counterpart to Picard, even if they never meet in person. (That gallows humor quasi-flirtation about sharing a Romulan Ale!)

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  4. I watched all 13 of the Star Trek movies, having never seen anything Trek, over 8 days in preparation for the aforementioned Screen Drafts podcast. Other than really liking everything sans Into Darkness and Nemesis, the thing that has stuck with me was actually in this movie -- Are holodeck murders a common occurrence in the show? Apparently holographic bullets can become lethal just by "removing the safety protocols". Love the podcast and appreciate the context of Data's history as a stickman

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    1. Not so much murders, but "something's gone wrong and the safety protocols are off, now our lives are in danger" is a recurring plot point in the show.

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  5. Rob, my favorite is "Out of the Woods"! I remember so clearly hearing it while driving home from work back in, I think 2014? And for whatever reason, it stuck with me!

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  6. Star Trek VI is, I think, quite comfortably the second best Star Trek movie.

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  7. Great podcast, you two! In regards to the time travel question, there was a really fun comic series that explained how and where the Borg got their time travel tech. I won't spoil it, so let's just say it came from an unlikely source.

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  8. Birds of Prey box office is a disappointment. Variety said the film needs to make around $100 million domestically and $300 million globally to break even. Maybe, it'll find an audience on streaming.

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  9. I enjoyed this episode a lot. Now I've got to watch weeks of Star Trek... again... *sigh*

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