My favorite of the many, many permutations of the Star Trek theme used in the film adaptations has to be the theme from Star Trek: First Contact (1996), composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith is a prolific composer who among other things also did the themes for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), which would later be adapted by Dennis McCarthy for Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. Goldsmith is also responsible for the sad and haunting Star Trek: Voyager theme, another of my favorites.
The First Contact theme song is a beauty. It is stirring, optimistic, and yet a little bit wistful, as befitting a film that was among the last outings of the popular Next Generation cast, and which concerned the human race at a pivotal point in its history: In the film, set largely in the last decades of our current century, humanity has been devastated by a large-scale nuclear war, the population has been reduced to a few survivalist communities hanging on in fringe areas like the northwest woods of the former United States, and it seems as though the entire human race is on the verge of extinction. Despite this, one dedicated scientist, Zefram Cochrane, has been working on a method to break the light-speed barrier, an act of sheer, stubborn boldness that will eventually bring humanity into contact with the many other alien races in the galaxy and ultimately provide our salvation. Into the middle of this come the terrible Borg, who, facing defeat in a battle with Starfleet two centuries later, have sent a probe back in time to "assimilate" 21st-century earth while its defenses are down, and thus nip the Federation in the bud.
Though the Next Generation cast would go on to do two more films (Insurrection in 1998 and Nemesis in 2002) before finally hanging up their uniforms, these were respectable but ultimately minor contributions to the fading Trek canon (which of course got a big boost in 2009 with the release of J.J. Abrams' hit $150-million reboot of the original series). So I prefer to think of First Contact as the final voyage of the Next Generation crew. It's got all the elements of the best of Trek: A solid story (including a return to a past earth, similar to another high point in the film series, 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home), some good comedic moments, scary villains, interesting character development (especially for perennial audience favorite Commander Data), and some great guest actors, including Alice Krige as the supercreepy Borg Queen, James Cromwell as drunken warp-speed pioneer Zefram Cochrane, and Alfre Woodard as Cochrane's ass-kicking assistant Lily Sloane, not to mention cameos by favorite recurring characters like Lieutenant Barclay (Dwight Schultz) and the holographic Doctor (Robert Picardo) from the Voyager TV series. The film was directed by Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker himself), who is arguably a better director than actor, and who directed several of the later seasons' best episodes. And of course, it has what will always be a tearjerker moment for me, the titular "first contact" between humans and Vulcans. All in all, maybe the best of the entire Star Trek film run.
No comments:
Post a Comment