I watched this again after not having seen it for several years and I still think it's one of the better, more audience friendly Trek films so far. Picard and Data get the majority of the scenes while the other main crew members, Crusher, Troi, Geordie etc get very little to do. There's also some cool cameos from Barclay and The Doctor from 'Star Trek: Voyager'.
What was most disappointing about the movie was the confrontation on the deflector dish on the exterior of the Enterprise. What should have been a nail-biting, edge of your seat scene instead came across as stagey, flat and rather dull. Director Frakes just doesn't seem to know where to put the camera in this scene with the result that the camera work was un-dynamic and uninspired. Perhaps because the Borg are so slow moving, and the Enterprise crew are in clunky space suits means that this supposed action scene was doomed to be a lethargically paced battle.
James Cromwell was terrific in the role of Zefram Cochrane and is usually the most interesting person to watch in whichever scene he is in, however it would have been great if Tom Hanks had played the role. He was originally going to do just that but his own film, 'That Thing You Do', got the green light and so he had to withdraw.
I still think the movie looks like a TV episode, there's just something so 'TV' about it despite the very impressive special effects. The JJ Abrams Star Trek movies have successfully avoided this TV look.
Rating:
***1/2 out of *****
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