ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 23, 1996 TAG: 9611260025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
It wouldn't be a terrible thing - to have an "emotion chip" that could be deactivated with a jerk of the neck like Data's in the new ``Star Trek'' movie.
One might be tempted to deactivate it for the two hours of ``First Contact," the spellbinding new ``Star Trek'' movie. Unless of course you don't mind nail-biting suspense.
This movie, directed by Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker), creates tension from the very first frames and holds it firmly and expertly as it draws us into the disarmingly simple tale of the Federation versus the "Borgs."
"Sounds Swedish," quips earthling Lily (Alfre Woodard) as Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) gives her a quick rundown on the Borg plan for the universe, which is to "assimilate" - think "body snatch" - races everywhere to draw everyone closer to the Borg view of perfection. And of course achieve universal domination.
But the Borg path to perfection involves a sort of body/brain/soul vacuum procedure that leaves the "assimilated" without will or individuality and requires installation of pretty nasty-looking eyegear. It is a process with which Picard is all-too familiar, having survived an assimilation, and is also the core of this story: how Jean-Luc will face the demon he still fears lurks within himself and prove his humanity.
That, of course, is what makes this ``Star Trek'' movie - and so much of ``Star Trek'' in general - so satisfying. Sure, they're terrific action adventure stories; this one is as elegant as they get. But the stories also put their captains in heroic struggles and show them in very human terms, right down to the beads of sweat on Picard's brow as he hears the familiar Borg voices in his head as the Federation-Borg war begins.
At stake is more than the universe: There's also the future. If the Borgs interfere, a man named Zephraim Cochrane (James Cromwell from ``Babe'') will not be able to launch the first warp flight from Earth which, the Enterprise crew knows, precipitates Earth's first contact with the Vulcans in the year 2063. And subsequently wipes out disease, war and hunger.
Problem is, whenever the old Enterprise gang leaves the ship to keep history on course, something bad happens, and in this case it's the Borgs. They're everywhere you don't want to be.
Mostly it's the way they look. They're industrial icky with a glowing red, laser eye and a very heavy tread. What makes them even creepier is their unpredictable threshold for irritation. You can walk right by 'em in a hallway, but they have a tendency to all of a sudden notice a threat and attack with "Terminator"-like relentlessness. Their leader, a woman (Alice Krige), is as repulsive a seductress as the world has ever seen. Some women just don't know when to stop with the moisturizer.
The only good reason to go to the mall this week, "First Contact" is a very good addition to the ``Star Trek'' series. Trekkies: Consider it an early Christmas present.
Star Trek First Contact
*** 1/2
A Paramount Pictures release showing at Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall 6. Rated PG-13 for some violence and adult situations. 105 mins.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Patrick Stewart battles the Borg again as Jean Lucby CNBPicard in ``Star Trek First Contact.'' color KEYWORDS: 2DA