 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Star Trek: First Contact
- Review Date: December 25, 2005
- PG-13
- Genre: Science Fiction
- 1996
Common Sense Media says
Intense, gory Starfleet adventure earns series' first PG-13.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this was the first Star Trek movie to Go Where No Star Trek Flick Had Gone Before, to a PG-13 rating. It has some pretty gruesome violence and a macabre threat in the menacing Borg, a zombie-like, infectious, cybernetic race who could give younger viewers nightmares. Humans and Borg alike die in battles, with some limbs severed, and a Borg commander can detach her head at will. There is some generalized dialog about sexuality, as well as mild swearing. A historical Starfleet hero is revealed as a misfit drunkard; while his alcoholism is perhaps meant as pathos, it comes across as mainly comical.
What's the story?
A theatrical spin-off of the fine TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT gets right to business with the most compelling of the villains from the program, the Borg, an army of ghoulish cyborgs from deep space, out to conquer all humanoid life. Responding to an attack on Earth by the Borg, the starship Enterprise (a new model since the previous one got trashed in the last film) discovers the invaders have sent a Borg expedition back in time, to a war-devastated 21st-century Earth. By striking at this crucial interval, the Borg will absorb humanity at its weakest point, altering history and preventing the founding of Starfleet. Following in the same time warp, the Enterprise crew split into two teams; one beams to the wilderness of Montana of 2063, to find a genius inventor-pilot named Zephraim Cochrane (James Cromwell), responsible for faster-than-light space travel -- but he turns out to be a gangly wastrel, aghast that he's destined to be regarded as the planet's greatest hero. That's played on a comic level; more serious events unfold on the Enterprise, where Borg have taken root like an infection and are spreading throughout the ship.
Is it any good?
Though it comes on like gangbusters (or Borgbusters, as the case may be), as with many Star Trek movies, knowledge of the dense TV mythology is crucial to comprehending this maximum-warp theatrical expansion. Someone who has not seen the cliffhanger episodes in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard is captured and turned into a Borg, will be a bit lost -- and this movie not only references it but also connects, to varying degrees, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, among others. In-joke lines and cameos that made audiences cheer in 1996 may seem puzzling and out of context today. But kids (heck, adults too) who have absorbed Treklore on the level of their Pokeman or Buffy the Vampire Slayer scholarship should be delighted by the well-modulated space adventure.
While the relatively tame stuff on Earth with Zephraim Cochrane seems to have drifted in from an entirely different (and more lighthearted) film, it gives you vital breathing space in between the Borg conflict, in which the stakes are literally a fate worse than death. Indeed, the vibe is not unlike Alien as the purposeful zombies take over deck by deck -- only to meet their match in human will and loyalty.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about why the Borg are standouts among all the alien menaces on Star Trek. What about the side-story about Zephraim Cochrane, the legendary inventor who turns out to be an extremely reluctant hero? Can you think of any real-life equivalents in human history? The theme of Moby Dick and obsessive vengeance arises, a reference that also came up in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. You could use the Starfleet connection to engender more enthusiasm for the hefty Melville novel, a frequent school assignment.
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AGE
OK, once you get rid of the language.
This movie is chock-full of the s-word, h---, and several other profanities. a curse free TV and that is taken care of. Violence is usually blood free and the "disembodied limbs" just so happen to be robotic arms. No blood. No gore. Drinking is hard-core and one of the characters is drunk 50% of the time. That is shown as a problem and as comical enjoyment.
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AGE
Star trek: the action movie
Definitly the most violent of the star trek film series, Star Trek: First Contact feels like too much of an action film at times. There is more swearing than any other star trek film too (though its mostly done by 21st century characters. However it's still a good movie for anyone who likes the science-fiction genre
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AGE
A Return to Good Form...
I disliked STAR TREK: GENERATIONS greatly. However, I love STAR TREK as a franchise and decided not to give up on it. I watched this movie and was glad I didn't. This isn't the best STAR TREK film (it places after all of the originals), but it is great, quality entertainment with great role models for kids.
The film is much more intense than previous installments, but isn't significantly more violent. Granted, when the violence does occur, it is more graphic. There are severed limbs, cracked necks, etc., but not a lot of blood. There is one brief conversation as to whether Mr. Data has been programmed to experience "pleasurable feelings", but it isn't graphic. There is infrequent profanity as well: "bull**it", and "godd**n".
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AGE
this is a good movie, but its pretty scary. there is lots of fighting and a man who freguently uses alchohol irrisponsibly.
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AGE
Quite frightening for a Star Trek film.
My rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action, violence including some frightening/intense/mildly gory fantasy images, some language, and an obscure reference to sensuality.
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AGE
star trek
we love star trek and it is considered a family movie/show this ons only proublom was when they attack the borg in space and where ingered there blood floted
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| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Director: | Jonathan Frakes |
| Cast: | James Cromwell, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn |
| Genre: | Science Fiction |
| Run time: | 111 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | November 22, 1996 |
| DVD release date: | May 15, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | some sci-fi adventure violence. |
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