star trek first contact zefram cochrane

Why James Cromwell's Zefram Cochrane Is One of the Best 'Star Trek' Performances

Cue "Magic Carpet Ride" in 3, 2, 1...

The Star Trek feature films have never struggled in nailing their main casts, shepherding the core ensembles of two of the greatest science fiction television shows of all time to the big screen. While fans are more divided on the quality of the most recent “Kelvin Timeline” series, the young ensemble delivered earnest performances that honored the legacy of their original series counterparts while offering their own interpretations. The stronger installments were able to flesh out the ensemble with interesting new crew members, pairing the heroes against such memorable threats as Khan ( Ricardo Montalbán ) or Chang ( Christopher Plummer ).

Between reintroducing the crew and establishing a conflict, there was often little time to create characters that didn’t fit into either category. The shows had the luxury of telling episodic stories that made room for featured guest stars, but there’s often little time to fully develop an additional character within a tight two-hour narrative that justifies expanding to a larger budget. Among the exceptions is James Cromwell ’s sensitive, hilarious work in Star Trek: First Contact . By flipping the mythology on an established Trek figure and instilling his own unique personality, Cromwell gives one of the best performances in the entire film saga.

RELATED: Every ‘Star Trek’ Movie Ranked from Worst to Best

Cromwell’s Zefram Cochrane is the godfather of the titular “first contact.” He’s the genius inventor of the Phoenix, the first warp-capable space vessel that inspires a Vulcan ship to visit Earth for the first time. Cochrane had appeared in The Original Series as a dying older man restored to his youthful body ( Glenn Corbett ) by the Companion. Cromwell’s Cochrane is in a far different situation. He’s a wacky, hard-drinking hooligan with no ambition to travel too far outside of his local drinking hole, and certainly not into space. He’s yet to make his critical flight that would be studied within Trek ’s history textbooks.

Cochrane has to reckon with the expectations that his own legacy will leave behind when the core Next Generation crew (minus Picard and Data) travels back in time to ensure his voyage is successful, as the Borgs threaten to disrupt it and change the course of the timeline. It's an intense prospect in one of the most suspenseful, action-packed Trek films, and Cromwell’s befuddled disbelief makes for a necessary (and humorous) tonal shift. He’s already wasted beyond coherence by the time Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) and Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) find him, and Cromwell hilariously captures the essence of a gentle, yet cynical town drunk.

Cromwell finds the right balance of earnestness and amusement as Cochrane learns of his own importance. Within a few short moments, he’s forced to accept the reality that not only are time travel, intergalactic spacecrafts, and alien predators real, but he’s destined to be of critical importance to all of them. While his laughing dismissal of Riker’s explanations as an elaborate prank feels like an authentic first reaction, Cromwell is heartfelt in his consideration of what he’s destined to do. Cromwell identifies a more relatable plight than how to engineer groundbreaking technology: he’s simply never had any expectations of himself.

Cromwell’s weariness as he’s approached by starstruck crewmembers makes his overwhelmed state more engaging. He’s not flattered when the bumbling Lieutenant Barclay ( Dwight Schultz ) nervously asks to shake his hand , but exasperated. It’s one thing to know he’s someone of consequence, but being asked to act like one, too, identifies a fascinating philosophical question that harkens to the best of The Next Generation ’s insights. People that change history don’t always know that at the time, and only through Trek ’s time travel do they learn they’re not just expected, but required to succeed. Cromwell elevates Cochrane’s grumpy cynicism by showing that it's his coping device.

It helped that Cromwell was already a Trek veteran, having guest-starred in three episodes of The Next Generation and one episode of Deep Space Nine . He came with knowledge of the universe, but with First Contact, he was allowed “ to have as much fun as I possibly could .” By letting loose with his eccentricities, Cromwell grounded this era of Earth in the context of its more primitive development. 2063 is far from the unified perfect society, and in a secluded town in Montana, the fallout of a space battle is devastating. It makes sense that in this desperate future, someone as idiosyncratic as Cromwell is the unlikely savior.

Despite the laughs he adds, Cromwell doesn’t break from the consistency of the role. He’s appropriately wondrous when gazing into space, but doesn’t immediately transform into a pensive scientist, and he doesn’t have to. Cochrane at first seems like nothing but a buffoon, but Cromwell shows casual displays of intelligence as he adapts to the advanced technology. It was important for him to hastily, yet steadily accept his destiny.

Riker may offer Cochrane insights on his later accomplishments, but he doesn’t negate them; the knowledge was in Cochrane all along, and all he needs to prepare his daring mission is a little Steppenwolf . He’s worthy of his leadership within the community, and though they share only a few moments together, Cromwell proves that he’s a worthy ally of the badass Lily Sloane ( Alfre Woodard ).

Cromwell’s fleshed-out depiction creates a touching conclusion where he sees his efforts come to life. Greeted with the first Vulcan ambassadors , he welcomes the alien visitors with the warmest greeting he knows: a warm handshake and spontaneous dancing to “Ooby Dooby.” It’s humanity at its best — friendly and receptive, even when it doesn’t know its place. First Contact often feels like “ Die Hard on the Enterprise,” but this moment encapsulates the hope that is omnipresent in Trek . Cromwell gives it a rowdy, wholesome distinction.

Zefram Cochrane is the epitome of a great Star Trek supporting character. His arc is completed in the story told, and he leaves on a positive note as the crew takes off on another adventure. Cromwell had the task of being both the comic relief and center point of Trek mythology, and he beautifully fulfills the two responsibilities as one of the film franchise’s most memorable characters.

KEEP READING: Alfre Woodard on ‘See’ Season 2 and Why She Still Has Scars From Making ‘Star Trek: First Contact’

Star Trek: First Contact

• View history

Six years have passed since Captain Jean-Luc Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg. Now, the Borg make a second attempt to conquer the Federation. Starfleet believes that Picard's experience makes him an "unstable element to a critical situation" and orders him to stay behind. But, when Starfleet's fight does not go well, Picard and the crew of the new USS Enterprise disobey orders to join the fight, following the Borg three hundred years into the past just as Zefram Cochrane prepares to launch Humanity's first warp-capable engine, the Phoenix , and make first contact with an alien race.

• 1.1.1 24th century
• 1.1.2 21st century
• 1.2 Act Two
• 1.3 Act Three
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Development
• 4.2.1 The New Enterprise
• 4.2.2 Interiors
• 4.2.3 The Borg
• 4.2.4 The Phoenix
• 4.3.1 Production history
• 4.4.1 Visual effects
• 4.4.2 Music
• 4.4.3 Promotion and merchandising
• 4.5 Box office performance
• 4.6 Reactions
• 4.8 Apocrypha
• 4.9 Merchandise gallery
• 5 Awards and honors
• 6.1.1 Opening credits
• 6.1.2.1 Motion Control and Pyrotechnics Unit
• 6.2.1 Performers
• 6.2.2 Stunt performers
• 6.2.3 Stand-ins and photo doubles
• 6.2.4 Production staff
• 6.2.5 Production companies
• 6.3.1 Spacecraft references
• 6.3.2 Other references
• 6.3.3 Unreferenced material
• 6.4 Sources
• 6.5 External links

Summary [ ]

Act one [ ], 24th century [ ].

Picard relives his assimilation

Still haunted by memories of his assimilation six years ago , Captain Jean-Luc Picard awakes from a nightmare to wash his face. In the mirror, he is surprised by a Borg assimilation unit emerging from under his skin on his face. Awakening for real, Picard receives a communiqué from Starfleet Command . Appearing on his desktop terminal , Starfleet Admiral Hayes relays distressing news that Picard partially guesses from his dream: a Borg cube has attacked a Federation outpost on Ivor Prime and crossed into Federation space.

Picard announces the Enterprise will not be participating in the battle with the Borg

Picard dutifully informs his crew that they are to take the new Sovereign -class USS Enterprise -E to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone , a minor threat compared to the Borg. In the Enterprise -E's observation lounge , the senior crew members protest and are confused as to why the most advanced ship in the fleet is being relegated to a relatively unimportant task; the Romulans have not caused any incidents recently and would almost certainly not take the opportunity to start a conflict. Picard doesn't disagree with the protests but is compelled to follow orders. He later confides to first officer William T. Riker that the reason Starfleet is keeping the Enterprise away from the Borg is due to Picard's history with them. Riker emphatically disagrees with Starfleet's decision, saying that given Picard's experience with the Borg he should be leading the fight instead of being kept away from it. They then receive word that the fleet has engaged the Borg and listen as the battle appears to go badly.

" Set a course for Earth. Maximum warp. "

Picard announces his intention to commit a direct violation of their orders and that if anyone on the bridge objects, it will be noted in his log. The crew votes unanimously to disobey their orders and set a course for Earth at maximum warp, where they join a fleet of vessels repelling an advancing Borg cube. Among them is the badly-damaged warship USS Defiant commanded by Lieutenant Commander Worf . With the ship under heavy fire and its shields and weapons gone, he orders that the Defiant ram the cube when he is informed that the Enterprise has arrived. As the Defiant 's survivors are beamed aboard, Riker reports that the fleet admiral's ship has been destroyed. Informed by Data that the cube's outer hull has been heavily damaged and its power grid fluctuating, Picard has a good look at the cube on the viewscreen and uses his remaining connection to the Borg to briefly "listen in" on them. Picard takes command of the fleet and swiftly destroys the cube by ordering all vessels to target a seemingly insignificant region of the cube. As it explodes, however, the foundering Borg ship launches a sphere -shaped vessel into orbit of Earth.

The Enterprise -E enters the temporal vortex

Worf arrives on the bridge and (after being formally welcomed aboard the Enterprise -E) offers his assistance. He asks about the status of the Defiant and is relieved when told it is adrift but salvageable. Picard requests he takes tactical and Riker jokingly asks if he "remembers how to fire phasers." Suddenly, the sensors detect that the Borg sphere is creating a temporal vortex ; the crew watches the viewscreen as the Borg vessel disappears through the vortex and Earth dramatically changes. Seeing that it is now populated entirely by Borg drones and has a toxic atmosphere only suitable to them, they determine that history has been changed, having been protected from the changes themselves by the wake of the temporal vortex. As the vortex collapses, Captain Picard orders Lieutenant Hawk not to alter course and have the Enterprise follow the Borg into the past – to repair whatever damage they've done.

21st century [ ]

Lily and Cochrane spot the attackers

In the small shanty town of Bozeman , Montana , Lily Sloane and Zefram Cochrane wander out of a makeshift bar as their town is unexpectedly pulverized by a volley of disruptor fire. Lily and Cochrane run for cover but are unaware that the Borg sphere is responsible for the destruction raining down upon them. Lily suspects that they're under attack by the forces of the Eastern Coalition (ECON).

The Enterprise emerges from the temporal vortex and destroys the Borg sphere with quantum torpedoes . Scanning the surface, the crew discovers that they have arrived on April 4th , 2063 – one day before Earth's First Contact with an alien species, and a decade following the destruction of World War III . Picard surmises that the Borg were attempting to prevent the launch of Earth's first warp -powered craft. He gathers Lieutenant Commander Data and Doctor Beverly Crusher , leading an away team to locate the warp ship's inventor, Doctor Zefram Cochrane.

Picard, Data and the Phoenix

After beaming down, Picard's away team enters Cochrane's missile silo where they find the occupants dead but the prototype warpship, the Phoenix , suffering only minor damage. Picard and Data inspect the rocket but are surprised by Lily, who fires at the Enterprise officers. Impervious to bullets, however, Data intercepts the 21st century woman before she succumbs to radiation poisoning. Doctor Crusher returns to the Enterprise with Lily in her care, promising to keep her unconscious as Picard calls up to Geordi La Forge , asking the chief engineer to bring a repair crew to the silo.

The Borg overrun the ship

As the damage control team departs the ship, engineers Porter and Eiger are left to deal with environmental difficulties that have mysteriously cropped up. One after the other, both officers crawl into a Jefferies tube , wherein they are quietly assimilated by unseen Borg stowaways. Sensing that something is wrong aboard the Enterprise , Picard returns with Data to the ship, leaving Commander Riker in charge.

Indeed, something is dreadfully wrong, as the Borg infiltrate the Enterprise ; Picard surmises that the Borg, knowing their vessel was doomed, must have transported aboard undetected while the Enterprise 's shields were down. Fleeing Borg drones in sickbay , Doctor Crusher is forced to revive Lily. With the help of the Enterprise 's EMH , Crusher, Nurse Ogawa , Martinez , and other medical personnel are able to escape into the Jefferies tubes where Lily quietly slips away while the medical officers flee the deck. On the bridge , Picard orders Data to lockout the main computer with an encryption code as the Borg attempt to take command of the ship. Picard knows that, once the Borg have control of the Enterprise , they will assimilate Earth.

Act Two [ ]

Troi and Cochrane share a drink

Below decks, Picard briefs Data, Worf, and a team of security officers as they arm themselves with phaser rifles (Worf informing the crew that even with a rotating modulation , they will get at most twelve shots before the Borg adapt). As the Borg have taken control of main engineering , Picard explains their objective: puncture one of the warp plasma coolant tanks . Doing so will release the plasma coolant, liquefying the Borg's organic components, without which, Picard explains, the cyborgs cannot survive. Picard also warns his officers that they should not show mercy to assimilated Enterprise crew members – indeed, killing them would be the merciful thing to do.

On Earth, Commander Riker finds a drunken Counselor Troi at the town's makeshift bar. The counselor introduces Riker to Zefram Cochrane, himself intoxicated, explaining that the scientist doesn't believe their cover story – and that, in her professional opinion as ship's counselor , she thinks he's "nuts." Riker is very amused by Troi's drunken behavior, which annoys Troi even more. As Cochrane activates a rock and roll -spouting jukebox , Troi bemoans her first experience with tequila then finally passes out while Cochrane continues to dance to the music.

Picard and Data hunt Borg in the corridors of the Enterprise

Meanwhile, two teams march through the corridors of the Enterprise -E – one led by Worf, the other by Picard and Data. Rounding a corner on deck 16, the crew finds that the usually pristine and immaculate bulkheads of a Federation starship have been replaced by the grotesque and mechanical equipment of a Borg vessel. In response, an anxious Data deactivates his emotion chip . Elsewhere, Worf and his men encounter Dr. Crusher as she emerges from the Jefferies tubes with her medical staff and patients. She notifies the Klingon that Lily has gone missing and Worf promises to watch out for the woman. Moving on, the two teams meet outside of engineering, in corridors crawling with Borg drones. At first ignoring the Starfleet officers' arrival, the Borg suddenly spring into action as Picard and Data attempt to gain entry to main engineering. A battle ensues, but the Borg quickly adapt to phaser fire and Picard calls for a retreat. The captain tells the Enterprise crew to regroup on deck 15 and warns his officers not to let the Borg touch them. Too late, however, for Data, who is captured by the Borg and taken into their hive.

Lily captures Picard

Rushing to a Jefferies tube, Picard sees a crewman begging for help as Borg technology starts to take over his body and, believing he is saving him from a worse fate, shoots him dead before escaping into a hatch. Inside the access tube, Lily catches Picard by surprise, turning the captain's phaser on him and demanding to be returned home. Picard tells her that is not going to be easy at the moment, but Lily informs Picard that he had better make it easy or else she will fire the phaser on him. Picard tells her to follow him and she warns the captain to go slow.

Data awakes in engineering, restrained to a Borg operating table and surrounded by drones. He assures them that they cannot gain the Enterprise access codes stored in his neural net , speaking directly to the disembodied voice of the Borg. The Borg tell Data that breaking the code is only a matter of finding the android 's weakness.

Convincing Cochrane to make his flight

On the surface, Riker, Troi, and La Forge attempt to convince Cochrane that the story about the Borg and their mission is true. Adjusting the scientist's telescope , La Forge gives Cochrane a glimpse of the Enterprise -E, orbiting high above Montana. The Enterprise officers urge Cochrane to continue with his plans to launch the Phoenix , telling him of the Utopian society that warp travel and first contact will bring to Earth. On the same day that Cochrane makes his first warp flight, a survey ship from a neighboring alien race will be passing through Earth's solar system : upon noticing that Humans have discovered faster-than-light travel, they will decide that Humanity is advanced enough to officially make first contact. Thus, even if Cochrane's test flight is simply delayed a few days, it will drastically alter history. If Cochrane hurries to make his warp flight as scheduled, the aliens will make contact, and Humanity will put aside its differences and unite as never before, to rebuild from the world war and, within fifty years, build a utopia on Earth. Grudgingly, Cochrane agrees.

The Enterprise undergoing assimilation

Meanwhile, the fight does not go well aboard the Enterprise . The Borg continue their relentless assimilation of the ship and its crew, taking control of more than half of the starship. In command of the bridge, Worf is informed by Chief of Security Daniels that the Borg have halted their approach after seizing control of deck 11, which contains hydroponics , stellar cartography , and deflector control ; none of which are vital Enterprise systems; Worf is mystified, as the Borg would only have ceased their attack there if they gained a tactical advantage. Meanwhile, still crawling through the bowels of the ship, Picard leads Lily to a porthole looking out over Earth. Shocked to find herself in space, Lily surrenders her phaser and begins to trust the captain.

" The beginning, the end, the one who is many… "

Down in engineering, Data continues his conversation with the Borg Queen , who finally shows herself as a head and upper torso descending to a robotic body. Reactivating Data's emotion chip, the Queen reveals a patch of Human flesh grafted onto his android skeleton. With this new skin, Data is able to feel all new sensations and gets to experience pleasure for the first time when the Queen blows on the flesh.

In a corridor, Picard describes the Federation and the Borg to Lily, who reacts in terror as they enter a section overrun by Borg. As they make their escape, Picard fires his phaser, provoking a response from two drones who pursue them into the holosuite . Activating a holonovel , Picard recreates a scene from The Big Good-Bye , using a holographic Tommy gun to blast the two Borg in a fit of rage. He goes berserk and plans on ripping apart the dead Borg with the gun before being calmed down by Lily. Nonetheless, he starts pulling open the chest cavity of one of the drones when Lily notices the Borg has partial remains of a Starfleet uniform on. Picard unemotionally informs her that the Borg was formerly Starfleet Ensign Lynch . The captain retrieves a Borg neural processor and proceeds to the bridge, surprising Lily at how emotionally detached he was at the thought of killing his own crew member.

On Earth, Cochrane has grown frustrated with the high esteem bestowed upon him by the 24th century officers as they repair the Phoenix . After a run-in with Lieutenant Barclay (who, like many of the crew had already done, asks to shake his hand), Cochrane expresses his reservations to La Forge, who admits that he too is experiencing feelings of hero worship . La Forge reveals to Cochrane that the missile silo would eventually become home to a statue in his honor . The scientist quickly escapes into the woods, attempting to flee. Riker and La Forge give chase, ultimately stunning Cochrane to prevent his escape.

The Borg Queen seduces Data

In engineering, the operation to give Data flesh and blood continues. Exploiting a small window of opportunity, Data breaks free of the operating table and attempts to escape his captors. He is stopped, however, when a drone slashes at and cuts Data's new Human skin. Data is then forced to experience another new feeling – pain – and is left confused that, despite the fact he wants to rip the flesh off, he can't bring himself to do it. The Borg Queen then sets about seducing the android, who explains that he is "fully functional" and "programmed in multiple techniques," but it has been just over eight years since he has used them. Just as he tells the Queen this, the two fall into a passionate embrace.

Picard, Worf, and Hawk on the hull of the Enterprise

On the bridge, Picard returns to brief his crew on the situation: the Borg plan to use the ship's navigational deflector to contact reinforcements in the Delta Quadrant which would easily conquer Earth. With no other way to gain access to the deflector dish, Picard, Worf, and the ship's helmsman , Lieutenant Hawk, don EV suits and cross the exterior hull of the ship on foot (much to Worf's dismay, as the zero-gravity makes him sick to his stomach ), finding several drones constructing a beacon atop the particle emitter . Unable to simply destroy the dish due to the risk of severe damage to the ship, Picard and company work to manually release it into space. Arousing a response from the drones, the Enterprise officers battle the Borg, who are able to injure Worf and assimilate Hawk. Hawk, now assimilated, tries to kill Picard by throwing him to a wall, cracking the glass in his helmet. Just as Hawk is about to slam his foot down on Picard's helmet, Worf shoots Hawk and he flies away into space. Recovering quickly, Picard finishes his task and releases the deflector into space. Worf allows the deflector to drift away from the ship, then destroys it with his phaser rifle.

Sensing the destruction of the beacon, the Borg Queen announces to Data – still undergoing the operation – that she has changed her plans.

Act Three [ ]

Aboard the repaired Phoenix , with less than an hour before launch, Cochrane mulls over some final details as Riker joins him. Cochrane admits that he's suffering from a hangover which is either from the whiskey or Riker's phaser blast (or both), but is ready to make history nonetheless. As the launch doors are opened, Riker marvels at the sight on the moon visible in the early morning sky. Cochrane, unimpressed, wonders if maybe there is no moon in the 24th century. Riker admits that there is but it just looks very much different here in the 21st century as 50 million people live on the moon in the 24th century. Riker points out Tycho City , New Berlin and Lake Armstrong , but Cochrane doesn't want to hear any of it being credited to him, as he's had quite enough of hearing about "the great Zefram Cochrane." Cochrane advises Riker that the Enterprise crew has some pretty unbelievable ideas about who he really is as he has observed them treating him as some kind of saint or visionary. Riker admits that he doesn't think Cochrane is a saint, but he most definitely had a vision - the Phoenix itself. Cochrane admits, however, his real vision is dollar signs and money . He confides in Riker that he didn't build the Phoenix to usher in a new era for Humanity - he doesn't even like to fly, preferring trains . He built the Phoenix to be able to retire to a tropical island filled with naked women, which amuses Riker, but Cochrane vehemently defends his vision as who he truly is and dismisses the historical figure that the crew sees him as while also believing he'll never be the man history knows him to be. Riker offers Cochrane a quote - "Don't try to be a great man, just be a man and let history make it's own judgments." Cochrane dismisses it as rhetorical nonsense before quizzing Riker on who said that. Riker, quite amusedly, tells Cochrane it was he himself, ten years from the present, before leaving the doctor to finish his pre-launch checklist.

Returning to the bridge, Picard and Worf find the situation has worsened: Daniels, bloodied, emerges from the Jeffries Tube and reports that the Borg have continued their takeover of the ship, assimilating decks five and six, with the intent of charging their way to the bridge, and the crew's phasers can no longer affect their adversaries. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, Picard orders Daniels to tell his men to stand their ground, even fight hand-to-hand if need be. Worf and Dr. Crusher argue against this, instead suggesting evacuating the Enterprise in escape pods and setting the ship to self-destruct to destroy the Borg. Picard angrily balks and decrees that the crew will stay and fight. Worf believes however that the Enterprise has been lost, but Picard retorts he has no intention of losing the Enterprise , certainly not to the Borg while he's in command. Worf, owing to all due respect to the captain, attempts to reason with Picard telling him that his experience with the Borg is influencing his judgement. Picard responds by calling the Klingon a coward by wanting to destroy the ship and simply run away. Worf, insulted and outraged, snarls at Picard: " If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand! " Unfazed by the threat, Picard angrily fires back at Worf "Get off my bridge!" and retreats into the observation lounge, alone. Dr. Crusher begins to coordinate the remaining crew in defense of the ship, but Lily argues in favor of the self-destruct. Dr. Crusher points out that when the captain makes up his mind the discussion is over. Lily, not one of the crew, doesn't accept this and follows Picard to confront him…

"The line must be drawn HERE! This far, NO FURTHER! "

In the observation lounge, Picard sits at the table and tries to reconfigure his phaser rifle as Lily enters calling him a " son of a bitch ." The captain, with little time to spare, waves her off. Lily admits that while she may not know anything about the time where the crew comes from, she knows that everyone on the bridge believes that staying aboard the ship and fighting the Borg is suicide, they just won't tell Picard. The captain dismisses her belief with the assumption that the crew will follow his orders as they always have. Lily reminds him that his orders probably make sense most of the time. Picard's temper rises and silences her by saying the crew cannot understand the Borg as he does and no one can, he says quietly. Lily doesn't understand what Picard means.

Picard explains the circumstances surrounding his abduction and incorporation into the Collective six years earlier and smugly tells her that his experiences give him a unique perspective on the Borg and how to fight them. He asks that she excuse him, as he has work to do. Lily begins to understand Picard's motivations – the Borg hurt him before and now he's going to pay them back. The captain sneers that in the 24th century, mankind doesn't succumb to revenge as they have a more evolved sensibility than what Lily can appreciate. " Bullshit! " she exclaims as she watched him earlier murder two Borg in the holosuite in cold blood with a look of enjoyment on his face. Picard is appalled she would make such an accusation and snarls at her to get out. Lily, defiant, stands her ground and wonders if he'll kill her like he did Ensign Lynch if she refuses. Picard, his emotions running high, dismisses the incident, claiming "there was no way to save him." Lily doesn't buy it and asks where his "evolved sensibility" was then. Picard tries to ignore her claims, but Lily compares him to the obsessed Captain Ahab in the novel Moby Dick . Picard is momentarily jarred, but he shifts the conversation away from the accusation saying his refusal to abandon ship is more about saving the future of Humanity. Lily presses him bluntly, screaming at him to "blow up the damn ship!" Picard now loses control entirely, yelling " No! " and in a moment of total rage smashes his phaser rifle into the display case containing models of previous starship Enterprise s . As he watches the shattered models of the USS Enterprise -C and USS Enterprise -D fall and break, he is momentarily taken aback. He tells her that sacrificing the Enterprise -E would be another compromise in a long line of compromises in Humanity's dealings with the Borg. " No further ," Picard intones, for he intends to make the Borg pay for what they've done.

Seemingly defeated, Lily examines the broken pieces of the Enterprise -D model and gently chides the captain that his little ships are broken and begins to exit the lounge. " See you around, Ahab. " As she does, the words of Moby Dick echo from his memory…

Lily confesses she never actually read the book. With a smile on his lips, Picard explains that Captain Ahab had spent years hunting the whale that had crippled him, but his quest for vengeance eventually destroyed him and his ship. Realizing that he is indeed walking the same path, Picard sets his phaser rifle next to the broken pieces of the Enterprise -D model and enters the bridge and gives the order…

" Prepare to evacuate the Enterprise . "

At the launch site, Riker, La Forge, and Cochrane begin the pre-ignition sequence to launch the Phoenix while on the Enterprise bridge, Picard, Crusher, and Worf arm the auto-destruct sequence. Programming the escape pods to head for the isolated Gravett Island , the captain activates the destruct order: fifteen minutes with a silent countdown. Dr. Crusher laments the quick death of the Enterprise -E and wonders if Starfleet will build another one. Picard, as hopeful as he was following the destruction of the Enterprise -D, quips that there are still " plenty of letters left in the alphabet. " Worf turns to exit as Picard stops him, regretting some the remarks he made to him earlier. The captain adds that the Klingon is the bravest man he's ever known. Worf accepts the apology and they shake hands. Now alone on the bridge, his Starfleet career seemingly over and his command minutes away from destruction, Picard suddenly becomes very much aware that Data is still held in the clutches of the Collective.

From mission control in Montana, Counselor Troi, on headset to the cockpit of the Phoenix , advises Cochrane, Riker and Geordi that final launch checks are complete and wishes them good luck. Riker wonders if everyone is ready to make history, which La Forge concedes that he always is. Cochrane, however, is bothered by a nagging feeling that he has forgotten something, although he dismisses it as probably nothing. As Troi begins the ignition sequence and the countdown to launch begins, Cochrane suddenly realizes what he has forgotten. As Riker and Geordi begin to abort, Cochrane finds what he's looking for in his pocket - a green disc, which he inserts into the console. As the countdown approaches zero, Cochrane orders the Phoenix launched - "Let's rock and roll!" He presses a button on the console with the disc as " Magic Carpet Ride " by Steppenwolf blasts into the cockpit (and Troi's headset) at maximum volume. The Phoenix blasts off as the townspeople look on. As she begins to achieve orbit, Riker, more of a jazz enthusiast, wonders if Cochrane might turn the song down a little as Geordi reports a red light on the second intake valve. Cochrane, unconcerned, tells them to ignore it as the Phoenix completes first-stage shut down and separation. As it does, the warp nacelles deploy from the port and starboard sides of the craft. Riker brings the warp core online as Cochrane marvels at the sight of the Earth out of the window. Geordi promises him "you ain't seen nothing yet!"

Flight of the escape pods

Escorting Lily to her escape pod, Picard hands her a PADD containing orders for Commander Riker, informing him and their crew on the surface to find a quiet corner of North America and to stay out of history's way. Lily wishes Picard good luck and does he, but she quickly realizes that the captain has no intention of leaving the ship. He explains to her that when he was held captive on the Borg ship years earlier, the crew risked everything to save him and that there is one member of the Enterprise crew still aboard and he owes him the same. Accepting his decision, Lily tells Picard to go find his friend and boards her pod as dozens of escape craft disengage from the Enterprise and travel towards Earth.

Grappling with the Queen

Picard advances to engineering where he comes face-to-face with the Borg Queen. She recalls the last time they met – during his assimilation – and notes how Picard can still hear "their song" - the call of the Collective. Picard, incredulous, begins to remember the Queen but cannot understand how she survived the destruction of the Borg cube that invaded the Federation six years earlier. The Queen, disgusted with Picard's limited understanding, admonishes him for how small he has become and how Data understands her and calls to the android. Picard turns to see a new Data, plugged into a Borg alcove , with half of his face now sporting organic Human flesh. The captain demands to know what the Queen has done to him, but she simply states she has simply given him what he's always wanted - flesh and blood. Picard requests that the Queen let Data go as he is not the one she wants. As she quizzes the captain on whether he's offering himself to the Borg, Picard has a sudden realization that it wasn't enough that the Borg assimilate him six years earlier, he had to give himself over to the Borg to satisfy the Queen's intentions. She angrily rebukes his claim, stating that she has overseen the assimilation of countless millions and that Picard was no different. The captain accuses her of lying, stating he knows that she wanted him to be more than just another Borg drone, she was seeking a Human counterpart to herself to bridge the gap between Humanity and the Borg, but that plan failed as Picard resisted. The Queen laments that Picard couldn't begin to understand the life he denied himself. Picard makes his offer - Locutus rejoins the collective willingly without any resistance in exchange for letting Data go. The Queen commends Picard's nobility and releases the forcefield containing Data and allows him to leave. However, Data remains motionless. The captain orders Data to go but he refuses, stating he does not wish to leave. With a glint of satisfaction, the Queen informs Picard that she doesn't need him as she's already found her equal - Data. She orders him to deactivate the self-destruct sequence and he obliges. Picard desperately tries to convince Data not to do it, but he ignores him as the ship's computer acknowledges that the auto-destruct sequence has been deactivated. After deactivating the self-destruct sequence, the Queen orders Data to now enter the encryption codes on the main computer, which will give the Queen command of the Enterprise. Data, again, obliges as Picard woefully notes that Data will not listen to him. Data, instead, leaves the captain and takes his place at the Queen's side, telling her that Picard will be an "excellent drone" as Borg drones take hold of the betrayed captain.

Aboard the Phoenix , Geordi reports everything is looking good and the ship is prepared for warp speed as Riker warns that they had best break the warp barrier in the next five minutes if history is to fulfill itself. Cochrane orders Riker and La Forge to jump to warp with a familiar command - "Engage!" Riker and Geordi allow themselves a grin at the parallel as the Enterprise begins to bear down on the Phoenix. Back in engineering, Picard is confined to an operation table as Data targets the Phoenix with quantum torpedoes , which the Queen orders destroyed. The torpedoes are launched from the Enterprise as a delighted Borg Queen taunts the captain to watch as Humanity's future comes to an end, not noticing Data quietly moving towards a plasma coolant tank behind her. Picard can only watch in horror as the torpedoes close in on the Phoenix until they finally… miss their target. The horrified Queen and smirking captain realize that Data has deceived the Borg, not joined them. Data mockingly repeats the Borg's mantra back to the Queen - "Resistance is futile!" and thrusts his fist into the coolant tank, enveloping him in the deadly gas as Picard scrambles for cover. The Phoenix engages it's warp drive as Cochrane hangs on for dear life. On the Enterprise , Picard utilizes some suction hoses from the ceiling to escape the lethal plasma coolant. Just below him, the Queen grabs hold of his foot, impeding his climb to safety. Picard struggles against her grip until Data – his new skin dissolved – emerges from the plasma coolant and grabs hold of her. After a desperate struggle, Data pulls the Borg Queen into the deadly gas. Screaming in pain and rage, the Borg Queen's flesh quickly disintegrates. With her control of the Borg on the Enterprise destabilized, drones all over the ship collapse and die.

The remains of the fallen Borg Queen

" Data, are you all right? " " I would imagine I look worse than I… feel. "

After a few moments traveling faster than the speed of light, Riker aboard the Pheonix orders throttle back. As the Phoenix drops out of warp, it begins it's return journey to Earth. Cochrane, amazed at his experience, notices how small Earth looks from the cockpit window. Riker reminds him that it's about to get a whole lot bigger once history takes it's course. Picard vents the plasma from engineering and descends to the deck, which is littered with Borg corpses. Finding the metallic skeletal remains of the Borg Queen still clinging to life near the warp core, Picard breaks her spinal column and terminates her once and for all, finally allowing him some form of closure. The captain finds Data not far away; knowing that the melting of his Borg-given Human skin has left some of his inner circuits revealed but caused no real damage, he quips that he probably doesn't feel as bad as he might look, allowing a small chuckle at the irony. The android expresses a sense of sadness at the death of the "unique" Borg Queen and the glimpses of Humanity she brought him. He admits that he was tempted by her offer for a mere 0.68 seconds, but also notes that this involved much more deliberation than the captain might suspect. Picard extends his hand to Data and helps him to his feet. They both take a look at the Borg assimilated engineering and exit.

First contact

In Montana, a crowd of observers, including Cochrane, Lily, Picard, and the other Human members of the Enterprise 's senior staff , watch the historic landing of the first extraterrestrial craft to openly and publicly visit Earth. Cochrane, amazed, marvels to Riker that the aliens really are from another world as Riker reminds him that they're going to want to meet the man who flew that warp ship that drew them there. Cochrane approaches them as the alien leader makes his way forward and removes his hood, revealing a set of pointed ears and extends his hand in greeting: "Live long and prosper." Cochrane attempts to return the gesture, but cannot get his fingers to mimic the alien's. Instead, he offers him the Human equivalent - a handshake . "Thanks." he says. Picard, happily noting that all is proceeding as it should, notes to his crew that the time has come for them to make a discreet exit and let history unfold as it should. With that, Riker taps his combadge and orders the Enterprise to stand by to beam them up as the captain heads for Lily. She notes that the time has come for him to go and remarks how she envies him and the world he's going to. Picard responds how much he envies her that she gets to witness Humanity's first steps into a new frontier before telling her that he'll miss her. With a kiss good-bye, the Enterprise crew departs unnoticed.

Back on the bridge, Worf tells Picard that the Enterprise 's warp signature was obscured by the moon's gravitational field and thus was not detected by the Vulcans, while La Forge can recreate the temporal vortex that brought them there by reconfiguring their warp field . Data, with his damaged face, informs the captain that helm stands by for his orders. Picard, confident that the future they know will be waiting for them, has Data lay in a course for the 24th century. On Earth, as Lily watches in the sky as the Enterprise disappears through the vortex, a happily blitzed Cochrane unsuccessfully tries to get the Vulcans to drink and dance along to " Ooby Dooby " by Roy Orbison .

Log entries [ ]

Memorable quotes [ ].

" I've just received a disturbing report from Deep Space 5. Our colony on Ivor Prime was destroyed this morning. Long range sensors have picked up the– " " …Yes, I know, the Borg. "

" Bridge to Captain Picard. " " Go ahead. " " We've just received word from the fleet. They've engaged the Borg. "

" Flagship to Endeavour , stand by to engage at grid A-15. " " Defiant and Bozeman , fall back to mobile position 1. " " Acknowledged. " " We have it a visual range, a Borg cube on course 0 mark 2-1-5, speed warp nine… "

" We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile. "

" All units, open fire! " " Remodulate shield… " " They've broken through the defense perimeter toward Earth! " " Pursuit Course. " " The cube is changing course! 0-2-1 mark 4! " " Defiant continue to attack! Flagship to Starfleet command, We need reinforcements!' " Casualty reports coming in! " " 96 dead, 22 wounded on the Lexington ! "

" I'm about to commit a direct violation of our orders. Any of you who wish to object should do so, now. It will be noted in my log."

" Isn't it amazing? This ship used to be a nuclear missile! " " It is an historical irony that Doctor Cochrane would use an instrument of mass destruction to inaugurate an era of peace. "

" This isn't part of my program! I'm a doctor, not a doorstop! "

" And you people, you're all astronauts on… some kind of star trek? "

" Who is this jerk? (slurring) And who told him he could turn off my music? "

" Timeline!? This is no time to argue about time!! We don't have the time!! What was I saying? "

" You'd better find a way to make it easy, soldier, or I'm going to start pushing buttons ! "

" I am the beginning, the end, the one who is many. I am the Borg. "

" Assimilate this!"

" I will not sacrifice the Enterprise . We've made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again! The line must be drawn here… THIS far, NO further! And I will make them PAY for what they've done. "

" Watch… your future's end. "

" Resistance is futile! "

" Live long and prosper. " " Thanks. "

" I envy you, the world you're going to. " " I envy you, taking these first steps into a new frontier. "

" Mister Data, lay in a course for the twenty-fourth century. I suspect our future is there waiting for us. " " Course laid in, sir. " " Make it so."

Background information [ ]

Development [ ].

The teaser poster for Star Trek: First Contact

With the success of Star Trek Generations and its worldwide gross of US$120,000,000, [1] Paramount Pictures development executives approached producer Rick Berman in February 1995 to ready the next installment in the Star Trek franchise. During an impromptu meeting with writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga , Berman revealed his interest in a time travel story.

The Moore/Braga writing team, however, wanted to tell a story focusing on the Borg. Moore recalled the first meeting:

Brainstorming sessions began between the writer/producers' day jobs on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager . Again, Moore recalled:

Though other time periods in history including the American Civil War were bandied about, eventually the Italian Renaissance time period was seized upon. An early story draft entitled Star Trek Renaissance expanded upon this idea. According to Moore, the story would have found Picard and company searching history for a group of time-traveling Borg. Happening upon a Renaissance village, the crew would hear stories about strange creatures taking over neighboring villages:

The producers realized that the time period was expensive to realize on screen, with audience knowledge of and identification with the period very low. ( AOL chat , 1997 )

Ultimately, a time period after modern history was selected: The birth of the Federation. According to Brannon Braga:

A revised storyline was constructed, this time called Star Trek Resurrection . Utilizing elements laid into place by Gene Roddenberry 's original concepts for the Star Trek universe and the Star Trek: The Original Series second season episode " Metamorphosis ", Resurrection closely resembled the final film. In the story, the Borg attack Zefram Cochrane's Montana laboratory, severely injuring the scientist. With Doctor Crusher fighting to save Cochrane's life, Captain Picard assumes his place in history, rallying a town around reconstructing the damaged warp ship. As the action unfolded, Picard would have become romantically involved with a local photographer and X-ray technician named Ruby, who helps the captain reconstruct a key element of the ship. Aboard the Enterprise , Commander Riker would be engaged in combat with invading Borg drones. The Borg in Resurrection would remain faceless automatons.

With a draft of Resurrection sent to studio executives, generally positive notes were returned. However, one Paramount executive pointed out the weakness of the Borg as being that they were "basically zombies." Despite the Borg's inception as a faceless swarm, the writers chose to incorporate a figurehead into the Collective. The Borg Queen was created, a logical extension of the insect-like qualities incorporated into the Borg's characterization. Having read the early script pages too, Patrick Stewart, however, was dissatisfied with the film. Stewart suggested that the Picard and Riker stories be switched. Thus, the focus of the film was transferred to the action aboard the Enterprise with a B-story on the planet's surface. Elements like Ruby the photographer and an injured Cochrane were ultimately scrapped. As was any prospect of a love affair for Picard. Ronald D. Moore described the thought process:

With that adjustment in the structure of the film, Berman suggested the addition of a holodeck sequence: The "cocktail party". In August 1995 an early draft of the script, still titled Resurrection , was circulated to key members of the production staff, headed by Martin Hornstein and Peter Lauritson . Using this script, the production heads would budget the film, ultimately falling into the US$45,000,000 range. [2]

Key positions were filled as preproduction began. With several members of the cast volunteering for the director's chair, Jonathan Frakes won out. According to Frakes, the film was offered to A-list directors who had little interest in the franchise; as a result he was offered the job "a month later than would have been ideal." Frakes appointed Jerry Fleck , [3] a veteran of Star Trek: The Next Generation , as first assistant director and John W. Wheeler as editor. [4] Veteran costume designer Deborah Everton was assigned the task of creating all non-Starfleet clothing, plus redesigning the Borg with Michael Westmore . Everton's credits at the time included The Abyss and The X-Files TV series; she later costumed Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica miniseries. [5] Robert Blackman returned to once again redesign the Starfleet uniforms , this time to complement Frakes' darker color palette and stand up better to big screen scrutiny.

Pre-production [ ]

The new enterprise [ ].

John Eaves' so-called "chicken in a pan" design

Upon delivery of the script to production designer Herman Zimmerman , the art department's first task was the creation of a new Enterprise . Having been retained from his work on Generations , illustrator John Eaves operated in conjunction with Zimmerman to develop the Enterprise -E, based upon direction by Berman and the writers. According to Ronald D. Moore, " We described the new Enterprise in some detail. We said we want a sleeker look, with more of a muscular, almost warship kind of a look to it. "

According to illustrator Eaves, the process began by reviewing what came before, specifically Bill George 's USS Excelsior from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . Over twenty or thirty sketches, the designer honed the look of the ship into an even sleeker design, rotating the oval-shaped saucer of the USS Enterprise -D to fit the new concept.

By October 1995 , Eaves and Zimmerman proceeded with their design with approval from Rick Berman. Featuring the same basic shape that appears in the finished film, this version of the Enterprise -E included movable warp pylons recalling the starship USS Voyager . Showing a dorsal-view sketch to a member of the production staff, Eaves received negative feedback that compared the ship to a chicken. " …From the moment he said that, the design was cursed. Every time I looked at it, I saw not a starship, but a chicken in a pan. Sadly, Herman saw it, too, so we had to (pardon the pun) scratch that one. "

Over the next several months, the ship was again refined. In sketches dated January 1996 , the Enterprise -E had finally been settled upon. Now distinguished by back-swept engine pylons, the ship was almost ready to be constructed. Eaves described the next steps:

Eaves' finalized overview drawings for the Enterprise -E

With several days of sketching alternatives behind him, Eaves returned to his original design to focus on the smaller details that allowed Sternbach to complete his plans. By the spring of 1996 , the ship's blueprints were turned over to Industrial Light & Magic 's model building team under John Goodson . The ten-foot model was fabricated under extreme time constraint (about half the normal time period); with photographs of rooms and people inserted into the ship's windows. A computer-generated model was also constructed (with almost indistinguishable differences between the two). [6]

Interiors [ ]

Working simultaneously on the exterior Enterprise -E, Eaves and Zimmerman focused inward, generating drawings of the Enterprise bridge as early as November 1995 . First designing a smaller space to fit with the smaller, sleeker direction of the Enterprise , the art department eventually opened the set up, creating a space that was larger than the bridge of the Enterprise -D. Eaves described the decision:

The bridge of the Enterprise -E as seen on film

A collaborative process, Eaves received input from Doug Drexler regarding his new bridge:

The final details of the bridge were honed through early 1996, alongside other new sets including new corridors and an expanded engineering. Again designed by Eaves and Zimmerman, Enterprise -E corridor sets were constructed in a basic horseshoe shape with built-in handrails, back-lit monitors and removable panels that could be easily swapped for "Borgified" parts. Two lighting schemes were created for the corridor sets for normal and " red alert " conditions, though the former was not seen until Star Trek: Insurrection . For the evacuation sequence, set decorator John M. Dwyer created vacuum-formed pieces molded from the hood of a Camaro, to be used as escape pod hatches. Paramount's Stages 14 and 15 housed the vast corridor complex which connected to Herman Zimmerman's and Nancy Mickleberry's main engineering. Eaves recalled the experience:

Corridor sets under construction

Despite the number of new sets created for the film, the production once again reused old material, including turbolift wall sections dating back to 1979 's Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Sections of the starship Voyager from Star Trek: Voyager were cannibalized for the film, as filming was to take place between that series' second and third seasons. Voyager 's sickbay was repainted and redressed for use as Doctor Crusher's sickbay, and the Voyager cargo bay set became the Enterprise weapons locker with relatively little modification. Having been saved from the wrecking crews following the completion of Generations , the Enterprise -D observation lounge, first built in 1987 for Star Trek: The Next Generation was put into service, overhauled and expanded, then connected to the bridge set. For the first time in the Star Trek film series, the transporter room did not appear. Also omitted from the finished picture, a large, cylindrical fish tank constructed for Picard's new ready room was replaced with nondescript objet d'art before the cameras rolled.

It was not only from previous Star Trek productions, the movie scavenged set pieces from as Production Illustrator John Eaves divulged in 2009, " We did Osiris immediately after Generations and both were Paramount films. When First Contact was starting up we brought over all the sets from Osiris and incorporated them into Star Trek . It was an oddity to take elements I had drawn for OC and then redraw them into the TNG world…everything came together well and if you have seen Osiris or (Battle lords) the tub shaped set piece that the Plentum was in became the center piece of the Warp core of the Enterprise E. " [7] Eaves was referring to the planned science fiction television series The Osiris Chronicles , for which a pilot episode, " The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy ", was produced in 1995/1996. A somewhat ill-conceived attempt to further capitalize on the new found popularity of science-fiction television shows, the series was not picked up however.

The Borg [ ]

A little less menacing: the Borg relax off camera

Assigned to refresh the Borg make up that had previously consisted of simple pale faces and cobbled together bodysuits, Deborah Everton and Michael Westmore cooperated with Herman Zimmerman and his team. As late as January of '96, pages of Borg designs flowed from the art department, with contributions by Alex Delgado of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Working for Disney in addition to Star Trek , Delgado often worked on his time off, generating complex and sometimes grotesque images of the Borg, heavily influenced by insect life and ancient Egyptian culture. While many of Delgado's ideas (including exposed organs and obelisk-shaped vessels) were ultimately rejected, much of his work was integrated into Everton's and Westmore's final designs. According to Westmore:

What resulted were eight Borg body-suits that would be combined with individually molded pieces to be swapped into various configurations representing different drones.

Electronics built into the Borg suits often included blinking lights that spelled out production members' names in Morse code . Makeup effects were achieved by airbrushing tiny "wires" that would appear to be just below the surface of the Borg drones' skin; a wide variety of humanoid and alien drones were created, including Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans , though the latter two never appeared in the theatrical cut. With days beginning as early as 2 am, it took the makeup department thirty minutes to get the eight Borg actors into their costumes, another five hours to apply makeup, and ninety minutes to remove the makeup at the end of the day. According to Westmore:

Alice Krige as the Queen's torso, lowered on a crane

As the leader of the horde of eight, Alice Krige 's Borg Queen costume was unique. A tight-fitting, one piece bodysuit, combined with a large headpiece and integrated lighting systems, the first of the Queen's costumes was built out of hard rubber. After the first of Krige's ten-day shoot, the actress suffered from blisters raised by the tight rubber. A second, soft foam suit was fabricated overnight. Despite the relative comfort of the new suit, Krige was still required to wear painful silver contact lenses that could be worn for only four minutes at a time. According to Jerry Fleck, the actress never complained.

Borg vessels were handled by John Eaves, based upon script pages, referring to a "tetragon", or rectangular-shaped vessel. Eaves generated drawings in January 1996, labeled "Borg tetragon":

Unable to reuse the Borg cube built for the television series, created out of inexpensive pieces from model kits, a new cube had to be designed. Described by Eaves as "nonsensical", a distinctly new surface was designed, distinguished by interlocking shapes and angles, with a hidden hatchway for Eaves' Borg sphere. Intricate details of ILM's Borg cube model were achieved through the use of recycled paper clips.

Besides several background and stunt performers who changed into Borg, there were also a few Borg mannequins. One of these mannequins was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [8]

The Phoenix [ ]

In their original concept of Zefram Cochrane's warp ship, the Phoenix , Moore and Braga's script referred to a space shuttle-type lander , constructed on a large, outdoor platform. Difficult to realize without the aid of extensive digital effects, the production searched for more practical methods. Rick Berman ultimately seized upon the idea of utilizing a real nuclear missile, inspiring the writers to adjust the script to accommodate the "irony" of a weapon of mass destruction used to "inaugurate an era of peace."

With the cooperation of the United States military, the production gained permission to shoot within a real missile silo in Green Valley, Arizona, near Tucson. Utilizing the real, though hollowed out Titan II missile still in its silo, the team resolved to construct a new nose to sit atop the missile, acting as the cockpit of the Phoenix . John Eaves:

Eaves' approved Phoenix logo

Completing his design for the full-size cockpit facade, Eaves next began conceptualizing the second-stage Phoenix , basing his drawings on designs appearing in Michael Okuda's Star Trek Chronology . Incorporating Star Trek: The Original Series -style warp nacelles into his drawings, Eaves refined the Phoenix from rough drawings to finalized designs over months. Turning over the plans to ILM and John Goodson's team, Eaves was stunned by the finished product:

Though mostly invisible on screen, a logo for Cochrane's warp ship was also designed by Eaves on the fly.

Calling a number of gift shops in the area, Eaves was finally able to locate a postcard with an appropriate picture of the phoenix he remembered. Taking the postcard to a local store, the gift shop owner faxed a picture of the phoenix to the Paramount production offices where Eaves went to work. With only a single pass, the logo was approved by Rick Berman.

Production [ ]

In the spring of 1996, newly-recruited director Jonathan Frakes and producer Rick Berman cast their three "guest stars". Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, an admitted Trekker, was slated to play Zefram Cochrane but he was busy with his directorial debut. The role went to James Cromwell , a veteran of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Oscar nominee for his role in the 1995 movie Babe . According to Jonathan Frakes: " In spite of having been nominated for an Academy Award, he actually came in and read for the part… He nailed it. He left Berman and me with our jaws in our laps. " Cromwell later reprised his role as Cochrane in the Star Trek: Enterprise first season episode " Broken Bow ".

Robert Picardo cameos as another EMH

For the role of Lily, Frakes' immediate inclination after reading the script was to cast actress Alfre Woodard . Woodard, an Oscar nominee herself and multiple Emmy Award winner, was Frakes' self-proclaimed "godmother": " The first time we got through the script, I think everyone's first words were 'Alfre Woodard'. " A challenge for Frakes and Berman, though, was ultimately solved in the casting of South African-born actress Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. Both Frakes and the Moore/Braga writing duo would later recall a sense of uneasy sexiness in Krige's portrayal of the Queen, aided by the application of a wet sheen to her skin by the make up department. Other guest players were added to the Resurrection call sheets as they were added to the script, including Trek vets Dwight Schultz as Barclay , Ethan Phillips as the holographic maitre'D , and Robert Picardo as the EMH of the Enterprise -E (not to be confused with The Doctor ). Phillips' role went uncredited, a request made by the actor to confuse fans who may or may not recognize him from his role as Neelix .

Other cast additions included Patti Yasutake 's final appearance as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, having first appeared back in TNG's fourth season . Don Stark was cast as Nicky the Nose , most memorable in his role as Bob Pinciotti in TV's That '70s Show – he also appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine second season episode " Melora " as Ashrock the Yridian . Jack Shearer appears as Admiral Hayes, later reprising the role (Hayes apparently escaping the destruction of his ship) in Voyager episodes " Hope and Fear " and " Life Line ". Actor Eric Steinberg portrayed Paul Porter , taken early in the film but appearing throughout as a partially assimilated Borg drone in engineering.

Brannon Braga is clearly visible as an extra in the holodeck nightclub as the Borg enter the scene, though writing partner Moore's appearance was never shot – despite sixteen hours of waiting with his then wife Ruby, an anniversary present. Rumors persist ( citation needed • edit ) that both Nichelle Nichols and Kelsey Grammer (captain of the USS Bozeman from " Cause And Effect ") have uncredited "voice cameos", though these claims are unsubstantiated.

Production on Star Trek Resurrection began on 8 April 1996 , but within a month, a new title had been chosen. Mere weeks prior, 20th Century Fox had announced the title of the fourth installment in their Alien film franchise: Alien Resurrection . A number of new titles were proposed for the film including Star Trek Destinies , Star Trek: Future Generations , and Star Trek Regenerations . The titles Star Trek: Borg and Star Trek Generations II were even chosen as working titles for the film until Star Trek: First Contact was finally selected, made official in a 3 May 1996 fourth draft script. ( Star Trek: Borg went on to become the title of a video game, released not long after.)

"The line must be drawn here!" : A pivotal scene

Minor details in the script, even as shooting was under way, continued to evolve. Early drafts were vague regarding the fate of the Defiant , DS9's resident warship. Having read the script, Deep Space Nine producer Ira Steven Behr 's only note was an objection to the apparent destruction of the Defiant . The writers added the clarification "adrift but salvageable" and no mention of the ship's near annihilation was made in the TV series. Minor details in the script's pages included the ill-fated Enterprise crew member Ensign Lynch , named after a friend of writer Brannon Braga, but thought by many named for Internet critic Timothy W. Lynch, who reviewed every episode of TNG and DS9. Gravett Island was not a real Earth location, but a fictional one named after Jacques Gravett, Ronald D. Moore's then assistant. Rumors circulated during production, even reported by some LGBT publications, that another ill-fated Enterprise crewman, Neal McDonough 's Lieutenant Hawk was gay. No reference is made in the finished film to this fact; the producers have denied the rumors. [9] Regarding the film's emotional battle played out between Picard and Lily, Brannon Braga recalled: " I'd have to say that scene was nailed and perfect only about a week before it was filmed. " ( citation needed • edit )

Location shooting dominated the early schedule for the Star Trek: First Contact production team. First up were scenes set in Bozeman, Montana, shot in the Titan Missile Museum outside Tucson, Arizona for a duration of four days. The production then moved to the Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel Mountains not far from Los Angeles. Two weeks of nighttime shooting followed, with a large village constructed by Herman Zimmerman's art department to represent exterior Bozeman. Minor details in the sets included the 52-star American flag referencing an early TNG episode, " The Royale ". A full-size section of the Vulcan lander was brought to this location for the film's finale. The film then moved to Los Angeles Union Station's art deco restaurant where the Dixon Hill holonovel sequence played out, including over 120 extras in period costumes and two Borg drones. Everton designed the costumes for Picard, Ruby, Sloane, and the other speaking parts, while many others were rented. ( Star Trek: The Magazine  Volume 1, Issue 13 , p. 67)

Production finally moved to Paramount Pictures studios in Hollywood on May 3 for a half day of shooting on the three story Enterprise -E engine room set. Cameras were then moved from Stage 14 to Stage 15 where scenes were shot on the bridge, observation lounge and ready room sets. Jonathan Frakes recalled:

Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, and Neal McDonough film the "space walk" scene

The next two months were dubbed by the crew, "Borg Hell", with scenes shot on stages 14, 15 and 8 that included heavily made-up Borg extras, stunts, pyrotechnics, and one large deflector dish. Likely the film's most labor intensive sequence to shoot was the battle on the Enterprise hull, on the film's largest set. The deflector dish itself, while massive, was shot at angles intended to exaggerate its size – the manual input computers were labeled "AE35", a subtle reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey . The sequence also required Patrick Stewart as Picard, Michael Dorn as Worf, and Neal McDonough as Hawk to wear restrictive environmental suits that incorporated internal lighting and cooling systems. With the addition of flying rigs and complex stunts, tempers on the set were pushed, as was Patrick Stewart's endurance; the actor suffered breathing problems in his spacesuit, halting production for an entire day. Problems also arose in the realism of the sequence, with smoke rising from the set, then quickly falling, contrary to the physics of real life zero-G. This required Frakes to shoot around the smoke, or shoot takes short enough to prevent the falling smoke to be seen. Writers Moore and Braga agreed that, had the film been produced only a few years later, the entire sequence was likely to have been less complicated if shot with computer-generated sets.

Despite the complications, Star Trek: First Contact wrapped production on 2 July 1996 (two days over schedule), with the flashback that opened the film. Fittingly, the sequence required Patrick Stewart to don the Starfleet uniform he had worn for at least five of the seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation . According to Ronald D. Moore, everyone involved with the film knew it was going to be a hit.

Production history [ ]

• 8 January 1996 – Second draft script, titled Star Trek: Resurrection
• 12 March 1996 – Third draft script, titled Star Trek: Borg

Post-production [ ]

Visual effects [ ].

As described by visual effects supervisor John Knoll , time allotted for post production visual effects and model building resulted in a "brutal effort". Not only did ILM's team have to construct the Enterprise -E, large models representing the Borg sphere, the new Borg cube, and the Phoenix were also required.

The Millennium Falcon appears below an Akira -class starship

Even more so than the previous film, the First Contact visual effects team also utilized computer-generated imagery, lending itself to sequences that required large numbers of starships. To stand up to the Borg cube alongside the new Enterprise and the old Defiant , ILM art director Alex Jaeger designed sixteen new Starfleet vessels, four of them rendered digitally and appearing in the massive opening battle sequence. The new starships included Akira -class , Saber -class , Steamrunner -class , and Norway -class vessels; the latter starship was lost after production due to a computer glitch, never to appear in Star Trek again. Also included in the melee were a Nebula -class starship, a Miranda -class vessel, and an Oberth -class science ship in its final use. As a joke, the Millennium Falcon CG model (created for the Star Wars Special Editions) was inserted into the Borg attack, though generally indistinguishable.

Other computer-generated vessels included the John Eaves' designed Enterprise escape pods and the Vulcan lander, constructed by the VisionArt company. At that time, First Contact included more complex visual effects shots than any Star Trek film before; low-tech methods, however, were still utilized. Close-up shots of La Forge's new ocular implants were achieved through the use of a sprocket-shaped shower handle, matted against black contact lenses.

Jerry Goldsmith , who composed the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , returned to score First Contact and the remaining two TNG films after it. Because of his hectic schedule, Goldsmith shared much of the work with his son, Joel Goldsmith; as a result much of the music in First Contact does not appear on the commercial soundtrack.

Among the two Goldsmiths' work, a theme established in The Final Frontier , referred to as the "A Busy Man" theme, was used throughout First Contact , likely as a theme for Picard. It can be heard just after the opening fanfare at the beginning of the film. It can also be heard only briefly in Insurrection , but is used quite heavily in Star Trek Nemesis . Also repeated in First Contact was the Klingon theme, originally introduced in The Motion Picture and used in this film to represent Worf. As with all Star Trek films scored by Goldsmith, the theme from The Motion Picture was used in the end credits, and the opening fanfare from the Theme from Star Trek was used to segué into the opening and closing themes.

The opera that Picard listens to in his ready room is Berlioz ' Les Troyens – "Hylas' Song" from the beginning of Act V. (Hylas is a homesick young sailor being rocked to sleep by the sea as he dreams of the homeland he will never see again.) This is the first and only Star Trek movie to have rock and roll in the soundtrack (though Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home did feature late '80s jazz by the Yellowjackets, as well as a punk song , and Star Trek , Star Trek Into Darkness , and Star Trek Beyond all included hip hop songs – all three featured songs by the Beastie Boys , and Star Trek Beyond also included a song by Public Enemy ). In their joint audio commentary on the Special Edition DVD, Ron Moore and Brannon Braga credited Peter Lauritson with the selection of Steppenwolf 's original recording of "Magic Carpet Ride" (and not "some cheap cover"). They criticized, however, the choice of Roy Orbison 's " Ooby Dooby " as being "too goofy".

Promotion and merchandising [ ]

A shot of Voyager created for the First Contact teaser

Borg from a cut scene appearing in the trailer

The teaser trailer for Star Trek: First Contact premiered with Paramount movies in early summer 1996. As much of the film had yet to be shot when the advertisements were assembled, footage from Star Trek Generations and episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was included. Inter-cut with sequences from the film, the reused footage included snippets of " The Best of Both Worlds " and " Emissary ". The trailer utilized score from "The Best of Both Worlds", Generations , and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , most notably, however, from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .

Both the teaser and theatrical trailers included footage unique only to them, with some visual effects created specifically for the trailer. Unique shots included the USS Voyager firing phasers at a differently-designed Borg cube and an alternate version of Picard's soon-to-be infamous speech, " The line must be drawn here! " in the teaser, and cut takes of various Borg drones in the theatrical. [10]

As with the previous film and TNG, Playmates Toys released a line of action figures and accessories in conjunction with the premiere of the film. Among the toys was a model of the Enterprise -E, apparently based upon early sketches of the ship and not the finalized version – featuring several key structural differences from the finalized design. Out of scale to their previous lines, the larger First Contact action figures were made in the likenesses of the entire Enterprise -E crew, Lily, Zefram Cochrane, Picard in an environmental suit, and a Borg drone – also based on production drawings. [11] In recent years, Art Asylum has released a detailed action figure in the likeness of Captain Picard from First Contact , complete with the skull of the Borg Queen.

Marvel Comics released both a comic adaptation of the movie, and a sequel comic book that crossed the crew with the X-Men in " Second Contact ". This had a later sequel novel by Michael Jan Friedman , called Planet X .

First Contact novelizations and soundtracks were also released, as were updated version of the Star Trek Chronology and Star Trek Encyclopedia .

Box office performance [ ]

Star Trek: First Contact premiered in American cinemas on 22 November 1996 , number one at the box office. With a budget of around US$45,000,000, it opened nationwide on 2,812 screens at US$30,716,131 and went on to eventually garner US$146,027,888 worldwide. [12] By comparison, Star Trek Generations , with a budget of US$35,000,000, opened at US$23,116,394 on 2,659 screens, but only grossed US$118,071,125 worldwide. [13] It made First Contact the highest grossing Star Trek film ever, surpassing the hitherto highest grossing film 1986 's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – though it remained the second-most profitable one after Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – until the release of 2009 's Star Trek and its two sequels.

In the United Kingdom, despite becoming the first Star Trek movie not to reach the top of the box office since The Wrath of Khan , the film was a success earning £3,555,980 for its opening weekend and £8,735,340 overall. It was the highest grossing Star Trek film overall in that territory until the release of Star Trek . [14]

The film, however, was considered by most to be not only a financial success, but a critical one as well, beating out both The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home respectively in this regard, as of 2020 only to be surpassed by 2009's Star Trek by the slimmest of margins.

Reactions [ ]

The film review website Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 92% critic score for First Contact , with 40 of 44 reviews giving positive remarks. [15] Giving the film "Two thumbs up!", Siskel & Ebert host Roger Ebert elaborated in his Chicago Sun Times review:

While often negative in his reviews of other Trek films, Ebert elaborated, " how I love the Star Trek jargon! " and even expressed his fondness for the Borg Queen:

BBC Films' Emily Carlisle, however, was less enamored:

In his 18 November 1996 review, Daily Variety magazine writer Joe Leydon expressed his approval:

Leydon concluded, " If First Contact is indicative of what the next generation of Star Trek movies will be like, the franchise is certain to live long and prosper. " [18]

• This film opened on the same day that Mark Lenard , the actor best known for portraying the character of Sarek , died at the age of 72.
• Despite the use of the uniforms in the previous film, Star Trek Generations , this is the only movie starring The Next Generation cast where the Star Trek: The Next Generation and early Star Trek: Deep Space Nine combadge is seen, as visible on Picard's uniform in the flashback from " The Best of Both Worlds " in the opening of the film.
• The reference that Data makes about using his "fully functional" sexual organs seemingly references the time he used them with Tasha in TNG : " The Naked Now ", eight years before the Borg invasion (though that would place that episode in 2365 ). This would seem to indicate Data and his fourth-season "girlfriend" Jenna D'Sora were never sexually intimate during the course of their relationship.
• This film marks the first canon reference to the number of planets in the Federation (over 150) and its size (over 8,000 light years)
• The bar in Bozeman featured bar signs based on mission patches for NASA vessels, including the Molly Brown .
• First Contact references and even explicitly quotes Moby Dick . Despite the story parallels, the producers hesitated using it, as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was also heavy in Moby Dick references. Two years after First Contact premiered, Patrick Stewart played Captain Ahab in a 1998 TV mini-series.
• However, Picard slightly misquotes the Moby Dick passage. The actual passage is " He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it. "
• Early in the movie, Zefram Cochrane points out the constellation Leo, the constellation in which Wolf 359 is located.
• First Contact marked the first time the phrase "star trek" was ever uttered in the franchise. In the TNG finale " All Good Things... ", however, Q tells Picard " It's time to put an end to your trek through the stars . "
• When Picard announces to the crew his intention to break his orders and join the engagement, Data's response is " Captain, I believe I speak for everyone here sir when I say, 'To hell with our orders'. " Similarly in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , Spock's response to the Enterprise 's orders to return to spacedock is " If I were Human, I believe my response would be, 'Go to hell'. "

The different holodeck programs on the Enterprise -E

• The program menu in the holosuite depicts various holodeck programs from previous episodes, specifically Café des Artistes , ( TNG : " We'll Always Have Paris ") Charnock's Comedy Cabaret , ( TNG : " The Outrageous Okona ") The Big Goodbye , ( TNG : " The Big Goodbye ", " Manhunt ", " Clues ") Emerald Wading Pool , ( TNG : " Conundrum ") and the Equestrian Adventure . ( TNG : " Pen Pals ")
• Picard's line " Reports of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated " is a paraphrasing of a famous quotation by Mark Twain , concerning his premature obituary. Picard had made a similar paraphrasing in TNG : " Samaritan Snare " (" Any rumors of my brush with death are greatly exaggerated ").
• Riker calls the Defiant a "tough little ship." In the DS9 third season episode " Defiant ", Thomas Riker called it the same thing.
• According to the (apocryphal) Customizable Card Game by Decipher , the Vulcan who greeted Zefram Cochrane was named Solkar , the grandfather of Sarek and the great-grandfather of Spock . This was later supported by dialogue in ENT : " The Catwalk ".
• The events of Star Trek: First Contact were later referred to in DS9 : " In Purgatory's Shadow ", VOY : " Year of Hell, Part II ", and VOY : " Relativity ", the latter using those events as an example for the Pogo paradox . The Borg sphere was recovered in ENT : " Regeneration ", while a slightly different version of Earth's first contact with Vulcans – utilizing footage from the film – can be seen in ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ".
• According to ENT : " Carbon Creek ", though this movie records the first official contact between Earth and Vulcan, contact was actually made in 1957 in a place called Carbon Creek , Pennsylvania , nearly 110 years prior.
• Subsequent Vulcan starships seen in Star Trek: Enterprise were based upon the T'Plana-Hath -type lander seen in this movie.
• Geordi La Forge , who with Riker participates in Cochrane's historic first warp flight, had earlier compared being at Bilana III to view the soliton wave experiment to being present when Cochrane engaged the first warp drive in TNG : " New Ground ".
• According to DS9 : " The Search, Part I ", the Defiant had originally been designed to counter the Borg threat, but was then assigned to Deep Space 9 . The Battle of Sector 001 was the only time the Defiant eventually battled the Borg.
• The model of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) that was on display in the conference room was auctioned off (albeit broken) in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction .
• Lily says that "Borg" sounds Swedish. In Swedish, "borg" actually means "castle", although it would be pronounced as "borj". "Borg" is also a Swedish surname. In addition, the word is spelled and means the same in Norwegian and Danish, and in these cases is pronounced very similar to the English word. The most well-known "Borg" is the internationally-known Swedish tennis player Björn Borg .
• This marks the fourth of five times the captain shows a female native her home planet from orbit. This happened previously with Rivan in " Justice ", Nuria in " Who Watches The Watchers ", and Mirasta Yale in the episode " First Contact ", and later with Bethany in " North Star ". This approach clearly has meaning to the captain as he tells Anij in Star Trek: Insurrection , seeing his home planet from space for the first time was a moment when time stood still.
• Besides making references to Moby Dick, this film is also similar to The Wrath of Khan in that they're both sequels to classic episodes of their respective series; TWOK follows " Space Seed " while FC follows " The Best of Both Worlds " and " The Best of Both Worlds, Part II ".
• Among the items seen in this film which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay are the Phoenix Launch Silo Missile Manual , [19] a broken model of the USS Enterprise -D , [20] a broken model of the USS Enterprise -C , [21] a pair of boots worn by a background actor, [22] a Phoenix button board, [23] and an undersuit of Alice Krige . [24]
• This movie includes one of the explicit mentions of the attributes of the New World Economy . Picard tells Lily that money (as she understands it) no longer existed in the 24th century, and that people worked not for the acquisition of wealth, but for the betterment of all Humanity.
• In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " In the Cards ", Jake Sisko repeats Picard's line " we work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity, " only to be challenged by Nog saying, " What does that mean, exactly? " Similarly, in DS9 : " The Dogs of War ", Quark speaks almost the same words (" The line has to be drawn here! This far and no further! ") as Picard does during Star Trek: First Contact . The two episodes were, respectively, written and co-written by Ronald D. Moore, who also co-wrote First Contact . Said Moore, " I take great glee at mocking my own work. " ( AOL chat , 1999 )
• Based on averaging the differences of the stardates from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's " Children of Time " and " Empok Nor ", the initial events of this film should have occurred between " Blaze of Glory " and " Empok Nor ". However, Sisko 's mention of " the recent Borg attack " in " In Purgatory's Shadow ", actually places First Contact before that episode. Furthermore, based on the stardates, the initial events of the film would have taken between the events of the Star Trek: Voyager episodes " Real Life " and " Displaced ". It is unclear whether these events take place before, after or contemporaneously with the events of " Distant Origin ", which was broadcast in the interim and does not feature a stardate.
• In the ending credits, Zefram Cochrane 's name is misspelled as "Zefram Cochran".
• This is the only Star Trek movie to feature a female primary antagonist, the Borg Queen .
• This film is the only appearance of the Defiant outside of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .
• It is the first Star Trek film to be rated PG-13.
• This was the first Star Trek film since The Motion Picture to not re-use any footage from previous films.
• This is the only Star Trek film not to feature scenes on a planet other than Earth.
• This was the first of two Star Trek films ( Star Trek Into Darkness being the other) to be given a certification during the end credits by the American Humane Association that no animals were harmed during the film's production.
• The new Starfleet uniforms , which were introduced in the film, would later be adopted in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, " Rapture " onward, but the crew on Star Trek: Voyager continued to use the old DS9 Starfleet uniforms , due to being stranded in the Delta Quadrant .

Apocrypha [ ]

The novelization of Star Trek: First Contact establishes that during the Battle of Sector 001 as the Defiant attacked the Borg Cube, Worf thought that by keeping the Enterprise away from the battle, Starfleet Command was doing Picard a great dishonor by not allowing him the opportunity to gain revenge against his mortal enemy.

In Oblivion's Gate , the third and final novel of the Star Trek: Coda trilogy, it was revealed that Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise -E caused the creation of the First Splinter timeline during their attempt to stop the Borg from assimilating Earth in the year 2063, and the Devidians used this to their own advantage as part of the Temporal Apocalypse.

Merchandise gallery [ ]

Awards and honors [ ]

Star Trek: First Contact received the following awards and honors.

Links and references [ ]

Credits [ ], opening credits [ ].

• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• Brent Spiner
• LeVar Burton
• Michael Dorn
• Gates McFadden
• Marina Sirtis
• Alfre Woodard
• James Cromwell
• Alice Krige
• Junie Lowry-Johnson , CSA and Ron Surma , CSA
• Jerry Goldsmith
• Peter Lauritson
• Deborah Everton
• John W. Wheeler , ACE
• Herman Zimmerman
• Matthew F. Leonetti , ASC
• Martin Hornstein
• Gene Roddenberry

Rick Berman

Rick Berman & Brannon Braga & Ronald D. Moore

Brannon Braga & Ronald D. Moore

Closing credits [ ]

• Jerry Fleck
• Rosemary Cremona
• Picard – Patrick Stewart
• Riker – Jonathan Frakes
• Data – Brent Spiner
• Geordi – LeVar Burton
• Worf – Michael Dorn
• Beverly – Gates McFadden
• Troi – Marina Sirtis
• Lily – Alfre Woodard
• Zefram Cochran – James Cromwell
• Borg Queen – Alice Krige
• Security Officer – Michael Horton
• Lt. Hawk – Neal McDonough
• Eiger – Marnie McPhail
• Holographic Doctor – Robert Picardo
• Lt. Barclay – Dwight Schultz
• Defiant Conn Officer – Adam Scott
• Admiral Hayes – Jack Shearer
• Porter – Eric Steinberg
• Security Officer – Scott Strozier
• Nurse Ogawa – Patti Yasutake
• Victor Bevine ( Guard #1 )
• David Cowgill ( Guard #2 )
• Scott Haven ( Guard #3 )
• Annette Helde ( Guard #4 )
• Computer Voice – Majel Barrett
• Bartender – C.J. Bau
• Ruby – Hillary Hayes
• Singer in Nightclub – Julie Morgan
• Henchman – Ronald R. Rondell
• Nicky the Nose – Don Stark
• Vulcan – Cully Fredricksen
• Townsperson – Tamara Lee Krinsky
• Don Fischer ( Bolian drone )
• J.R. Horsting
• Heinrich James
• Andrew Palmer ( Romulan drone and Non-Romulan drone )
• Jon David Weigand
• Robert L. Zachar ( Borg #3 )
• Ronald R. Rondell
• Kenny Alexander
• Janet Brady
• Chic Daniel
• Kenny Endoso
• Christian Fletcher
• Frankie Garbutt
• Andy Gill (Stunt double for Brent Spiner )
• Gary Guercio
• Rosine "Ace" Hatem ( Nightclub patron )
• Billy Hank Hooker
• Buddy Joe Hooker
• Maria Kelly ( Nightclub patron )
• Jamie Keyser (Stunt double for Alice Krige )
• Kim Robert Koscki (Stunt double for Ethan Phillips )
• Joyce McNeal
• Dustin Meier
• Johnny C. Meier
• Rita Minor (Stunt double for Alfre Woodard )
• Jimmy Nickerson
• John Nowak (Stunt double for Patrick Stewart )
• Manny Perry ( Bozeman townsperson )
• Steve Picerni
• Danny Rogers
• Jimmy Romano
• Debby Lynn Ross
• John Rottger
• Craig Shuggart
• Brian J. Williams (Stunt double for Brent Spiner )
• Joey Anaya, Jr.
• Billy Burton, Jr.
• Steve DeRelian ( One Armed Drone )
• Gary Epper ( Ensign Lynch )
• Tom Harper ( Drone Protecting Engineering )
• Wayne King, Jr. ( Assimilated Klingon )
• Bob McGovern
• Monty Rex Perlin
• David Takemura
• Michael Westmore
• Joel Goldsmith
• Robert Blackman
• Ron Wilkinson
• John M. Dwyer
• Michael Okuda
• Les D. Gobruegge
• Nancy Mickleberry
• Martha E. Johnston
• William P. Hawkins
• Linda A. King
• Joseph Musso
• Ricardo Delgado
• Ivan "Bing" Sokolsky
• David Lukenbach
• Randy Feemster
• Michel D. Weldon
• Mark Santoni
• Paul Santoni
• Elliot S. Marks
• Wayne Tidwell
• Patrick R. Blymyer
• Tim Marshall
• Frank X. Valdez III
• Greg Cantrell
• Christopher Lama
• Lloyd Barcroft
• Shawn Whelan
• Armando Contreras
• Anthony Mollicone
• Tino Contreras
• Alan Schultz
• John D. Babin
• Thomas Causey
• Joe Brennan
• John Agalsoff
• Terry D. Frazee
• Eugene Crum
• Greg Curtis
• Donald Frazee
• Donald E. Myers, Jr.
• Donald T. Black
• Logan Z. Frazee
• Scott Lingard
• Samuel Price
• Ralph Allen Winiger
• Scott Wheeler
• Jake Garber
• James MacKinnon
• Bradley M. Look
• R. Stephen Weber
• Sonny Burman
• June Westmore
• Monty Westmore
• Mark Bussan
• Camille Calvet
• Belinda Bryant
• Mary Kay Morse
• Todd Masters Co.
• Todd Masters
• Greg Johnson
• Jaremy Aiello
• David Matherly
• Timothy P. Huizing
• Scott D. Tebeau
• Claudia Regne
• Shanna Tebeau
• Robert W. Miller
• A.J. Venuto
• Bernhard Eichholz
• Patrick M. Gerrety
• Patrick A. Chitty
• Walter T. Phelan
• Joe Colwell
• John F. Shea
• Gloria Munoz
• Thomas D. Bacho, Jr.
• Cory Sylvester
• Alan Tuskes
• Derik Wingo
• William J. Fesh
• Thomas Zimmerman
• Brian Van Dorn
• Alexi Bustamante
• Kristine Morgan
• Michael Westmore, Jr.
• Yolanda Toussieng
• Danny Valencia
• Lee Ann Brittenham
• Chris McBee
• Barbara Ronci
• Dean Wilson
• Glen Feldman
• William K. Dolan
• Elijah Bryant
• Philip Calhoun
• James Buckley
• Denise Lynn Okuda
• Shawn Baden
• Doug Drexler
• Anthony Fredrickson
• John Josselyn
• James E. Van Over
• Elizabeth Radley
• Benjamin A. Betts
• Larry Markart
• Christine Heinz
• Leah P. Brown
• Charles Ray de Muth
• Sonny Merrit
• Heidi Strasburg
• Gina A. Flanagan
• Timothy Board
• John A. Haggar
• Travis G. Rendich
• James W. Wolvington
• Cameron Frankley
• Jeffrey Clark
• Doug Jackson
• David F.Van Slyke
• Kerry Dean Williams
• Scott G.G. Haller
• Michael Szakmeister
• Richard Corwin
• Robert Ulrich
• Pamela Bentkowski
• Tammy Fearing
• Scott Curtis
• Courtenay Marvin
• Roger Fearing, Jr.
• Robert Morrisey
• Paramount Pictures
• Randy Singer
• David Lee Fein
• Sarah Monat
• Robin Harlan
• Steve Pederson
• Brad Sherman
• Arthur Morton
• Alexander Courage
• Jeff Atmajian
• Bob Bornstein
• Sandy De Crescent
• Clifford Kohlweck
• Bruce Botnick
• Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage M
• Barbara Harris
• Smith Wordes
• Ira Stanley Rosenstein
• James Selzer
• David A. Ticotin
• David Goldfarb
• Robin Bronner
• Deborah L. Schwab
• David Rossi
• Barbara Casner
• Cindy M. Ichikawa
• Thomas J. Arp
• Frank "Ferb" Leasure
• John M. Carroll
• Clete F. Cetrone
• Curtis B. Jones
• Sammy Mendoza
• Steve Morey
• Aaron H. Rockler
• Gary A. Clark
• David R. Galvan
• Barry R. Tugendhaft
• Vincent R. Heileson
• Primrose V. Fukuchi
• Alex Worman
• Penny Juday
• Lisa J. Olin
• April Rossi
• Jackie Edwards
• Lolita Fatjo
• Robert Gillian
• Janet Nemecek
• Robert Newlin-Mazaraki
• Ellen J. Hornstein
• Eric Darensbourg
• Brenda Taylor
• Simon Stotler
• Todd W. Buhmiller
• Kerry A. Vill
• Karen Garutso
• Stephanie Gorsuch
• Anthony Bro
• Seth Squadron
• Wayne Nelson
• Kenneth Newland
• Tim Edwards
• Bruce Moore
• Kevin A. Canamar
• William "Tex" Collins
• Wescam, Inc.
• Central Casting
• Cenex Casting
• Industrial Light & Magic , a division of Lucas Digital Ltd., Marin County, CA
• George Murphy
• Alex Jaeger
• Habib Zargarpour
• Dennis Turner
• Joakim Arnesson
• Steve Braggs
• Kyeng-Im Chung
• Marc Cooper
• Mitch Deoudes
• Jeremy Goldman
• Matt Hendershot
• Stu Maschwitz
• Steve Molin
• Eric Texier
• Pablo Helman
• Chad Taylor
• Luke O'Byrne
• Heather Smith
• Bill George
• Noel Brevick
• Tad Leckman
• Chris Stillman
• Jonathan Rothbart
• Paul Theren
• Tim Alexander
• Kathleen Beeler
• Scott Frankel
• Greg Maloney
• Tom Rosseter
• Cathy Burrow
• Susan Kelly Andrews
• Heidi Zabit
• Selwyn Eddy III
• Jodie Maier
• Patrice D. Saenz
• Mike McGovern
• Mike Gleason
• Anastasia Emmons
• Ladd MacPartland
• Tim Greenwood
• Kenneth Smith
• Joshua Pines
• George Gambetta
• Todd Mitchell
• Amanda Micheli
• Jodi Birdsong
• Andrea Biklian
• Timothy Geideman
• Nancy Jencks

Motion Control and Pyrotechnics Unit [ ]

• Marty Rosenberg
• Patrick Sweeney
• Robert Hill
• John Gadzik
• Keith London
• Brad Jerrell
• Geoff Heron
• Chuck Biagio
• Berny Demolski
• David Murphy
• Adam Bennes
• David Dranitzke
• John Goodson
• Barbara Affonso
• Jon Foreman
• Rick Anderson
• Jeff Brewer
• Giovanni Donovan
• John Duncan
• Ed Miarecki
• Nancy Luckoff
• Suzie Vissotzky Tooley
• Amanda Montgomery
• Heidi Schmidt
• Anthony Pitone
• Rodney Bogart
• Jeffery Yost
• Dugan Beach
• Dan Shumaker
• Christa Starr
• Angela Leaper
• Heather McCurdy
• Patricia Blau Price
• Gail Currey
• Pacific Ocean Post Digital Film Group
• Scott Rader
• Adam Howard
• Andrea D'Amico
• Greg Kimble
• Carol Brzezinski
• Caleb Aschkynazo
• Kenneth Littleton
• Lawrence Littleton
• Jennifer German
• Brandon McNaughton
• Michael Peterson
• David Crawford
• Kirk Cadrette
• Stephane Couture
• Joshua D. Rose
• Richard J. Cook
• Daniel Kramer
• Carl Hooper
• Dorene Haver
• Bethany Berndt-Shackelford
• Jeff Pierce
• Celine Jackson
• Illusion Arts
• Robert Stromberg
• Mike Wassel
• Richard Patterson
• Fumi Mashimo
• Matte World Digital
• Craig Barron
• Krystyna Demkowicz
• Chris Evans
• Caroleen Green
• Paul Rivera
• Morgan Trotter
• Cameron Noble
• Pacific Title
• Mike Milliken
• Theresa Repola Mohammed
• Bruce Schluter Design, Inc.
• GNP Crescendo Records, CDs and Cassettes
• by Dick Penner & Wade Moore
• Performed by Roy Orbison
• Courtesy of Orbison Records, Inc.
• Music by Alexander Courage
• by Johnny Burke & James Van Heussen
• Performed by Julie Morgan
• Produced by John E. Oliver
• by Hector Berlioz
• Performed by Ryland Davies and The Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden
• Conducted by Sir Collin Davis
• Courtesy of Phillips Classics by arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing
• by John Kay & Rushton Moreve
• Performed by Steppenwolf
• Courtesy of MCA Records by special arrangement with MCA Special Markets and Products
• Pima Air and Space Museum and Titan Missile Museum
• USDA Forest Service , Angeles National Forest
• Arroyo Seco Ranger District and Annitta H. Keck
• Arizona State Film Commission
• Playback Technologies
• [[Cinema Vehicle Services[[
• Jeri Taylor
• Ira Steven Behr
• Merri Howard
• Steve Oster
• Wendy Neuss
• Bill Wistrom
• Philip M. Strub
• Lieutenant Colonel Thomas R. Worsdale
• Eastman Kodak Film

Uncredited [ ]

Performers [ ].

• Al Ahlf as security officer
• David Keith Anderson as Armstrong
• Patrick Barnitt as Borg drone
• Terrence Beasor as Additional Voices
• Denise Blasor as Additional Voices
• Renna Bogdanowicz as Lopez
• Mike Boss as holographic nightclub patron ( unconfirmed )
• Harry Boykoff as Eddy
• Brannon Braga as holographic nightclub patron
• Michael Braveheart as Martinez
• Cameron as Kellogg
• Steve Carnahan as Borg drone
• Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae
• Jeff Coopwood as The Voice of the Borg
• John Copage as holographic nightclub patron
• David Paul Cutler as civilian engineer
• Kenneth David Ebling as sciences officer
• Heather Ferguson as security officer
• Kevin Finister as command crewman
• Sylvester Foster as operations officer
• Tracey Frakes as Nicky's girl #2
• Star Halm as security officer
• Noelle Hannibal as Vulcan officer
• Jon Horback as security officer
• Randy James as Jones
• Jimmy Kupenwoff as operations division officer
• Dan Magee as assimilated operations officer
• James Mapes as Buster ( deleted scene )
• Angus McClellan as | Bajoran sciences officer
• Ronald D. Moore as Holodeck Nightclub Patron
• Vulcan officer
• Ethan Phillips as nightclub maître d'
• Larry Polson as man with dog
• Woody Porter as science division lieutenant
• Jackie Rainey as operations division officer ( unconfirmed )
• Aric Rogokos as Starfleet security officer
• Shepard Ross as Starfleet security officer
• Rick Rossi as nightclub musician
• Janelle Showalter
• Steph Silvestri as Enterprise -E engineer
• Pablo Soriano as holographic nightclub patron
• Gregory Sweeney as Bolian science officer
• Chris Tedesco as nightclub musician
• Ray Uhler as holographic nightclub patron
• Enterprise -E engineer
• Holographic nightclub patrons
• Nicky's girl #1
• Nightclub musicians
• Security officer (female)
• Security officer (male)
• security team officer

Stunt performers [ ]

• Billy Burton, Jr. as stunt double for Neal McDonough
• Mark DeAlessandro
• Andy Epper as stunt double for James Cromwell
• Richard Epper – Stunt Rigger
• Marguerite Happy as stunt double for Alice Krige

Stand-ins and photo doubles [ ]

• David Keith Anderson – Stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Gerald David Bauman – Stand-in
• Debbie David – Stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Cameron – Stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Tracee Lee Cocco – Stand-in for Alice Krige
• Kenneth David Ebling – Photo double for Brent Spiner
• Randy James – Stand-in for Jonathan Frakes (2 weeks)
• Nora Leonhardt – Stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Richard Sarstedt – Stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Scott Somers – Stand-in/ photo double for LeVar Burton
• James A. Swan – Photo Double for Patrick Stewart
• John Tampoya – Stand-in for Eric Steinberg
• Dennis Tracy – Stand-in for Patrick Stewart

Production staff [ ]

• Anna Albrecht – Special Effects Artist
• Bill Bannerman – Development Executive
• Mark Banning – Associate Music Executive Producer
• William D. Barber – Additional Camera Operator
• Jason Dante Bardis – Movie Effects Lighting Designer
• Brent W. Bell – Lead Man
• Jennifer Bender – Extras Casting
• Francois Blaignan – Additional Sound Designer
• Tom Boyd – Musician: Oboe
• Rob Bredow – Digital Artist: Vision Art
• Christian H. Burton – Assistant Camera Operator
• Ed Callahan – Foley Editor
• Valerie Canamar – Assistant to Michael Westmore
• Lois Carruth – Assistant to Jerry Goldsmith
• Dave Cervantes – Adviser (Stunt)
• Shane Clark – Production Assistant
• Michael Condro – First Assistant Camera Operator
• Henryk Cymerman – 2nd Unit Director of Photography
• Eric Darensborg – Production Assistant
• Fon Davis – Model Maker: ILM
• A.Y. Dexter Delara – Visual Effects Assistant
• Joe Diaz – Costumer
• Linda Di Franco – Foley Editor/Sound Editor
• Norm Dlugatch – Assistant Music Engineer
• Dragon Dronet – Props and Weapons Creator
• Kevin Dukes – Musician: Guitarist
• Earl Ellis – FX Make-Up Artist
• Kenneth E. Estes – Computer & Video Playback Operator
• Ted Fay – Director of Technology: Vision Art
• Mark Fiorenza – Model Maker
• Edward J. Franklin – Special Effects Artist
• Don E. Gaffney – Prop Construction
• Jane Galli – Special Make-Up Effects Artist
• J. Armin Garza II – Driver: Camera Car
• Brian J. Geary – Propmaker Foreman
• Katy Genovese – Payroll Accountant
• Bob Gillan – Pre-Production Assistant
• Christopher Gilman – Head of Global Effects, Inc.
• Glenn Goldstein – Production Assistant
• Dominic Gonzalez – Assistant Music Engineer
• Sam Greenmun – Prop Designer/Spacesuit Technician
• Tom Harper – Assistant Stunt Coordinator
• Aaron Haye – Model Maker: ILM
• Russ Herpich – Special Effects Mechanic
• Matthew A. Hoffman – Key Costumer
• Tina Hoffman – Make-Up Artist
• Christopher Horvath – Digital Compositor: Matte World Digital
• Jeffery J. Jenkins – Paint Foreman
• Tom Keefer – 2nd Unit Key Grip
• Roger L. King – Property Maker
• Barry R. Koper – Make-Up Artist
• Toby Lamm – Special Make-Up Effects Artist
• David Luckenbach – Steadicam Operator
• John Mann – Storyboard Artist
• John McCunn – Visual Effects Associate Producer
• Alan McFarland – Puppeteer " Borg Queen "/Borg Suit & Space Suit Electronics Designer
• Gary Metzen – Painter
• Richard Miller – Model Maker
• Robert Miller – Helmet & Chest Designer: Todd Masters Effects
• Bart Mixon – Make-Up Artist
• Mark Moore – Concept Designer: ILM
• David W. Mosher – Mold Technician: Todd Masters Effects
• Neil Norman – Executive Music Producer
• Michael Olague – Visual Effects Gaffer
• Lowell Peterson – Additional Photography
• Joe Podnar – Special Make-Up Effects Artist
• Alex Proctor – Make-Up Artist
• Karen Ragan – Assistant to Producers
• Brandon Ramos – Assistant to Producers
• Rick Rische – Matte Artist: Matte World Digital
• Theresa M. Roehner – Driver
• Philip Rogers – Sound Recordist
• Ira Stanley Rosenstein – Production Supervisor (credited as "Location Manager")
• Jorge Sanchez – Additional Photographer
• Lee Scott – Music Editor
• Michael Shelton – Creature Effects Artist
• Gregory Shummon – Electric Rigger
• Andrew Silver – Preview Music Editor
• Jennifer Small – Production Assistant
• Bryan Smith – Sculptor & Painter: Todd Masters Effects
• Douglas James Smith – Digital Effects Artist
• Bing Sokolsky – 2nd Unit Director of Photography
• Perri Sorel – Make-Up Artist
• Thomas E. Surprenant – Make-Up Artist (Klingon Borg)
• Tom Talley – Location Foreman
• Chris Tedesco – Musician: Trumpet
• Trevor Tuttle – Model Maker
• Pam Vick – Digital Rotoscope Artist
• Nick Vidar – Music Programmer/Computer Programmer
• Michael Walters – Special Costumes
• Harold Weed – Model Maker
• Paul Wertheimer – Assistant Music Engineer
• Natalie Wood – Make-Up Artist: Borg Make-Up
• Susumu Yukuhiro – Visual Effects Production Assistant
• Sarah Ziff – Choreographer

Production companies [ ]

• Cogswell Video Services, Inc. – Video Assist Company
• Global Effects, Inc. – Space Suit Creator and Provider
• Matte World Digital – Special Effects Company (Digital Matte paintings )
• Professional VisionCare Associates – Contact Lens company
• Vision Art – Visual Effects Company

References [ ]

1940s ; 2053 ; 2063 ; 2073 ; 2367 ; 2372 ; 2373 ; 21st century ; 24th century ; access point ; actuation servo ; Ahab ; alien ; Alpha team ; alphabet ; ammonite ; analgesic cream ; antiproton ; April ; assimilation ; atmospheric pressure ; atomic weapon ; Australia ; auto-destruct ; auto-destruct sequence ; barbecue grill ; Basic Warp Design ; Battle of Sector 001 ; battle stations ; beer ; Berlioz, Hector  ; bicycle ; " Big Good-Bye, The "; biohazard ; bionics ; Bizet, Georges ; blood ; blueprints ; Borg ; Borg Collective ; Borg drone ; Borg hive ; Borg Queen ; bridge ; bullet ; " bullshit "; cafe ; Café des Artistes ; Calico M960 ; campfire ; cannon ; captain's log ; carbon monoxide ; cell membrane ; Celsius ; Champs-Elysees ; chapter ; Charnock's Comedy Cabaret ; checklist ; chest ; chorus ; chronometric particle ; cigarette ; class 2 comet ; cockpit ; collective consciousness ; comet ; command authorization ; coolant tank ; counselor ; course ; cover story ; cripple ; critical velocity ; cybernetic device ; cybernetic lifeform ; damage ; Deep Space 5 ; defense checkpoint ; deflector control ; deflector dish ; Delta Quadrant ; detective ; Dixon Hill ; dog ; dollar ; doorstop ; dress code ; dust ; Dyson ; Earth ; ECON ; economics ; Emerald Wading Pool ; Emergency Medical Hologram ; emotion chip ; endoskeletal structure ; engineering detail ; engineering tool ; USS Enterprise -E chef ; environmental conditions ; environmental controls ( environmental system ); environmental suit ; EPS ; EPS conduit ; Equestrian Adventure ; escape pod ; external sensors ; extraterrestrial ; Federation ; First Contact ; flattery ; fluorine ; force field ; fractal encryption code ; French ; front line ; fuel manifold ; fuselage ; glasses ; Gravett Island ; H ; H-46 ; H-47 ; H-48 ; H-49 ; H-50 ; H-925 ; H-926 ; hate ; heart ; hemisphere ; henchman ; hero worship ; high school ; historical figure ; holodeck ; holodeck safety protocol ; hologram ; holosuite ; horse ; hour ; hull ; humidity ; hydroponics ; hypospray ; injection ; inoculation ; intermix chamber ; internal sensors ; interplexing beacon ; intoxication ; irritation ; Ivor Prime ; Jefferies tube ; Jesus ; jukebox ; Kaplan ; kilopascal ; kiss ; Klingon ; Lake Armstrong ; laser ; leader ; Leo ; Les Troyens ; lie ; life support ; light speed ; linguistic communication ; long range sensor ; Ludwig ; Luna ; " Magic Carpet Ride "; main engineering ; maglock ; marble ; maximum warp ; meade ; medical tricorder ; mek'leth ; memory chip ; methane ; meter ; Mintakan tapestry ; Moby Dick ; money ; Montana ; Montana Lions ; " Moonlight Becomes You "; monument ; nanopolymer ; neural net ; neuroprocessor ; New Berlin ; New Guinea ; no smoking sign ; North America ; nuclear missile ; number one ; missile complex ; " Ooby Dooby "; opera ; ocular implant ; outer hull ; Orbison, Roy ; Paris ; particle emitter ; particle weapon ; particles per cubic meter ; patrol ; peep show ; phaser ; phaser rifle ; Phoenix music player ; plasma coolant ; plasma injector ; pool ; positronic net ; power grid ; Prime Directive ; primitive culture ; pulse emitter ; quantum torpedo ; radiation poisoning ; radioactive isotope ; rage ; ramming speed ; ray gun ; ready room ; red alert ; replicator ; rhetorical nonsense ; Romulan Neutral Zone ; saint ; satin ; Schlitz ; scotch ; security team ; sensor ; sensor sweep ; sexuality ; shakedown ; shields ; " shooting blanks "; sickbay ; skin ; skirt ; Skylab ; Smithsonian ; smoking ; sober ; Sol ; Sol system ; Solomons ; Sovereign class decks ; space walk ; space sickness ; spinal tissue ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Command ; statue ; Statue of Liberty ; stellar cartography ; Steppenwolf ; stomach ; structural integrity ; subspace transmitter ; Sumiko III ; sunglasses ; survey mission ; Swedish ; telescope ; temperature ; temporal vortex ; temporal wake ; tent ; tequila ; theta radiation ; Thompson submachine gun ; throttle assembly ; time travel ; Titan II ; titanium ; toast ; train ; transporter room ; tricorder ; truck ; Tycho City ; Typhon sector ; ultraviolet radiation ; vaporize ; vice admiral ; " Vallon sonore "; visionary ; Vulcan ; warp barrier ; warp core ; warp drive ; warp field ; warp plasma conduit ; warp signature ; warp threshold ; whale ; whiskey ; white ; Wizard of Oz, The ; World War III ; year ; " Z "; Zefram Cochrane High School ; Zefram Cochrane's statue ; zero-gravity combat training ; zombie

Spacecraft references [ ]

Akira -class ( starships ); Apollo 15 ; Appalachia , USS ; Borg cube ; Borg sphere ; Bozeman , USS ; Budapest , USS ; Defiant -class ; Defiant , USS ; Endeavour , USS ; Enterprise -E, USS ; Lexington , USS ; Madison , USS ; Miranda -class ( starships ); Nebula -class ( starship ); Norway -class ( starships ); Oberth -class ( starships ); Phoenix ; Saber -class ( starships ); shuttlecraft ; Sovereign -class ; Sovereign -type escape pod ; spaceship ; Steamrunner -class ( starships ); T'Plana-Hath ; T'Plana-Hath -type ; Thunderchild , USS ; warp ship ; Yeager , USS

Other references [ ]

• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) dedication plaque : Arp, Tom ; Baden, Shawn ; Barcroft, Lloyd ; Berman, Rick ; Betts, Benjamin ; Blymyer, Pat ; Braga, Brannon ; Brown, Judi ; Causey, Tom ; Cremona, Rosemary ; Delgado, Ricardo ; Dolan, Bill ; Drexler, Doug ; Dwyer, John M. ; Eaves, John ; Everton, Deborah ; Fleck, Jerry ; Frakes, Jonathan ; Frazee, Terry ; Fredrickson, Anthony ; George, Bill ; Gobruegge, Les ; Goodson, John ; Hawkins, Bill ; Hornstein, Marty ; Jefferies, Matt ; Josselyn, John ; Juday, Penny M. ; King, Linda ; Knoll, John ; Lauritson, Peter ; Leasure, Frank ; Leonetti, Matt ; Luckenbach, David ; Markart, Larry ; Mickelberry, Nancy ; Moore, Ronald D. ; Musso, Joseph ; Okuda, Denise ; Okuda, Michael ; Propulsion Systems ; Research and Development ; Roddenberry, Gene ; Rossi, Dave ; San Francisco Yards ; Schwab, Debbie ; Shaw, Sarah ; Spaceframe Development ; Starfleet Command ; Sternbach, Rick ; Systems Management ; Takemura, David ; Toussieng, Yolanda ; Van Over, James ; Westmore, Michael ; Wilkinson, Ron ; Wilson, Dean ; Yard Engineer ; Zimmerman, Herman

Unreferenced material [ ]

blacksmith ; Buster ; Cornell ; DePaul ; dome money ; Earth Defense Network ; Great Depression ; hovercar ; Kirby ; McDonald's ; militia ; Mitchell ; night vision ; No Zone solution ; Molly Brown ; paper ; planetary defense system ; plutonium ; ration ; Resurrection City ; Resurrection Protective Force ; Rippert ; San Francisco ; Scrimm, Jonathan ; survivalist ; trinary language ; windmill ; Wright brothers ; zombie

Sources [ ]

• Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.), Larry Nemecek , Pocket Books, 2002 .
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies , John Eaves & J.M. Dillard , Pocket Books, 1998 .
• Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens , Pocket Books, 1998 .
• Star Trek: First Contact (novelization) , "A First Look at Star Trek: First Contact" , J.M. Dillard , Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens , 1996 .
• Star Trek: First Contact (Special Edition) DVD , Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga , audio commentary .
• Star Trek: First Contact (Special Edition) DVD , Michael & Denise Okuda , text commentary .

External links [ ]

• " Star Trek: First Contact " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• Star Trek: First Contact at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek: First Contact at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: First Contact at Wikipedia
• Star Trek: First Contact at the Internet Movie Database
• Behind the scenes on Star Trek: First Contact  at Forgotten Trek – features production history, concept art, and costume design
• Draft version of Star Trek: First Contact script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• 3 Ancient humanoid

Screen Rant

What happened to star trek’s phoenix warp ship after first contact.

Zefram Cochrane made history as the first human to achieve warp flight in his man-made ship, the Phoenix. Here's what happened to his iconic starship.

• Zefram Cochrane's historic warp flight with the Phoenix turned the ship into one of Earth's most iconic spaceships which was eventually put on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
• Various models and replicas of the Phoenix have appeared in different Star Trek projects over the years, including Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Lower Decks.
• The Phoenix remains one of Star Trek's most iconic ships and symbolizes mankind's journey to the stars. Star Trek: First Contact is available to stream on Paramount+.

Dr. Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) became the first human to achieve warp drive with his starship, the Phoenix, but what happened to this history-making ship after the events of Star Trek: First Contact ? In First Contact , Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-E travel back in time to stop the Borg from changing human history. They find themselves in Bozeman, Montana on April 5, 2063, just before the Vulcans would make First Contact with humanity as a result of Cochrane's historic warp flight.

Star Trek: First Contact 's Zefram Cochrane was a brilliant scientist and inventor who initially began his quest to achieve warp drive as a way to become wealthy. Upon meeting the crew of the USS Enterprise-E, Cochrane was reluctant to accept his role as a historical figure, but eventually came around, after some persuading. Thanks to Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the Enterprise crew, Cochrane's first warp flight was successful , cementing Zefram Cochrane and his Phoenix's place in history. Over time, Cochrane would come to be remembered as someone with a grand vision for the future, despite his initial reasons for constructing the Phoenix.

10 Ways Star Trek: First Contact Improved The Franchise

Star trek: first contact phoenix warp ship explained, the phoenix was constructed from the shell of a nuclear missile..

Dr. Zefram Cochrane spent years developing warp drive before he began building the Phoenix. The ship was constructed at a missile complex in Bozeman, Montana, using elements of a nuclear missile. Cochrane's friend, Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), helped with the Phoenix's construction, and it took her six months to gather enough titanium to build the cockpit. Cochrane's starship was launched using a Titan II missile, and the Phoenix's twin nacelles were deployed after the ship left Earth's atmosphere. The Phoenix then jumped to warp speed, launching mankind into its interstellar future .

In Star Trek: First Contact , the Borg nearly succeeded in their mission to prevent First Contact when they damaged the Phoenix the day before it was due to launch. With help from the crew of the Enterprise-E, Cochrane was able to repair the damage and successfully complete mankind's first warp flight. Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) served as Cochrane's crew for this historic flight, but they obfuscated their role in the Phoenix's success. At the end of Star Trek: First Contact , it was Zephram Cochrane who greeted the arriving Vulcans.

What Happened To Zefram Cochrane’s Phoenix After First Contact?

The phoenix was seen in the opening credits of star trek: enterprise..

Zefram Cochrane's historic warp flight turned the Phoenix into one of the most well-known and iconic spaceships in Earth's history. After its initial flight, the Phoenix was likely studied by teams of scientists before it was eventually put on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum . When Captain Picard first sees the Phoenix in Star Trek: First Contact , he remarks that he visited the Phoenix Smithsonian exhibit often as a child, but was never able to touch the iconic ship. While the original ship likely remains on display, various models and replicas have popped up in different Star Trek projects over the years.

In Star Trek: Enterprise , Admiral Maxwell Forrest (Vaughn Armstrong) kept a model of the Phoenix in his office and pictures of it on his wall, while Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) kept a model of the ship in his old quarters. A picture of the Phoenix can also be seen in one of the conference rooms on the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . The Lower Deckers of the USS Cerritos visit the Bozeman, Montana site of First Contact in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 1, "Grounded." The site is now home to an amusement park that includes a ride modeled after the Phoenix. As the ship that began mankind's journey to the stars, the Phoenix remains one of Star Trek's most iconic ships.

Star Trek: First Contact is available to stream on Paramount+.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Memory Beta articles sourced from websites
• Memory Beta articles sourced from comics
• Memory Beta articles sourced from episodes and movies
• Memory Beta articles sourced from video games
• Memory Beta articles sourced from games
• Memory Beta articles sourced from RPGs
• Memory Beta articles sourced from comic adaptations
• Humans (21st century)
• 2013 births
• 2030 births
• 2031 births
• 2032 births
• 2366 deaths
• Humans (22nd century)
• Humans (23rd century)
• Humans (24th century)

Zefram Cochrane

• View history
• 1.1 Early life
• 1.2 Early research and World War III
• 1.3 Warp drive
• 1.4 Flight to Alpha Centauri
• 1.5 Later life
• 1.7 Alternate universes
• 3.1 Background
• 3.2.1 Appearances
• 3.2.2 References
• 3.3 External link

Biography [ ]

Early life [ ].

Zefram Cochrane was born in St. Paul , Minnesota in the early 2030s. His father was Jesse Cochrane and his mother was Hilde Cochrane ; both were teachers. ( ST reference : Federation: The First 150 Years ; ST novel : Federation )

He was called "Zef" or "Zee" by his friends. ( TNG novel : Imzadi ; ST reference : The Worlds of the Federation ; TNG novelization : First Contact )

At some point, Cochrane acquired a United States ten- dollar piece, with Lady Liberty on the front, and Ares IV on the back. It would become his "lucky coin," and he would keep it for many years, often using it to make critical decisions for him. ( ST novel : Preserver )

In 2044 , the adolescent Cochrane was diagnosed with a particularly severe kind of bipolar disorder , though it had not yet begun to manifest. He received a cerebral implant to treat the condition. The implant required replacement once a decade in order to remain effective. His physician assured him that medical science would soon advance to the point where a single alteration to the bad gene would be able to permanently cure the condition and the implant would no longer be necessary. From that point on, Cochrane didn't think about his condition much, viewing it as a simple medical curiosity which had no impact on his life. ( TNG novelization : Star Trek: First Contact )

Throughout his childhood and early life, Cochrane traveled the world with his parents, and lived in Hawaii , London , India , and Seoul . Cochrane grew up with a love for science, as his parents were academics. He had a rough adolescence because of the fallout from various wars and conflicts and learned to internalize his love of science. He attended MIT , but left after three years without earning a degree. ( ST novel : Federation )

Early research and World War III [ ]

As interest in science went down around the country, Cochrane got a job with a military contractor, at one of the last places with an active science lab. There, he began designing antimatter weapons, as he was fascinated with matter/antimatter reactions and it was the only way to access the latest research. ( ST reference : Federation: The First 150 Years )

According to one account, Cochrane stumbled on the concept of warp drive while he was researching something else.( TOS novel : First Frontier )

World War III affected Cochrane's views on the concept of nobility, hence his desire for and original focus on profit. ( ST website  : StarTrek.com )

In the early days of the war, Cochrane bore witness to the Autobots leave Earth aboard Fortress Maximus . ( TAS - Star Trek vs. Transformers comic : " Issue 2 ")

Warp drive [ ]

Golden Press's The Enterprise Logs Volume 4, in the short story "From Sputnik to Warp Drive", places Zefram Cochrane's invention of warp drive in 2050 and identifies him as a young physics student on Earth, at the time. His invention is stated as a factor in Earth's victories during the Earth-Kzin Wars .

After a nuclear exchange in 2053 , the war was finally over, and Cochrane finally made the move he'd been preparing for. He took his team to a secret missile base in Montana, and he had a computer expert erase the base from databases so they could work without being disturbed. ( ST reference : Federation: The First 150 Years )

In 2055 , Cochrane began to experience symptoms of his bipolar disorder during the the aftermath of the war. His manic periods drove him to obsess over his work, and at one point, he spent ten days straight in the missile silo, working without food or water. After the inevitable crash and downward spiral into depression, he returned to the silo and saw he'd accomplished two months work in less than two weeks. He scoured the surrounding states for a replacement implant, but found none, and so he began self-medicating with alcohol in order to manage his condition. His team and the townsfolk blamed his erratic behavior on the alcohol, and he was too ashamed to admit the truth to them. ( TNG novelization : Star Trek: First Contact )

As Cochrane intellectually understood the possibility of faster than light travel, his team began an extensive review of the physical sciences, with the hope that this would lead to greater understanding of ideas relevant to faster than light propulsion. This lead to his invention of a device known as a fluctuation superimpeller, which was a critical component of his continuum distortion propulsion engines - which would be nicknamed warp drive . ( TNG reference : Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual ; ST novel : Federation )

During this period, Cochrane and his team had limited funds, and had to make a choice between crystallizing either lithium or rubidium for the engine's focus core. "Desperate and drunk," according to Lily Sloane years later, Cochrane flipped his lucky coin to make the decision, and chose lithium. ( ST novel : Preserver )

Some of Cochrane's early experiments in continuum distortion were carried out at Kashishowa Station on Luna . During one of these experiments on August 8th, 2053, an engineering failure of the test facility's lithium converter resulted in an uncontrolled matter-antimatter reaction, causing an explosion, and also creating a runaway continuum distortion which made a pressurized dome literally disappear from the face of the moon. This event gave rise to rumors that Cochrane was developing a "warp bomb", and those rumors would draw unwanted attention for the rest of his life. Shortly after the Kashishowa incident, Cochrane appeared in a hearing before the Lunar Safety Board , and testified for three days. Weapons research was not allowed on the moon, and the Board threatened to suspend his residency permit, but he was able to convince them that his research was not weapons-oriented, and that in fact, the explosion was proof that the continuum distortion generator he was developing as a precursor to the superimpellor had no possible military application whatsoever. ( ST novel : Federation )

The assembly of the warp drive would take about a decade, with difficulties in scrounging up materials. It was also a challenge to keep the team fed for such a long time. ( ST reference : Federation: The First 150 Years )

In 2058 , Cochrane, based at " Earth Station Bozeman ," coordinated with the L-5 Colonies in Earth orbit in a test to generate a stable subspace field . Unfortunately, a critical error occurred during the test, and all six colonies disappeared, presumed destroyed. ( TLE novel : The Sundered )

On April 4, 2063 , the installation in Bozeman, Montana where Cochrane and his team worked on the prototype warp vessel Phoenix was attacked by a Borg vessel which had traveled back in time to prevent humanity's first contact with the Vulcans . Their attempt failed, due to the actions of the crew of the USS Enterprise -E , who aided Cochrane in repairing the warp vessel and defeating the Borg . This gave Cochrane some knowledge of what threats were present in space . ( TNG movie : First Contact )

The following day, April 5, 2063, Cochrane launched the Phoenix , and joined by William T. Riker and Geordi La Forge , successfully broke the light speed barrier. That night, he made first contact with the Vulcans when they landed near Bozeman. ( TNG movie : First Contact )

Before the Enterprise crew returned to the 24th century , Dr. Beverly Crusher used advanced medicine from her time to cure Cochrane of his bipolar disorder. She administered a memory suppressant to both Cochrane and Lily Sloane, to prevent their knowledge of future events from affecting the timeline. The treatment was effective on Sloane, but the next morning, Cochrane awoke with his memories intact. He debated telling the Vulcans about the Borg, and flipped his lucky coin to make the decision. ( ST novel : Preserver )

During his commencement address at Princeton University in 2064 , Cochrane claimed that " a group of cybernetic creatures from the future " attempted to stop his first warp flight but they were prevented from doing so by " a group of Humans who were also from the future ". Given his propensity for being intoxicated and telling imaginative tales, his claims were ignored. He eventually recanted the story and it was mostly forgotten. Aside from this, he kept his knowledge of the future a secret. ( ENT episode : " Regeneration ")

Flight to Alpha Centauri [ ]

Some time later, Cochrane made his first long-term warp flight aboard the Bonaventure (C1-21) , a round-trip of two hundred and forty-three days to Alpha Centauri , where he became the first human to set foot on another world, Alpha Centauri B II . He later recalled recklessly removing his breathing mask, taking in air no human had ever tasted before. Suffering no ill effects other than a sinus headache for two days and some grit in his eyes, Cochrane pondered that humans might be meant to visit other worlds unencumbered by such protective equipment.

Less than fifty hours after returning to the Sol system , Cochrane met with his friend and benefactor Micah Brack at the domed settlement of Christopher's Landing on Titan . Brack Interplanetary had funded Cochrane's superimpellor research, and Brack himself had begun looking towards establishing extrasolar colonies. With groups like the Optimum Movement on the rise, he wanted to ensure the survival of the human race should another global war threaten to wipe out all life on Earth. During their meeting, word came to Titan that Colonel Adrik Thorsen was on his way, looking for Cochrane in the belief that his invention could be weaponized. At Brack's urging, Cochrane fled the system for Centauri B II. He would not return to Earth for more than a decade. ( ST novel : Federation )

Funded by Brack, Cochrane helped establish an outpost on Centauri B II, and continued his research there. By 2074 , the outpost had begun to transition into a self-sustaining farming colony , a process which would take four years. In 2078 , near the height of the Post-Atomic Horror , Cochrane returned to Earth, and ran afoul of the Optimum Movement in London . He was abducted to the Optimum headquarters beneath Battersea Stadium , where he came face to face with Col. Thorsen, who was convinced that Cochrane was hiding the secret of a warp bomb . With the help of astronomer Sir John Burke and his granddaughter, Monica , Cochrane escaped and returned to Centauri B II, where he continued his work, threatening Thorsen with his non-existent "warp bomb" if he ever came after them. ( ST novel : Federation )

Later life [ ]

Cochrane was the author of The Potential of Warp Propulsion . The book was published with a typo and, according to legend, Cochrane physically corrected the error in one copy and signed his name in the book. ( DS9 - Day of Honor novel : Honor Bound )

Cochrane eventually settled permanently on Centauri B II, making his home at the Lazy Eight Ranch in Micah Township , and marrying Monica Burke. Two of his other colleagues were Montcalm Daystrom , an ancestor of the creator of duotronics Richard Daystrom , and Henry Archer , scientist and father of the famous Jonathan Archer , first captain of Starfleet's first Warp 5 capable craft, Enterprise (NX-01) . ( ST novel : Federation ; ENT episode & novelization : Broken Bow )

In 2117 or 2119 , Cochrane gave a speech dedicating the Warp Five Complex on Earth. After his return to Alpha Centauri, Monica died in a vehicular crash, and two days later Cochrane learned it was not an accident. Adrik Thorsen had survived the fall of the Optimum Movement, and had come to Alpha Centauri to claim Cochrane's "bomb." Thorsen also committed acts of sabotage at the Cochrane Foundation , resulting in the deaths of many of Cochrane's colleagues and students, though this was written off as an accident by the authorities. To prevent further deaths, Cochrane prepared to leave his home for the final time, filing filing a flight plan for Stapledon Center at Wolf 359 . In reality, this was a false trail for Thorsen to follow, and Cochrane never arrived. ( ST novel : Federation )

Zefram Cochrane as he appeared in 2267, having been rejuvenated by the Companion.

History recorded Cochrane's disappearance in deep space, but he was eventually found by an energy-based life-form that called itself the Companion , who took him to planetoid Gamma Caneris IV , where he was rejuvinated and lived another hundred and fifty years, a young man again, but alone apart from the Companion. In 2267 , Cochrane was discovered alive by Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise . While he initially wanted to leave the planet with Kirk to see the Federation he'd helped create, the Companion wouldn't let him. The Companion merged with a dying Federation administrator, Nancy Hedford , and married Cochrane, who fell in love with her when she was in a human body. ( TOS episode : " Metamorphosis ")

Zefram Cochrane as he appeared on stardate 5806.6 in 2268.

On stardate 5803.6, the Enterprise encountered Cochrane and The Companion again. The Enterprise had entered the Caneris region searching for missing Hyperwarp ships which had disappeared from the region. Unable to solve the problem, they visited Cochrane and asked for help. Despite The Companion's objections, Cochrane helped modify the Enterprise 's engines to be able to travel up to speeds of warp 15. Unfortunately, Cochrane's assistance allowed the Enterprise to accidentally enter an alternate universe from which The Companion originates. The Companion, having followed the Enterprise through the rift, was almost forced to stay, but the warp 15 drive was able to return them to normal space. ( TOS comic : " A Warp in Space ")

Later in the 2260s, Cochrane and the Companion were mysteriously relocated to the planet Sumoc I in the Trexelian Expanse . Cochrane had no memory of how this happened; he just woke up one morning in a different place. There, he was discovered by the crew of the USS Trexelprise . They brought him on board, where he used the ship's records to search for his wife, Nancy Hedford. When he failed to find her, he nearly died of cardiac arrhythmia, but the ship's doctors were able to save him.

Cochrane, aboard the Trexelprise .

To discourage the emotional distress that had caused the incident, the crew put him to work on the warp engines. He began to work toward improving their efficiency, but as he did so, he discovered a strange pattern within them, caused by the presence of the Companion nearby. He soon discovered that the Companion had somehow been separated from Hedford, and was located in caves on the planet's surface. She was discovered and beamed up to the ship as well. The Companion helped the crew liberate a group of trapped energy beings on the planet's surface. Shortly after that, Cochrane and the Companion were delivered to the Trexelian Embassy , a starbase within the expanse. ( ST video game : Trexels )

The two died together in May 2366 after being rescued from Adrik Thorsen by the USS Enterprise -D . For their final moments, Cochrane requested that the ship be positioned so they could see the stars they were familiar with. ( TNG novel : Federation )

Cochrane's legacy lived on long after his death. Many buildings and statues are raised in his honor. On Starfleet Academy 's grounds a huge statue of him stands pointing to the sky, very much like many other statues of him previously had. Leonard McCoy remembers Cochrane's cheekbones being placed differently, as opposed to the depiction of him, while talking to Kirk over a bottle of Chateau Picard , in 2270 . ( NF novel : Stone and Anvil ; ENT episode : " Broken Bow "; TNG movie : First Contact ; ST novel : Federation )

By the 23rd century , Cochrane's name as an inventor went alongside Elon Musk and the Wright Brothers . ( DSC episode : " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry ")

Cochrane also had the unsung distinction of not only being one of the few to have met William T. Riker , Henry Archer and James T. Kirk , in this order. But, his pivotal role in history may have brought forth the mirror universe . His decision shaped events by his choosing (or not) to inform the Vulcans about the impending Borg presence. After confiding with Lily Sloane , his actions are one of the catalysts that made Starfleet 's charter of war, rather than exploration. It was unknown if the Vulcan science community accepted the time travel aspect. As any way, shape or form of it has been refuted, ex post facto . ( ST novels : Spectre , Dark Victory , ENT episode : " Awakening ")

Cochrane was the author of the book Transformational Relativity and Continuum Distortion Propulsion . ( TNG novel : Greater Than the Sum )

A wax statue of Cochrane was kept in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum . ( Last Unicorn RPG module : A Cadet's Guide to Sector 001 Earth )

In 2373 , Benjamin Sisko cited Cochrane as being one of the great engineers of the post-warp era , along with Ty'lep , Montgomery Scott and Miles O'Brien . ( DS9 novel : The Mist )

Alternate universes [ ]

In an alternate timeline where Montgomery Scott rescued James T. Kirk before he could be absorbed into the Nexus , the Borg were not stopped by Captain Picard, and Cochrane was not successful in his warp flight and attracting the Vulcans; the Borg went on to assimilate Earth. ( Star Trek novel : Engines of Destiny )

• "Don't try to be a great man, just be a man and let history make its own judgments." ( TNG movie : First Contact )

Appendices [ ]

Background [ ].

• Certain novels and RPGs such as FASA sources given an alternate account on Zefram Cochrane which predate his appearance in the movie First Contact . In these versions, Cochrane is revealed to be a human inhabitant of Alpha Centauri which had developed its own separate human civilization and was the inventor of the warp drive. TOS novel : Memory Prime states that Cochrane was a Centauran with his true name being Zeyafram Co'akran .
• The novel Federation predates Star Trek: First Contact , and it used the first edition Star Trek Chronology date of 2061 for Cochrane's warp flight, aboard the Bonaventure (based on the ship from TAS); the flight was depicted as a trip to Alpha Centauri, and took place shortly before World War III (based on the dates of the "post-atomic horror" mentioned in "Encounter at Farpoint"), rather than in the aftermath. Therefore Federation and First Contact may exist in different continuities; however not all the information is necessarily contradictory, and if First Contact dates are used, the flight to Alpha Centauri could be interpreted as Cochrane's first long-term warp trip, after the brief first test seen on April 5, 2063.

Appearances and references [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TNG movie , novelization & comic adaptation : First Contact
• ENT episode : " Regeneration "
• ENT episode : " Broken Bow "
• TOS episode : " Metamorphosis "

References [ ]

• TOS novel : A Contest of Principles

External link [ ]

• Zefram Cochrane article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 The Chase
• 2 Preserver (race)
• 3 Totality (Andromeda)

Star Trek: First Contact May Contain an Unintentional Homage to Gene Roddenberry

The film Star Trek: First Contact brings The Next Generation crew to the past to meet a character some believe is an homage to Gene Roddenberry.

Of the four films starring the cast of The Next Generation , the Jonathan Frakes-directed Star Trek: First Contact is widely considered the best. Spanning nearly 60 years, the franchise's fans can't even agree on what entries are "good" or "bad." However, the showdown in the past against the Borg feels like this crew at their best. However, in James Cromwell's Zefram Cochrane, First Contact may have created an unintentional homage to Gene Roddenberry .

At its core, Star Trek is a saga made for television . Yet, after successful series, films starring those crews were almost all profitable hits. Only Star Trek: Nemesis failed to make its budget back at the box office, but fans and critics alike would argue only a handful are "great" sci-fi movies. First Contact is definitely one of those, debuting at the height of the franchise's second wave. Deep Space Nine and Voyager were airing new episodes, and despite mixed reactions to Star Trek: Generations , audiences were eager to see where The Next Generation's crew went next. The film also features two incredible actors in new roles, Alfre Woodard as Lily Sloane and then-recent Oscar-winner James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane. Introduced in The Original Series as the inventor of the warp drive, the character was much different than his 1960s iteration. In fact, an argument can be made Cromwell's character shares a lot of qualities with Roddenberry, not all of them flattering.

RELATED: Gene Roddenberry Named George Takei's Character Sulu for an Important Reason

How Gene Roddenberry and First Contact's Zefram Cochrane Are Alike

Zefram Cochrane is the most important man in Starfleet history, and he's revered by The Next Generation crew . His invention of warp drive was the catalyst for Earth entering the larger galactic community and rising above the aftermath of a destructive war. Yet, when they meet him, he is nothing like their expectations. He's disagreeable, insecure, almost always drunk and, despite being with Lily, eager for romance with other women. "I've always thought of Cochrane as a stand-in for Star Trek's own inventor, Gene Roddenberry, and that First Contact is… a… futuristic roman à clef about a deeply flawed man who changed the world," Dave Schilling wrote for Polygon in 2021.

Gene Roddenberry was, unquestionably, a man with a unique vision to combine the power of TV to help inspire a better future. The Original Series featured a diverse cast , unusual for the time and still rare even 30 years later. The episodes featured thinly-veiled political allegory, where people of color and women were on equal footing with the men. Yet, biographies written by the cast, documentaries like The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek and interviews with those who knew him best paint a different picture. Like Cochrane, he was irascible and prone to overindulgence with alcohol or other substances. He had affairs and, with the help of his lawyer Leonard Maizlish , did everything he could to wring more money from the franchise. For example, he wrote lyrics to Star Trek's iconic theme to get a piece of the royalties, according to composer Alexander Courage .

Roddenberry, and his battles with screenwriter Harold Livingston, led to him being "cut out" of the future Star Trek films . This led him to create The Next Generation , another fraught production, according to Chaos on the Bridge . Yet, despite his struggles, Roddenberry was almost desperate to ensure that Star Trek became a permanent pop culture fixture. Unlike Cochrane in First Contact , Roddenberry was equally committed to "getting rich" and his vision for a better tomorrow.

RELATED: Star Trek: Planet of the Titans Is the Franchise's Lost Movie

The Comparison Between Cochrane and Star Trek's Creator Was Unintentional

As much as Star Trek's perfect future was Gene Roddenberry's wish for humanity, it may have also been his best hope for himself. On The Next Generation , the infamous "Roddenberry box" hamstrung early writers. He insisted that by the 24th century, Starfleet officers wouldn't fall victim to the petty disagreements and infighting that plagued his work on the films and the show's development. A man so keenly aware of humanity's failings would know his own limitations, too. "Don't try to be a great man," Riker says in First Contact , repeating Cochrane's future words back to him, "just be a man and let history make its own judgments."

During a conversation on the Inglorious Treksperts podcast, First Contact director Jonathan Frakes said any similarities between Cochrane and Roddenberry were unintentional on his part. Star Trek writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga wrote the script, and they've never commented on the potential connection to Roddenberry either. However, any Star Trek fan who met and worked with Roddenberry might have the same experience the Enterprise crew did with Cochrane. He was every bit the legend they expected him to be, but they also had a front-row seat to the reality of the man, including details the retrospectives often leave out.

Suggesting that Zefram Cochrane is comparable to Gene Roddenberry isn't disrespectful. It acknowledges the reality that even great visionaries can be flawed people. In First Contact , the pressure of his destiny unsettled Cochrane. If someone had been able to tell Roddenberry about Star Trek's destiny, it surely would've been a relief. Despite his own struggles, his creation has inspired generations of people to become their best selves. Not only that, the engineers, scientists and real-life astronauts inspired by what he created are doing their best to make humanity's ideal future a reality.

• Entertainment

Star Trek First Contact Day: How to party like it's 2063

Cue up Steppenwolf and scarf some cheese pierogies. We've got your guide to celebrating Star Trek First Contact Day in style on April 5.

In First Contact, Zefram Cochrane achieves warp speed for the first time on April 5, 2063.

April 5, 2063 marks a pivotal moment in the history of humankind. It's the day scientist Zefram Cochrane first achieves warp drive in his Phoenix spacecraft. It's also the day Vulcans first arrive on Earth and say "hello," making it First Contact Day. And we're going to celebrate in Star Trek style.

Sure, 2063 is far off into the future, but we Trekkies have faith in the vision. We also have documentation of the fateful day in the form of the 1996 movie Star Trek VIII: First Contact featuring the Next Generation crew of Captain Picard and the gang.

Here's how to get your star party on for one of the sci-finest of holidays:

Vulcans, meet humans. Humans, meet Vulcans.

Watch First Contact

The Star Trek movie franchise has an up-and-down reputation (I'm looking at you, Star Trek V ), but First Contact is one of the good ones. So break out your favorite streaming-video service or dust off your DVD and give the movie a fresh watch. 

First Contact has the relentless alien presence of the Borg, time travel, a visit to Earth, a key moment of Trek lore (successful warp drive), Vulcans and some engagingly goofy moments of banter. It's a heady Trek cocktail that plays out like a truly great episode of Next Generation.

In the original Trek episode Metamorphosis, the Enterprise crew meets a strangely young-looking Zefram Cochrane.

Then, watch these

Actor James Cromwell played Cochrane in First Contact, but you can see Glenn Corbett in the role for the 1967 original-series episode Metamorphosis , which offers an intriguing conclusion to the warp drive inventor's life story. 

Can't get enough of Cromwell? He also made a brief cameo appearance in the first episode of the TV series  Enterprise , Broken Bow.

To get an idea of how important First Contact Day is to the larger Star Trek universe, watch the Voyager episode Homestead , which kicks off with a groovy-looking party marking the 315th anniversary of the occasion. Captain Janeway even mentions how she used to get a day off from school, putting it on the same level as any major holiday.

Set the soundtrack

Zefram Cochrane liked to get down to his favorite tunes played on a jukebox. Your party mix should include Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf and Ooby Dooby by Roy Orbison. 

Here's a brief snippet of the scintillating lyrics from Ooby Dooby: "Ooby dooby, ooby dooby/Ooby dooby dooby dooby/Dooby dooby do wah do wah do wah." This was the first Earth song Vulcans ever heard after first contact, but that didn't dissuade them from getting to know us.

Cheese pierogies and whiskey ... the perfect combination for First Contact Day.

Eat cheese pierogies

This may seem like a strange food choice in a Star Trek culinary universe full of Romulan ale and crawling Klingon fare, but cheese pierogies are Cochrane's favorite food. 

The Doctor dismisses them as having "absolutely no nutritional value" in the Voyager episode Homestead. But ignore him. They are still the party food of choice for the Voyager crew celebrating First Contact Day, and they should be for you, too.

Zefram Cochrane and Counselor Troi clink glasses in First Contact while Commander Riker looks on.

Drink some whiskey

You probably won't want to take this part of the party to the extreme Cochrane does in First Contact, but it's well-established he loves to tipple. He even pours some drinks for the visiting crew of the Enterprise in Metamorphosis. His drinking habits are highlighted in First Contact when he declares he has a "four-alarm hangover" just prior to making history with his warp drive. 

There's really no wrong way to celebrate First Contact Day. So go ahead and wear your favorite uniform, greet everyone with the Vulcan salute or just binge your way through your favorite Trek.

And remember ... we have only 44 years left to wait before the Vulcans show up. 

Originally published April 5, 2018 . 

Star Trek: First Contact Mystery Of How First Warp Ship Landed Is Solved

• Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix ship landed back on Earth using a feathered reentry configuration with parachutes to ensure a safe landing.
• Production illustrator John Eaves provided the answer on how the Phoenix ship made it back home after its historic warp flight in Star Trek: First Contact.
• The iconic ship inspired generations of future explorers and remains a pivotal part of Earth's history in the Star Trek universe.

The question of how the Phoenix landed back on Earth in S ta r Trek: First Contact finally has an answer. Star Trek: First Contact follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-E as they travel back in time to April 2063, to stop a Borg invasion. The Enterprise arrives on Earth just before Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) is meant to make the first-ever warp flight in his ship, the Phoenix . This historic flight catches the attention of the Vulcans, who beam down to Earth to initiate first contact with the human race. The Borg intend to prevent Earth's First Contact with the Vulcans and take over the planet when it is at its most vulnerable.

As Captain Picard remains on the Enterprise to take on the Borg, Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) remain on Earth to help Zefram Cochrane repair his damaged ship. After Riker and La Forge help ensure that the Phoenix's first warp flight happens as it was always meant to, the Enterprise crew members watch from a distance as Cochrane greets the Vulcans . When Picard first sees the Phoenix in Star Trek: First Contact , he remarks that he often visited the ship at the Smithsonian in the future, but the film never answers how the Phoenix landed back on Earth after its first flight.

Star Trek: First Contact was the film directorial debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation's Jonathan Frakes, who remains one of Star Trek's most beloved and prolific directors.

Star Trek: First Contact Ending & Picard Impact Explained

How zefram cochrane landed his phoenix ship in star trek: first contact, production illustrator john eaves provides the answer..

Star Trek: First Contact may not have shown how Zefram Cochrane's ship made it back to Earth, but production illustrator John Eaves always knew how the ship made it home. Eaves, who has served as a production illustrator for many Star Trek projects, helped design the look and configuration of the Phoenix as it was depicted in First Contact . Eaves had the difficult task of making the Phoenix appear as though it had been designed and built from the shell of an intercontinental ballistic missile in the 21st century, while also suggesting the design future Starfleet starships would adapt. An illustration in the book Star Trek: The Art Of John Eaves by Joe Nazzaro depicts the Phoenix's warp flight, including how it landed back on Earth.

The Phoenix launched using traditional chemical engines before the nacelles were extended and the warp core and plasma injectors were brought online. The same engines used to launch the ship were also used to bring the ship back home. After the warp flight was completed and the warp engines powered down, the Phoenix reentered Earth's atmosphere by way of a feathered reentry configuration . The nacelles then retracted, allowing parachutes to be deployed, so the Phoenix could land safely. Although this process is not shown in Star Trek: First Contact , the landing process for the ship was built into its original design.

What Happened To Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix After Star Trek: First Contact?

The phoenix inspired generations of future explorers..

With its historic warp flight, the Phoenix became one of the most recognizable ships in Earth's history. The original ship eventually found its way to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, where Jean-Luc Picard visited it as a child. In the Star Trek timeline , Star Trek: Enterprise takes place less than 100 years after Zefram Cochrane's flight and contains the most references to his iconic ship . The Phoenix appears in the opening credits of Enterprise, and Admiral Maxwell Forrest (Vaughn Armstrong) and Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) both have models of the Phoenix in their offices or quarters.

The USS Enterprise of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds also has a picture of the Phoenix on display in one of its conference rooms. An amusement park is eventually built in Bozeman, Montana at the site of Zefram Cochran's first meeting with the Vulcans . The Lower Deckers of the USS Cerritos visit this amusement park in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, and they commandeer the model of the Phoenix that serves as a ride vehicle. Because of its significance to the United Federation of Planets, Starfleet, and the history of space travel, the Phoenix will always be one of Star Trek's most important and iconic ships.

Star Trek: First Contact is available to stream on Max. Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, & Star Trek: Lower Decks are available on Paramount+.

Source: Star Trek: The Art Of John Eaves by Joe Nazzaro

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Star Trek: First Contact

• The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.
• In the twenty-fourth century, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E has been ordered to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone by the Federation to avoid interference with their battle against the insidious Borg. Witnessing the loss of the battle, Captain Jean-Luc Picard ignores orders and takes command of the fleet engaging the Borg. But the Borg plan to travel back into the twenty-first century through a vortex with the intention to stop Earth's first contact with an alien race (the Vulcans). Following the Borg sphere, Picard and his crew realize that they have taken over the Enterprise in order to carry out their mission. Their only chance to do away with the Borg and their seductive Queen is to make sure that Zefram Cochrane makes his famous faster-than-light travel to the stars. — Blazer346
• The Borg have invaded Earth's galaxy, resulting in a battle with Star Fleet. The newly-commissioned USS Enterprise-E, commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Pickard, is ordered away from the action as Star Fleet command fear that Pickard's previous assimilation by the Borg will affect his judgement. Once it is clear that Star Fleet are losing the battle, Pickard disobeys orders and sets course for Earth, arriving in the nick of time. The Enterprise manages to save the Earth from destruction but it is soon apparent that the Borg do not intend to destroy Earth but change the course of its history. — grantss
• It is the twenty-fourth century, and the Borg (cybernetic lifeforms) have spread across the galaxy with one sole purpose: to assimilate and conquer all races. Under the command of their seductive and sadistic Queen, the Borg are headed to Earth with a devious plan involving time travel to alter history. After an epic battle against the Borg, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E crew follow the Borg sphere back into the twenty-first century, and must battle the Borg Queen before she assimilates mankind. Meanwhile, Picard and his crew must make sure that Zefram Cochrane makes his famous warp flight, and makes Earth's first contact with an alien species (the Vulcans). — Robert Lynch <[email protected]>
• Captain Jean-Luc Picard awakens from a nightmare in which he relived his assimilation by the cybernetic Borg six years earlier (previously shown in the two-part television episode "The Best of Both Worlds"). Starfleet informs him of a new Borg attack against Earth but orders the USS Enterprise-E to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone so as to not introduce an "unstable element" to the fight. Learning that the fleet is losing the battle, the Enterprise crew disobeys orders and heads for Earth, where a single, damaged Borg Cube opposes a group of Starfleet vessels. The Enterprise arrives in time to save the crew of the USS Defiant which is being commanded by Lieutenant Commander Worf. After Picard hears Borg communications in his mind, he orders the fleet to concentrate its firepower on a seemingly non-vital section of the Borg ship. The Cube is destroyed after launching a smaller sphere ship towards the planet. The Enterprise pursues the sphere into a temporal vortex. Picard orders the Enterprise to follow it, and as they are enveloped in the vortex, the crew briefly glimpses an Earth populated entirely by Borg. Picard realizes that the Borg have used time travel to change the past. The Enterprise arrives in the past, on April 4, 2063, the day before humanity's first encounter with alien life after Zefram Cochrane's historic warp drive flight. The Borg sphere fires on the planet; realizing that the Borg are trying to prevent first contact, the Enterprise crew destroy the sphere and send an away team to the Montana site where Cochrane is building his ship, the Phoenix, to look for survivors. Picard sends Cochrane's assistant Lily Sloane to the Enterprise for medical attention, then returns to the ship and leaves Commander William Riker on Earth to make sure the Phoenix's flight proceeds as planned. The Enterprise crew sees Cochrane as a legend, but the real man is reluctant to assume his historical role. Borg survivors invade the Enterprise and begin to assimilate its crew and modify the ship. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with its corrosive coolant, but the android Data is captured, and finds the queen of the Borg collective, who gains his trust by giving part of him human skin. A frightened Sloane seizes the captain, but he gains her trust, and they escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by creating a diversion in the Holodeck. Picard, Worf, and the ship's navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, stop the Borg from calling reinforcements with the deflector dish, but Hawk is assimilated. As the Borg continue to assimilate, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward and vows to continue the fight. Sloane confronts the captain and makes him realize he is acting irrationally due to his desire for revenge. Apologizing to Worf, Picard activates the ship's self-destruct. While the crew heads to escape pods, the captain stays behind to rescue Data. As Cochrane, Riker, and engineer Geordi La Forge prepare to activate the warp drive on the Phoenix, Picard confronts the Borg Queen and discovers she has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him an array of new sensations. She has presented this modification as a gift to the android, hoping to obtain his encryption codes to the Enterprise computer. Although Picard offers himself in Data's place, the android refuses to leave. He deactivates the self-destruct sequence and fires torpedoes at the Phoenix, but they miss, and the Queen realizes Data betrayed her. Data ruptures a coolant tank, and the corrosive gas dissolves the Borg's biological components. Cochrane completes his warp flight, and the next day, April 5, 2063, the crew watches as Vulcans, attracted by the Phoenix warp test, land and greet Cochrane. Having repaired history, the Enterprise crew returns to the 24th century.

Contribute to this page

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More from this title

More to explore.

Recently viewed

• Bozeman, Montana
• First Contact Day

Zefram Cochrane

• VisualEditor
• View history

Doctor Zefram Cochrane was the inventor of warp drive on Earth and the first person to make First Contact with Vulcans ; an event now celebrated in the Federation as First Contact Day .

• 1 Missions involved
• 2 Missions mentioned
• 4 External link

Missions involved [ | ]

Missions mentioned [ | ]

See also [ | ]

• Zefram Cochrane Memorial Hologram
• Zefram Cochrane Shotgun (from his mirror universe counterpart)

External link [ | ]

• Zefram Cochrane at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Zefram Cochrane at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
• 2 Playable starship
• 3 Delta Recruitment

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Apr 4, 2012

First Contact Day - A Closer Look

Happy First Contact Day , everyone.

It was – or will be – in the evening of this day in 2063 that the Vulcan survey spacecraft T’Plana-Hath landed in Bozeman, Montana, after following the warp signature of the Phoenix, a ship that represented the human race’s first successful attempt at achieving warp drive. Soon after, a robed Vulcan, offering the Vulcan salute, met Dr. Zefram Cochrane , pilot of the Phoenix and the inventor of warp drive. First Contact was now etched in history, and it paved the way for the formation of the United Federation of Planets .

While it’s true, of course, that First Contact and First Contact Day are fictional creations, they have been well developed across the Star Trek franchise. Anyone interested in the finer details should be sure to check out some of the following:

The TNG film First Contact , with James Cromwell playing Cochrane as a man with a penchant for booze and rock and roll, and the nickname “Z.” Cromwell later reprised the role, in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo, in “ Broken Bow ,” the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise .

The books First Contact (a novelization of the film), First Frontier , Starfleet Academy , Imzadi and Federation , as well as the TOS comic book, A Warp in Space .

So, everybody, are you going to let your kids skip school? Will you stay home from work? After all, it is First Contact Day .

Get Updates By Email

Follow Polygon online:

• Follow Polygon on Facebook
• Follow Polygon on Youtube
• Follow Polygon on Instagram

Site search

• Dragon’s Dogma 2
• FF7 Rebirth
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• PlayStation
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Magic: The Gathering
• Board Games
• All Tabletop
• All Entertainment
• What to Watch
• What to Play
• Buyer’s Guides
• Really Bad Chess
• All Puzzles

Filed under:

• Galaxy Brains

Star Trek: First Contact is a meta movie about the creation of the Trek franchise

John Hodgman joins the Galaxy Brains podcast to explain

If you buy something from a Polygon link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement .

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Star Trek: First Contact is a meta movie about the creation of the Trek franchise

The 25th anniversary of Star Trek: First Contact , easily the best Next Generation movie of them all, has prompted many articles, essays, and podcast episodes about why this particular movie worked, and the other Picard-led films were varying levels of bad. Was it the Borg? The time travel element? The humor? Jonathan Frakes’ direction?

The easiest, most likely answer is that it was the only one with a truly excellent script. The ingenious idea of splitting up the crew, the breathless pacing, and the clever action set pieces set it apart not just from the other TNG movies, but from many of the other Star Trek films too.

But what has always piqued my interest most is the performance of Academy Award nominee James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane, the irascible, alcoholic inventor of warp drive that is sort of the MacGuffin of the entire film. The story revolves around whether or not he can get it together and go on his historic warp flight. I’ve always thought of Cochrane as a stand-in for Star Trek’s own inventor, Gene Roddenberry, and that First Contact is really a movie about the creation of Star Trek itself — a kind of futuristic roman a clef about a deeply flawed man who changed the world.

A far-out theory? Welcome to Galaxy Brains , guys. C’mon.

On this week’s show, Jonah Ray and I are joined by comedian, author and long-time Star Trek fan John Hodgman to discuss whether or not Star Trek: First Contact is a sneaky Gene Roddenberry biopic.

As always, this conversation has been edited to sound less weird.

Dave: I think a lot about Gene Roddenberry as the creator of Star Trek when I watch this movie. Zefram Cochrane in the context of the meta movie that we are watching is the creator of Star Trek. He says the words “Star Trek” in the movie. He invents warp drive. He meets a Vulcan for the first time. He’s this volatile human being with a lot of flaws, who meets his very logical person, and they have a moment of understanding. I always have thought of Zefram Cochran as basically just a stand-in for Gene Roddenberry. Gene Roddenberry has been said by many people, including his assistant Susan Sackett, in her book , and a lot of other people who’ve worked with him that he was kind of a volatile, difficult man. And that’s kind of what Zefram Cochrane’s arc is. He starts off as this guy who’s just trying to make money and make a buck. Star Trek was a means to an end for Gene Roddenberry. But then it becomes this cultural phenomenon, and he changes the world in a lot of ways. Do you see any of this parallel or am I completely off base? John Hodgman: To continue your sports metaphor, you are on base. You are safe. Dave: I know you love baseball, John. John Hodgman: I love you, love baseball, and I love it. You just threw a home base. I mean, you did a good job. Touchdown, indeed. Yeah. I’m not completely familiar with the behind the scenes true life of Gene Roddenberry, but I’m certainly familiar with his deification, you know, and the shadow as a creator that he cast and whether certain storylines would be considered “Gene enough” or “not Gene enough.” Yeah, there’s definitely I mean, whether it’s acknowledged or not, there’s definitely a feeling of, you know, don’t meet your heroes. They’re flawed people. They’re human beings. That’s not even subtext in the movie. Jonah: It’s text. More than 10 years prior to this was, I think, the big cultural shift in the culture of Star Trek, which was the Saturday Night Live sketch, with William Shatner yelling at the fans to get a life . It did remind me of that thing of just these all the nerds coming up to Cochrane and, you know, being excited and him going like, What’s wrong with you? Dave: He’s a statue, and he’s so horrified to get the statue at some point since he doesn’t see himself as that important. And I think that’s probably true of most people that we deify. John Hodgman: I mean, Gene Roddenberry created a calm, egalitarian socialist utopia of tolerance, probably because that didn’t exist in his own mind. That was a projection of something that he wished for, that he didn’t have peace of mind. Jonah: Something that Dave and I talked about earlier is maybe money did fucking make him an irritable drunk. Maybe he really thought, like if only money didn’t exist , I wouldn’t have to worry about this stuff all the time . There is something to that, like getting rid of money. John Hodgman: Yeah, right? I was just going to say it’s part of our cultural moment now. It’s like, well, after we shut down the economy for a year and people don’t feel like going back to work at those shitty jobs, we’re all of a sudden thinking, like, is there another way to do this? Dave: And Gene Roddenberry also created a world where sex was completely different than how we perceive it now, and the idea of sexuality is more just like, yeah, we have sex and we can have sex with lots of different people or aliens or whatever. It was more chill in that respect. And that was something that he was projecting in the real world, too. John Hodgman: Yeah, he wanted to have sex with everybody. He wanted everybody to have green skin. He wanted to have sex with them.

Next Up In Star Trek

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

Sign up for the newsletter Patch Notes

A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon

Just one more thing!

Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

Kung Fu Panda 4, Argylle, Netflix’s The Bricklayer, and every new movie to watch this weekend

• Dragon’s Dogma 2 guides, walkthroughs, and explainers

How to get to the Nameless Village in Dragon’s Dogma 2

How to get a house in Dragon’s Dogma 2

How to play GTA Online solo

How to unlock all vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Add the cast of the Fallout show to your next game of Wasteland Warfare