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R: ARCHIVE, S: REVIEWS, D: 11/21/1996, B: Meghan Goldstein,
Engage First Contact by Meghan Goldstein Star Trek: First Contact, which opens this Friday, is the eighth movie in the series but the first in which the characters from the second TV series, The Next Generation, are on their own. (You'll recall that #7, Generations, got bogged down trying to bring captains James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard together.) Directed by Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker, Picard's First Officer), who directed some of the TV series's better episodes, it takes us back to 21st-century Montana, where those half-machine/half-organic aliens, the Borg, still bent on assimilating the galaxy, have time-traveled in an attempt to prevent Zefram Cochrane from discovering warp speed. Captain Picard disobeys orders to go back after the Borg, but they have a surprise for him: a Borg Queen (played by Alice Krige). There's already one lady in Picard's life (Lily Sloane, played by Alfre Woodard); can he handle two? Here's what some of the First Contact cast have to say about the movie, and about Star Trek in general. Jonathan Frakes On which directors he turned to for inspiration: My acting teacher always told me to steal from the best. So I watched Alien and Aliens. I saw Jaws again. We play homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The hull battle was definitely inspired by Stanley Kubrick. Marina Sirtis On Jonathan Frakes as a director: Jonathan is a rare breed of director. Usually there are two types of director -- not including the useless ones. There are technical directors who care about the visuals. They want the movie to look exciting and only care about the shots looking good. They are an actor's nightmare. Then there are actors' directors who are concerned with the performances. They generally don't do whizzy things with the cameras and lighting. But Jonathan does both. On why she is known as the Star Trek Convention Queen: During the series, it was my live-audience fix. At the conventions, I basically do a modified stand-up routine. I needed to hear audience reactions. I needed to hear the applause. I needed to have a connection with a live audience. Brent Spiner On the jump scene in the missile silo: They actually shot the scene once with a stunt man. He created this device called "The Descender" that allows you to fall off tall buildings in a single bound. But when we looked at the footage it was all wrong. It didn't look like it could be me at all. So they said I would have to do it myself. I'm afraid of heights. I mean, I don't even like being on a stepladder. We did it in two traumatic takes. The worst part is, you can't tell it's me. But I guess when people get their videotapes and slow down the scene you'll be able to see me with a horrified expression on my face. On why Data, the character without emotions, appealed so strongly to the TV audience: He is the outsider. He operates on a level of standing outside and commenting on the human condition. His tragic flaw is his desire to be something that he's not. He wants to be accepted as a human. But he still manages to be productive and heroic. Michael Dorn On his vow to change the perception of the Klingons: Gene [Roddenberry] allowed me to develop the Worf character whatever way I wanted to. So I made him more eloquent by giving him a British accent. And I changed the fighting scenes. Instead of the typical screaming, growling, and grunting Klingon fights, Worf's fights are choreographed and have more of a controlled martial-arts feel. On whether he's ever attended Klingon camp or school: No! That's just a little scary. I don't even go on those Star Trek cruises. The idea of being surrounded by miles and miles of water and . . . you're trapped! They know you're there. "Mr. Dorn. Mr. Dorn. It's time for the best-buns contest!" Aaaargh. I could just see myself trying to squeeze through a porthole trying to get out! LeVar Burton On Geordi's move from VISOR (Visual Input Sensory Optical Reflector) to contact lenses in First Contact:It was important to me that we made that change. In the series, we agreed that the visor helped establish the technological advancements of the 24th century. But physically, the visor gave me headaches. And spiritually, it's sinful to cover an actor's eyes. On the close relationship between Geordi and Data: In the audition scene for the series, it was a bonding scene between Geordi and Data. The writers had emphasized how they both saw the world in a similar way. Geordi through his prosthetic eyes, and Data with his positronic brain. The writers called them "The Perceivers." We never used that in the series. But as life happens, when I got married four years ago Brent was my best man. Patrick Stewart On his priorities as an actor: I think it's possible I could get by as an actor without doing movies. If for some reason my movie career was terminated I would be sad and disappointed. But if that were to happen with the live theater, it would be devastating for me because it is like a fountain I have to return to. James Cromwell On his Earthling character: I liked his journey. The fact that he managed to succeed in spite of his fear. I get to send up the beginning of Star Trek. It begins humbly -- we're humans. I like that these superhumans who walk around totally in control, manipulating all these machines, still put on their pants one leg at a time -- just like the rest of us. This role is a great reminder that heroes always have feet of clay. Hero worship is just a point of view. On the marketing of film toys: I used to be against marketing. I thought it was just another way for studios to make money. But then I got a call while I was visiting a radio station from a woman whose son wanted a Babe lunch box. And since then I've realized people want to continue the experience of what the movie has meant to them. Alfre Woodard On why she is an actress: There's nothing like a great scene when you know it's good. It's the reason you do this. So it's worth all the bullshit you put up with, all the rejection, the nonsense, all the crazy, chatty, schmoozy cocktail parties, just the "horribleness" that goes along with being an actor. But when you are in midstride -- that's the only place you get to breathe that air as an artist. That's where you're touching God. Alice Krige On her character, who is described in the script as "hauntingly beautiful": I came to the conclusion that she was pure intelligence. What moves her is the pursuit, the exercise, and the enjoyment of power. So often power is bound up with sexuality. I wanted her to be at once attractive and repulsive and disturbing. Yet I wanted you to not want to stop looking at her. Rick Berman On the differences between Generations and First Contact:With Generations, we had many errands to take care of. We wanted to pass the baton from Kirk to Picard. But Picard was depressed and angst-ridden through most of that movie. So this time we set out to make a different sort of film. We wanted First Contact to be a little more fun, a little more action-packed. And it is. On choosing first-time director Jonathan Frakes to direct First Contact: I went through a long search, met with a lot of people, and had many discussions with Paramount executives, and throughout it all, Jonathan's name kept bubbling up. He knows Star Trek backwards and forwards. He knows the actors. He knows the characters. So when people tell me I was taking a big risk, I say it was no big risk in my mind. Now he's made me look rather smart. On Frakes's training to become a director: Jonathan came to me eight years ago, while we were working on the series, and said he wanted to learn to direct. So we sent him to school -- not literally. We put him through the paces. Every free minute he had he was either in the cutting room or the production meetings or working with the cameramen or in sound-spotting sessions learning what this is all about. Jonathan did all that for two years before we gave him an episode to direct [The Offspring]. Then we gave him another, and another, and another. Star Trek: First Contact opens this Friday, November 22, at the Cheri, the Fresh Pond, the Circle and in the suburbs. Look for our review next week. |
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