- Title: USA: 'STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT' PREMIERES IN LOS ANGELES
- Date: 9th November 1996
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA (NOVEMBER , 9 1996) (RTV-LA) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) JAMES CROMWELL TALKS ABOUT HIS CHARACTER (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) RICK BERMAN SAYS STAR TREK HAS ALWAYS HAD REAL GREAT BAD GUYS AND THE BORG WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR WITH VIEWERS (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) ALICE KRIGE SAYS HER CHARCTER IS THE ANIMATING INTELLIGENCE BEHIND THE BORG AND THEY ARE
- Embargoed: 24th November 1996 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA3AV7M0VGZUD7DPUXF5VWIEMZP
- Story Text: Patrick Stewart reunites with the rest of the "Star Trek" crew for the latest film installment in the science fiction film series called "First Contact." Stewart and the rest of the crew discussed the film on November 9 and attended its Los Angeles premiere on November 18.
Stewart again plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the chief of the starship Enterprise who leads his crew into a battle against the Borg, an insidious race of half-machine, half-organic aliens, to restore the rightful future of Earth. When the Borg's attack on Earth fails, it institutes a plan to go back in time to Earth at its most vulnerable point in history, the dark age after the Third World War.
The crew of the Enterprise follow the Borg back to a missile complex in Montana. The date is April 4, 2063, the day before the legendary flight of Zefram Cochrane's warp drive rocket. This historic flight would ultimately lead to "first contact" - the meeting betweeen humans and aliens and subsequently, the birth of the United Federation of Planets and, therefore, of "Star Trek" itself. It is this "first contact" that the Borg are trying to prevent.
"Babe" co-star and Oscar nominee James Cromwell plays Cochrane, a man who isn't quite ready for his rendezvous with history. His friend Lily Sloane is played by Alfre Woodard, a woman who gets swept up into the middle of the battle against the Borg.
The crew of the Enterprise is the same as in the last film "Generations" and the television series, "The Next Generation." Jonathan Frakes, who also directed this film, plays Commander William Riker, Brent Spiner again takes on the role of android Lieutenant Commander Data, LeVar Burton is back as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn recreates his role of the Klingon Lieutenant Commander Worf, Gates McFadden is the ship's doctor, Beverly Crusher, and Marina Sirtis once again plays the ship's counselor Deanna Troi.
Joining the cast is Alice Krige, who plays the evil Borg Queen who launches the attack on Earth and tries to get at Captain Picard through his trusted friend Data. The fight with the Borg is an intensely personal one for Picard because several years earlier, he was captured and "assimilated" into the Borg's collective consciousness. For this reason, his superiors are now hesitant to send him into battle with the enemy this time.
While Jonathan Frakes takes the director's chair for the first time, the producer of the film is a veteran "Star Trek" hand, Rick Berman. Since 1987, he has produced all three "Star Trek" television series: "The Next Generation," which is no longer on the air, "Voyager," and "Deep Space Nine." He also produced the last "Star Trek" film "Generations," which was the last to feature William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and the first to feature Picard and his crew.
This film is part of a year-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of the "Star Trek" legacy created by Gene Roddenberry, of which the first television episode aired September 8, 1966.
Through the previous seven "Star Trek" motion pictures and the three newest television series', the franchise has remained one of the most popular and enduring science fiction legacies in modern times. The "Star Trek" television series' are a universal phenomenon, airing in more than 100 countries. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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