u/Forward-Carry5993

Hello Trekkies! I was listening to the wonderful theme of First Contact the movie which got me thinking more about the movie. It also helped that I recently listened to the podcast "Unclear and Present Danger" that talked about the movie and how it fit into the 90s.

First Contact is pretty darn good popcorn flick and easily the best of the TNG films. But I would also agree that it pales in comparison to the best Star Trek movies that originated with the original cast, and it is more of a pretty entertaining, but flawed Star Trek episode. So, it got me thinking, what could have made the movie better?

For this post, I will try to avoid the retrospective the film has received especially with the decline of great Borg stories. I want to take the film at what was written and see if anything can or should be changed.

I would say that the premise is pretty good but needs an adjustment The idea of Picard and his crew battling the Borg, which did not show up as much since their big TNG 2-parter episode is a great idea. The Borg has been noted as a difficult foe to write because of how unstoppable and how they operate as a collective. The interesting aspect of the Borg is not themselves per se, but how our protagonists react to them.

The Borg should be this foe that everyone on the Enterprise has a fear of. With the history the enterprise has with the Borg, it makes sense to keep Picard's anger and fear about the borg and expand it amongst the other crew members. So instead of Picard acting emotionally, we see the entire crew is acting desperately.

Second, I like the idea of the Enterprise being the last defense to a Borg invasion. It raises the stakes our heroes must battle and forces them into a situation they aren't prepared for completely, but the time travel aspect of the movie makes no sense. Take this secondary story out, and replace it with a new alien race. Here, the Enterprise is assigned to check out a new section of space. As they proceed to check out this new area, we see what everyone is up to. Picard has become more friendly with the entire crew, continuing what we saw in the final TNG episode, Troi and Riker are engaged with Troi being promoted to a commander of sorts on the ship, Beverly and Picard have come to terms with their relationship and have remained friends due to their conflict of interests, Geordi is pondering if he should take a promotion, Data is showing signs of ambition to perhaps create more androids like himself as he misses his daughter, Worf isnt here due to DS9. Right now, the crew has been living a good life with some major future decisions approaching but nothing they cant handle.

Suddenly, Q appears to Picard and guinan (who are discussing their future plans) and warns them in a grimly-sarcastic manner that there is a test that will await Picard and his crew soon; a test that will push Picard's and his crew's morals to their brink. He refuses to spill the beans but actually seems worried. He leaves, with Picard and guinan considering q's warning.

The enterprise has reached its destination...and it is right next to a planet being conquered by the Borg.

Picard orders all shields up and to try to leave immediately, only for the borg cube to unexpectedly fire a tractor beam on the enterprise. Something isnt right, the Borg Cube dosnt react this quickly, and Starfleet has since increased its anti-borg technology . the borg shouldn't even be able to detect the enterprise at their range. Almost immediately, without warning Borg troops teleport into the enterprise. Crew members are caught by surprise and are assimilated quickly by a simple injection as seen in the movie.

This is new...the Borg have never assimilated this quickly. Panic begins to set in as Picard orders a defense. Starfleet manages to beat back the borg with some casualties. Still the ship is unable to actually stop the tractor beam from pulling the ship in. Picard then orders a last ditch effort to stop/destroy the cube: a new experimental Starfleet/Klingon missile aimed primarily to destroy a Borg cube. Its a missile contained a special nuclear-like (or perhaps entirely nuclear) fusion that immediately vaporizes anything to its atoms with its range. The enterprise fires the missile on the less invulnerable parts Picard recalls, and the cube is destroyed, but the range catches the enterprise which sustains heavy damage and must land on the planet.

This planet is home to pre-space travel society that just experienced its first encounter with aliens to them with the Borg. Some of the members see what appears to be a spaceship on fire flying down to one of their cities.

I am not sure how this rewrite ends, but all I can say is that the Enterprise makes contact with this scared, even hostile planet while trying to appease them enough to not overreact and to help them leave the planet. Meanwhile, a borg escape pod managed to escape the destruction and land on the planet. Now the battle becomes not only for survival for the Enterprise, but to prevent the Borg from taking over the planet. Can they succeed? What hard, morally questionable decisions must they do to win?

With this outline, the sky's the limit and I think it addresses a theme that First Contact should have focused more on: horror. The borg should be our heroes' greatest fear and should be filmed with as much terror. By spreading the fear among the crew, we would get more character interactions and development for the other crew members. The fear and anger forces our heroes to confront the trauma the Borg inflicted on them, tests their willpower to remain rational and decent. We see them outside their comfort zones, away from starfleet, isolated on a technological inferior planet that dosnt trust them, yet the crew must find away to not only leave but stop a borg infestation. Think of how DS9 put Starfleet into a war zone and see how much excellent drama that created.

We can also see how truly alien the Borg are in the way they adapt to Starfleet in ways not considered before. Perhaps the borg, in trying to be more efficient in their battles with sentient beings, begin "practicing" or "acting" like what sentients would think or do in order to better predict and understand non-borgs. Maybe the borg-infected individual Picard let go way back in the TNG episode ended up sparking a gradual change in the borg's thinking?

Hello fellow Trekkies! I wanted to pose a discussion that I think would both be interesting a fun. What would the reaction of the Star Trek alien races be to the story of Dragon Ball? I enjoy this question as it similar to debates around what the Klingons think of Shakespeare. In canon, the English playwriter has fans from Klingons such as General Chang portrayed wonderfully by Christopher Plummer. It provides a chance for fans to consider how real-life cultures around the world interpret and react to media that we consume at home. I do enjoy those real life reactions of foreigners and/or Americans reacting to different cultures.

Considering how Dragon Ball truly has become a global icon like Shakespeare, I wanted to write my ideas of how the story would be received by the other aliens.

Lets say that within the TNG/DS9 time period, Earth archives have recovered the anime copies and manga copies of Akira Toriyama's masterpiece. Interested Earth librarians help restore and publish the story for Starfleet which eventually find their way to other cultures. I'll start with the Klingons.

Klingons:

Dragon Ball at first enjoys a small fandom within the greater Klingon community, specifically from the younger generation who are more accustomed to seeing humans and are not at war constantly. The adventures of the young Goku traveling around the globe and training reminds them of the klingon way to push oneself into danger and to be humble while ferocious. Older klingons look down upon this Earth story that seems rather fanciful and lighthearted. This is a story that seems aimed for children without any message of honor. This Goku afterall ends up not killing his enemies because some robot told him not to. they can laugh at the more adult jokes.

Slowly but surely, the youth and the adults become more intrigued by the arcs that do deal with honor and integrity. The Jackie Chun battle earns praise from the Klingons in how Master Roshi taught his pupil the true meaning of life; that there is always someone out there willing to challenge you and that you must be prepared. There is the Tien arc where a majority of klingons praise the change Tien has in the middle of the tournament from a dishonorable foe of the rival school to one who demands a fair fight.

More attention by Klingons, even the ones who are less than receptive to this earth fantasy tale that still seems cartoonish by their traditional stories, when the King Piccolo Arc begins. To many Klingons, this demon king reminds them of the older Klingon gods who were so much trouble that klingons warriors slain them. This "king" has cowardly used his minions to ambush fighters without a fair warning. This is a major trope for villainous behavior. Many klingons who are watching this now compare King Piccolo to Romulans and Cardassians. Klingons begin to crowd local bars that show the anime with translated text awaiting for the final bout which they cheer on with great enthusiasm!

The Piccolo Jr. arc draws in more attention as the story of Piccolo Jr. seeking vengeance for his father upon Goku is exactly what Klingons believe in: defending the family honor and the importance of bloodlines. Many Klingons, while booing Piccolo Jr because of his father, admire Piccolo's own sense of honor by challenging Goku in open arms combat under rules and without any trickery. He is a worthy foe klingons love to battle. Some klingons even want piccolo jr to win, having become tired of goku's care free attitude. The bout between goku and Piccolo is glorious for Klingons with more klingons watching and chearing on the violence. Some klingons take issue with Piccolo's moment where he simply stomps on a injured goku instead of ending the fight thinking "There is no honor in this! you have win. now end him, do not torture him." It shows to klingons that no matter how honorable Piccolo Jr is, he will always have the taint of his father. Goku recovers and now all klingons are awaiting the final blow. Goku's decision to heal Piccolo almost causes a riot amongst the klingon audience members becuase for many this was foolish and unnecessary,. Piccolo lost fair and square so he should die with honor. Others like this action because Goku wants to keep this worthy rival for goku's own training. This sparks a question over klingons about what to do with foes they have beaten in honorable combat.

The Sayian Saga CHANGES everything and pushes Dragon Ball to more recognition than before. To Klingons, the Sayian saga is a story that emphasizes the importance of defending your house from outsiders like the federation, romulans, etc. Raditz is the xenophobic element that is prevalent for better or worse in klingon society, yet the revelation of Goku being a sayian himself confirms to Klingons that having warrior blood matters much in how you act and that being like a human weakens you. Still, Goku is a earthling and this Raditz has stolen his son-dishonorable!

The team-up with Piccolo also shocks many klingons. to some watchers, this resembles how Klingons of the past brought themselves together to fight a common threat and that this writer understands what honor is. Others find it distasteful that Goku seeks help for a problem directed at him. The death of goku is exactly what klingons expected, and many hope this weakling son gohan can actually be a warrior. Vegeta becomes a fan favortie especially when he kills Nappa. The z fighters' deaths go along with klingon philsophy that one should go out fighting even against odds. By the end, so many klingons are happy with the ending!

The Freiza and Cell Arcs are more personal to the klingons as those two villains represent what klingons despise the most: tyranny by dishonorable foe and how one must work himself to become a warrior rather being born into power. Frieza only reminds the klingons of romulans and cardassian rulers who use their minions to act and have to be forced into actually getting their hands dirty. Vegeta's schemes at the begnning of the freiza arc also cause debate as many klingons view his actions as cowardly while other klingons state that vegeta's standing as a person less powerful requires him to do so. The super syaian transformation is a big moment, but more klingon relate to vegeta's speech to goku about how freiza forced him to serve against his will. Klingons understanding this hatred and respect vegeta's final words.

In the Cell Arc, Trunks is the epitome of what a good warrior is, direct and without hesitation. Cell on the other hand is nothing more than a abnormality freak who has achieved his power through deception. his power, unlike goku or vegeta wasnt earned through hard work and sacrifice. Klingons see Cell as a warning for what entitlement can be and how modern klingons may be made softer with the newest technology. Klingons are shocked when goku retires and angered that Gohan is made to fight Cell. Gohan's transformation however gets them to love the character as they see Gohan finally embracing his father's legacy and fulfilling his role to the community; a true coming of age for younger klingons. Vegeta's freak out at his son's death also garners approval from klingons especially when Vegeta helps gohan defeat Cell.

The Buu Arc, contrary to criticism by humans, ends up being just as beloved by the now numerous klingon fandom. Why? Because its an arc that never stops at the action, presents character defining moments about honor and self-respect, has humor, has a truly worthy foe, and ends in an excellent moment that emphasizes how the empire msut come together a sone to defeat a major enemy. Vegeta's turn to evil and then his sacrafice actually caused multiple parties and fights to break out. It is perhaps the moment that Klingons point to empathize the virtues of keeping your true self, sacrifice, family, and honor.