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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Production 5
6/9/89
Stardate 8454.1
Synopsis
In 2287, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are enjoying shore leave on Earth at Yosemite National Park when suddenly their vacation is interrupted by an emergency call to duty by Starfleet Command. Kirk and his friends learn that the Klingon General Korrd, Romulan Caithlin Dar and Federation counsel St. John Talbot are being held hostage on the planet Nimbus III, the planet of galactic peace. The new U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-A warps to investigate the situation.
Meanwhile, on a nearby Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Captain Klaa learns of the mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the hated Kirk and sees an opportunity for advancement in the Klingon ranks. In an effort to intercept the U.S.S. Enterprise, he orders the ship to Nimbus III.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is the first to arrive at Nimbus III and Kirk sends a shuttlecraft and landing party to the planet's only town. It is soon discovered that the town is held by a band of scruffy colonists led by a telepathic insane Vulcan, Sybok. In addition, the team learns that the hostage situation was just an elaborate ruse to obtain a Federation starship. Sybok believes that his destiny, the discovery of Sha Ka Ree, meaning "heaven" in Vulcan, has finally been fulfilled, but he needs a starship for transportation. Sybok forces the shuttlecraft to take his people to the U.S.S. Enterprise, where he fights with Kirk for control. Strangely, Spock has the opportunity to kill the insane Vulcan, yet he doesn't. Forced to explain his actions, Spock reveals that Sybok is his half-brother, exiled from Vulcan for choosing emotion over logic. Family relations aside, Kirk and the rest of the crew are thrown in the starship's brig.
Scotty finally helps Kirk, Spock and McCoy escape from the brig and sends an urgent message to Starfleet. Yet the message is intercepted by Vixis, Klaa's first officer.
In an effort to gain valuable followers, Sybok uses his powers to reveal to McCoy and Spock their inner-most pain, then helps each "heal." Kirk, however, refuses to allow the Vulcan to use his telepathic powers. Sybok is angered, yet he knows that he needs Kirk to pilot the U.S.S. Enterprise to "Sha Ka Ree," and thus a reluctant truce is declared.
The Enterprise sets course for the center of the galaxy, a mythical planet bound by an energy field -- the Great Barrier. Sybok and the captured crew are successful in penetrating the barrier, and find a small blue planet. Sybok takes a landing party to the planet's surface, where he suddenly calls out to God. In a blinding flash of light, an entity appears, questioning him about the U.S.S. Enterprise. When Kirk asks why a god would need to ask such mundane questions, he is stricken down with bolts of electricity. McCoy brusquely tells Sybok that he has trouble believing in a god who enjoys inflicting pain. This seems to affect Sybok, and the Vulcan slowly begins to doubt his own quest. Afraid that the entity might be let loose in the galaxy, Sybok tries to use his telepathic powers to make the creature realize its own pain. The two grapple and mysteriously disappear underground. Convinced that the entity must be destroyed at all costs, Kirk orders a photon torpedo be fired at the planet. The U.S.S. Enterprise transporter can only bring up two crewmen at a time, so Kirk sends McCoy and Spock. With Kirk left all alone on the planet's surface, the enraged being suddenly appears and tries to destroy the Captain for ruining its plans of escape, via the starship, and subsequent galactic conquest.
Just then, Captain Klaa's ship arrives and uncloaks to fire on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Spock demands that the first officer, General Korrd, pull rank and beam Kirk up to the Klingon warbird and fire upon the mysterious being. Spock transfers with Korrd to the Klingon ship in order to insure that his "suggestion" is carried out.
With Kirk saved and the evil entity destroyed, there is a reception on board the U.S.S. Enterprise to celebrate this unusual Klingon-Starfleet cooperation. Scotty and Korrd enjoy drinks while Klingons cautiously mingle with U.S.S. Enterprise crew. McCoy suggests that the Great Barrier is in place to keep the entity boxed in, not to keep others out, which implies an even greater being at work.
Having saved the galaxy yet again, the three officers return to their interrupted vacation at Yosemite.
See "Biographies" for complete theatrical credits.
Available in the United States from Paramount Home Entertainment. (visit the Web site at www.paramount.com/homevideo/)
Cast:
William Shatner as James T. Kirk??t;br>Leonard Nimoy as Spock??t;br>DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy??t;br>James Doohan as Montgomery Scott??t;br>Nichelle Nichols as Uhura??t;br>George Takei as Hikaru Sulu??t;br>Walter Koenig as Pavel Andreievich Chekov??t;br>
Guest Cast:
Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok
David Warner as St. John Talbot
Charles Cooper as General Korrd
Todd Bryant as Captain Klaa
George Murdock as God Entity
Melanie Shatner as Yeoman
Harve Bennett as Starfleet Chief of Staff
Creative Staff:
Screen Play By: David Loughery
Written By: William Shatner, Harve Bennett, David Loughery
Director: William Shatner
Star Trek Generations
Production 7
11/18/94
Stardate Unknown
Synopsis
A Champagne bottle tumbles through space, slowly drifting towards its intended target, the new Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701-B. It is late in the 23rd century, and the inauguration of the vessel is attended by crew from the former starship of the same name -- James Kirk, Montgomery Scott and Pavel Chekov. Reporters and onlookers clamor to interview Kirk and the new U.S.S. Enterprise captain about commanding a starship, as the crew begins to embark on its routine maiden voyage. A short time into the flight, however, the starship receives a distress call and is diverted to aid two El-Aurian transport vessels which are caught in a strange, mysterious energy ribbon. Kirk, falling back on his old instincts, quickly finds that not only is the new captain inexperienced, but most of the ship's vital weapons and functions have not yet been installed. While Kirk, Scott and Chekov struggle to save the ship, the transporter room beams aboard survivors, even as their El-Aurian transport vessels are torn apart by the energy ribbon.
Kirk goes below deck to work on the deflector relays, but the ribbon suddenly strikes the starship, tearing a large gash through the hull and leaving only debris where Kirk was working. Scotty and Chekov stare out into space, bewildered by the sudden loss of their friend.
78 years later, in 2371, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D join together on the holodeck for a ceremony to promote Lt. Worf -- a Klingon officer -- to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The ceremony is conducted using a 19th Century sailing ship and corresponding uniforms. The merriment is suddenly interrupted, however, when Picard receives an urgent personal message. Suddenly depressed, Picard leaves the festivities to contemplate in privacy.
Meanwhile, officers Geordi La Forge and Data successfully install an emotion chip designed by Data's creator, Doctor Noonien Soong, into the android. Although La Forge questions the wisdom of the installation as a potentially painful step in the growth of his friend, Data ignores him. After installing the chip, Data quickly discovers the vast array of emotions now available to him and believes he has the necessary skills to integrate them into his programming.
Sent to the Armagosa Solar Observatory to investigate a distress call, the U.S.S. Enterprise finds two dead Romulans and five humans left alive after a mysterious and brutal attack. One of these survivors is a Doctor Tolian Soran. Data and La Forge later return to the starship's laboratory and find traces of a volatile explosive which Soran has secretly concealed in the lab. While Data watches in abject terror, Soran kidnaps La Forge, taking him to a cloaked Klingon ship. When questioning La Forge proves unsuccessful, Soran releases the starship officer -- after modifying his VISOR to transmit its signals back to the Klingon vessel.
Soran then fires a trilithium probe into the sun, which causes an incredible shock wave. The Klingon ship, on which he is a passenger, is commanded by the Klingon Duras sisters. In exchange for the formula for Soran's trilithium explosive, they have agreed to take him to the planet Veridian III, where he wants to conduct another solar implosion.
On board the U.S.S. Enterprise, Picard learns that Soran is 300 years old and, like Guinan, a survivor of the El-Aurian incident that killed Captain Kirk. In an effort to understand what is happening, Picard finally goes to Guinan. She tells him that the energy ribbon, called the Nexus, is a temporal anomaly moving through space. To anyone or anything inside the Nexus, linear time has no meaning and a person can experience anything that he or she desires. There is an overpowering feeling of joy so addictive, that once there, no one wants to leave. Soran is desperate to return to the Nexus and recreate that joy with the family he lost when his world was assimilated by the Borg.
Picard, still depressed from his previous message, informs Troi of his family lineage and that he never intended to have any children because his brother had children who would carry on the Picard name. However, according to the message he received, his brother and nephew were killed in a fire on Earth. Therefore, Jean-Luc will now be the last Picard.
In Stellar Cartography, Picard and an emotionally troubled Data plot the course of the Nexus and the changes that have occurred since the sun was destroyed. They conclude that Soran plans to destroy another sun when the Nexus passes close to the Veridian system -- killing as many as two hundred and thirty million inhabitants on one of the system's planets. Destroying the suns alters spacial forces, thereby changing the path of the Nexus. With the Veridian sun destroyed, the Nexus will then pass along the surface of Veridian III, allowing Soran to re-enter.
Picard, learning of the situation, beams down to Veridian III to try to dissuade Soran. In the meantime, La Forge has been returned to the U.S.S. Enterprise in exchange for Picard; the Duras sisters watch with great interest as La Forge moves about the ship. Finally they see what they've been waiting for -- the U.S.S. Enterprise deflector shield modulation. Seizing this information, the cloaked Bird-of-Prey fires through the starship's deflector shields, severely damaging the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, however, the U.S.S. Enterprise succeeds in destroying the Klingon warbird, killing all aboard. Unfortunately Soran has already beamed down to the planet Veridian III.
Due to damage sustained by the Klingon's attack, the U.S.S. Enterprise suffers a warp-core breach and Riker orders the saucer section separated. Before he can get the saucer away safely, however, the battle section explodes, hurtling the saucer and its entire crew toward the surface of Veridian III. After a terrifying ride, the U.S.S. Enterprise saucer crash lands on the planet's surface. Fortunately, most of the crew are uninjured.
Elsewhere on the planet's surface, Picard and Soran fight to the death as the Nexus rapidly approaches. Soran manages to fire his trilithium probe into the sun, destroying it as the ribbon engulfs both men, taking them inside the Nexus. In their wake, the inhabitants of the Veridian system, as well as the survivors from the U.S.S. Enterprise, are engulfed in a giant cloud of fire.
For a time, Picard is bewildered but delighted to be spending Christmas with his large, happy family -- a family he's never had the time to start. But then, just as the captain gazes at a sparkling ornament, he is suddenly reminded that this experience is not real and that he must get on with his mission. Picard remembers that Guinan had told him he would find someone in the Nexus to help him defeat Soran. Just then, an "echo" of Guinan appears, telling Picard that he can have anything he wants in the Nexus, but that he can also leave -- and he can leave prior to when he came. There might still be time to stop Soran's destruction, but Picard believes he needs help if he's to be successful.
With Guinan's help, Picard finds a slightly puzzled but happy James T. Kirk in the Nexus. Kirk wasn't killed 78 years earlier on the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-B, but was drawn into the Nexus instead. Picard meets a content Kirk who is now a happy farmer in Iowa, complete with his life's loves -- "Antonia" and his horses. Picard is successful in convincing Kirk of the spurious nature of the Nexus realities, and he awakens Kirk's taste for adventure, duty, and the chance to "make a difference again." The two U.S.S. Enterprise captains leave the Nexus and materialize on Veridian III, just as Soran is preparing to set off his solar bomb. This time, Kirk grapples with Soran while Picard races to sabotages the probe.
Although Kirk wins the fight, knocking Soran off the edge of the cliff, the diabolical doctor manages to cloak the launch mechanism before Picard can disarm it. Yet Soran, hanging on for dear life at the end of a rope, loses control of the remote after the line suddenly gives. The remote control is thrown into the air, landing on a nearby bridge. Kirk races to recover the remote, as does Soran, who fires on Kirk and the bridge with his deadly disruptor. Although Kirk is saved in the nick of time by Picard, the bridge is broken in two, with the remote resting on the opposite portion across the void.
Picard urges Kirk to accept his help, yet Kirk, stubborn as always, goes after the remote himself. With the second half of the bridge about to give, Kirk jumps to the other side, escaping certain death by seconds. Just as the remote is about to fall into the chasm, Kirk miraculously grabs it out of thin air. With time running out and the Nexus fast approaching, Kirk decloaks the launch mechanism. Suddenly the second half of the bridge collapses into the chasm, carrying Kirk with it.
Picard, now able to see the mechanism, races to the controls. Yet his plans are seemingly cut short when Soran, frantic that he might miss his last chance at gaining access to the Nexus, aims his disruptor directly at the captain. Although Picard escapes, capitalizing on Soran's distraction, the evil doctor doesn't care. His moment of triumph is at hand. Soran's smile slowly fades, however, when he realizes that Picard has secured the missile's locking clamps; although about to ignite, the rocket will not launch.
The launch mechanism explodes into a giant fireball, killing Soran and preventing the destruction of the entire Veridian system. Picard runs to Kirk, where he stays until the former captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise dies. "It was fun...oh my." are Kirk's last words. After Picard has buried and mourned the loss of his new friend, a shuttlecraft from the U.S.S. Enterprise finds Picard and takes him to the ship's crash site where survivors are being rescued by the U.S.S. Farragut.
Believing he has finally mastered human emotions, Data finds himself wrong when he and Counselor Troi manage to find the android's cat in the U.S.S. Enterprise wreckage. Data, bewildered, is overcome with tears of joy. Riker is saddened as they leave the wrecked starship, but Picard assures him that this is not likely to be the last ship named "Enterprise."
See "Biographies" for complete theatrical credits.
Available in the United States from Paramount Home Entertainment. (visit the Web site at www.paramount.com/homevideo/)
Cast:
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes as William Thomas Riker
Brent Spiner as Data
LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge
Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
Guest Cast:
James Doohan as Captain Montgomery Scott
Walter Koenig as Commander Pavel Chekov
Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Tolian Soran
Alan Ruck as Capt. Harriman
Jacqueline Kim as Helmsman Demora Sulu
Tim Russ as Lieutenant
Majel Barrett as Computer voice
Creative Staff:
Story By: Rick Berman, Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga
Screen Play By: Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga
Director: David Carson
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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Production 6
12/6/91
Stardate 9521.6
Synopsis
Following the violent explosion of an energy production facility on the Klingon moon of Praxis, the collapse of the Klingon Empire is considered imminent. In 2293, the United Federation of Planets decides that this is the opportunity to finally negotiate a true, lasting peace with the Klingons. Chancellor Gorkon, the leader of the Klingon High Council, immediately heads towards Federation space for the proposed peace conference.
Captain Spock suggests that the U.S.S. Enterprise be Gorkon's escort, forcing Kirk, who still harbors deep resentment for the brutal death of his son at the hands of the Klingons, to meet the Chancellor's ship. The two ships rendezvous peacefully and are proceeding towards the conference when the U.S.S. Enterprise suddenly appears to fire on the Klingon ship; Federation-uniformed men beam to the ship and mortally wound Gorkon. After beaming over to the Klingon ship with Kirk to lend assistance, Doctor McCoy is unable to save Gorkon's life. McCoy is arrested, along with Kirk, for the murder. After a quick trial before the Klingon High Council, the two men are sentenced to imprisonment on a Klingon penal colony. Unknown to the Klingons, however, is that prior to Kirk's beam-out from the Enterprise, a quick-thinking Spock surreptitiously attached a homing patch to the back of Kirk's uniform.
On Rura Penthe, the ice-cold Klingon penal planet, Kirk and McCoy meet a Chameloid, Martia, who approaches the pair with an escape plan. The proposed plan, however, turns out to be an elaborate ruse designed to lure Kirk and McCoy into the open, where they can be killed as escapees.
Arriving in the nick of time, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks Kirk's homing signal and rescues the two officers just before they are killed by the colony's nefarious prison warden. Safely aboard, Kirk and McCoy decide to avoid contact with Starfleet while they work to figure out what happened to the Klingon Chancellor's ship and to identity Gorkon's true killer. They are assisted in this investigation by Captain Hikaru Sulu, commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior.
Meanwhile, Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, works to continue her father's plan of peace with the Federation, putting her life in serious danger. Learning of this, Kirk and Spock become convinced that there is an organized conspiracy behind the assassination intended to prevent the peace. They set a trap for the suspected conspirators on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, Lieutenant Valeris, a promising young Vulcan protege of Spock's is revealed to be one of the leaders of the dissident movement. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with Valeris, he finds that both Federation and Klingon conspirators are in league against the proposed peace.
The Federation ships proceed to the location of the conference, at Khitomer, but before landing parties are able to beam down both the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Excelsior are attacked by an invisible vessel -- one capable of firing while remaining cloaked. The audio transmissions of the vessel identify it as Klingon General Chang's Bird-of-Prey, an unknown prototype. Faced with an unstoppable new form of technology, the two starships sustain considerable damage. Racing against time, equipment on the U.S.S. Enterprise usually used for studying gaseous anomalies is fitted into a photon torpedo. Using some new technology of their own, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks the cloaked Bird-of-Prey and destroys it.
With the orbiting Klingon threat gone and Valeris apprehended, the U.S.S. Enterprise crew arrives at the peace talks just in time to prevent the planned assassination of the President of the United Federation of Planets. The conference continues, and the first steps are taken towards peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is recalled by Starfleet Command for decommissioning, but Kirk, in typical fashion, indulges himself and takes the ship out for one last voyage before passing the baton to a new generation of explorers destined "to boldly go where no one has gone before."
See "Biographies" for complete theatrical credits.
Available in the United States from Paramount Home Entertainment. (visit the Web site at www.paramount.com/homevideo/)
Cast:
William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
George Takei as Hikaru Sulu
Walter Koenig as Pavel Andreievich Chekov
Guest Cast:
Christopher Plummer as General Chang
John Schuck as Klingon Ambassador
Kim Cattrall as Lt. Valeris
Mark Lenard as Ambassador Sarek
Grace Lee Whitney as Excelsior comm.
Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright
David Warner as Chancellor Gorkon
Creative Staff:
Screen Play By: Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn
Written By: Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Star Trek: First Contact
Production 8
11/22/96
Stardate Unknown
Synopsis
Captain Jean-Luc Picard awakens from a nightmare about his Borg assimilation experience to an incoming message from Admiral Hayes. Hayes informs Picard that Deep Space Five reported that a colony has been destroyed. Completing the Admiral's sentence, Picard realizes who destroyed the colony -- the Borg.
Picard calls a meeting and informs his senior officers that their ship has been instructed to patrol the Neutral Zone. Their orders are to protect the area from any possible Romulan uprising during a Borg attack. Despite protests from his officers, Picard remains faithful to his orders and the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E begins to patrol the area. Later, Picard regretfully tells Riker that it is his own fault they are stuck in the Neutral Zone. Starfleet believes Picard to be too emotionally involved with the Borg because of his previous assimilation to tactically complete a mission against them.
The men return to the bridge to learn that Starfleet has engaged in combat with the Borg. Intercepting messages between the starships, the crew learns that the Federation is losing. Picard, with his Borg experience, knows he can help the fleet. He informs his staff that he will make a decision directly in opposition to Starfleet commands. With no objections from his crew, Captain Picard gives the order and the starship Enterprise sets a course for Earth and the attacking Borg cube.
A massive battle ensues and it appears that the Federation will lose the fight. Despite serious structural damage to the Borg cube, their strength does not weaken. Even the U.S.S. Defiant, commanded by Worf, does not appear to be able to turn the tides of the battle. As the starship Defiant is about to ram the Borg ship on a suicide run, the U.S.S. Enterprise beams aboard its crew, including Worf. Picard, having an inside perspective of the Borg and their vessel, focuses the firepower of the fleet on coordinates he knows to be critical. Just as the main ship is destroyed, a spherical escape pod flies out. The sphere creates a temporal vortex, catching the starship Enterprise in its wake. Immune to the paradoxes created by the time travel, the starship's crew learns that Earth at the present time appears to be inhabited entirely by the Borg. The commanding officers realize that the Borg have gone into the past and assimilated Earth, so they follow them back in time to repair the damage the Borg have done.
On Earth, over three centuries earlier, a somber Lily Sloane accompanies a stumbling, drunk Zephram Cochran out of a bar after a night of revelry. Then, Lily notices a fast moving light. She hardly has time to ask what the object is, when the Borg vessel attacks. Back aboard the Starship Enterprise, Picard demands that Data tell him the exact date and location the Borg ship is attacking. The location: central Montana. The date: April 4, 2063 -- the day before first contact. Realizing that the Borg have come to prevent first contact between alien life forms and humans, the crew knows they must stop the Borg and facilitate this exchange. They destroy the Borg sphere, and Dr. Crusher, Captain Picard, Commander Data, Commander Riker, Counselor Troi and other U.S.S. Enterprise crew transport down to Earth to survey the damage.
At the Borg attack site in Montana, the crew finds destruction and chaos. They split into groups to search for Cochran. Data and Picard hunt for Cochran's warp ship, the Phoenix. There they encounter a very angry and confused Lily, who believes Data and Picard to be members of a coalition that broke the cease-fire after World War III. She shoots at them in a rage, but impervious to bullets, Data approaches Lily. Overcome by fear and radiation, she falls to the ground. Dr. Crusher diagnoses Lily with radiation sickness caused by the damaged Phoenix, and inoculates the entire crew. Against Picard's better judgment, Crusher takes Lily to sickbay. Geordi is called to help repair the warp vessel and Picard becomes intrigued by its historical significance. In this vessel began the future as the world would know it, and the past as Picard remembers it. He reaches out to touch the ship. Data, curious about the human need for tactile reinforcement, attempts to create the same feelings he observes in Picard, but is unsuccessful in duplicating this aspect of humanity.
Aboard the ship, two crewmembers are sent to examine unexplained maintenance problems, and both disappear. Picard is called to the ship and discovers that the survivors from the Borg sphere have transported onto the ship and are taking over Deck 16. While Picard arranges teams to fight them, the Borg manipulate the climate of the deck to suit their needs and begin to spread throughout the ship. When the Borg attack sickbay, Crusher, her staff, and Lily escape through a Jeffries tube, thanks to a distraction by the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram. While Crusher leads the group down the passageway, Lily steals away in a different direction.
On Earth, Riker finds Troi and Cochran drunk in a bar. Troi justifies that the only way she could get Cochran to talk to her was by shooting Tequila with him. Denying her drunken state, Troi offers her professional opinion on Cochran. She explains, "He's nuts."
Picard and his team are tracking the Borg through the starship. As Crusher and her staff find Worf's team, Picard's team encounters the Borg, who have begun to assimilate U.S.S. Enterprise crewmembers. Worf's team engages the Borg in combat, but the enemies adapt to the crew's weapons too quickly to make any difference. The teams are ordered to regroup on Deck 15, but Data is captured. Picard cannot save him, so he quickly crawls into a Jeffries tube to escape. Face to face with Picard, Lily steals his phaser and demands an explanation and escape route. Picard agrees.
Geordi shows Cochran the starship Enterprise through a large telescope on Earth and tries to convince him to launch his vessel the next morning. Geordi glorifies Cochran by explaining that his ship will make first contact with alien life forms. Humanity will be saved if Cochran launches his ship. Still drunk, Cochran agrees.
Aboard the ship, The Borg Queen introduces herself to a bound Data, claiming that she is the Collective. Reactivating Data's emotion chip, the Borg begin to graph organic, human skin onto the android's arm. As Data is overcome by this new human sensation of touch, something he never thought possible, the Borg continue their work.
Lily and Picard wander through the service deck as the captain attempts to explain what has happened between Lily's time and his own. She begins to calm down until they suddenly run into a Borg-infested area. Quickly escaping in the Holodeck, Picard activates a Dixon Hill program. At a dance, he and Lily try to blend in without being noticed by the Borg. Following the Holodeck's story, Picard searches for Nicky the Nose and takes his machine gun. Killing the Borg with the gun, Picard retrieves the memory chip that contains all of the information the Borg has received. Lily then notices that the two dead Borg were once crewmembers of the Starship Enterprise.
Back on Earth, Cochran keeps hearing what an amazing historical figure he is and begins to question whether or not he wants to go through with the launch. He doubts his own nobility and flees the launch site. Geordi and Riker attempt to catch up with Cochran in the woods and are forced to stun him with a phaser to return him to the Phoenix.
Lily and Picard join the rest of the surviving crew and discover that the Borg are outside of the ship. The retrieved memory chip reveals that they are reconfiguring the main deflector in order to contact the Borg of this century, calling them to Earth to assimilate the planet. Picard, Worf and Lieutenant Hawk put on space suits and venture onto the surface of the starship to stop the Borg.
Aware of Data's desire to become human, the Borg Queen offers him the chance to be entirely covered in human flesh and join the Borg, in an attempt to get the encryption codes from Data so she can obtain total control over the U.S.S. Enterprise. Outside the Starship Enterprise, Hawk, Worf and Picard attempt to unlock the deflector dish. Attacked by a Borg, Worf's suit begins to depressurize. Two Borg are killed and Hawk is attacked. As the dish is released, a now-assimilated Hawk attempts to kill Picard. Worf saves the captain, but Hawk is killed. Picard and Worf then destroy the free-floating deflector dish.
On Earth, Cochran explains to Riker that his only motivation for inventing warp travel was money. He never expected to save mankind, become a hero, or be instrumental in the founding of a new civilization. He simply wanted to retire in peace.
An argument ensues aboard the starship Enterprise as the majority of the senior officers believe that they should evacuate the ship, destroying it and the Borg. Picard won't give up, and insists they stay. Challenged by Worf, Picard orders him off the Bridge. Lily follows Picard into his ready room and demands that he explain his obsession with fighting the Borg. Picard declares he won't sacrifice the starship, and swears to finally make the Borg pay for all they've done. Lily quietly and calmly compares Picard to Captain Ahab, forever fighting his white wale -- the Borg. Realizing that this fight could only destroy himself and his crew, Picard decides to evacuate the ship. Worf, Picard and Crusher activate the ship's self-destruct sequence. The countdown begins, and the crew leaves in escape pods. Picard surveys his ship and prepares to leave when he hears Data calling him.
Meanwhile , the earth-bound crew and Cochran begin takeoff. Cochran, Geordi and Riker take off in the Phoenix, and with music blaring, the three men launch successfully into orbit.
On the ship, Lily and Picard say good-bye and the captain goes to save Data. Entering Engineering, Picard confronts the Borg Queen, whom he knows from his experience with the Borg. The queen reminds Picard that it was not enough that he was assimilated, but that he needed to give himself freely to the Borg. -- she wished him to stand by her side as an equal to further the power of the Collective. Picard offers himself in exchange for Data, but the android does not comply. He refuses to leave, and at the queen's command, disarms the self-destruct sequence. He quickly enters the encryption codes, offering full control of the starship Enterprise to the Borg.
As Cochran's ship nears warp, Data arms the U.S.S Enterprise's weapons and aims them at the defenseless Phoenix. At the Borg Queen's order, Data fires, but the missiles fail to hit the Phoenix. His deception of the Borg complete, Data smashes a conduit, releasing a gas that floods engineering, killing all organic material. As the Borg are destroyed, Picard climbs to safety and the Borg Queen falls into the deadly gas. With the Borg threat gone, Cochran safely completes humanity's first warp flight.
Celebrating the flight back on Earth that night, Cochran and the starship Enterprise's crew see an alien ship land nearby. The doors open, and Zephram Cochran makes Earth's first contact with an alien race -- the Vulcans. Picard and his crew beam out, having witnessed this historic event, and the U.S.S Enterprise NCC 1701-E returns to the 24th century.
See "Biographies" for complete theatrical credits.
Available in the United States from Paramount Home Entertainment. (visit the Web site at www.paramount.com/homevideo/)
Cast:
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes as William Thomas Riker
Brent Spiner as Data
LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge
Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
Guest Cast:
Alfre Woodard as Lily
James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane
Alice Krige as Borg Queen
Creative Staff:
Story By: Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore
Screen Play By: Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore
Director: Jonathan Frakes
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