After the destruction of the Enterprise 1701D in Star Trek: Generations which was released in 1994, fans were wondering what was next for Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew. In the fall of 1996 they got their answer. Picard was in command of the new Enterprise 1701E which was more of a military style starship than its cozy, children friendly predecessor. Star Trek: First Contact pitted the Enterprise crew against an old enemy, the Borg. Still haunted by his assimilation experience, Picard must take his ship back to the 21st century and stop the Borg from conquering Earth, and at the same time to make sure that Dr. Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) makes his first warp flight that will get the attention of a group of Vulcans.
Picard receives word that a Borg ship is on its way to Earth, but he is instead ordered to patrol the Neutral Zone and stay away from the battle. He disobeys and immediately sets a direct course for his homeworld. The Borg vessel is destroyed but not before a smaller scout ship travels through a vortex back to the late 21st century and causes Earth to be assimilated in the future. The Enterprise crew, realizing that they must restore the timeline, go back to the 21st century and try to repair the Phoenix, an experimental ship with a warp drive.
The Borg have already begun to assimilate the Enterprise deck by deck, and while Cmdr. Riker, (Jonathan Frakes) Troi, (Marina Sirtis) and Geordi (LeVar Burton) are on the ground trying to convince Dr. Cochrane that he must fly the Phoenix, Enterprise crew members are desperately trying to fight the merciless Borg drones. Data, (Brent Spiner) is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the seductive Borg queen (Alice Krige). Picard is determined not to let the Borg take over the Enterprise, and in a thrilling scene he ventures outside the ship with Cmdr. Worf and they stop the Borg from building a powerful homing beacon to call for extra reinforcements. Worf, (Michael Dorn) the Klingon officer on loan from Deep Space Nine, has a very tense moment with Picard when they disagree on whether the Enterprise can be saved. Picard calls Worf a coward who just wants to abandon the ship, and Worf responds with the ominous remark, "If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand."
The flight of the Phoenix is a success and the final showdown on board the Enterprise is between Picard, the Borg queen and a partially modified Data, who appears to have been programmed to accept the commands of the queen. At the last minute he breaks a plasma coolant container and the queen's organic body disintegrates. The first meeting is made between humans and the small group of Vulcans who detect the warp signature of Cochrane's ship. Picard and the others are convinced that the future will unfold as it should, and they return to the 24th century.
