Star Trek: First Contact is a 1996 American science fiction film released by Paramount

Pictures. It is the eighth feature film in the Star Trekfilm franchise, and the second film in the
series to star the cast of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the film's plot,
the crew of the Starship USS Enterprise-E travel back in time to the mid-21st century to stop
the cybernetic Borg from conquering Earth by changing the past.
After the release of the seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), Paramount tasked
writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore with developing a sequel. Braga and Moore wanted
to feature the Borg in the plot, while producer Rick Berman wanted a story involving time travel.
The writers combined the two ideas; they initially set the film during the European Renaissance,
but changed the time period the Borg corrupted to the mid-21st century after fearing the
Renaissance idea would be too kitsch. After two better-known directors turned down the job, cast
member Jonathan Frakes was chosen to direct, to make sure the task fell to someone who
understood Star Trek. It was Frakes' first theatrical film.
The script required the creation of new starship designs, including a new USS Enterprise.
Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves collaborated to make a
sleeker ship than its predecessor. Principal photography began with weeks of location shooting in
Arizona and California before production moved to new sets for the ship-based scenes. The Borg
were redesigned to appear as though they were converted into machine beings from the insideout; the new makeup sessions took four times as long as their appearances on the television
series. Effects company Industrial Light & Magic rushed to complete the film's special effects in
less than five months. Traditional optical effects techniques were supplemented with computergenerated imagery. Jerry Goldsmith and his son Joel collaborated to produce the film's score.