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Star Trek: First Contact: The Making of the Classic Film

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An in-depth look at the making of Star First Contact , featuring rare and previously unseen production art and new and exclusive cast and crew interviews.

Twenty-five years ago, Star First Contact saw Picard, Data, and the Enterprise crew go back in time to stop the Borg before they could prevent Earth’s first contact with an alien species and assimilate the entire planet.

Celebrate this landmark anniversary by taking a deep dive into the stories behind this beloved film. This beautiful coffee-table book is full to the brim of archival material, behind-the-scenes photography, concept art, production designs, and much more, and includes new and exclusive interviews with cast and crew, including Jonathan Frakes, Alice Krige, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore, Marina Sirtis, Herman Zimmerman, and Michael Westmore.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 11, 2022

About the author

Joe Fordham

18 books2 followers

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Scott Williams.
699 reviews10 followers
January 8, 2023
There’s not a lot of new information here but there are some wonderful behind the scenes images I hadn’t seen before. The section on creating the Borg is especially great. There are some detailed images of the Borg suits, and dummies. There are also some great shots of Alice Krige in costume fittings. Overall, it’s a wonderful trip down memory lane. I hope Titan continues to release similar books for each of the films.
Profile Image for Kieran McAndrew.
2,292 reviews13 followers
September 20, 2022
A high quality coffee table book showcasing some of the excellent photographs from 'Star Trek: First Contact', alongside an all too brief behind the scenes text. A great book to celebrate the silver anniversary of this film.
53 reviews
April 15, 2024
The Star Trek: Generations movie successfully transitioned the movies from the Kirk era to the Picard era.
In First Contact-the crew under the command of Captain Picard must travel back in time to stop the Borg from changing history.

The Enterprise crew must make sure the first warp capable spaceship launches thus causing the Vulcans to contact the people of Earth and so set in motion the formation of The Federation.

In First Contact movie-goers got to witness a much more macho Captain Picard. Fists flew, phasers beamed and Picard was relentless and determined to stop the Borg and their queen from changing history.

Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker) directed the film that was co-written by Patrick Stewart.

Each of main bridge officers got to shine in this action-packed, hold-no-prisoners space epic that helped bring the Star Trek film franchise firmly into the digital age.

With a new Enterprise, a ruthless old enemy, time travel and a killer supporting cast First Contact fired on all cylinders.

Author Joe Fordham and Titan Books present the deluxe hardback book with dust jacket (With spot varnish): Star Trek First Contact The Making Of The Classic Film.

Included in the interior pages are sections on sets, costumes, weapons, ships and gadgetry designs.

A close-up look delves into the Borg, especially the Borg Queen. Data shines as he struggles with his android/human conflict and Worf proves that even deep space cannot curtail his Klingon warrior blood.

Will Riker, Chief Engineer Geordi and Counselor Troi had some historical, funny scenes and Beverly Crusher proved to be much more than just a ship’s doctor.

Be sure to look over the sets, costumes and character design sketches, behind-the-scenes photos, cast and crew commentaries and much, much more.

This is movie-making in progress with lots of information on filming techniques, settings up special effects shots, completing a soundtrack and all that it takes to make such a monumental film.

The interior gloss paper stock makes the photos pop as well as the art, sketches, designs and charts.

It's a visual documentary on how a big-budget film is made from start to finish.

Psalms 126:5 - They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Profile Image for David.
111 reviews1 follower
May 1, 2023
I finished reading Joe Fordham's "Star Trek: First Contact: The Making of the Classic Film" (2022) a few days ago. A very entertaining behind the scenes look at what is (I think) pretty much universally regarded as the best of the four Star Trek films based on the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" tv series cast. (Although, I have to say that referring to it as "the classic film" doesn’t feel quite right to me because, even though this book was intended to be released in 2021 in time for "First Contact's" twenty-fifty anniversary, it still doesn't seem that "First Contact" (1996) is quite old enough yet to be called a "classic film". Then, again, it could just be that it makes *me* feel very OLD to see it put that way.)

The book is divided into chapters based on the development and major elements of the movie: the development of the script, the design of the new Enterprise-E, the casting of the major new characters, designing the Montana of 2061 locations as well as redesigning the Borg for the big screen, etc. Much of the information will already be familiar to the diehard Star Trek fans who read lots of behind the scenes Star Trek books, magazines, websites, etc., but there are still many interesting quotes from the actors, writers, producers, and director Jonathan Frakes to make it still worth while reading for them, and the book is written in such as way as not to overwhelm the casual Star Trek fan.

My one slight complaint is that while there are loads of pictures in this book from the film and also of behind the scenes development art--indeed, there are pictures on pretty much every page--a lot of the pictures from the actual film (and even some of the promotional stills) have a blurry look to them, as if taken from film screenshots or stills that have been enlarged. The reaction is often one of, "that's a great picture, I just wish it was in better focus". And since the pictures often dominate each two page spread, it can overtime detract a bit from what one is reading.

Still, even with that small complaint, I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it for fans of the Star Trek movies, "Next Generation", and "Star Trek: First Contact" in particular. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. (Copy read was checked out from the Tampa/Hillsborough County Public Library which added it to their collection upon my request.)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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