“First Contact” was made for a budget of $45 million, but its special effects are glittering and slick and look as good as a film with twice its budget. Also, unlike “Star Trek: Generations,” “First Contact” felt more like a cinematic experience, rather than a mere expanded episode of the show. This was a properly large production, and Stewart was impressed with Frakes’ ability to fall right into place on a feature, and force his cast to knuckle under and be more intense. He wrote:
“‘First Contact’ marked Jonathan Frakes’s debut as a feature-film director. We had all loved being directed by him during the show’s run, but here he really elevated his game. Jonathan is a funny, light-hearted man who always creates a positive atmosphere on the set, but this time, he sharpened our focus, demanding of us an emotional authenticity beyond what we’d given on the show. This was the big leagues, after all.”
Stewart also said that he liked “First Contact” because of the arc for Jean-Luc Picard. Although he had been working through a bout of Borg-related trauma from six years earlier, the events of “First Contact” caused something to flare up in his mind, turning him into an out-of-character, revenge-minded maniac. The Jean-Luc Picard of “First Contact” is quick to fire weapons, kills Borg without remorse, and smashes windows in fits of rage. The film, Stewart said, revealed Picard to be “a fallible character rather than the noble, space-faring hero that ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ previously set him up to be — his lingering PTSD from his prior assimilation into the Borg has made him vengeful and short-tempered.”