Sir Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and four original films before taking a hiatus and appearing on the spinoff show Picard. The second film with the TNG cast was helmed by co-star Jonathan Frakes, best known for playing William Riker in the show.
Stewart was all praise for Jonathan Frakes and his direction skills in Star Trek: First Contact. The film was well-received by audiences too, with many regarding it in the same league as Wrath of Khan. The X-Men star called it his favorite of the films he was in and appreciated Frakes for his technical mastery.
Patrick Stewart called Jonathan Frakes’ feature film debut the ‘best-looking Star Trek film’
While the first original film with the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was considered a passing-of-the-torch from the crew of the original series to the other, the second film Star Trek: First Contact really upped the scale for the franchise. With Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes at the helm, First Contact became one of the best-rated films in the franchise.
Star Trek is usually considered to be best suited for TV. While The Wrath of Khan and the J.J. Abrams films have tried to bring it to the big screen, the design of the show is not meant for blockbuster filmmaking and when given the Star Wars treatment, it fails. However, Frakes delivered a strong entry to the franchise and proved his visual mastery with First Contact.
Sir Patrick Stewart was especially impressed with his co-star and on-screen first officer. The actor wrote in his memoir Making it So that it was the best-looking film to date and that he was impressed with Frakes’ style of direction. He wrote,
Beyond his deft handling of the cast, he also demonstrated technical mastery, his camera capturing the intimacy of the film’s emotional scenes without being intrusive. ‘First Contact’ was also the best-looking ‘Star Trek’ film to date, a tribute to its excellent lighting design and sets, as well as Jonathan’s choices regarding camera movement and color palette.
The film was praised for its special effects which had improved since the franchise’s last cinematic outing and the introduction of the Borg Queen. It has been considered a close second to the Wrath of Khan.
Patrick Stewart gave insight into Jonathan Frakes’ directing style in the show and on Star Trek: First Contact
The Star Trek franchise has seen many actors from the series graduate to direction. Actors like LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, Gates McFadden, and even Patrick Stewart directed a couple of episodes on their respective shows. While Stewart has claimed that he did not like to direct, Jonathan Frakes is one of the stars who did like going behind the camera.
Stewart wrote in his memoir that the cast loved being on the sets of Frakes’ episodes and he brought a positive atmosphere to the set. However, he also saw an upgrade from him while filming Star Trek: First Contact. He wrote,
We 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 his focus, demanding of us an emotional authenticity beyond what we’d given on the show. This was the big leagues, after all.
Frakes would go on to direct several more episodes in TNG as well as the spinoff shows Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Picard. He also stepped in as the director of the next TNG film Insurrection. However, the film was not as well-received as its predecessor.
Star Trek: First Contact is available to stream on Paramount+.
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