It was a very early indication that the show-runners had a much different tone in mind for this show compared to previous Trek works. Overall, it's a space battle the likes of which have only rarely been seen in Star Trek, and a level of brutality usually left to some of the feature films. And it's implied that the ship only lasted that long because she was crippled early on, causing the Borg to move on to other targets until there were no longer any ships capable of offering resistance. From Locutus's opening speech to the total destruction of the Saratoga is just over four minutes. The Battle of Wolf 359, which Star Trek: The Next Generation mostly implied (in the form of a massive graveyard of destroyed Starfleet ships) rather than showed, is presented as the opening scene of the series.
