Thursday, December 19, 2013

Who's the Best... Starship?


Karen: A few suggestions...





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33 comments:

J.A. Morris said...

The Millennium Falcon. The Enterprise and the Galactica never made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.

December 19, 2013 at 8:13 AM
david_b said...

First off, I'd go with the Enterprise from Trek (TOS to be more precise..).

There was never a ship that seemed to live/breathe when it whooshed by the screen. The lighting was always nicely done, played up more in the movie franchise and of course, Next Generation.

The Galactica suffers by comparison. I loved the original series in it's second half, when it left the 'star-wars-of-the-week' aura and gained more foundation with adding secondary characters, more fleet stories, etc.. 'Hand of God' is still a treat to watch. But to me, the ship itself never really looked real enough to have the aura the Enterprise had. Couple that with extremely rushed, 'final-minute' scripts, where the Galactica had to shoot rays at the planet, or launch missles out the side, etc.. You never really got a good sense of what it could/could not do. Again, it was a victim of rushed production.

The Falcon..? WHO didn't love the Falcon. It's somewhere in the middle, closer to the Enterprise. When I first saw it, I was so used to symmetrical cockpits.. ("WHY would you put it on the extreme side of a ship..? How would you see someone attacking from the other side..?")

But like most things Lucas did, it worked. I know the Blockade Runner was the original design for the Falcon, but we're all glad George went with a more distinctive design.

December 19, 2013 at 8:13 AM
Edo Bosnar said...

The original Enterprise. I also like the Enterprise from TNG (but not the "E" model that appeared in most of the movies).
Otherwise, I generally always like the "bad guy" ships, e.g. Klingon Birds of Prey in particular, but also Tie Fighters and Cylon saucers, as well as the Cylon Raiders from the reimagined Galactica. And the Borg cubes - granted, they're just big giant boxes, but damn, they sure look menacing whenever they appear.

December 19, 2013 at 8:51 AM
Doc Savage said...

Jefferson, of course.

December 19, 2013 at 9:06 AM
david_b said...

Edo, you magnificent contributor.. you reminded me of what I was going to write but totally forgot.

The 'bad guys'...

Perhaps even more a favorite than the original Enterprise is the beloved D-7 Klingon Cruiser. Matt Jefferies hit this out..of..the..park. Meant to look "threatening, even vicious", it's design is even more sleek and elegant than the Enterprise. I know it's look was updated in the movies and later, but just the original, unblemished TOS D-7..? My favorite of all time.

I recall when I started buying the AMT models back in the early '70s, my D-7 actually came molded in BLACK plastic. Seriously. I couldn't quite figure out how to use the water-slide decals on that (didn't think about just cutting 'em out and pasting them on with the paper backing...).

So when I got the later-released mini-trio (Federation/Klingon/Romulan) set, I naturally just painted my D-7 flat black, it was gorgeous.

Easily my favorite enemy ship of all time.

December 19, 2013 at 9:07 AM
Anonymous said...

Agree with Edo that the bad guys have the cooler looking ships. One of my favorites from Star Wars is the tri wing Imperial shuttle that I believe first appeared in Return of the Jedi.

December 19, 2013 at 9:09 AM
Anonymous said...

I like the original Enterprise; I always thought the Next Generation version looked too ornate, more like a fancy chandelier than a ship. The Klingon warships looked really cool and appropriately menacing, in TOS and all of the sequels and spinoffs. The various Star Wars and Galactica spacecraft never made much of an impression on me one way or another. And, my judgement is surely clouded by nostalgia, but, IMHO, Gerry Anderson's Fireball XL5 was the coolest science-fiction spaceship of all time.

December 19, 2013 at 9:18 AM
Graham said...

Matt Celis, you beat me to it. :)

How about "Ship," from Star-Lord? That was a pretty cool starship to me.

My favorite, though, would be the Enterprise. If I had to choose one to travel in, that would be the one. Hopefully, they wouldn't put me in a red shirt.

December 19, 2013 at 9:31 AM
david_b said...

'Ship of Lights' from the original Galactica, anyone..?

http://media.aintitcool.com/media/uploads/2013/merrick/bsg-sol-001_large.jpg

Sorry, haven't gotten around to imbedding links yet.

December 19, 2013 at 9:37 AM
Anonymous said...

I lean more to Moya or Serenity and the old gun to the head I'd pick Serenity. It had a grace and beauty of line that made it almost magical.

December 19, 2013 at 10:08 AM
Mike said...

The Death Star ... c'mon, it has "Death" in the name - so cool!

December 19, 2013 at 10:18 AM
William said...

The Millennium Falcon has always been my favorite spaceship. When I was young, I remember getting in an argument with my friend about which was cooler, The Falcon or the Enterprise? It actually got quite heated. lol.

I also really liked the Eagle from Space 1999. That ship was released as a toy when I was a young and I very much wanted it for Christmas, but I never got it. My friend got though, and I was very jealous. :(

December 19, 2013 at 10:35 AM
Greg said...

I like J.A.'s answer- gotta go with the Falcon. My second choice would be the spaceship from Heavy Metal- "So Beautiful and So Dangerous".

"Good landing, man".

December 19, 2013 at 10:49 AM
Pat Henry said...

The Yamato/Argo.

Man, could that ship take a beating.

December 19, 2013 at 10:53 AM
Doc Savage said...

No love for the Liberator from Blake's 7?

December 19, 2013 at 11:29 AM
david_b said...

Ohhh, William. Mega-agreements on the Space:1999 Eagle. Still my most favorite ship ever.

Quick Christmas story, stepping in the 'way-back machine' circa '75. The show had just premiered in syndication in September and walking into a five-dime store in December..., there was the Eagle model. My shorts may have remained dry, but otherwise I had a joyous, 12yr old meltdown.

I got the AMT Trek Bridge model and the Mego Green Arrow that year, but the Eagle model took the top award easily.

Easily.

About 10yrs ago I finally broke down and bought the 2 1/2 ft Mattel Eagle, purchasing custom hi-qual decals from a Canadian modeling site (JBOT). I didn't take the toy ship apart and respraypaint it like most customizers do for additional realism, I just left it looking like a toy as it was meant to be, but it's SO WORTH the investment. It's a thing of beauty, it's slightly bigger than the Kenner Falcon, I believe but I don't have the Kenner Falcon. A buddy when I was growing up had ALL the Star Wars ships so my Mom always pushed me over there to play (save her some good chunks of cash..).

Along with the fore-mentioned D-7, the Eagle is my ship of choice to cruise the stars.

December 19, 2013 at 11:33 AM
Anonymous said...

The Falcon had...character.

I kinda liked the Twin-Pod Cloud Cars from Bespin...had the toy when I was a kid :)

Mike W.

December 19, 2013 at 12:19 PM
Garett said...

The off-balance look of the Falcon is cool, but the design of the Enterprise was very innovative, combining the flying saucer and rocket ship looks. I prefer the original series ship, as the later ones looked tubby. Also I disliked in the later Star Treks how they would whoosh into warp...thought the streaking effect looked cheesy.

I agree with the Eagle from Space 1999. The Nostromo from Alien was very unusual, looking like buildings floating forebodingly through space. The Ark from The Starlost with its many biosphere bubbles intrigued me, made me wonder what was in all of them...according to Wikipedia, the ship was 320 km long.

Finally, I always liked the launching of the Vipers in Battlestar Galactica, and the joystick used to control the ship and shoot...exciting, realistic feeling to the speed and piloting.

December 19, 2013 at 1:30 PM
Garett said...

Haha...here's a funny vid of the Viper launch.
Apollo Launches His Viper

December 19, 2013 at 1:54 PM
Doc Savage said...

Colonial Vipers were cool looking. I had one and my brother had a Cylon Raider, or vice versa, circa '80 or '81. Wish I still had them.

December 19, 2013 at 2:17 PM
Pat Henry said...

True, the 1999 Eagle was übercool. I had one for a while, along with a deluxe Matchbox issue of Speed Racer's Mach-5. Both would be worth a fortune today if I hadn't played them to pieces.

Neither are exactly "starships," though :)

December 19, 2013 at 2:21 PM
david_b said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
December 19, 2013 at 2:33 PM
david_b said...

Yes, we're kinda delving more into fighters/shuttles here., which is why I didn't go further into my preference of Galactica Vipers over Rebel X-Wings.

I love all the shuttles, from the Galactica shuttle to the beloved TOS Galileo, to the early Next Gen shuttle design (I had to buy the initial Galoob NG shuttle because I loved the sleek style of it so much..).

Lost In Space's Space Pod anyone..? Whaaat an awesome little flying craft.

December 19, 2013 at 2:35 PM
Edo Bosnar said...

Garett makes a good point about the Nostromo or the Starlost Ark: actual spaceships would not need to be sleek and/or aerodynamic. It makes me think of Blish's "Cities in Flight," in which entire cities like New York or Budapest lifted off and zipped around the galaxy.

December 19, 2013 at 2:54 PM
Teresa said...

The Millenium Falcon has a place of its own. It was so original. Depending on what angle you were looking at, it could be different.

The USS Reliant from Wrath of Khan. It was the angry badger of starships.
I always liked the Star Trek uniform fleet. It looked like a real navy.

Babylon 5, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica (both versions) all really captured my imagination.

December 19, 2013 at 3:29 PM
Doc Savage said...

X-Wings have hyperdrive and qualify as starships.

What about that ship at the beginning of Space Balls?

December 19, 2013 at 4:26 PM
B Smith said...

Surely it's more a case of "Who's the worst starship"? Most of them are pretty cool to my mind - even the humble Jupiter Two (original TV version) never failed to look less than great flying through space or doing crash dives on planets.

December 19, 2013 at 5:50 PM
MattComix said...

Enterprise D from Star Trek TNG.

December 19, 2013 at 6:43 PM
Anonymous said...

For me at least it has to be the USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek series. That design has stood the test of time after all these years.

- Mike 'whoosh!' from Trinidad & Tobago.

December 19, 2013 at 8:44 PM
Garett said...

Hey B Smith, for worst ship I remember Battle Beyond the Stars with "John Boy" Richard Thomas in the cockpit. His pilot control device was all rubbery, and wobbled around...looked cheap even to my boyhood eyes.

December 19, 2013 at 8:48 PM
Rip Jagger said...

The Enterprise for sure. The original is genius, and the later models have all more or less played well with that design.

I well remember the advent of Star Wars when suddenly all space ships became overwrought with random details. It was cool for a while, but good design wins in the end.

Rip Off

December 20, 2013 at 2:47 AM
Edo Bosnar said...

Garett, thanks so much for mentioning Battle Beyond the Stars, which is probably my favorite bad SF movie. And yes, John Boy's ship was ridiculous: to me, it always looked kind of like a snail with breasts on the bottom. Here's an image of a model. Couldn't find any screen shots that weren't tiny or fuzzy.
That movie was otherwise (unintentional?) comedy gold, even though it had a halfway descent cast who could have made it a workable SF action flick. Besides John Boy, it starred John Saxon, Robert Vaughn and George Peppard - who played an interstellar cowboy with a belt that dispensed scotch and soda. Also, Sybil Danning appears as a space valkyrie complete with winged headpiece. Man, I don't I've watched it since college; now I want to see it again, just to see if it's as hilariously bad as I remember it.

December 20, 2013 at 3:26 AM
david_b said...

Edo, nice mention (and links) regarding 'Battle'.

First off, that ship..? Oh heavens, it looks like it should have been featured on 'Flesh Gordon', the porn remake of Flash Gordon.

And, umm, same looks true for Sybil Danning. Her 'groping-styled mammary support' on that get-up cracks me up EVERY time.

Easily qualifies as the 2nd Cousin to Leia's metal-cupped slave outfit in 'Jedi'

December 20, 2013 at 8:16 AM

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