Whitestar
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2004
- Messages
- 362
In sci-fi tv, there are numerous types of starship designs. Some of them are ordinary, some are butt-ugly, and others are quite innovative and sleek.
Here is a list of sci-fi shows/movies that contains starship designs:
Babylon 5
The starship designs of Earth Alliance comprise of mostly windowless boxes, but at least they had character. The Omega class destroyers come to mind and I love those rotating sections. Let's face it, any ship with a rotating section looks very*cool. Plus, I think the Starfuries and Thunderbolts are pretty cool too. Speaking of which, according to Straczynski, the Starfury was inspired by the Gunstar in the movie, "The Last Starfighter", but to me, it bears a striking similar appearance to the X-wing fighter. As for the Narn, they have some of the coolest ship designs I've ever seen. Warships like the G'quan, T'loth, and Th'nor cruisers qualify in this category. And let's not forget about the Minbari. They have the best designs compared to all the races combined. Warships like the Sharlin, Tinashi, Nial, Lintira, as well as the civilian ship, the Glider class transport are very beautifully designed. However, for best starship design in the B5 universe has got to be the Whitestar. What can I say? I'm biased!
Farscape
Well, this is a tough one because I like ALL of the ships in Farscape. The Peacekeeper warships such as: the Command Carrier, Marauder, and Prowler are very original, to say the least, and great to look at too. Even Stannz's Salvage ship has an interesting design and has a lot of personality as well. The Farscape One module is pretty nifty too and will probably be the next generation of shuttles for N.A.S.A. in the near future. As for Moya, she is simply gorgeous! But my favorite starship design goes to Talyn, with Moya coming in a close second.
Firefly/Serenity
If there was an award for originality, Firefly/Serenity ship would win first place, hands down. Some of the characters (who are not necessarily from the crew of Serenity) look at her as if she were an overworked and old rust bucket, but I love it. Its design signifies defiance and indepedence. If she could talk, I'm sure it would probably say something like this, "Hey, look at me. I'm different and unique. Personally, I don't care what you think!". In a way, it kind of resembles a firefly, which explains how it got its name classficiation. And I like the fact that it has a rotating section too, but unlike the B5 Omega Destroyers, it doesn't provide artificial gravity this way. Still, I love the ship just the same. The only thing I would add-on her would be weapons and she'll be all set.
Blake's 7
Okay, I'll admit it, the Liberator never really appealed to me from an aesthetic point-of-view. Oh sure, I found it to be an interesting design, but I never bought it as a warship that could take on the Federation because I've always thought it look too fragile and dinky for that. The three pylons which connected to the neutron blasters were very thin and looked like they were about to snap off like twigs. In fact, I'm surprised how they managed to stay in one piece whenever the Liberator went its maximum speed, which by the way wasn't often. Judging by is appearance, I think the Liberator would have been better suited for a diplomatic vessel, accompanied by a squadron of Pursuit ships for protection. Okay, onto Scorpio. This ship has gotten a bad reputation for being inferior to the Liberator and in a lot of ways it is, afterall, Liberator was the most advanced starship in the entire universe, but there's something about Scorpio that I find appealing. I can't really put my finger on it, I just like it. I think its because it has more of a utilitarian look to it. it has a more practical design, which doesn't have any thin pylons to support it. Plus, I really liked the interior of Scorpio because I thought it looked more futuristic than Liberator's, barring Slave's annoying inferior complex issue.
Battlestar Galactica (old version)
This is perhaps one of the very best cool looking ships in sci-fi tv history! The design kind of reminds me of an alligator and yet, it has a certain sleekness to it. If the ship could talk it would probably say, "Stay out of my way, shrimp!". Gotta love those laser turrets!
Battlestar Galactica (new version)
When I first saw Galactica's new look I was impressed. It looks very similar to the old one, except it has a more gritty and somewhat gothic tone to it. My liking to this mighty ship increased once I saw her in action. No lasers or energy weapons, just good old fashion projectile armaments, which makes it energy efficient. Those Raptors and Vipers are quite nice and also have a tough look to it too. Now, if I had to choose which version of Galactica as the best ship, I'd go with the new one because I love the ribbed-cage look on it.
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Discovery ship is an interesting design with its spine extending to the aft section. But I was always more interested in its interior, specifically, those transparent buttons which resemble CD jewel cases. By the way, have you noticed that there are no labels on them? Which makes me wonder how those astronauts are able to distinguish each and every button. Hmmm.....
Stargate
The BC-303 Prometheus. is a spiffy design. I also like the interior of the ship, it looks militaristic, yet with a touch of futuristic flavor. The only thing I don't like about it (as well as all the ships of Stargate) are the fact that they use transporters, which was a blatant ripoff of Star Trek. Well, Trek is ripoff of Forbidden Planet, but that's besides the point.
Andromeda
This ship has a bold and fresh look which sets it apart from Star Trek starship incarnations. In a way, it looks a like a horseshoe, but its also extremely sleek in a deadly kind of way. But its main bonus was the lovely Rommie!
Star Wars
Wow, there are so many kinds of ships in this one that frankly, I don't know where to begin. I would have to say that my favorite ships in this universe are Boba Feit's Slave 1 and the Millenium Falcon.
Star Trek
Personally, I never liked the starship designs in Star Trek because they were essentially all the same: A huge saucer, connected with a very thin neck, followed by a secondary hull with two cigar-like nacelles attached to it. Now, how many starships in Starfleet resemble this design? Nearly all of them! I understand the need to keep with tradition but come on! They all look virtually identical to the Enterprise design! So far, the only starship in Trek that sticks out from the norm is DS9's Defiant. While it wasn't exactly a pretty ship, I like the originality that went into its design. It kind of reminds me of a transformer in a way.
So, there you have it.
Next!
Here is a list of sci-fi shows/movies that contains starship designs:
Babylon 5
The starship designs of Earth Alliance comprise of mostly windowless boxes, but at least they had character. The Omega class destroyers come to mind and I love those rotating sections. Let's face it, any ship with a rotating section looks very*cool. Plus, I think the Starfuries and Thunderbolts are pretty cool too. Speaking of which, according to Straczynski, the Starfury was inspired by the Gunstar in the movie, "The Last Starfighter", but to me, it bears a striking similar appearance to the X-wing fighter. As for the Narn, they have some of the coolest ship designs I've ever seen. Warships like the G'quan, T'loth, and Th'nor cruisers qualify in this category. And let's not forget about the Minbari. They have the best designs compared to all the races combined. Warships like the Sharlin, Tinashi, Nial, Lintira, as well as the civilian ship, the Glider class transport are very beautifully designed. However, for best starship design in the B5 universe has got to be the Whitestar. What can I say? I'm biased!
Farscape
Well, this is a tough one because I like ALL of the ships in Farscape. The Peacekeeper warships such as: the Command Carrier, Marauder, and Prowler are very original, to say the least, and great to look at too. Even Stannz's Salvage ship has an interesting design and has a lot of personality as well. The Farscape One module is pretty nifty too and will probably be the next generation of shuttles for N.A.S.A. in the near future. As for Moya, she is simply gorgeous! But my favorite starship design goes to Talyn, with Moya coming in a close second.
Firefly/Serenity
If there was an award for originality, Firefly/Serenity ship would win first place, hands down. Some of the characters (who are not necessarily from the crew of Serenity) look at her as if she were an overworked and old rust bucket, but I love it. Its design signifies defiance and indepedence. If she could talk, I'm sure it would probably say something like this, "Hey, look at me. I'm different and unique. Personally, I don't care what you think!". In a way, it kind of resembles a firefly, which explains how it got its name classficiation. And I like the fact that it has a rotating section too, but unlike the B5 Omega Destroyers, it doesn't provide artificial gravity this way. Still, I love the ship just the same. The only thing I would add-on her would be weapons and she'll be all set.
Blake's 7
Okay, I'll admit it, the Liberator never really appealed to me from an aesthetic point-of-view. Oh sure, I found it to be an interesting design, but I never bought it as a warship that could take on the Federation because I've always thought it look too fragile and dinky for that. The three pylons which connected to the neutron blasters were very thin and looked like they were about to snap off like twigs. In fact, I'm surprised how they managed to stay in one piece whenever the Liberator went its maximum speed, which by the way wasn't often. Judging by is appearance, I think the Liberator would have been better suited for a diplomatic vessel, accompanied by a squadron of Pursuit ships for protection. Okay, onto Scorpio. This ship has gotten a bad reputation for being inferior to the Liberator and in a lot of ways it is, afterall, Liberator was the most advanced starship in the entire universe, but there's something about Scorpio that I find appealing. I can't really put my finger on it, I just like it. I think its because it has more of a utilitarian look to it. it has a more practical design, which doesn't have any thin pylons to support it. Plus, I really liked the interior of Scorpio because I thought it looked more futuristic than Liberator's, barring Slave's annoying inferior complex issue.
Battlestar Galactica (old version)
This is perhaps one of the very best cool looking ships in sci-fi tv history! The design kind of reminds me of an alligator and yet, it has a certain sleekness to it. If the ship could talk it would probably say, "Stay out of my way, shrimp!". Gotta love those laser turrets!
Battlestar Galactica (new version)
When I first saw Galactica's new look I was impressed. It looks very similar to the old one, except it has a more gritty and somewhat gothic tone to it. My liking to this mighty ship increased once I saw her in action. No lasers or energy weapons, just good old fashion projectile armaments, which makes it energy efficient. Those Raptors and Vipers are quite nice and also have a tough look to it too. Now, if I had to choose which version of Galactica as the best ship, I'd go with the new one because I love the ribbed-cage look on it.
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Discovery ship is an interesting design with its spine extending to the aft section. But I was always more interested in its interior, specifically, those transparent buttons which resemble CD jewel cases. By the way, have you noticed that there are no labels on them? Which makes me wonder how those astronauts are able to distinguish each and every button. Hmmm.....
Stargate
The BC-303 Prometheus. is a spiffy design. I also like the interior of the ship, it looks militaristic, yet with a touch of futuristic flavor. The only thing I don't like about it (as well as all the ships of Stargate) are the fact that they use transporters, which was a blatant ripoff of Star Trek. Well, Trek is ripoff of Forbidden Planet, but that's besides the point.
Andromeda
This ship has a bold and fresh look which sets it apart from Star Trek starship incarnations. In a way, it looks a like a horseshoe, but its also extremely sleek in a deadly kind of way. But its main bonus was the lovely Rommie!
Star Wars
Wow, there are so many kinds of ships in this one that frankly, I don't know where to begin. I would have to say that my favorite ships in this universe are Boba Feit's Slave 1 and the Millenium Falcon.
Star Trek
Personally, I never liked the starship designs in Star Trek because they were essentially all the same: A huge saucer, connected with a very thin neck, followed by a secondary hull with two cigar-like nacelles attached to it. Now, how many starships in Starfleet resemble this design? Nearly all of them! I understand the need to keep with tradition but come on! They all look virtually identical to the Enterprise design! So far, the only starship in Trek that sticks out from the norm is DS9's Defiant. While it wasn't exactly a pretty ship, I like the originality that went into its design. It kind of reminds me of a transformer in a way.
So, there you have it.
Next!
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