Star Wars vs. Star Trek

[topcliff 1]

I've asked this same question to family and friends, and it's created quite a stir! Some people threw insults, others fists, and one person threw a bagel over this! Personally, my fave is Star Wars. What's yours? Leonardo

[Firebird 40]

StarTrek. And THATS final!

[pilotdaryl 25]

Personally, I think both of them are great--but I would choose Star Wars.

[Barbarossa 51]

I only like old Star Wars (4-6) and old Star Trek, but between those two, I would have to say Star Wars. I especially say so because of the Joseph Campbell archetype aspect, I guess. But it is a close race between the two.

Barbarossa

[Evil_Someone 1]

star trek, defenatly, star wars is all about that magic and force or whatever while trek is way more realistic, its pure science there... and ships look better!

-Evil.

[Boggy1 45]

I honestly don't think you can compare six (or was it seven?) movies and a number of canon books with a series that has spanned ten movies (soon to be eleven), and a total of 726 seperate episodes.

Obviously, the plot and history of Star Trek is far far more complex and far reaching than Star Wars. Also, I do tend to say that Star Trek is more realistic than Star Wars (okay okay, Star Trek isn't realistic, but Star Wars is less realistic in my opinion. At least in Star Trek we get a, often full, explanation on how things work - be it full of technobabble or not - while in Star Wars we generally just accept things.)

[beebs 129]

Star Trek had more politics and a complete universe. I appreciate that a lot more than random babble Sci-Fi.

[Boggy1 45]

beebs: Oh yeah, thats another thing Star Trek was great at doing. It often put into light the political crisis of the era, and used it to tell a story. These included the cold war, sexism, racism, the holocaust, pollution, ecology, segregation, wars, violence, homelessness, rape...the list goes on and on....

[confused04 14]

I prefer Star Wars. Generally far more entertaining and creative. Despite the number of Star Trek episodes, most of them have very uncreative aliens with a simple crinkle in the nose. I don't find Star Trek that complicated (plot wise anyway). Star Wars is filled with geopolitical strife, especially if you read the book.  Also, Star Wars is generally darker, with a more exposed underworld of smugglers and bounty hunters.  Finally ... Jedi... I mean... JEDI! Woot! YODA!

I do love Star Trek, especially Voyager. Deep Space 9 was totally the very lowest of lows for the series.

[pilotdaryl 25]

What you people don't know about Star Wars is that it changed the world!  Its more popular than any of the Star Trek movies--thanks to Star Wars, many new things have gotten invented or put to use--you just don't see what Star Wars really is!  Heck--its got the expanded universe and fan films and novels too!  I'm definitely staying with Star Wars... btw, you ppl might wanna take a look at

.

[Boggy1 45]

Really? I thought DS9 was one of the best Sci Fi's of the time, and still is. The extreamly dark plot, the many story arcs, the twists, the awesome acting (Avery Books is just..made of awesome), the excellent writing..

On the other hand I enjoy Voyager because of the humour, but in reality it is just The Next Generation with different aliens. There was almost zero character development (HARRY KIM!!!!!), and the whole premise of the show was forgotten by about episode five (come on, they had limited resources, limited fuel, limited weapons, shuttlecraft, people; they could have done an amazing Battlestar Galactica-esque show with Voyager having to trade, and often do immoral things, just to survive. Having to make very hard desisions, having conflicts in the crew....the whole Marqui thing was terrible; so much potential, almost none of it used).

By the end of the series the ship itself should have been falling apart, covered in damage, practically limping home (and GARH they only had about five shuttlecraft to begin with, where the hell did the extra seven or so they showed come from, and more to the point, where did they fit?!)

pilotdaryl: I think your confusing your Star Trek and Star Wars there Star Trek did change the world in a number of ways. It had the first black kiss on television, it had women being portrayed as equals in a time when they were not. (heck it even had Russians being portrayed as equals in the heart of the Cold War). Also, it predicted many technologies (Mobile Phone=/=Communicator, Hypospray=/=Experimental synringe etc etc)

[pilotdaryl 25]

Yes, you may be right--but Star Wars changed the world in more ways Star Trek did--heck, thanks to Star Wars, special fx company Industrial Light and Magic was made--ILM has been producing all of the SFX for Star Trek since! (with the exception of TOS and ST:V TFF)

You want proof? Click here

[Firebird 40]

Boggy, those are some pretty good idea there, but, to add THAT into Startrek Voyager, would be taking away its happy pappy StarTrekkieness. And besides, i loathe Battle Star Galactica.

And, there were a few eps where they fan out of things. I remember in one episode, they had to shut down practically everything but life support because they needed more of this mineral for sustain their fusion reactors or something like that.

Also, remember the episodes dubbed "The Year Of Hell" parts one and two. Voyager was really a huge, huge mess. Major hull ruptures, deck 6 completely blown out..... ect

How did it get this way you ask? They didn't explore or anything to get new minerals, technology and such to repair and build new things.

I believe Deep Space 9 was not the lowest of the low, confused04. I find each of them to be equally awesome. However, it does seem that "StarTrek Enterprise" was the worst of the franchise. Only ran for 4 seasons before its ratings hit the wall and slid down.

pilotdaryl: They both equally changed the world the same.

[patriots_1228 51]

easiest solution is niether. this is the geekiest debate ever

Sportscenter all the way baby!

[MrCinatit 30]

I am a fan of both, but lean quite a bit towards the Star Trek universe.

As has been said by many others, it seems the Star Trek universe is deeper and more complex. Even the short-lived animation series from the early 1970s lends quite a bit to the Star Trek universe.

I also like DS9 quite a bit - it was fascinating to watch the entire plot and subplots of the series slowly unfold when it was released on DVD. and to watch bits and pieces of that plot reappear in other installments (a couple of TNG movies, and Voyager).

In addition, it was Star Wars which, I believe, revived the interest in Science Fiction, which seemed to have a great resurgence in the mid and late '60s thanks to it, 2001 and the moon landing.

Meanwhile, the first three Star Wars movies are, indeed, pure classics in the truest sense. The first two installments for the newer trilogy - well, it took me a while to admit it, but they were pretty bad.

[beebs 129]

Enterprise was abysmal in the first 2.5 seasons. After that, things actually became semi-decent. It's too bad that they lost all their viewers by then.

And I agree with Boggy in saying that DS9 was one of the best sci-fi shows made. Especially the final few seasons.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Star Trek has done a lot more socially, with Russians, Japanese, Blacks, Women, Robots (and the implications of other technologies).  In general, it's a lot more realistic and grounded than Star Wars.  I also think that Star Trek has inspired more technology than Star Wars (probably because it focuses more on technology).

Star Wars is more fun though.  And it does cover some emotional and political type stuff, but most of it is a rehash of the same stories and themes that have been getting rehashed over the last few thousand years.  It just has a lot of fancy sci fi stuff thrown in.  But it works.

But I think that even though they're both big sci-fi things, that they're different, and it's like comparing Apples to Oranges.  I like them both though.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Star Trek as originally conceived by Gene Roddenbury was excellent.  Some of the continuations were out to lunch, but over all, I think I prefer it to Star Wars.  I only look at both of these as entertainment.

Star Trek is a drama.  Star Wars is a comedy/Space Opera.  This makes comparison very difficult.

I don't care about the fancy graphics.  It is the story that counts.  Star Trek is true SF (Science Fiction) and enjoyable in that genre.

Star Wars is SciFi (SciFi = the plural form of Scum Fum).  All flash and graphics, with almost no plot.  Good grief! It is able to be done as a Broadway play or a grand opera.

Now how would you like to cast Kiri te Kanawa as the Princess Leia?  Michael Shade as Luke?  Russell Watson as Darth Vader, and Josh Groban as Han Solo?  Hmmmm?  Of course, this would open at the Princess of Wales theater in Toronto with dibs on the Lincoln Center in New York depending on the reviews, eh?

[tiduskeegan 0]

"the whole premise of the show was forgotten by about episode five (come on, they had limited resources, limited fuel, limited weapons, shuttlecraft, people; they could have done an amazing Battlestar Galactica-esque show with Voyager having to trade, and often do immoral things, just to survive. Having to make very hard desisions, having conflicts in the crew....the whole Marqui thing was terrible; so much potential, almost none of it used).

By the end of the series the ship itself should have been falling apart, covered in damage, practically limping home (and GARH they only had about five shuttlecraft to begin with, where the hell did the extra seven or so they showed come from, and more to the point, where did they fit?!)"

Well, it definitely wasn't forgotten. Nearly one out of every two episodes required a conflict with the Prime Directive or a conflict between the crew upholding Starfleet principles so far from Earth even if it risks their survival, most often the Maquis on the "scavenger" side. There were at least five episodes about the Maquis, but I think they learned to accept their symbiosis with the Starfleet crew. Later (I'm not sure which season... maybe five or six or even later), B'Ellana and Chakotay learned about the death of all the Maquis in the Alpha Quadrant and it affected her and Chakotay several times in a few other episodes, too.

There was plenty of plot surrounding the limited resources available in the Delta Quadrant. As a previous poster mentioned, Year of Hell was one of the greatest episodes revolving around such circumstances. Also, Voyager performed a full maintenancs at least once from my memory right now, probably more. The shuttles were constructed, too, and were in the shuttle bay, obviously.

Anyways, now that I'm totally out of the closet as a geek that's seen every single episode of Voyager, I'll enter my two cents about the real meaning of this thread:

I think both Star Wars and Star Trek provided a lot of technological innovations in the real world, so it's not really fair to say one is better in that arena.

I, personally, never watched the original series of Star Trek or any of its movies, so I can only comment on Next Gen and later.

I think Star Trek stories involve the human psyche, which force you to examine yourself, more than Star Wars. However, I think Star Wars provides more drama and tension than your average Star Trek movie/episode.

Personally, I like both, but Star Trek definitely takes the prize for the vast amount of official material about it. Star Wars is great, but it's just six movies, not 730 hours. (And both series have extensive selections of books)

Well, that's my two cents and it's too long, I realize, but yeah, whatever lol. Read it or not. They both did great things for the sci-fi genre, which I'm a big fan of, and I'm grateful to both of them for their contributions.

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

Personally I think they are BOTH amazing! but I grew up with Star Trek, so I have to say that. I compare all sci fi to Star Trek lol. I love TNG & DS9 the most I think, not really TOS as much, and my favorite movies are Star Trek IV (The one with the whales!) and First Contact. (I just watched FC two nights ago!!!! lol, "Assimilate this!")

[Micah 16]

I like both, but I like the Star Trek universe better than the Star Wars universe.

Out of the series, my favorite is Enterprise in the beginning and toward the end (didn't like the middle that much), but my most favorite is Voyager. I watch it almost everyday on Spike TV. The storyline is excellent. Imagine a starship lost thousands of light years away in space... oh wait a minute... "Lost in Space".

[Voar Tok 4]

Personally, both series had their ups and their downs. The thing is, it's nearly impossible to compare the two because they're too different lines of thought in how the series is made.

Star Trek: Explore new worlds and see what things are like in other worlds.

Star Wars: Epic battle of good and evil.

I myself liked Star Wars Episodes 4-6 much better than 1-3. Episodes 1-3 had better special effects, but they were lacking a good storyline.

As for Star Trek, I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I absolutely abhorred the Captain Kirk episodes. IMHO, Shatner can't act.

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: Voar Tok

As for Star Trek, I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I absolutely abhorred the Captain Kirk episodes. IMHO, Shatner can't act.quote>

"I'm Captain....James......T.......Kirk...........captain of the........Starship..............Enterprise....."

Completely agree with you there.

[Duke87 1,070]

Well, there's often a perceived rivalry between the two, but the fact is most geeks/nerds are into both.

My sister is a huge Star Wars freak, and so naturally I have a bit of excess knowledge of it leaked off of her ranting. I'm not really into Star Trek, but that's because I've never been able to get into it because there's just too much of it out there for anyone to start getting into it now and eventually obtain a masterful level of knowledge of it. As such, I've shyed away from it, not wanting to get involved because I simply don't have enough time to dedicate to it, I already have too many other interests.

Something about Star Wars that I need to point out, though: while the environment is that of Sci-Fi, the underlying stories, themes, and ideas really reflect more on classical fantasy/mythology than Sci-Fi. Hell, Eregon is basically just a rip off of Star Wars only put into the realm of fantasy instead of sci-fi....

[Firebird 40]

Originally posted by: Voar Tok

...... As for Star Trek, I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I absolutely abhorred the Captain Kirk episodes. IMHO, Shatner can't act.quote>

Well, he just about got paid zip on StarTrek TOS. What does that tell you?

[Zelgadis 638]

Hmmm... Can't say 100% either way. Some of the Star Trek series were bad (DS9). Some of the Star Wars movies were bad (Attack of the Clones being the worst of the lot). And some on both sides were good...

And now some random thoughts...

Actually, DS9 was good for awhile. But when Sisko became some kind of Jesus-figure and it turned into a religious epic, that's when I totally lost interest.

Star Wars I is actually okay if you filter Jar Jar out from your mind.

Star Trek Voyager is actually my favorite of the series. I like it how it has a more relaxed tone than the others and kicks back and makes fun of itself sometimes. And besides, don't Janeway and Borg Queen look like two lesbians fighting over a lover (Seven)?

Pity Enterprise was canceled just when it was getting good...

All the acting in every Star Wars movie is bad (except Alec Guiness). No getting around that. But II is the only one that makes my physically ill.

I had a crush on Commander Riker (with beard). He looks like an overgrown teenager without it...

ST: Nemesis had the worst plot and the best space battle.

I'm with Firebird. I loathe the new BSG too. I like the old one though.

Thumb Wars rocks!

Okay, that's it.

ISF

[Easy Bakes 253]

Ill have to say i liked both. Both have very fleshed out universes especialy  in book form

Mabey someof the book series will be done  when Lucas does the SW Tv series thats in the works.

As for Star Trek

I dont see why every one was so down on enterprize.

Each in the series was kinda lame in the 1st seasons

then smothed out as charactors became more developed.

Enterprize ended way too soon they should have kept it going till the Klingon wars

at least.

Thought DS9 was the best of them  mostly since it ws more of an ongoing story.

Am i the only one who liked Kes better then Seven of Nine?

[Zelgadis 638]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Am i the only one who liked Kes better then Seven of Nine?

quote>

Probably. 

I actually hated Kes so much that I refuse to watch any episodes that are mostly about her. 

But we don't want to turn this into a Kes vs. Seven thread, do we? 

ISF

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: zelgadis

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Am i the only one who liked Kes better then Seven of Nine?

quote>

Probably. 

I actually hated Kes so much that I refuse to watch any episodes that are mostly about her. 

But we don't want to turn this into a Kes vs. Seven thread, do we? 

ISFquote>

 

No

Just thought Kes was cuter

[beebs 129]

Seven of Nine was too much of a mindless drone the whole time she was there. She seemed like she was there to attract the 13 year old male audience. Not that I didn't mind.. Kes at least had some character. And once they dropped the whole Neelix/Paris love triangle thing, and actually gave Kes some hair I did begin to like her and her character.