Bitter Trek Fan? :D

SWvST: the subject of the main site.

Moderator: Vympel

User avatar
Jon
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1501
Joined: 2004-03-02 10:11am
Location: Manchester UK

Post by Jon »

Darth Wong wrote:
Star Wars, in comparison, has some basic techs which do certain obviously identifiable things, and ... that's it. No one has ever used a hyperdrive in order to do anything but go to hyperspace. No one has ever used a blaster in order to do anything but blast things. No one has ever used a droid to do anything but its original design function, like basic utility operations (R2D2) or talking to people (C3PO).
Must have added this while I responded :)

I understand this entirely, but I do wonder, if Star Wars were spread across hundreds of TV hours, could you say that? I know it isn't and therefore what I ask is sort of invalid, but I can't help but think if Trek were limited to 3-4 movies, originally, it could be *so much better* in terms of ... well, not being so bloody stupid. Bah.
User avatar
Darth Wong
Sith Lord
Sith Lord
Posts: 70028
Joined: 2002-07-03 12:25am
Location: Toronto, Canada
Contact:

Post by Darth Wong »

Jon wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
Star Wars, in comparison, has some basic techs which do certain obviously identifiable things, and ... that's it. No one has ever used a hyperdrive in order to do anything but go to hyperspace. No one has ever used a blaster in order to do anything but blast things. No one has ever used a droid to do anything but its original design function, like basic utility operations (R2D2) or talking to people (C3PO).
Must have added this while I responded :)
Yeah, I sometimes do that "damn, I should have added this!" thing just as I hit "submit" :)
I understand this entirely, but I do wonder, if Star Wars were spread across hundreds of TV hours, could you say that? I know it isn't and therefore what I ask is sort of invalid, but I can't help but think if Trek were limited to 3-4 movies, originally, it could be *so much better* in terms of ... well, not being so bloody stupid. Bah.
If George Lucas wrote it, I would say "absolutely not". He simply doesn't do that sort of thing. However, if Rick Berman was in charge of a Star Wars show, the same thing might very well happen. It all boils down to the guy in charge, and unfortunately for Trekkies, that guy happens to be Rick Berman.
Image
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing

"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC

"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness

"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.

http://www.stardestroyer.net/Mike/RantMode/Blurbs.html
User avatar
Stark
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 36169
Joined: 2002-07-03 09:56pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Post by Stark »

Star Wars also doesn't make a habit of violating its own established limitations: people don't trip over planet-destroying weapons on desert planets, for instance. They don't say top speed is W9.2 and then promptly (and regularly) exceed it. If some piece of technology fails to do something, it doesn't magically gain that ability later. There isn't as much 'what the hell'-age, nor as much screwing around with tech for the sake of plot (ie, Akira is crap, oh wait now Akira is super).

As DW says, this comes down alot to who's in charge; but I'd add that since SW is almost entirely written by one person, instead of a whole, ever-changing staff, that it has many advantages consistency-wise.
1337n1nj4
Village Idiot
Posts: 316
Joined: 2004-04-12 12:01am

Post by 1337n1nj4 »

The point is, at no time did Captain Kirk turn down a chance for a good ass-beating (set to recurring fight music) or hot alien babes.

The only contemporary that could potentially have given Kirk a run for his money was Adam West's Batman.
User avatar
Jon
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 1501
Joined: 2004-03-02 10:11am
Location: Manchester UK

Post by Jon »

I can't argue any of these points, which in a way saddens me, but still, doesn't destroy how I enjoy Star Trek. I can admit that the series is treated with total disrespect by Paramount/ B&B, Who I would threaten to kill if it wasn't against the rules. :D

Stark, probably the best point really, that Star Wars retains consistency (on screen at least, but afaik, books not wirrten by Lucas are also considered canon?). It's a shame that Trek Literature is non-canon, some really good books have been written, alot of effort put into resolving the idiocracies of on screen action.

Ah well, I guess I'll just escape through a hole in the event horizon.
User avatar
PainRack
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7581
Joined: 2002-07-07 03:03am
Location: Singapura

Post by PainRack »

Jon wrote: Must have added this while I responded :)

I understand this entirely, but I do wonder, if Star Wars were spread across hundreds of TV hours, could you say that? I know it isn't and therefore what I ask is sort of invalid, but I can't help but think if Trek were limited to 3-4 movies, originally, it could be *so much better* in terms of ... well, not being so bloody stupid. Bah.
Now, there's something that should be talked about.

SW has been spread out across TV screens in the ewok cartoons, holiday special, Ewok movies and the like. With the Shadow of the Empire game/novel/comic, Dark Empire series, the novelisation and merchandise spin-offs, Star Wars has been spread out in terms of exposure.

However, in the terms of stupidity, for some strange reason, we have been spared that for the more adult portions. Star Wars for kids is bloody stupid. The Glove of darth vader, anti-matter whalers, Young Jedi Knight series, the Crystal Star aside, thankfully, while extremely bad, a significant portion of the EU storyboard has been relatively sane.
Let him land on any Lyran world to taste firsthand the wrath of peace loving people thwarted by the myopic greed of a few miserly old farts- Katrina Steiner
Kurgan
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4069
Joined: 2002-08-19 08:13pm

Post by Kurgan »

RedImperator, you summed it up nicely, my own opinion is actually very very close to what you just said, except that I prefer Wars to Trek, and I like ROTJ better (though I admit, I can see the popular overall appeal of ESB that far outstrips my personal preference).

As subjective opinions go, right on!
Post Reply