Spyke

Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.

View original on piefed.world

136 replies

sopuli.xyz

With exception of the scifi label and being well known they are not even comparable.

51
lemmy.world

I watch Star Wars for spaceships and laser sword fights.

I watch Star Trek for courtroom episodes.

(Although Andor is one of the best political dramas out there and must-see TV.)

39
anomnomreply
sh.itjust.works

Yes to Andor, and before that Rouge One was the best thing to come out after the admittedly cheesy original 3 (before Lucas added all the lame animation over them).

3
lemmy.world

Star Wars is an action/adventure/drama series that happens to be in space (they called it “space opera” for good reason).

Star Trek is a science fiction series, at least until Fuller/Kurtzman (where it strayed more to action/adventure). You kind of have to bisect Star Trek into pre and post Roddenberry/Berman.

16
homesreply
piefed.world

I think the best label for Star Wars is probably “Science Fantasy”. Personally, when it comes to this sort of differentiation, I draw the line at: is there magic?

15
radixreply
lemmy.world

Unpopular opinion of the day: "The Force" isn't any more magic than Betazoid telepathy, replicators, or transporters.

13
homesreply
piefed.world

even in Trek, it's openly acknowledged that there must be a scientific explanation for Q, even if it's beyond humanity's current understanding. they also mention several times that any sufficiently advanced technology would appear to be magic to those who lack the ability to rationally explain it.

6
samus12345reply
sh.itjust.works

Star Wars tried for a scientific explanation for the Force, too, with midichlorians.

7
homesreply
piefed.world

They tried, but it’s kind of bullshit and magic anyway

3

Yeah, Star Wars is a fantasy that is set in space.

There are aspects of Sci-Fi but the galaxy often blurs the line between magic and technology.

It has space opera elements, but Star Wars anymore is a setting rather than a story.

6

Auralnauts Explains It All For You, via the life of Larry Bonjo Ben Kenobi. They tried to make him to go to Grievous's rehab and he said no no no

2
CyberEggreply
discuss.tchncs.de

There's not much actual sience behind the technobabbel of Star Trek tbh. It's just as much of a magic system as the force is.

3
lemmy.world

Bormanis was given a hard task, to be fair. So many scripts just had (TECH) written where the writers needed help and Bormanis would have to shoehorn something in (and before Bormanis, the actors probably just made a lot of it up).

Thankfully most of the science fiction isn’t in that technobabble but in the plot lines; questioning what it is to be human, to be civilised, and what meaning there is to life, post-scarcity.

6

Thankfully most of the science fiction isn’t in that technobabble but in the plot lines; questioning what it is to be human, to be civilised, and what meaning their is to life, post-scarcity.

This point needs more acknowledgement. Star Trek isn’t a sci-fi show because it does or doesn’t have magic, it’s because it tends to follow the genre conventions of a (very soft, pop) sci-fi show. Easy example, Star Wars doesn’t tend to focus on questions like “hey are these robots sentient? How could we know?” while Star Trek can’t stop litigating that issue.

2
Olapreply
lemmy.world

Babylon 5 wants a word out back. And Farscape is waiting to surprise them both

22

No.

None.

Lexx is like a bad salvia trip.

Feels like suffering brain damage and sexual abuse.

5

Oh my, I couldn't get into that show. I still haven't finished it. It has been sitting in my "Up Next" for months, and will probably remain there for months to come...

4

I thought the girl was soooo cute when I was young. She's probably half my age now...

3

Farscape is so refreshing for a lot of reasons, but the quality puppets let them do soooo many cooler aliens than other shows that had to capitulate to the homonoid alien trope

9
IIIreply
lemmy.world

You are not alone. I just don't understand how people can watch that and think "good". The puppets were neat and some of the concepts had possibility. But characters wildly changing their personality episode after episode just turned me off. It just had no consistency.

5

I really like the premise of Farscape, but the execution was lacking. It can still be fun in small doses, but I find a majority of the episodes are just too cheesy for me (same reason why I could never get into Doctor Who).

1

It's at least nice that they're not so much a big military hierarchy for a change, in sci-fi.

1
eviltoast.org

I watched like 2.5 seasons of sg1 a few months ago and i gave up waiting for it to get good. It definitely had redeeming moments and even episodes but by and large i found it pretty mediocre.

1

You mean the long ad for the FN P90?
But to be fair Stargate has quite a few funny eposodes - if you don't take it so seriously.

2

I think a lot of the love for it comes from "growing up" with it and having nostalgia blinders on.

I really loved SG1 when it was airing, but rewatching it nowadays I'm more in your camp -redeaming moments and really good episodes here and there, but for the most part it's fairly mediocre and a background watch type show at most.

2

I think it's a dumb debate personally.

I love my space exploration show. I also love my space wizard drama, and my space politics show, and my wibbly wobbly spacey wacey show. I just like goofy shows in space.

Except Picard. I don't care for Picard.

15

I think it's a dumb debate personally.

Seriously.

Babylon 5 is obviously the better one.

6

These comparisons feel like people trying to compare Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth and asking which was the better athlete.

3
lemmy.world

Eh, they both have their place. I can't get behind Jedi being emotionally stunted or the federation not using it's tech to the fullest.

My one exception is pre-Disney Mandolorians. Nothing is sexier than freefalling from orbit on the back of a 6 legged robot dragon with nothing but your platemail and a vague goal of scaring the shit out of locals.

14
SatyrSackreply
quokk.au

My one exception is pre-Disney Mandolorians. Nothing is sexier than freefalling from orbit on the back of a 6 legged robot dragon with nothing but your platemail and a vague goal of scaring the shit out of locals.

My knowledge of Star Wars is almost entirely pre-Disney, but I am completely lost here. What is that describing?

10
T156reply
lemmy.world

the federation not using it's tech to the fullest.

Funny you say that, since the Federation arguably doesn't.

Just look at warp drives, for example. A galaxy-class can go from reverse to full forward in a third of a millisecond. Smaller, newer ships like the Intrepid, of the Sovereign, would be both faster and even more agile.

Federation starships should be zooming about the battlefield like dragonflies instead of slowly flying around each other like star wars ships. Though it makes some sense why they won't, since the viewers would have a fit about it being unrealistic.

4
lemmy.world

My biggest grievance is that the threat of death exists when, between replicators and transporter errors, they could populate their ships with unending clone armies to explore without ever risking anything.

1
T156reply
lemmy.world

Not having clone armies at least makes sense, since the Federation isn't exactly that fond of cloning sapients, inorganics aside. Too many ethical issues involved.

3

Ok, so instead of staffing a ship with 1000 duplicates of one guy who volunteers to go out and risk his life, they could add some extra storage to the transport buffer and require weekly backups of all crew. Then if redshirt #3 dies planet side they just spin him back up and tell him what went wrong. They have video game style save points on every ship and they're using them to save on gas.

2
SippyCupreply
lemmy.ml

You'd enjoy the opening to Starship Troopers.

The rest of the book is neonationalist garbage but the openinging sequence is good. And the likely inspiration for the drop you described.

1
macmacfirereply
lemmy.ml

The rest of the book is neonationalist garbage

Just have to ask...you do realize it's satire, right?

3
SippyCupreply
lemmy.ml

The book? Or the movie?

The book is 100% serious. It's fucking ridiculous. But Heinlein is pretty sincere and uses it as his philosophical treatise. There's more than one section where he sits everyone down in a classroom for a lecture.

The movie is satire. It takes the themes presented and makes sure that everyone who espouses the virtues of the militant fascist state is horribly disfigured.

5
lemmy.world

I have a hard time getting a read on Heinlein because he also wrote Stranger in a Strange Land which is as left as Starship Troopers is right.

3
SippyCupreply
lemmy.ml

As I understand he wrote SiaSL to be deliberately provocative. It read to me as if he was just dreaming up the most bizarrely counter culture things he could think of and mushing them together.

2

Stranger was considerably more thoughtful and deliberate than you've described, but even still how is that different than Starship Troopers? Heinlein used his novels to explore worldviews, not really to endorse them. If you start trying to pin down his sincere beliefs with any one book, you're pretty quickly going to run into inconsistencies with the others.

2
lemmy.world

Post TNG and Voyager, they've been fairly blah with a handful of decent standout episodes.

Maybe it's because I grew up with these shows, and now I'm old I just want something with a bit more heft.

It's just all seems like light entertainment these days. Something akin to The Expanse is what I'm after.

12
boboreply
lemmy.ml

Post TNG and Voyager, they've been fairly blah with a handful of decent standout episodes.

Lower decks! Lower decks! Lower decks!

12
lemmy.world

not gonna sub to paramount not gonna sub to paramount not gonna sub to paramount.

I don't subscribe to disney either. so I've basically missed out of anything that wasn't on netflix. and I'm probably going to cancel netflix too.

1
lemmy.world

yeah I'm one of those idiots who think artists should be paid for their labors :|

I know, it's like... so last century. I did some arrrrrgghmatey kinda stuff when I was younger but not since like... newsgroup releases back in the protoweb days.

-2

artists should be paid for their labors

I get that, but if you'll never pay for paramount, I imagine if you asked the artists whether they'd rather have their work stolen or never viewed at all I suspect they'd choose the former.

3
boboreply
lemmy.ml

not gonna sub to paramount not gonna sub to paramount not gonna sub to paramount.

There, I've fixed it for you.

Now do like the rest of us Orions and watch the best Star Trek since TNG.

6
lemmy.world

ech.... I'm one of those ancient weirdos who want artists to get paid for their work. and I'm already in front of screens too much for work and gaming, corpulent etc.,.

2
boboreply
lemmy.ml

And you think production is going to share their profits from a finished series with the artists?

and I'm already in front of screens too much for work and gaming, corpulent etc.,.

That I get 100%

2
lemmy.world

And you think production is going to share their profits from a finished series with the artists?

I don't know if it's still applicable to productions taking place today across the board, but SAG still exists so I have to believe a large number of hollywood productions still give residuals to people........?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual_(entertainment_industry)

I know for many it's a pittance but better something than nothing at all.

I'm probably thinking too much into all this and will catch up sometime in the future after the apocalypse. thanks for the insight.

2
boboreply

If I'm getting this article correctly, they're only getting paid for the success of the show within 90 days of release on a streaming platform. Everything else is based on the streaming service buying the license to show the series.

So the only way to maybe get them some additional pay would be for you to purchase it through some non streaming method like buying a dvd from amazon, or to wait for paramount to sell the license to a new streaming service and you take part in the whatever percentage of the service is required to watch the show within 90 days for them to get a bonus.

1
MisterDreply
lemmy.ca

The Expanse has ruined my enjoyment of most space sci-fi shows. It was too good

5

Try the expense audiobooks. They are as good and better than the TV show

2
lemmy.world

Star Trek is one of if not the most prominent Science Fiction series in our culture.

Star Wars is one of if not the most prominent "Science" based Fantasy series in our culture.

They really aren't at all similar on the most fundamental level. They just use similar set dressing.

12

The only real comparison I can draw between the two is both have disappointed me by moving away from their established brands and disappointing me.

11
lemmy.world

Strange new worlds is amazing and reclaims that established spirit.

1

Star Trek going back into its own timeline isn't something I'm excited for. I want to see what's next. Its probably good, but it feels like revisions when I'm waiting for the next next generation.

1

Storm trooper still misses, but red shirt dies of heart attack. Or they dodge, slip on a replicated banana and hit their head on the Conn and die, while sending the enterprise on a spin near a black hole. Now Chewbacca has to charm nurse Chappel or the Kryptonians will take advantage and board the ship.

Take that AI, this is human made slop. You're not better than me.

10
blackrisreply
discuss.tchncs.de

It's like the toast with jam and a cat. The fabric of existence itself will be in danger.

7
lemmy.world

I'm not so sure. If we're counting everything that carries the Star Trek logo as a whole, then currently Star Trek is incredibly shit.

8

Idk, Star Wars and Star Trek only share the sense that they’re both in space, overall both very different and we like both. Personally we like Star Wars more because autism brain but yeah start trek is good too :3

8

If you want to compare current stuff, then both are trash. sequel trilogy at least had the decency of being entertaining garbage while disco was 10% plot and 90% people talking about the 10% in case you missed anything while looking at tiktok.

original trilogy and next generation are both good shit, and are good for different reasons.

5

Original trilogy + EU books/comics/games is peak star wars for me. Rogue squadron, young Jedi academy, thrawn trilogy, etc. Star trek I think delivers more consistently across series but if I had to pick a peak maybe end of tng beginning of ds9/voyager.

7
Digitreply
lemmy.wtf

Yeah, and cow shit's better than pig shit.

But it's all still shit.

-5
lemmy.world

What didn't you like about Andor? And if your answer is "I didn't see it", then why do you already have an opinion on it?

5

Andor's the exception to the rule.

[Edit: oh, oops, I guess I still had other comments in my mind when I was replying to that. Was replying more to the general the new stuff's not as good as the old stuff vibe. Though still, under scrutiny, even the old Star Wars stuff has a lot of holes, and so it's hard to build something good on that. So I guess in the case of Andor, they've managed to improve(?) more.]

2
thelemmy.club

Shitpost factor 9, engage!
I mean, if the stunt doubles from Spaceballs would have made an animated musical series directed by Jar Jar for baby yodeler it would have been better than Star Wars, the western with space decorations ...

4
SkyezOpenreply
lemmy.world

What would happen if storm troopers shot at red shirts?

3

Wow. Simultaneously, endless war and world peace, as no one dies from war.

2

On another note entirely, this looks like one of those memes that's a still clip from a porn film with an amusing unrelated caption

4
lemmy.world

I wanted to try Star Trek recently, but found out it's like 1000 episodes and 15 movies, so it might take a while. Though I've heard not everything is worth watching.

Can anyone from Star Trek's fan base provide some more insights on which shows can be safely skipped, if any?

As for watch order, I'm gonna go with release date order, unless there are any special circumstances.

3

Though I’ve heard not everything is worth watching.

You heard wrong 😎

Seriously, if you ask ten Trekkies you’ll get twelve opinions on what’s good, what isn’t, and why. My best advice is to try everything, skip a few seasons ahead if a show is not resonating at first, and if it still isn’t hitting the mark for you at that point move on to the next series. Most shows* take a while to reach their potential, but until the recent stuff they’re all episodic enough that you can feel free to jump around a bit.

*The original series is the exception, it pretty much hits the ground running.

2
InputZeroreply
lemmy.world

The ones worth watching in my opinion are, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, finally Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks together. As for The Original Series, Enterprise, Discovery, Cadets, Picard, and the rest can be skipped. The Original Series is fun to go back to but it's so unlike the rest I can't get into it.

2

Personally, I liked Enterprise. Flock is my favorite ST doctor by a wide margin (though I haven't seen anything newer than enterprise, other than one of the reboot movies).

It's a different feel from the series that came before it, way more ad-hoc with what they are doing since they are the first human ship to boldly explore the unknown.

3

Putting strange new worlds above TOS is inconceivable to me. S1 of TOS alone has several episodes well above the best of SNW (Corbomite maneuver, city on the edge of forever, Balance of Terror). Though there’s also a decent amount of poorly aged material… pretty much agreed otherwise. Also, I agree they should watch SNW, just not in lieu of TOS

2
sopuli.xyz

Andor and Solo are good, most of the rest of Star Wars including all the "space wizard" stuff is shallow as hell and far more casually cynical than Star Trek is.

2
lemmy.zip

I'm not sure how you can defend Solo when one of its subplots is literally "the exploitative plight of droids is funny lmao"

6

And also "the one droid fighting for droids' rights is ::: spoiler spoiler literally turned into a permanently-enslaved appliance at the end." :::

4

valid, I am not defending it there, but at least it acknowledged the concept...

3

Star Wars is for people that want actual science fiction that explores the consequences of empathic abilities, telekinesis and precognition. Religions form around the people that have those abilities, people are corrupted by the power those abilities give them over other people. The entire politics of a galaxy revolve around it. That's science fiction... exploring the consequences of fictional science.

Star Trek is for people that like science fantasy where everything is treated as just magical abilities that different races of people just have. The space elves (Vulcans) have telepathic abilities and it's just accepted as magic only the space elves have. The Q are sorcerers that can change the laws of physics and it's not questioned because aliens are magic. Nobody in Star Trek actually studies these things and try to create technology to recreate what the aliens can do, because it's not science, it's magic.

Star Wars is science fiction, Star Trek is science fantasy. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

-2