Star Trek vs Star Wars
I am a Trekkie. I admit that readily, prepared to take whatever teasing and low-blow remarks naysayers might think to throw at me.
My husband, John, is more of a Star Wars fan, however, which would usually mean we were set for a death match. Somehow we still manage to love each other.
The rivalry between Star Trek and Star Wars has been around for as long as both fandoms have existed. Both are science fiction themed, set in outer space on starships and alien planets in some distant future, but their universes could not be more different, and they each have a very unique following of fans.
Allow me to give you a quick history.
STAR TREK
The original Star Trek series first aired in 1966, staring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise, accompanied by a widely varied crew, exploring the galaxy and narrowly escaping dangers regularly each week. The Enterprise’s purpose:
“Its continuing mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!”
That still brings a tear to my eye.
The series only lasted until 1969, but it created a legacy that would continue far beyond that, including 6 films with the original cast, and four more series based in the same universe.
The Next Generation (1987–1994), Deep Space Nine (1993-1999), Voyager (1995-2001), and the prequel series Enterprise (2001-2005).
There have also been 4 films with The Next Generation cast. Shatner and a few other original series cast members made appearances in the first one, Generations, and there was a reboot movie this summer simply named “Star Trek” with a young cast reprising the original cast’s roles.
Sequels are already in the works and the DVD and Blue-ray comes out this Tuesday (tomorrow!), November 17th.
There was an animated series from 1973-1974, and like many successful franchises there are books and merchandise of all kinds. Some people even choose to learn Klingon as a second language, a harsh sounding tongue from one of Star Trek’s best known alien races.
Yeah, that’s fans for you.
STAR WARS
Star Wars began quite oppositely with a film in 1977, Episode IV: A New Hope, which was only the beginning of a trilogy that promised a universe of possibilities beyond even that three-part story.
Luke Skywalker, longing to become a Jedi like his father before him, is whisked away into a galactic battle between the Rebel Alliance and a corrupt Empire ran by the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious—Sith being the eternal opponents of the Jedi—and his equally evil apprentice Darth Vadar.
The Jedi and Sith manipulate a power called The Force that allows them insight, faster reflexes, telekinesis, and much more. There are fascinating alien races in Star Wars, a cocky smuggler played by Harrison Ford, and amazing lightsaber fights—the Jedi and Sith weapon of choice which are basically laser-bladed swords in various colors.
After the success of the first three films in 1977, 1980, and 1983 respectively, Star Wars came back to the box office in 1997 with special edition versions of the original films. In 1999 the prequel Episode I: The Phantom Menace came to theaters and was then followed up to complete a second trilogy, the next two films coming in 2002 and 2005.
“As of 2008, the overall box office revenue generated by the six Star Wars films has totaled approximately $4.3 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing film series, behind only the James Bond and Harry Potter films.” –Wikipedia
There have also been a number of books, video games (I LOVE Lego Star Wars and Knights of the Old Republic owns my soul), comic books, and TV series, including the currently running Clone Wars series after the CG film that came to theaters in 2008. We now await the Old Republic MMO hopefully coming out next year.
COMPARISON
Okay, so this is not a contest to see which fandom is better, but simply to compare the two objectively. Star Trek is over a decade older than Star Wars, but both still compete for popularity today through their older classic versions as well through the new additions to each franchise, like the new Star Wars MMO, and the recent Star Trek movie.
P.S. RiffTrax.com will be releasing the riff track to accompany Star Trek on the same day as the DVD/Blue-ray release. You can also find many of the other Star Trek films on RiffTrax, as well as Episodes I, II, III, IV, and V for Star Wars.
But let’s get to the comparisons.
Jedi vs Starfleet Officer:
No contest. Even I can admit that the Starfleet Officer would stand little chance against Force powers and a lightsaber that could send those phaser blasts right back at them.
Star Destroyer vs the Enterprise:
Star Destroyers are impressive but I think everyone would agree that the Enterprise and other starships from the Trek universe are faster and more maneuverable. They also have kick-ass shields.
Storm Troopers vs The Borg:
Stormtroopers are the most inept forces in the universe for aim and tactics, so I’d say this one goes to Trek too. Throw in Vadar, however, and it’s another story, unless of course the Borg could adapt to the Force, but then Vadar is half machine so they might end up making him their leader.
We’ll call that one a draw.
Both franchises have been honored with spoofs, such as one of my favorite movies of all time, Space Balls, a Mel Brooks film that, of course, spoofed Star Wars.
Both franchises also have flaws, as we all very well know, like a few of the Star Trek movies sucking, though after recently watching all of them again (and I mean ALL, original Trek included) I would say that the first Trek movie is my least favorite, not the ones usually called out for being bad, like Insurrection.
On the Star Wars side the newer trilogy is mostly thought of as a poor attempt to recreate something classic.
Episode III was a disaster of bad writing that even veteran actors like Ewan Mcgregor and Natalie Portman couldn’t make work.
Along that same vein of Episodes I, II, and III falling short, the film Fanboys that came out in 2008 brought us back to the mindset before any of those films came out. It follows the misadventures of four (eventually five) friends, all Star Wars aficionados, on their way to Skywalker Ranch to steal a copy of Episode I before its release.
This movie was hilarious for fans and casual admirers alike, and also had a heartwarming and sad story since the reason the friends are attempting their trek (haha) is so that one of them can see the movie before he dies of cancer.
Fanboys ends with the characters about to watch Episode I in theaters and the more or less main character of the group asking:
“What if the movie sucks?”
The End.
I laughed so hard I cried at how the film just stopped on that note, because, as I have mentioned, a lot of people see the newer movies as failures compared to the original trilogy. It was an inside joke for all fans who understood that Episode I and its successors just weren’t as good as the original.
One particular highlight in Fanboys for me was how they also portrayed the rivalry between Star Wars and Star Trek.
Trek fans are often associated with their conventions, like Star Trek Las Vegas, gatherings of like-minded individuals discussing and sharing information about the fandom, often in costume as an officer, alien race, or specifically as their favorite character.
William Shatner made a cameo as one of the contacts helping the characters in Fanboys break into Skywalker Ranch, meeting them in Las Vegas at that convention.
CONCLUSION
I understand that these are two very different fandoms about similar sci fi themes, and therefore there will always be arguments over which is superior, but I still question why there has to be rivalry at all. I love both, without feeling I am betraying the good name of either. They fill different needs for me.
Star Trek can always be counted on to continue with new series and movies, and Star Wars has had some incredible video games and has such a rich history and universe. And yet fans set at each other’s throats, like in Fanboys, where the Star Wars fan characters just have to mock Trek fans for being inferior.
I also always think of Undergrads in this debate, a briefly lived animated series on MTV in 2001. One character, referred to as Gimpy, is a Star Wars fan, and feels threatened when Trek fans start taking over his dorm.
Gimpy alludes to the leader of the Trek fans that he is contradicting the Prime Directive—a Star Trek staple idea that Starfleet will not directly interfere or impose their ideals on other races and cultures not yet familiar with interstellar travel and warp drive—by trying to impose his influence of Star Trek superiority on the other undergrads.
The Trek fan has a meltdown and when another character asks how Gimpy did it, he answers:
“Jedi mind trick.”
You can watch the clip below, starting at 3:37.
As I said, I am not here to choose a side. Trek seems to get more mocking when the two are compared, and yet both fandoms get mocked by complete outsiders. I, for one, believe we can all get along because both franchises are awesome in their own right, and both have their drawbacks from time to time too.
I may always be a Trekkie deep down, avid as I am to buy the new film on Blue-ray tomorrow, but I love me some Han Solo and I cannot wait to make a Sith Warrior in the new Old Republic MMO.
So come on fanboys and fangirls, there’s enough room in this universe for all of us.
And yes, William Riker was one of my first fictional crushes, and my nephew Ryker was named after him. If you’re reading this blog then you already knew I was that much of a geek.
~G³
Next in the versus blogs is “Lord of the Rings vs Harry Potter”. Me? I have to go with Harry, but we’ll compare the two next week.
Thanks for tuning in.
Images taken from:
http://www.newsandreviews.in/index.php/films/?tag=star+treck
http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/star-trek-vs-star-wars/
http://www.art4kids.com/onthefly.php?category=Outer%20Space
http://blog.calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/movie_maniacs/star_trek_03_1024.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/jaco10/bioware-mmo-project-untitled-20081021113619600_640w.jpg
http://larryfire.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/ln0001-star-wars.jpg
http://www.zuguide.com/image/William-Shatner-Fanboys.10.jpg
http://markedmelody.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/star-trek-movie.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OJl6ATsGFco/Rxe_BBvErGI/AAAAAAAAB8Y/zsk93qj3Elo/s320/Death_star1.png
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/ottertorials/wp-content/uploads/2008/spaceballs.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4NuZ0gulMqI/SHR7YhOXewI/AAAAAAAAACk/h03Xhw_5G9s
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4NuZ0gulMqI/SHR7YhOXewI/AAAAAAAAACk/h03Xhw_5G9s
http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/fanboys_image_still.jpg
it is true lightsaber > a wii-mote that shoots lasers….:D
sith for life.
@Janskoller: What does that say about us that we are Sith? I’m totally on the Federations’ side in Trek, but in Wars I want to be evil. Muwahahaha!
I think that says you want to run with the cool kids- I mean, in the trek ‘verse, who’s cooler than the Federation. The Borg, who want’s to be a borg? Or possibly the ferangi. I bet if there were a baddie in that verse that had half the coolness factor, then things would be different. Plus the Sith can shoot lightening out of their hands and have cookies.
@Blue-eyes-Green: You’re so right! There is no cool evil equivalent for Trek. Q? Almost too much power. I don’t need to be a Trickster.
Friends! Countrymen! Hush and Listen- for I have a proposition!
Surely we need not be rivals, and our worlds need not be enemies- great is our commonality. Why argue who would win, in Jedi versus Starfleet officier, for why must they fight? Surely the guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy would have no quarrel with those noble explores, who seek to discover, to learn, and who love justice and truth.
Would not the Sith and the Romulans devolve into galactic war just as easily as they would with their respective in-world enemies, and would the Borg try to assimilate us all, iregaurdless of fannon?
Do we not both borrow from the history and legend of Rome, and the costume designer of the Nazi’s , entirely too much not to recognize our own common ground?
Indeed, let us unite and hence forth be brothers, and boldly face common enemies with a strong resolve. Let us work together and defeat the fans of Battlestar Galactica in all their johnny-come-lately copycat corner’s cut off annoyingness!
Oh… you thought I meant the coworkers and what not who think we’re all a bunch of dweebs? Who cares what they think, they couldn’t tell a phaser from a blaster from a light saber from sonic screwdriver.
@Blue-eyes-Green: You are too cute, my friend. And right. So completely right. It’s like the age-old question of who would win in a fight between Captain America and Optimus Prime. Trick question, because why would they fight at all when they stand for the same ideals.
Sith and Romulans? There’s a frightening thought.
And bless you for the sonic screwdriver comment.
So, where does the almighty cleric stand on LotR versus HP?
And have you looked into Dragon Age yet? You know you want to.
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