Spaceships

[Loredoctor]

[CovenantJr]

I don't think I know that one.

For any heathens out there, the one I posted is the legendary Red Dwarf.

[[Syl]]

Galaxy Quest (I cheated and checked the img's properties)

[danlo]

Wow too many to count! I adored Patrick McNee's "Crystal" ships, or whatever they we called, on the old BG. Andromeda. Event Horizon and the "Vampire" ship that attacks Earth in the old Dark movie (organic ship SO dark you can hardly see it) that I can never remember the name of, and LM always does

I still have a soft spot for that old garbage scow Nostromo too

[Elfgirl]

What about "Heart of Gold" from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? The ship itself (as described by Douglas Adams, not the dodgy interpretations they came up with for the BBC series and the latest movie.

Or Hotblack Desiato's "Black Ship"? Totally frictionless, one mother of a mover?

[matrixman]

Thanks for the pics, aTOMiC. I made a half-hearted attempt to find images of the Cygnus, but only came up with tiny ones that didn't do her justice at all.

Another "cathedral of light" deserving of mention is the grand alien mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For me as a kid, suddenly seeing that enormous and dazzling ship rising up behind Devil's Tower was, I think, both uplifting and terrifying. And then it flips upside down. Or right side up. I'm sure it was a genuinely jaw-dropping scene for anyone who saw the movie for the first time on the big screen. Add John William's famous five-note motif, and this movie was perhaps as close to a religious experience as a kid like me could have had.

I'm more attached to "old school" movie spaceships - actual models - than I am to virtual CG models. It's a reflection of my fondness for the sci-fi movies I grew up seeing in the late '70s to mid-'80s. I don't hate CG creations - I think they're getting "better" all the time. But so far, the only CG spaceship I can say I'm fond of is the Galaxy Quest: it's got "personality." That's partly why I would want to see a Galaxy Quest sequel or a TV series rather than another dreary Trek show: the parody feels more alive, inventive and real than the real thing, whether in the quality of the writing or the quality of the visuals. Heh, end rant.

A CG ship that I might say actually wowed me was the large and majestic Naboo cruiser that we saw at the beginning of Attack of the Clones, as it swept through Coruscant's clouds like some great dark bird. It was all sleek CGI (I think) but it had a nice, dense look to it. It would be very cool to fly this bird in the skies.

I've never watched Firefly and I know nothing of Serenity, so I have no comment on their ships. Also didn't get into Farscape and Babylon 5 like many people did. Lexx...sorry, not my kind of spaceship. It creeps me out, which is undoubtedly intentional. As for the Battlestar Galactica itself: fantastic name, ugly ship. It's like a giant mutant slug or centipede in space. Sorry, but that's how I've always felt about the Galactica. Well, it's a warship, so I guess it's supposed to look mean.

Hey, Foul, forgot to acknowledge and praise the Discovery earlier. Thanks for the pics! The Discovery must have been the first truly "modern" movie spaceship, in that it was a quantum leap in scientific accuracy over any previous depiction of space-going vessels. Wow, a ship - and space setting - that for once actually obeyed the laws of physics. Radical!

[Fist and Faith]

Too young to have watched it, (or even heard of it to be honest), but a quick google lets me confidently say, "No way!" Sorry Tom, they just don't do it for me.

Mother of God! Av, Space: 1999 s a classic! What a great, bizarre show! I haven't seen it in many years, but I don't think I'd say, "What crap! What was I thinking?!" the way I do about so many shows from childhood. Man, it was just freaky!

Another "cathedral of light" deserving of mention is the grand alien mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For me as a kid, suddenly seeing that enormous and dazzling ship rising up behind Devil's Tower was, I think, both uplifting and terrifying. And then it flips upside down. Or right side up. I'm sure it was a genuinely jaw-dropping scene for anyone who saw the movie for the first time on the big screen.

It truly was. Seeing that happen on the big screen was frakking awesome!!!! The whole audience was stunned, and only a few people were able to utter a hushed, "Holy s**t."


As for the poll, I went HLT's route, and voted ST for the abilities. Someone once noted that the Enterprise could simply transport a photon torpedo into the core of the Death Star. And watching it go full out against a Borg cube is pretty damned awesome.

But, alas, I haven't seen nearly all of the shows mentioned in this thread. *sigh* I'm at least as deprived as Av is.

[Loredoctor]

Another "cathedral of light" deserving of mention is the grand alien mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For me as a kid, suddenly seeing that enormous and dazzling ship rising up behind Devil's Tower was, I think, both uplifting and terrifying. And then it flips upside down. Or right side up. I'm sure it was a genuinely jaw-dropping scene for anyone who saw the movie for the first time on the big screen.

It truly was. Seeing that happen on the big screen was frakking awesome!!!! The whole audience was stunned, and only a few people were able to utter a hushed, "Holy s**t."

Great great movie. A classic.

[Nav]

Found a nice pic of the Liberator from Blake's 7 (it's fan art, but the really nice model shots of the ship didn't appear until series 3, and I don't have those DVDs yet). I think a lot of what made this ship was so special was that it was designed by artists, not modelmakers. This lead to a ship that looks elegant, yet powerful and entirely different from the human ships we see in B7. It was also a notoriously difficult model to fly (it weighed an absolute ton) and a lot of the iffy effects in Blake's are at least partially attributable to this!



The crimson short one was also a great design, it's exactly how a five-mile long mining ship should be. The indestructable Starbug is perhaps even cooler though. I mean, it's made out of the same material as dolls' heads, the one substance guaranteed to survive an air crash or a ship sinking.

[dANdeLION]

[aTOMiC]

In addition to SPACE:1999 Gerry Anderson's UFO had some pretty cool vehicles. At least I thought so back when I was 8 or 9.

[The Laughing Man]

atomic! For some reason I had those two shows squished together, and thought it was all Space 1999. That show was awesome (for a tyke that young, and at that time, heh.) I also want to add that the main blonde woman on 1999 ( I forget her name) who had one eye that didn't quite match up, just enough to notice, and for maybe that reason I've always been attracted to beautiful women who have one eye thats slightly "off". heh. seems exotic to me somehow......but I insist it started with that show!

[CovenantJr]

I've never watched Firefly and I know nothing of Serenity, so I have no comment on their ships.

Firefly-class vessel Serenity:



Serenity is all the more appealing because it's a heap of junk. I also like the Reaver ship:

[lucimay]

i've always been partial to the Romulan Warbirds myself, and Klingon Birds of Prey

[lucimay]

i've always been partial to the Romulan Warbirds myself, and Klingon Birds of Prey

[lucimay]

i've always been partial to the Romulan Warbirds myself, and Klingon Birds of Prey

[danlo]

Yes the Klingon ships are cool! Finally remembered the dark vampire thing: Lifeforce, couldn't find a photo--the ship was cool, movie was rather sucky...I can't believe Patrick Stewart was actually in the cast. (the emoticons look funny today... )

dAN put up Dark Star! Classic! Also liked the bio-domed ship in Silent Running-what a great film!

[Cheval]

How about the guitar-shaped ship that is on the cover of the Boston albums?

Personally, I like the tie-fighters in Star Wars.

[danlo]

[The Laughing Man]

i've always been partial to the Romulan Warbirds myself, and Klingon Birds of Prey

me too!

me too!

me too!