The design of the new USS Enterprise in JJ Abrams Star Trek needs to be changed quickly.

[Overmind One]

I have written about this in responses on other threads here at GateFans, but I think it deserves its on thread on this Trek forum. The design of the new USS Enterprise is unacceptable, simply put. A comprehensive article about this from disapproving fans is here:

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/new_enterprise_comment.htm

EXCERPT:

Aesthetics

The new design by Ryan Church is unsatisfactory. First off, irrespective of all continuity concerns, I simply don't think it is a great design. I concede that it is overall not quite the butt-ugly "Edselprise" that I saw in it at a first glance and that made me cry in terror. Still, the classic shapes of the saucer and the deflector don't mix with the stylish add-ons and the intricate curvatures. This way it appears like a kitbash, like an odd blend of the TMP Enterprise with an alien CGI ship of the week. The overall proportions are not sufficiently balanced, and the whole ship seems to lean forward too much. I imagine that the engineering hull including the nacelle struts should be moved back relative to the saucer, neck and nacelles to get its look "right". The engineering hull initially appeared to be too small relative to the saucer, but in hindsight I have to admit that the perspective of the photo was deceptive. Yet, the massive neck looks odd relative to the rather small engineering hull.

Overall, the design does not have the clarity that can be found on Jefferies' original Enterprise, on Probert's TMP Enterprise and Enterprise-D or, to somewhat lesser extent, on Eaves' Enterprise-E. It simply takes features that were deemed inevitable, such as the saucer and the protruding deflector dish (albeit the latter was heavily modified), and supplements them with stylish curvatures and decent hull greeblies as they are commonplace in modern sci-fi films. The Enterprises of the past were design classics in much the same fashion as a '57 Corvette or even an iPod. The new one reminds me of the design experiments of car manufacturers such as BMW or Renault, who added aggressively shaped headlights or "illogical" curved edges to otherwise conventional looking cars.

Technology



On the technical side, there was a discussion whether the Bussard collector might be blocked by the saucer, which is not the case though. The curved backlit cowling (the light obviously being warp plasma), on the other hand, that I already dislike for its mere look does not make much sense, as in this region of the nacelle we would expect the warp coils. And since these are always straight for all we know, having a warped plasma outlet is a useless fad.


Furthermore, while all other parts of the ship are more solid than on either the TOS and the TMP Enterprise, the nacelle struts are relatively thin compared to ships of other classes - especially considering that the new Enterprise is being built on the ground. But even worse, the pylons run into the engineering hull in the region of the shuttlebay. The pylon structure and the power transfer conduit have to continue somehow inside the ship. Although the cross-section of the new shuttlebay is relatively about the same as on the original and on the refitted Constitution (at Church's original design size of 366m), it may be further obstructed by the warp pylons. In the movie itself we get a glimpse of the open shuttlebay, where two rows of the large new shuttles are stacked on either side of the shuttlebay. A ship of 366m length would not be big enough for that. Anyway, on screen there is no sign of the power transfer conduits inside the shuttlebay, so it may work out after all, unless the CGI ship "cheats" in a way that the pylons simply do not continue inside the ship.

As you can see, Trek fans like the one who wrote that comment are serious about their Trek. Engineers who are fans are going to scowl at the notion of fashion over function in this new ship. Many of the elements of the new ship are gimmicky and useless in terms of function. That anyone would design the ship in this fashion is appalling in a geeky way. I dont like it for the most part. Graphically, here are the main things I dont like:





Essentially the same elements that this fan takes issue with. Here is another one:

http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?p=2306844

I FRIGGIN' HATE IT! ... was my kneejerk reaction. I simply couldn't believe that J.J. A. would screw with us this way... nothing made any logical progression sense. This is NOT what a pre-TOS Enterprise would look like. It's like re-filming the Titanic disaster but using the QE-2 instead. Once again, we have another Hollywood swell-head putting his illogical my-way-is-oh-soooo-cool twist on redoing cinematic history.

But I kept looking at everything,... the sets, the ship exterior, the new trailer. Why would he have a bridge that was obviously visually advanced from what it was to precede? What was up with the bizarre stylistic collision of the ship's exterior? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???

Paramount will MAKE Abrams change it, mark my words. Maybe not this next film but certainly by the third. The shuttles arent all that great either, but the proportions and size is within Trek Spec. The shuttlebay on Enterprise is not, however. Even the doors that open on it suck. ILLOGICAL. I think the bridge will also have to change quite a bit, but first change the ship, since Trek has always had as its biggest character the ship itself. I cannot find love in my heart for this ship in its current form.

Paramount, please change it!

 

[Tropicana]

Does the new ENT even have Bussard Collectors?

I understand why the ship looks that way, different, edgier and stuff but it is a franchise reboot.

 

[OMNI]

lol @ "from an engenering standpoint" BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! its a trek ship in its purest form imo ie unrelistic and stupidly ugly.

i still have a fave trek ship even tho i lothe trek overall and thats the "E" but i guess this one is kinda neat as it reminds me of 1960s era cars that has rocket style stuff added for no reason at all.

 

[Bluce Ree]

lol @ "from an engenering standpoint" BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! its a trek ship in its purest form imo ie unrelistic and stupidly ugly.

i still have a fave trek ship even tho i lothe trek overall and thats the "E" but i guess this one is kinda neat as it reminds me of 1960s era cars that has rocket style stuff added for no reason at all.

Since we're going retro, we should petition Paramount to add flames on the side. You know, flames make cars go faster. Imagine giant flames on a big ship.

 

[OMNI]

Since we're going retro, we should petition Paramount to add flames on the side. You know, flames make cars go faster. Imagine giant flames on a big ship.

hell yes and add some Hotrod red in there soewhere i could esily get ahold of the model of it and do that you know i gots the hookup

 

[Bluce Ree]

hell yes and add some Hotrod red in there soewhere i could esily get ahold of the model of it and do that you know i gots the hookup

I was hoping you'd say that.

 

[OMNI]

I was hoping you'd say that.

i couldnt post pics with it puplicly tho due to STRICT NDA's applying in these cases but im sure i could find a 95% accurate fan recreation to play with so i might do that.

 

[Overmind One]

lol @ "from an engenering standpoint" BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! its a trek ship in its purest form imo ie unrelistic and stupidly ugly.

i still have a fave trek ship even tho i lothe trek overall and thats the "E" but i guess this one is kinda neat as it reminds me of 1960s era cars that has rocket style stuff added for no reason at all.

Its a Trek ship, but it is supposed to be designed by the military engineers of the time at the Navy's Norfolk Starshipbuilding (according to canon). Seeing the ship designed like that is like seeing an aircraft carrier with blue neon glow bars around the edges and pinstripes. Trek is not as much science fantasy as other scifi shows are. Its based in real science which is often very complex with complex rules that the average person does not know. Thats why it draws highly technical people as opposed to something like Star Wars or Stargate. Stargate SG-1 came close in the science aspect, but then drifted into Trek after season 6.

If you loathe Trek overall, your response is expected.

 

[Mr. A]

Meh, the only big problems I have with the new Enterprise are the bulges on the forward part of the nacelles and the curved nacelle pylons. Hey, in essence the ship is supposed to look cool. For some fans it does, for some it doesn't. All the engineering features discussed here and else where are relative anyway since the Enterprise doesn't have any real engineering, just speculative one. And even that arose later on based on the preceding design of the original Enterprise, so it's highly arbitrary.
Not trying to be dismissive of the issue here, but I think it ultimately boils down to a matter of taste...
Now the one thing about the ship that really bugs me is the interior design. I very much hate what our Bluce so fittingly called Apple Store Bridge and Beer Factory Engineering.

 

[YoshiKart64]

Here's a thought: Apple have proved they can sell anything to just about anybody. In the future who's to say they didn't create the iEnterprise.

 

[Joelist]

Meh, the only big problems I have with the new Enterprise are the bulges on the forward part of the nacelles and the curved nacelle pylons. Hey, in essence the ship is supposed to look cool. For some fans it does, for some it doesn't. All the engineering features discussed here and else where are relative anyway since the Enterprise doesn't have any real engineering, just speculative one. And even that arose later on based on the preceding design of the original Enterprise, so it's highly arbitrary.
Not trying to be dismissive of the issue here, but I think it ultimately boils down to a matter of taste...
Now the one thing about the ship that really bugs me is the interior design. I very much hate what our Bluce so fittingly called Apple Store Bridge and Beer Factory Engineering.

I gotts admit I don't mind the bridge. I understand what the aesthetic they were looking for was and it does work to that end (bright colors to convey optimism). It really does not look like an Apple Store to me (that would require big wall photos of young models using the bridge hardware). Engineering having that brewery look I agree with, and hope they have the budget for the next film to build custom sets for Engineering.

 

[Overmind One]

Here's a thought: Apple have proved they can sell anything to just about anybody. In the future who's to say they didn't create the iEnterprise.

Now THAT is a distinct posibility! Perhaps they got Pininfarina to design it on contract?

 

[ChromeToasterX]

The only thing I want modded on the Abamsprise design is the engineering hull. The undercut that leads up to the fantail needs to be reduced a bit to make it look better. I made this photoshop a while ago to show how it would look.

 

[O Wildish]

I think the front end looks great, but the the back end looks totally wrong, especialy the warp nacalles which are far too big and bulky, the bustard collectors are even the wrong colour (blue insted of the traditional red, also the pillons should be streight and overall closer to the original version

 

[Overmind One]

I think the front end looks great, but the the back end looks totally wrong, especialy the warp nacalles which are far too big and bulky, the bustard collectors are even the wrong colour (blue insted of the traditional red, also the pillons should be streight and overall closer to the original version

WELCOME to Gatefans O Wildish! I also think the front end looks great (because it follows the original design more closely). But from the main pylon to the main hill and both nacelles and the pylons attached to them...please slice them off with a phaser and start over.

 

[O Wildish]

I had this idea for a story (which for nessessity had to be a crossover with my other favorite show) where the original timeline Entrprise's universe is faced with the threat of annilation as annother timeline is trying to assert itself, caught up in this, a mysterious time traveling alien from another reality, who knows more about this sort of thing than anyone, trys to help, unaware that exsactly the same thing is going on, on the 2009 version of the Enterprise, a future version of himself with the same problem has the same idea, and the two aspexs of this alien end up with the same solution but when the try this at the same time it causes the two ships to go into a dimentional void where they near on collide, the two Enterprises are critically damaged and the only way to save them is to salvage what they can and rebuild a new ship, effectivly merging them... thus we get the best elements of both, however this leaves the problem with what happens to the two versions of the same crew???

 

[Overmind One]

I had this idea for a story (which for nessessity had to be a crossover with my other favorite show) where the original timeline Entrprise's universe is faced with the threat of annilation as annother timeline is trying to assert itself, caught up in this, a mysterious time traveling alien from another reality, who knows more about this sort of thing than anyone, trys to help, unaware that exsactly the same thing is going on, on the 2009 version of the Enterprise, a future version of himself with the same problem has the same idea, and the two aspexs of this alien end up with the same solution but when the try this at the same time it causes the two ships to go into a dimentional void where they near on collide, the two Enterprises are critically damaged and the only way to save them is to salvage what they can and rebuild a new ship, effectivly merging them... thus we get the best elements of both, however this leaves the problem with what happens to the two versions of the same crew???

http://www.gatefans.net/forums/show...-attract-viewers-to-SGU?highlight=cannibalism

 

[Rac80]

Since we're going retro, we should petition Paramount to add flames on the side. You know, flames make cars go faster. Imagine giant flames on a big ship.

And fuzzy dice...big fuzzy dice hanging from something somewhere!

Here's a thought: Apple have proved they can sell anything to just about anybody. In the future who's to say they didn't create the iEnterprise.

water sprayed all over my screen...thanks for that chuckle!

 

[Stonelesscutter]

I FRIGGIN' HATE IT! ... was my kneejerk reaction. I simply couldn't believe that J.J. A. would screw with us this way... nothing made any logical progression sense. This is NOT what a pre-TOS Enterprise would look like. It's like re-filming the Titanic disaster but using the QE-2 instead. Once again, we have another Hollywood swell-head putting his illogical my-way-is-oh-soooo-cool twist on redoing cinematic history.

What a ridiculous comment. So basically the Enterprise should look exactly like it did in the original series. Thank god it doesn't! That design was butt-ugly. But that was only about a half a century ago so I guess the changes shouldn't have been quite so noticeable.

 

[Joelist]

http://www.gatefans.net/forums/show...-attract-viewers-to-SGU?highlight=cannibalism

I am honored by this reference. It seems the thread has become a sort of standard plug-in whenever a discussion on "alternate dietary options" is called for....