[Quark]

Now, although I am not a fan of the new Enterprise design, some views are more acceptable to me than others. For example, the front view of the ship is alright, however some other angles are just painful to watch. I know this subject has been discussed before, however due to the new film coming out, I figured now is as good a time as any to talk about the ship yet again. Some views, as mentioned earlier, are good.

Ones such as this one:



This view really retains the view of the original Enterprise from the 60s.

However, this view is painful for me:



MAJOR CRINGE FACTOR!

[omegaman]

Don't have any objections… she's sleek… and if they had settled on the design back in the TOS days we would have accepted her full stop.

[horatio]

My opinion is that the ship looks bad in still shots and good while being in motion. The fact that she is seen from unusual angles emphasizes the latter.
Her compact design (saucer being close to the nacelles which are bent inwards) makes her look "muscular" and unwilling to stand still which, if we interpret the Enterprise as eight main character, fits the youthfulness of the rest of the main cast.

[kevin]

All starship designs have their good sides and their bad. It's straightforward enough nature of ship design. Overall I like the ship fine but I think the secondary hull could have a smidgen more size to it, because to my eyes (as the photo shows) that section feels slightly smaller than it should be relative to the saucer - though not to the degree of the Ent-A 'pregnant' belly. Or paunch if one prefers.

Though I could also say the same thing regarding the enormous saucer of the D versus it's secondary hull. Which in many shots and angles feels dwarfed by the saucer as well.

[martok2112]

Yeah, that shot of her rising up out of the asteroid dust is one of the most beautiful effects ever photographed.

I have no problems with the new Enterprise. She looks good from any angle, still or in motion.

[NCC-73515]

If only the pylons and the neck would connect a biiit more anterior...

[Quark]

Originally Posted by kevin

All starship designs have their good sides and their bad. It's straightforward enough nature of ship design. Overall I like the ship fine but I think the secondary hull could have a smidgen more size to it, because to my eyes (as the photo shows) that section feels slightly smaller than it should be relative to the saucer...

I agree. The secondary hull is significantly smaller than the two warp nacelles and is where the problem is what the problem is for me. And it just does not seem like Ryan Church put much time into the design of the hull.

In any case, the design for the new Enterprise is not my idea of a good design. They should have gone with this design and not the one they chose.

[FireDevlin]

I'm not a big fan of the new design, but i'm not a hater either. It's just sort of there for me, which I guess is a problem. Or is it? So far, JJ Trek has not really been about the Big E, like the previous Kirk and crew.

[martok2112]

Starting out that this is still a new Trek, I think it'll take just a little more time for the new Big E to become "characterized", so to speak. Right now, she's just a vehicle for the actual "characters" (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and all). But, as we come to know her quirks and functions through the sequels, she'll start shaping up into a "character" of her own.

I mean, we don't really view ships or other objects (be they titular or not) as characters until we've seen a few episodes or a couple of movies.

By the time of "The Empire Strikes Back", the Millennium Falcon became more of a character. She was a bit cranky sometimes, and Han kinda paid for it...but she more than made up for it at the Battle of Endor.

Hell, in the tv series "24", after a short while, I kinda looked at CTU (the base of operations for the Counter Terrorism Unit) as a character. She was the shelter of our heroes, and provider of information to help them fight terrorist scum that threatened our country.

And of course, it's up to the individual as to whether or not a ship or object shapes up into a character for them. Some will of course see the new Enterprise as evil, and as simply part of a larger machination that somehow raped their childhood, or ran over an old friend.

That's why I don't allow myself such devotion to shows and movies. I love the shows and movies dearly, but I don't let myself get devoted to them. Things change over time, so there's no point in hanging onto a past that doesn't matter. There are far bigger things in the world to get worried about. (But all that in this last paragraph is another discussion).

Make sense? Sorta?

[kevin]

I get the idea of the ship being the silent additional character............but Star Trek isn't about the ship as such. It's the people ON that ship.

The ship becomes a part of the show in the same way that Galactica does in BSG, or the Falcon does. But it's not the series as a whole. It's important it works as a setting of course.