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Kibayasu posted:Star Wars, famous for definitely not explaining its space magic ever. Watching the two good Star Wars movies and then proceeding to read a (classic) Star Wars EU novel like Allegiance really hammers home the point of how Star Wars wasn't sci-fi before the prequels. It's remarkable how much superfluous technobabble you get in the novels, and how little there is in the movies. Then you get to midichlorians and from there it's just bad half sci-fi. Star Trek was always sci-fi, with all the pretence of science that entails.
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Jan 19, 2021 18:40
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 05:54 |
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Agreed on all points, except it's still covered in the trappings of science with vaguely plausible expansions. So I'd still call it soft sci-fi.
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Jan 19, 2021 19:25
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Boxturret posted:I demand that all science in science fiction stories to be 100% real, personally. Welcome to the wonderful world of hard sci-fi. I must admit I thought of TNG era Trek, not TOS, because I honestly never managed to get through the entire thing. It's just too dated for me. I should probably do a revisit of just the best ten episodes or something.
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Jan 19, 2021 20:26
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Alchenar posted:Data believes he's fully functional in sexual techniques, but Soong just programmed him with everything he knew. Yar didn't complain  Also, it would be trivial to make a vibrating penis and eliminate premature ejaculation, which would put Data well within the top 10% best sex partners.
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Jan 22, 2021 11:31
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Nessus posted:I think Uhura was from the United States of Africa or something. Similarly, Geordi was born in Mogadishu. In both cases, of course, the purpose of this was to indicate that Africa was just fine and dandy by Star Trek times. Given their reaction to the coronavirus, this seems to be another of those things Trek got right. Uhura speaks Swahili in one episode (which has its own imperialist baggage, but whatever). I think it's likely both a nod to Africa being equal to
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Jan 23, 2021 15:42
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I just noticed that TNG refers to the Klingon Defence force. Is there a reason for that naming, or is it just a brainfart?
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Jan 26, 2021 15:50
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Yeah, or all the war ministries of Europe getting rebranded as defence ministries. It just doesn't seem very klingon. Surely the purpose of the fleet is to expand the empire, not to preserve the status quo?
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Jan 26, 2021 16:45
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8one6 posted:Anyone remember Legend starring Jack O'Neill and Q? No... Well they should reboot that instead of Firefly. Fixed this for you.
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Jan 29, 2021 17:10
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Metaphysics makes more sense than quantum physics for Picard. Also he's way too into Shakespeare, especially for someone who's supposed to be raised by a rural conservative Frenchman.
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Jan 29, 2021 22:48
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I just watched the episode recently, and I got the impression that they were slightly dating in the server of dinner and a movie, and Worf came on way too strong, and she just called it off before it got serious. I believe Worf was a virgin prior to that episode, and just has a weird interpretation of klingon traditions. Also, clearly Russia uses WWIII as an excuse to annex Belarus, placing Minsk in Russia, which then proceeds to change it's name back to USSR. The interesting bit is that Worf should be a native Russian and/or Belarusian speaker.
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Jan 30, 2021 14:09
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HD DAD posted:I know Disco kinda did it already with the UT going haywire, but I would have loved an outright failure of it and everyone is speaking their native languages. Picard is speaking French, Worf Russian, Crusher some crazy moon colony dialect, Barclay talks like a cowboy for some inexplicable reason That would be amazing, especially since presumably no one would have learned to speak any foreign language because why would you?
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Jan 30, 2021 19:40
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Cojawfee posted:The only time I can remember it was an early episode where he's in his ready room or something. I'm pretty sure it was one of the early ones because I remember it having dramatic lighting, and not the brightly lit blandness of the later seasons. The amount of klingon being spoken is essentially the same. Best example is the romulan defector calling Worf a petaQ, because that clearly says that he's gone to great lengths understanding Klingons and still considers them inferior. But all the other examples of Worf being a klingaboo count as well. Also with I would have loved the occasional Russian expletive, or even less likely, O'Brien resorting to Gaelic Irish. Actually, that's my headcannon now: O'Brien is a monolingual Irish speaker.
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Jan 30, 2021 20:12
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Zedd posted:Klingaboo isn't the correct term no, he is a Native though raised abroad Klingotaku . Eh, a Japanese boy who was orphaned at six years old and for some reason adopted by Americans would still be a weeabo to me. But it's an extremely dumb discussion, even in the Star Trek thread. What's interesting is how kids learn to speak in the 23rd century. The parents may not actually speak the same language, and the UT can't possibly be compatible with a child under 3 years.
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Jan 30, 2021 22:27
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Yeah, pretty much all other Klingons fail to live up to Worf's expectations because they are real persons. Until Discovery I guess.
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Jan 30, 2021 22:41
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That's a diaspora thing for sure. Short version: there's no opposition to being Irish in Ireland, it's just a background thing that most people are. But in America, Irish is suddenly opposed to German, Italian and "American" and whatever, and you have a reason to care about it, because it's a meaningful signifier of identity. We see the same kind of things with Turks/Pakistanis in Europe, where the first generation is not particular religious, but second and third generations increasingly become religious as a way of maintaining an identity. It's a bit strong coming from one six year old klingon though. Especially since he had no one to teach him of his ancestral ways, he has had to look it all up himself. Also i just watched the first episode with Alexander. In season four. I choose to believe that more time has passed than one year per season, because he's definitely way older than three years. It also heavily features klingons being untrue to Worf's beliefs, with Duras being a traitor who poisons the old chancellor, and Gowron being slightly scheming. Edit: definitely agreed on the cameltoes.
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Jan 31, 2021 15:35
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I was under the impression that Trek EU is basically fanfiction, with very little editorial oversight or regard for continuity. That blurb confirms my impression pretty hard. Seriously, why would Picard even care about size? And even the old Star Wars EU was mostly terrible with a few okay to good books and only moderate idiocy, and that was heavily regulated. Going to books to get your fix is is probably like cheap, impure crack to satisfy your coke addiction.
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Jan 31, 2021 20:20
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There's quite a few cameos in Voyager. Tom Morello shows up for instance.
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Feb 1, 2021 19:14
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CPColin posted:(Also, speciesism is a pretty consistent stand-in for racism in Trek.) Ironically, this has in-universe merit, since the different species are actually different. Like Vulcans are telepathic and have violent emotions. Though I guess a lot are just "humans, but with different foreheads and culture", making them more stand-inny.
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Feb 2, 2021 16:20
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There has been multiple examples of Vulcan emotions being exceptionally strong, like when Sarek did a mind meld with Picard and Picard just screamed and cried. Plus the whole telepathic transference of emotions, that's not a human thing. Klingons are just (varying degrees of) ugly humans plus a hosed up culture. And two penises.
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Feb 2, 2021 17:20
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multijoe posted:The Cardassians are the best race because they're one of the only ones the series really sits down and spends some time with and shows a huge amount of diversity in their personality and social roles, so they come out of it looking like an actual society and not just a collection of angry/sneaky/nerdy guys Agreed. And their actual alien things are just being comfortable at slightly warmer temperatures and spoonheads. Really, this is DS9s strongest suit, having complex characters, especially in this case Dukat abs Garek, who clearly are motivated by more than "I'm a space fascist". It actually starts way back when they're introduced in TNG, the point of the episode is more or less that former enemies are people and you should trust them (even though they're actually sneaky bastards building secret military bases). Borg are still the best alien race, but not really that easy or interesting to write.
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Feb 2, 2021 20:11
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Alchenar posted:The Borg are just a hegemonising swarm, except instead of being an organic hegemonising swarm or an artificial hegemonising swarm, they're both at once. Yeah, but they also have sentience and attempt communication, like Locutus. That makes them way more interesting than just grey goo. It gets harder and harder to write them in all interesting way though, which is why we don't actually see them much, and also why we get the Borg Queen, which is dumb. Their thing with species 8472 was cool though, even if 8472 themselves weren't necessarily.
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Feb 2, 2021 22:10
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nine-gear crow posted:Yeah, I meant the actual Deep Throat (Mark Felt) and All The President's Men's Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook) are now both dead. Neeeeerrrrds!
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Feb 3, 2021 11:19
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I just watched The Nth Degree, and Picard casually mentions being in command of the Enterprise for "over three years". This obviously implies less than four years. My point is obviously that this means that Alexander was two years old when he was introduced in season four, after being conceived in season two.
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Feb 3, 2021 16:55
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And Alexander is part human too, that should influence the maturation a bit. One of K'ehleyr's parents must have been very surprised...
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Feb 3, 2021 17:57
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Khanstant posted:You an Emp/Jedi guy or a New/Emp guy? Christmas special/phantom menace. But seriously, Jedi is the first of many bad Star Wars movies. I haven't watched Picard yet, but I love the idea of a fractured romulan empire, where all the various groups sees themselves as the legitimate heir, and thus subject to the tal shiar controlling them live they always have, and effectively leaving the secret police being in charge of everything.
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Feb 4, 2021 19:04
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The Saddest Robot posted:In the star trek universe stars can randomly explode for no reason. There's no way to detect when a star is going to randomly go nova. The star in Half a Life was predicted to die, as was the replacement star they hosed up. Also Burnham wanted to stay at the outpost where her parents were killed to see a star go nova I think. My point is that they clearly can predict stars dying, it's just inconsistent writing and/or unexplained romulan pride/incompetence/denial. Or a secret plot to be revealed later I guess.
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Feb 4, 2021 19:40
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It's not exactly out of character for them, is it?
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Feb 4, 2021 19:50
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raverrn posted:Jedi is fuckin' awesome. Old man commandos, swordfight with intermission and all. Counterpoint: ewoks. Yoda's crazy old hermit act becoming his actual personality. Cartoonishly evil emperor. Way too long battle scenes, on the moon and especially in space. Is Star Trek online actually good if I have no particular interest in the MMO aspect of the game, but just my Trek loreb fix?
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Feb 4, 2021 20:16
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Timby posted:The original Borg Cube, before it became a busy, over-designed mess starting with First Contact, was terrifying in its elegant simplicity. This, also because it's essentially non-aesthetic and without irrelevant aerodynamics. Square is practical for corridors, do a square. Anything else will be solved through superior technology, like defense and speed.
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Feb 11, 2021 20:12
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There are plenty of alternatives to warp, like the Borg transwarp conduits and that ancient race that had stargates but without needing a destination.
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Feb 12, 2021 19:57
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Alchenar posted:Most of trek (particularly TNG) is not written on the basis that every element of every episode is supposed to form a holistic true picture of this fictional world. It's especially alien tech that just only exists for the episode and does something otherwise impossible. And most of that is just a space wizard did it really, which is fine with me. It's not so much inconsistent as just detached pieces of magic that only work at that specific time/space.
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Feb 12, 2021 22:28
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I'm almost through TNG season 5, and up till now, I haven't noticed any reason for going below warp 9, even though it's a thing that bothers me. There are some chases where Geordie will say they can't maintain warp 9.x for long, but general travel at lower warps is never explained. In many cases, Picard will order increases in speed for whatever reason, and I'm always wondering why he was going slow in the first place. I think fuel economy is the explanation, but I also thought this was post-scarcity, and the fuel mechanics are never really explained in terms of what gets destroyed.
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Feb 13, 2021 19:11
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multijoe posted:That was the Iconian's gimmick though, and the conclusion from that seems to be that it is way too OP for a current species to ever have access to To be fair, having the romulans be able to just randomly enter Federation HQ at any time, or just look in, would get real dumb and boring real fast. It's the Founders infiltration except without the planning and risk of being discovered. Aren't the Borg using wormholes within their space?
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Feb 13, 2021 19:32
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Axe-man posted:I don't know obrian would be a chip man, but only if someone else brought chips and kick himself that he also did it. Then his wife would die cause the writers must see him suffer. Keiko always struck me as part of his punishment. He seems to love her, but i don't remember the shows giving any good reason for it. She's mostly complaining about him or at him from what I remember.
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Feb 14, 2021 14:21
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thotsky posted:A surface level read of the show is fine too when it adds to the joke. I don't mind Keiko being portrayed as a shrew in the context of making fun of O'Brians lot in life, but I don't actually think the show supports that read; the marriage clearly means a lot to him. That's the bit that puzzles me, the marriage is happy and O'Brien loves her, but all their actual interactions are her being a shrew as I remember it. I think it's just the writers being lazy and giving her a sitcom personality, which incidentally works with O'Brien being the salt of the earth character.
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Feb 14, 2021 22:14
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FlamingLiberal posted:Would have made more sense if it was named after the WW2 Japanese battleship Why not both?
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Feb 16, 2021 12:36
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Voyager had the best doctor though, ironically now competing with Discovery. But i think the worst waste is not doing crew centered continual plot, a bit like Battlestar Galactica but less grimdark. That and the Kazon being the lamest recurring enemy since TNG Ferengi. I remember it picking up a bit when they meet the Borg and acquire Seven of Nine.
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Feb 16, 2021 20:09
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One thing that bothered me about Voyager was that the Kazon kept up with them for two seasons. Presumably, Voyager was going in essentially a straight line towards earth as fast as possible. So either the Kazon had way faster warp (in which case maybe Janeway should have acquired that tech), or they did nothing but follow Voyager. I get having recurring characters, but that just struck me as too lazy.
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Feb 17, 2021 10:03
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John Wick of Dogs posted:Voyager made a lot of stops Even then, they're still flying in a straight line away from the Kazon. Either they are literally playing catch-up with Voyager for their tech and in the process abandoning their home for at least a year, or the plot doesn't work.
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Feb 17, 2021 14:00
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 05:54 |
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Nitrousoxide posted:Enterprise has pockets so it's objectively the best series. Pretty sure TNG had an entire pocket universe
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Feb 18, 2021 15:37
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