Monday, May 11, 2009

star trek vs star wars

there may be many philosophical debates about which sci fi series is better, with each side pointing out strong arguments about why their personal favorite rulez.

well, you may remember last year when the death star appeared outside of san francisco. it has shown up once again to help us solve the argument.



that's right. star wars is better.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!! Star wars RULES!!!! :)

Adam said...

Wait, which franchise has 11 successful films and the other has 6, three of which are panned by even the strongest fans.

Yeah, Star Trek kicked Star Wars ass.

edluv said...

umm, having more films doesn't mean it's better. by that logic the friday the 13th or halloween movies must be pure gold.

in fact, many of the star trek films aren't beloved, and using the odd/even theory, at least half of them weren't that good @ all (the odd numbered ones).

Adam said...

And even if half of Star Trek's films are great, that's still better than Star Wars.

How about successful franchise history?

Star Trek: 43 years
Star Wars: 32 years

Or maybe cultural permeation?

I'd say that "Live long and prosper" has equally saturated society as well as or better than "Luke, I am your father."

Unknown said...

Lemme settle this issue with a question:

Would you rather be a Jedi or a Federation officer?

edluv said...

wait, the reference for star wars you're using is 'luke, i am your father?'

what about, "may the force be with you?"

edluv said...

jay,
i believe you already know that i would take jedi over wizard, and now you'll know i'd take them over starfleet officer.

Adam said...

I'll take the storytelling and character development of Trek over Wars any day.

Adam said...

And Jay, I hardly think your question settles the matter. It's just a veil for the more general question "Which imaginary character would you like to be because you like the powers they wield?"

I'd be Superman before I was Jedi, a wizard, or a Federation officer.

And your question leaves out all the other myriad characters from Star Trek. Q would kick a Jedi's ass any day of the week.

edluv said...

ah, look at adam trying to rationally debate something that will always be based in personal preference. keep trying fella, and maybe you'll convince me that an inferior star trek was better than star wars.

(- -)
{
:-:

Adam said...

What are you talking about? Personal preference? There are tons of real world, tangible arguments for each show.

And if we're going to play by Jay's question, Q's character can manipulate space-time where as Jedi can only manipulate people and objects. That's a quantitative difference in power.

Adam said...

Besides, you wanted the argument and the traffic, don't try and back out now buddy.

edluv said...

well, if you're going to actually play by jay's question, q does not factor in. just like the question wasn't formerly who would win in a fight, a hobbit or a jedi.


but if you insist, let's talk about accessibility. while star trek is a staple among the sci fi community, star wars is something that non-sci fi people watch, and enjoy. having not seen the latest movie, i can't speak to where it stands. however, i do recall a comment your brother made on your blog pre-movie release: this current incarnation of star trek has sold out it's sci fi roots and is just an action movie. i don't know if he still stands by that, but his basic argument points toward the need for star trek to make in-roads to greater culture at large where as star wars was always something that "regular" people watched.

Adam said...

As I pointed out, Jay's question wasn't fair because it wasn't about Star Wars vs. Star Trek, it was about which fictional character vs. which fictional character. That is why I generalized it. So, again, if we're going to go by the power of the characters in each franchise, then Star Trek wins.

Star Trek is just as accessible as Star Wars and I would argue that it's more accessible. Watching any of the episodes from any of the incarnations of Star Trek from the original to TNG to Deep Space 9 to Voyager to Enterprise, it's pretty easy to grasp the moral of each story and how it applies to "regular" people as you put it.

The other thing is that Star Wars started as a movie whereas Star Trek started as a television show. I'd say that the popularity of Star Trek is an even greater success considering it had to climb to the box office rather than begin as a big budget blockbuster.

I'd also say that the current 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and $79,000,000 in 5 days is argument enough for accessibility as far as the general public goes and having seen it twice, it's no more an action movie than Star Wars is.

edluv said...

ooh, a website rating and $, that settles it. except a lot of crap sells tickets while masterpieces go unwatched.

and, is the question of sci fi vs action in the new movie isn't star trek vs star wars, it's about whether or not this movie is more action blockbuster than sci fi movie.

Adam said...

You were the one that brought up accessibility. I gave indicators of that. I'm not saying the movie is a masterpiece.

Well, if we take the first two sentences of the wiki article on what science fiction film is, I can definitively say that Star Trek is indeed sci-fi.

Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that aren't necessarily accepted by mainstream science such as extra-terrestrial life forms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to provide social commentary on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues, such as the human condition.

Unknown said...

I thought my question was relevant because I was using the main characters of each franchise.

And a kangaroo with nunchucks beats everyone. Except Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat or Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris is the only one who could arrange any of these fights anyway.

by the way, word verifications: unfir. All these comparisons are unfir.

edluv said...

my word ver is denist.

adam is a denist for not seeing that star wars is better than star trek, and that nothing can stand up to the power of the death star (except a guy that can shoot down a tube).

edluv said...

my word ver is denist.

adam is a denist for not seeing that star wars is better than star trek, and that nothing can stand up to the power of the death star (except a guy that can shoot down a tube).

Unknown said...

Don't be too proud of your hours of syndicated TV-time. The ability to draw audiences on late-night cable is insignificant compared to the power of the force.

Adam said...

*droning voice*

The ability to draw audiences on late-night cable is insignificant compared to the power of the force.

Move alone now.