STbtM 038: NCC-1701 Ready to Launch

Previous: Orbital Station Flyby

The first 30 seconds of this segment continue the CGI approach of the shuttles and their landing in the Enterprise's shuttle bay. We zoom onto a huge bay area with zillions of criss-crossing columns, and filled with crew scurrying in every direction. I can't help but wonder if this is another location shot, or whether the set builders actually put this up. Kirk and McCoy hurriedly march through the area and the doctor announces "We need to get you changed," which seems an odd comment, since they are both wearing exactly the same Academy uniforms. Kirk slurs out "I don't feel right – I feel like I'm leaking…" and McCoy cuts him off with "Hell, it's that pointy-eared bastard!" as they veer off and out of sight.

Spock, turns from a conversation and walks purposefully into a lift. With a slight turn of his head, perhaps a subconscious curiosity about detecting Kirk aboard in the crowd, the lift stops and Spock walks out onto the newly envisioned Enterprise Bridge. The only things that seem out of place here are that there did not seem to be any selection of deck and destination when the lift started moving, and the walls of the lift seem almost entirely made of backlights.

Nevertheless, Spock did arrive safely to his duty area and takes a seat at an aft station among the bright blue lighting and shiny surfaces of the bridge as the skipper greets him from off-screen with "Mr. Spock!" Touching a few controls, Spock reports: "Captain, Engineering reports ready for launch." Pike acknowledges with "Thank you."

In all, this segment was a fairly nice looking, fast-paced view of the new ship with music that effectively sets a mood of increasing tension as the rescue is about to get underway.

Only men speak in this segment.

Next: Stalled Flagship

Comments

Steamblade said…
Yes, it appears the turbolift is psychic. As far as the bridge goes, they should have given you a pair of sunglasses with each ticket. So glad to see you back writing these again.
BurntSynapse said…
That bridge was all glass and bright lights, except for the big chrome boat throttle. One bump, and every surface in there becomes a razor-sharp guillotine. It did look pretty, if you can get past its impracticality and lack of seat belts, handholds, etc.
The Wizard said…
Some **** nutjob decided to make this "new & improved" Enterprise in excess of 700 meters long. This is completely out of scale with the technological capabilities of that era, because it is larger than the Sovereign class E Enterprise. Aparently Starfleet is able to build 700 meter long starships in earth grav, then launch them into space without any damage.
BurntSynapse said…
Hi Wiz!

Yeah, the technology was not very well thought out, but they can always make up something...like tractoring the ship into orbit or using the anti-gravimetric surface mooring emitters with the...um, where did I put my notes...
Flashman85 said…
One thing that got me about the redesigned Enterprise, which I'm surprised you haven't brought up, is that it defies the "Starfleet aesthetic" of the time, and of any Star Trek time period, for that matter.

To a lesser extent, this goes for the design of the Kelvin as well--if anything, the Kelvin looks like more like a bizarre experiment from the era of the Enterprise-A than something that would bridge the gap between the Enterprises of ENT and TOS, and the new Enterprise reminds me more of the Enterprise-C.

I realize that the overall look of the TOS Enterprise, inside and out, might feel too retro to be futuristic by today's standards, but it's striking to me that the only thing that's apparently changed in the timeline--the destruction of the Kelvin--has resulted in such dramatic and widespread changes that virutally everything but the general shape of the Enterprise has been completely overhauled.

Perhaps the guy who designed the original Enterprise was aboard the Kelvin when it blew up?
BurntSynapse said…
Actually, I consider the overall look an acceptable domain for the creators to completely redo, if they see fit, so long as they make well informed decisions.

What constitutes "well" is probably fairly subjective. My problem in this sphere is more of an issue when the creators went to such lengths to remake the universe and emphasize that this is an alternate timeline, but then violate THAT, such as Spock simultaneously not knowing large aspects of the AbramsVerse while knowing details of the universe's future with absolute certainty.

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