When JJ Abrams announced the new Star Trek movie was going to be about a young Kirk and crew, everyone was naturally curious how the Starship Enterprise was going to look like. We already knew then the actors and actresses that was going to play the original crew that made Star Trek what it is today, but the ship's design was a much kept guarded secret. And everyone knew a new design was coming.
I remembered googling daily just to catch a hint of what the ship was going to look, and the teaser add of those workmen building the Enterprise on Earth only added fuel to the fire. Then came some breakthrough when people started putting up their version of a "Reimagined USS Enterprise". Of course a lot of these were mere speculations and some of the designs were .... well, lets just say I'm glad those didn't make it to the movie.
Of course we know what the Enterprise looks like today. What that is truly baffling is the fact that the specs given .... well, the new 2009 Enterprise NCC 1701 dwarfs the Enterprise D and is longer than the Enterprise E. That's huge. I know a lot of people don't like the new designs (those that loved the original), and then there are those that simply adore her (the new found Trekkers). And many still cannot grasp the fact that she's a big ship. Well, that's Hollywood.
Here's another design I found that is more true to the original TV series in the 1960s. Its created by Gabe Koerner whose work is well known, and shown in the “Ships of the Line” Calendar, Gabe Koerner’s (of Battlestar Galactica – The New Series fame). His re-imagined Enterprise 1701 was thought to be for the movie STAR TREK being released in May 2009, and for a while, I really believed that design was it. I have to admit when I saw the other design in the cinema, I was a little dissappointed. For one, the phasers on the 2009 ship was lame, kind of reminds me of Flash Gordon, and the engine room looked ... like a factory (It was a beer factory actually). But I love the new bridge and the shuttle bay.
What's interesting here is the fact that this new design gives the NCC 1701 more credibility. And many older fans can still identify her with the old series. Though she didn't make the cut, it was nice of Koerner to at least gives us this alternate design - a food for thought if you will for those who wants a more feasible USS Enterprise during Kirk's era.
Now, I wonder if a scale model kit for this design will ever materialise? Who knows .... it may just happen one day - abett a resin kit. I don't mind.
I remembered googling daily just to catch a hint of what the ship was going to look, and the teaser add of those workmen building the Enterprise on Earth only added fuel to the fire. Then came some breakthrough when people started putting up their version of a "Reimagined USS Enterprise". Of course a lot of these were mere speculations and some of the designs were .... well, lets just say I'm glad those didn't make it to the movie.
 |
| The JJ Abrams USS Enterprise - a detailed rendition by Master artist Tobias Richter |
Of course we know what the Enterprise looks like today. What that is truly baffling is the fact that the specs given .... well, the new 2009 Enterprise NCC 1701 dwarfs the Enterprise D and is longer than the Enterprise E. That's huge. I know a lot of people don't like the new designs (those that loved the original), and then there are those that simply adore her (the new found Trekkers). And many still cannot grasp the fact that she's a big ship. Well, that's Hollywood.
 |
| Capt Picard protesting against the new Enterprise design .. ;) |
What's interesting here is the fact that this new design gives the NCC 1701 more credibility. And many older fans can still identify her with the old series. Though she didn't make the cut, it was nice of Koerner to at least gives us this alternate design - a food for thought if you will for those who wants a more feasible USS Enterprise during Kirk's era.
I've been building plastic (and CG) models for years. I'm forty years old and tho primarily a Star Wars nerd, have a "minor" in Star Trek (in a matter of speaking). I've made several Enterprise models that have met terrible ends, like the time my best friend dropped my just finished Enterprise-d and cracked it in half! I'm mainly a fan of the old Enterprise crew and Andrew Probert's refit Enterprise from the eighties. But I really like the newest movie's incarnation of the ship as well, tho its scale is preposterous! Now, before the movie came out, I too was googling the Gabe Koerner design for a while and I think its amazing. The texture and lighting on those renderings is stunning. While it enhances the realism of the 60's enterprise, It invokes the feel of the ST Motion Picture era as well. Thanks for a cool blog!
ReplyDeleteYa know, I knew none of the teaser images that popped up were going to be the final design, even though I adored many of them. But I certainly didn't expect the final version to look like it does. I like it, it's hard not too, but I still can't completely warm up to it. The engines. They are so plump and seemingly out of proportion to me. And the nacelle struts look bent in. And I never thought of the spinning lights in the forward ramscoop domes as being an actual mechanical thingie spinning around like gigantic impellers or turbines. It's suppose to be swirling energy and such. But, the alternate timeline/universe makes it all except able I suppose. Just hard to get used to the Starfleet meets Speed Racer look. But the alternate timeline also means the ship, and anything else could drastically change in sequels. For once, I'd love to see them choose a design and stick with it. Stop blowing up the ships every other film like cop cars in a
ReplyDeleteBeverly Hills Cop movie! Lol.