Montly Poll #4: Which USS Enterprise is your favorite?

[Ruckdog]

In honor of Star Trek's 50 Anniversary, this month's poll is on which USS Enterprise is your favorite!

[Landlubber]

This was close for me--I voted for the Refit/NCC-1701-A, but I also really like the E-model from the later TNG movies. However, I just feel that the Refit/A-model is the "quintessential" USS Enterprise. The hull design, the "aztek" pattern on the hull, the way the warp nacelles look...it's just good. Damn good. The scene where the Refit is revealed in Star Trek: The Motion Picture remains, I think, my favorite scene in all the Star Trek movies and tv shows that I've seen (it's also just about the only bright spot in that movie, but that's a whole different discussion!). The Refit Enterprise also marked a transition from 60s-era sci-fi television to more modern movie-making techniques. The TOS Enterprise didn't look much different than some of the stuff you can see in "Lost in Space", at least not to me. The Refit is a more serious-looking ship, if that makes sense.

And for those who want to relive that scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, here it is in remastered glory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b52b4yORX6U

[Dakkar]

Agree on all points with Greg

[Stephan]

I'm a fan of the NX-01.  Maybe it's just that it was the underdog in pretty much every battle Archer ever got them into, or maybe it's because the NX-01 is a transition ship that doesn't have the shiny, everything's perfect feel of the newer ships.

[Dakkar]

I liked the idea of the NX-01, but I disliked that they couldn't find a design that looked cool but also in-line with ToS. Just about everything looks like more advanced tech, in a way that says they didn't even try to match eras. The DS9 Episode where they went back to TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES showed they could totally play with the designs of that era. But the NX-01 designs (interiors especially) look like a submarine version of VOYAGER, instead of the missing link between Cochrane and NCC-1701.

[Ruckdog]

I liked the idea of the NX-01, but I disliked that they couldn't find a design that looked cool but also in-line with ToS. Just about everything looks like more advanced tech, in a way that says they didn't even try to match eras. The DS9 Episode where they went back to TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES showed they could totally play with the designs of that era. But the NX-01 designs (interiors especially) look like a submarine version of VOYAGER, instead of the missing link between Cochrane and NCC-1701.

I completely agree! And honestly, the technology level of the NX-01 didn't really seem all that much more primitive than what we saw in Voyager, not to any extent that mattered; transporters, photon torpedoes (oh, sorry, "missiles"), phasers (oh, sorry, "Phase Cannons"), etc. were used pretty much as they had been in Voyager. Not to mention, the NX-01 seems to have inherited the Voyager's never-ending shuttle supply!

As such, I always felt that Enterprise represented a huge missed opportunity...instead of getting an interesting look at a more primitive version of Starfleet, more often than not what we got was a warmed-over version of Voyager.

[Dakkar]

As such, I always felt that Enterprise represented a huge missed opportunity...instead of getting an interesting look at a more primitive version of Starfleet, more often than not what we got was a warmed-over version of Voyager.

Dead on.
This will be the challenge for ST: DISCOVERY, to crack those early days while keeping it cool and sci-fi. Bryan Fuller has no special loyalty to ENTERPRISE, and since the whole show was revealed to be Riker's bad holodeck program (uh...spoiler?), there's no problem if they drastically change things up.

[markymark1970]

This was close for me--I voted for the Refit/NCC-1701-A, but I also really like the E-model from the later TNG movies. However, I just feel that the Refit/A-model is the "quintessential" USS Enterprise. The hull design, the "aztek" pattern on the hull, the way the warp nacelles look...it's just good. Damn good. The scene where the Refit is revealed in Star Trek: The Motion Picture remains, I think, my favorite scene in all the Star Trek movies and tv shows that I've seen (it's also just about the only bright spot in that movie, but that's a whole different discussion!). The Refit Enterprise also marked a transition from 60s-era sci-fi television to more modern movie-making techniques. The TOS Enterprise didn't look much different than some of the stuff you can see in "Lost in Space", at least not to me. The Refit is a more serious-looking ship, if that makes sense.

And for those who want to relive that scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, here it is in remastered glory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b52b4yORX6U

Agreed with Greg and Dale as well, the refit/A and the E are the best of the bunch.

Greg, I rarely get past the opening scene of TMP with the three Klingon cruisers lobbing tops at the "luminescent cloud" (one of my favorite move moments ever and the extent to which I speak Klingonese myself) to see the reveal scene, but it is good.