Star Trek or Star Wars ?

[LHoffman]

So… one of the biggest nerd debates of all time. Never seen it talked about here though. Please post your thoughts.

This is NOT about who would win in a battle. That can get rather ridiculous and there are a lot of qualifications for that argument.

This is more an opinion piece on what you identify more with, enjoy more or would say most nearly describes you (or which you ascribe to yourself).

This doesn’t mean you cannot like both. I do. It is just which you feel a greater affinity for. (I know there are other sci-fi franchises like Stargate, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Andromeda, etc… but we are focusing specifically on the two most popular here.) Please share why you like one over the other or why you specifically dislike the other.

I am a Star Trek guy. Hands down.

[ABWorsham4]

I’m a Star Wars fan. A Star Wars fan married to a Star Trek fan.

[amanntai]

Star Wars.

I just find the aliens in Star Trek boring. They all look like humans. Vulcans are humans with pointy ears. Klingons are humans with weird foreheads.
Star Wars has more biodiversity in my opinion.

[LHoffman]

@amanntai:

I just find the aliens in Star Trek boring. They all look like humans. Vulcans are humans with pointy ears. Klingons are humans with weird foreheads.
Star Wars has more biodiversity in my opinion.

I would agree. Starting as a TV show, I think the biodiversity aspect was handicapped a bit. They haven’t shifted much from that in the (non-JJ) movies either.

[CWO Marc]

Star Trek.  I’ve seen every episode of every television series (including the animated one), plus all the movies, and I have lots of reference books on the fictional Trek universe and on the production history of the franchise. I like Star Wars too, but differently and somewhat to a lesser degree.  I’ve seen all six of the films – I loved the original trilogy, but I have mixed feelings about the prequels (a point on which I’m probably not alone) – but I only have a couple of reference works on the subject.  Compared with the Star Trek universe, the Star Wars universe has more elements that border on fantasy (the quasi-magical concept of the Force being perhaps the most prominent example), and my preference is for science-fiction that’s a bit more realistic in its approach.

One thing both franchises have in common from my viewpoint is that I have almost no interest in the spin-off stuff: the novels, the video games and so forth.  For example, I saw some of the early Clone Wars cartoons but they didn’t interest me.  This is one reason why I hope that the forthcoming new Star War film (which I definitely plan to see) won’t depend too much on the materials that were developed for the Star Wars Expanded Universe (if that’s the correct name) because if that’s the case I’ll be hopelessly lost.

[Young Grasshopper]

I’ll tell you after I see the next Star Wars movie.

[General Veers]

Star Wars came first for me (by way of the 1997 special edition rerelease) so it will always hold a special place in my geek heart.

[barney]

Star Trek for me. I like Star Wars as well but I agree with CWO. I like the “science” more than the fantasy.
While most aliens were humanoid in Star Trek there were still a sizeable number of “creatures”. Especially in season three.

I really liked Enterprise. Was bummed when they cancelled it. The last episode was terrible as well. Thought “Quantum Leap” Sam did a good job. They were going to go into the Romulan wars next. Too bad.

The new movies with the alternate universe were pretty good. Really like the characters for Kirk and Spock.

[ABWorsham4]

@Young:

I’ll tell you after I see the next Star Wars movie.

That same thought crossed my mind.

[wheatbeer]

Star Trek, especially Deep Space 9 (great story arcs and character development).

I have nothing against the original Star Wars trilogy though (and I probably read the Heir to the Empire trilogy by Timothy Zahn a hundred times as a teenager  :lol:)

Star Trek has it’s cheesy moments, but too much of Star Wars Episode I-III content was just fundamentally bad (plot/script/acting).

[wheatbeer]

@amanntai:

I just find the aliens in Star Trek boring. They all look like humans. Vulcans are humans with pointy ears. Klingons are humans with weird foreheads.
Star Wars has more biodiversity in my opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chase_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

This episode sort of explained away the similarities but saying that life was seeded by some earlier species.

Most Star Wars aliens are still bipedal, with heads featuring eyes/nose/mouth/ears, who communicate with vocalizations. A truly alien creature wouldn’t be able to emote for a human audience.

(and just in case, I didn’t geek out enough already, Star Trek aliens have more deeply developed cultures than Star Wars aliens)

[John Brown]

Definitely, Star Wars for me, but don’t dislike Star trek. The worlds big enough for both. :-D

[Gargantua]

Still my preferred awesome.

[John Brown]

Gar, that is a cool scene! :-D

[amanntai]

@CWO:

Star Trek.  I’ve seen every episode of every television series (including the animated one), plus all the movies, and I have lots of reference books on the fictional Trek universe and on the production history of the franchise. I like Star Wars too, but differently and somewhat to a lesser degree.  I’ve seen all six of the films – I loved the original trilogy, but I have mixed feelings about the prequels (a point on which I’m probably not alone) – but I only have a couple of reference works on the subject.  Compared with the Star Trek universe, the Star Wars universe has more elements that border on fantasy (the quasi-magical concept of the Force being perhaps the most prominent example), and my preference is for science-fiction that’s a bit more realistic in its approach.

One thing both franchises have in common from my viewpoint is that I have almost no interest in the spin-off stuff: the novels, the video games and so forth.  For example, I saw some of the early Clone Wars cartoons but they didn’t interest me.  This is one reason why I hope that the forthcoming new Star War film (which I definitely plan to see) won’t depend too much on the materials that were developed for the Star Wars Expanded Universe (if that’s the correct name) because if that’s the case I’ll be hopelessly lost.

First: Clone Wars isn’t a spinoff. Sadly, it’s the real thing (and it sucked).

Second, Star Wars has a lot of really good material in the expanded universe. If you never read Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy, you should start there.

Fun fact: Timothy Zahn was the first to use Coruscant as the name of the capital planet.

[amanntai]

@wheatbeer:

@amanntai:

I just find the aliens in Star Trek boring. They all look like humans. Vulcans are humans with pointy ears. Klingons are humans with weird foreheads.
Star Wars has more biodiversity in my opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chase_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

This episode sort of explained away the similarities but saying that life was seeded by some earlier species.

Most Star Wars aliens are still bipedal, with heads featuring eyes/nose/mouth/ears, who communicate with vocalizations. A truly alien creature wouldn’t be able to emote for a human audience.

(and just in case, I didn’t geek out enough already, Star Trek aliens have more deeply developed cultures than Star Wars aliens)

I don’t want to start an argument, but I have to disagree.
Based solely on the movies, I might agree with you, but Star Trek naturally has the advantage given that it’s a TV series and Star Wars isn’t (Clone Wars doesn’t count).
If you include the novels that make up the expanded universe, Star Wars species have cultures at least as defined as Star Trek’s.

A truly alien creature wouldn’t be able to emote for a human audience.

Like these?
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Shard
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Neti
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ergesh

[wheatbeer]

I said most. Those aliens definitely aren’t typical of Star Wars any more than tribbles and horta are typical of Star Trek.

At its heart, Star Wars is an action driven space opera with moral themes. Authors of the novels don’t always follow this mold, but that’s the bread and butter of Star Wars.

At its heart, Star Trek is about exploration which, more often than not, requires understanding alien motives, histories, cultures, etc.

[frimmel]

Three guesses. First two don’t count.  8-)

[LHoffman]

@frimmel:

Three guesses. First two don’t count.   8-)

X, X, Kaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhnnnnn!

[LHoffman]

I was going to say that, in general, Star Trek does have better developed alien cultures. Granted this is due to the massive amount of screen time they have had to develop them, which Star Wars has not. Star Trek stories require this more as Wheatbeer said. The humanoid-ness of many of Star Trek’s aliens is both a production value thing, but also I believe a method that allows the most audience investment in the given plot. Humans identify better with Klingons and Romulans than they do with Tribbles or Hutts or Jawas. Just the nature of the story telling.