# Explain away this inconsistency in Star Trek Into Darkness **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354 "2015-12-03T20:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/1 "2015-12-03T20:47:52Z")
Before the Enterprise departs, there is a scene where you see multiple ships that visually appear similar to the Enterprise at a massive orbiting space station over Earth. After the Enterprise tries to escape the USS Vengeance in warp, with the USS Vengeance being a capital ship owned and operating by the Federation, they come _out_ of warp so close to the Earth that they are in danger of crashing into the upper atmosphere within a few hours. So, ok. They are right in the core of Federation space, literally a few thousand kilometers from the homeworld. We have 1 warship, crewed by respected Admiral Alexander Marcus , engaging another warship, also a clearly marked StarFleet vessel. Yet…none of the ships we saw earlier in the film get involved. I’d say this would be equivalent to 2 U.S. Navy warships suddenly opening fire on each other in New York harbor, in front of thousands of witnesses, and the battle plan of one of the warship commanders being…to get away with it? Even when one ship is clearly disabled and outgunned and then the other moves to send it to the bottom instead of permitting the crew to surrender? I know this is a reboot. So we can ditch all of Star Trek canon. But this particular scene really got on my nerves because it blatantly ignores elements shown in the very same movie it is part of. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/2 "2015-12-03T21:04:56Z")
You expect logic and consistency from the guy who brought you _Lost_? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/3 "2015-12-03T21:54:18Z")
Setting off matter/antimatter explosions (by blowing up a starship) in Low Earth Orbit (or worse, causing it to crash and _then_ blow up) has got to be against somebody’s rules. How do you feel about Marcus’s clever plan of causing Kirk to start a war with the Klingon Empire by firing a whole bunch of warp torpedoes at the Klingon Homeworld, after Marcus removed all the fuel and replaced it with Khansicles? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/4 "2015-12-03T22:15:03Z")
I took it as the Enterprise popped out of warp fighting the Vengeance, and the rest of the ships hung back, mostly from a perspective of “WTF is going on? Where do we fit in?” That, and I had the distinct impression that movie-style time dilation/compression were going on- I doubt the fight in Earth orbit was more than a few minutes at the absolute most- not enough time for a starship to pull out of their orbit and cruise over to see what’s going on. But it took a long time on screen for most of it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/5 "2015-12-03T22:21:18Z")
Without having seen the movie (one of the reboot was enough!) my first thought would be that the ships in orbit might not be fully crewed. Like warships in port, a large number of their requisite crew could be on liberty, they might be in the middle of a crew swap, undergoing less-than-spacedock overhaul, etc. In fact, there is very little reason to think the ships were remotely ready for an in-your-face space battle with zero warning. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/6 "2015-12-04T01:52:32Z")
Yes, the boilers were cold – it takes a lot of time to build up enough steam. Think Pearl Harbor and battleships docked and helpless. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/7 "2015-12-04T02:14:56Z")
And you really don’t want to fire those babies up too fast… you could end up going back in time or some shit like that. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/8 "2015-12-04T02:20:01Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > You expect logic and consistency from the guy who brought you _Lost_? His involvement in Lost wasn’t really that big. You may wish to rephrase that with Alias. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/9 "2015-12-04T02:45:18Z")
The explanation is simple. And there’s a similar explanation for why not a single Vulcan or Human ship was around to shoot Nero’s drill out from under his ship in the first film: these movies are badly written. Fun, but not well thought out. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/10 "2015-12-04T02:52:25Z")
If I was compiling a ten-page list of things wrong with _Into Darkness_, the OP’s observation would get tacked onto the third revision. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/11 "2015-12-04T02:59:12Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > The explanation is simple. And there’s a similar explanation for why not a single Vulcan or Human ship was around to shoot Nero’s drill out from under his ship in the first film: these movies are badly written. Fun, but not well thought out. That’s a good point. Have the Vulcans made an intellectual decision there is no need to defend their home planet? Cause that does not make them seem like the galactic brainiacs they’re supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/12 "2015-12-04T02:59:47Z")
I stopped paying attention when they casually invented interstellar, faster than light, transporter technology, completely eliminating the need for spacecraft in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/13 "2015-12-04T03:01:00Z")
That pales in comparison to this: Bones thinks he can revive Kirk with Khan’s space blood, so they go after Khan in one of those Bond-movie-train-top fight scenes. I guess Bones (and everyone else) forgot he had like 70 other Khan-like super humans with the same space blood sleeping right next to him. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/14 "2015-12-04T03:04:48Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > That’s a good point. Have the Vulcans made an intellectual decision there is no need to defend their home planet? Cause that does not make them seem like the galactic brainiacs they’re supposed to be. Given their non-violence, it’s not outside the bounds of reason for them to have no planetary defense system. More to the point, no system capable of stopping Nemo’s ship from the future… ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/15 "2015-12-04T03:08:51Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > I stopped paying attention when they casually invented interstellar, faster than light, transporter technology, completely eliminating the need for spacecraft in the first place. That was in the _last_ film. In this one, an enemy of the federation uses the technology to escape to the Klingon homeworld instantly. Somehow, star fleet misses the fact that they can INSTANTLY SEND STUFF TO THEIR ENEMIES AT ANY TIME and does not appear to have dumped everything into researching this. Since, you know, it would let you just casually blow up enemies of the federation instantly in one fell swoop. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/16 "2015-12-04T03:28:15Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Given their non-violence, it’s not outside the bounds of reason for them to have no planetary defense system. More to the point, no system capable of stopping Nemo’s ship from the future… Non-violence? Bring forth the Lirpa! Spock saved Earth by shooting down the drill, and he did it without too much effort. If not Vulcan, then certainly Earth could have done that. And do you know why Nero needed a drill? For the same reason the Enterprise fell from the moon to Earth(?) in minutes(!) and why no other Starfleet vessel was around to watch. Because these movies are badly written. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/17 "2015-12-04T03:46:59Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Non-violence? Bring forth the Lirpa! Nemo didn’t let them wait seven years. > [@](#): > > Spock saved Earth by shooting down the drill, and he did it without too much effort. By the standards of traditional Vulcan society, Spock was a freak. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/18 "2015-12-04T05:48:06Z")
He had a small ship with small guns at the time, is my point. But I still think Vulcan would have at least had something in the air they could crash into the drill if not the eminently logical planetary defense system. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/19 "2015-12-04T12:20:42Z")
Seriously, Vulcans are a telepathic species. The least they could do is have some sort of Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons defense perimeter to scramble the thought processes of a threat. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-away-this-inconsistency-in-star-trek-into-darkness/739354/20 "2015-12-04T14:39:19Z")
The more I read threads like this, the more I’m glad I skipped these movies completely. Thanks!