# Which is Better: Star Wars or Star Trek? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076 "2003-05-18T18:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/61 "2003-05-21T05:17:24Z")
STVI was The Undiscovered Country and Kim Cattrall is a woman, Clueless One. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/62 "2003-05-21T05:23:50Z")
well, I _know_ she’s a woman! That’s why I included her! So, I got the movie wrong, I’m a little buzzed and quite tired right now, what with all that Dixie Chick stuff. But, back to the main point: I love _Star Wars_. But I’ve been a Trekker since 1969, when my parents first let me stay up and watch _TOS_ in it’s first run (3rd season). I am now a junquie, as you all well know. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/63 "2003-05-21T05:25:00Z")
I’ve been Trekked-up since 1976. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/64 "2003-05-21T05:26:56Z")
I think it was '93 or so before I discovered the awesomeness that is Trek. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/65 "2003-05-21T05:29:52Z")
My name is Tommy and I’m a Trekker. Hi, Tommy! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/66 "2003-05-21T05:39:18Z")
NCB, are you playing Guess What My Real Name Is? That’s the second name you’ve given today that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/67 "2003-05-22T01:53:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > **In ST:FC, the Borg fire at a planet. The resulting shots create explosions that look like a stick of TNT going off. Pathetic, just downright pathetic, really.** You forget, those explosions were going off hundreds or thousands of miles away, and yet looked like a stick of TNT going off down the street. Which means that the actual size of those explosions was probably similar to that of a typical thermonuclear bomb’s mushroom cloud. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/68 "2003-05-22T01:55:59Z")
_Star Trek_ is inherently superior because it allows for the following pun: Q. How much Brien is on Deep Space Nine? A. Miles o’ Brien! Try doing **that** with a name like “Boba Fett” or “Han Solo”! ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/69 "2003-05-22T03:17:46Z")
I can’t believe I’m defending **SPOOFE** in an ST vs SW debate but if the Borg can’t pinpoint the only matter-antimatter FTL Drive on a planet and fire a single torpedo right at it, then they need to just give up, **tracer**. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/70 "2003-05-22T10:05:28Z")
> [@](#): > > You forget, those explosions were going off hundreds or thousands of miles away, and yet looked like a stick of TNT going off down the street. > > Which means that the actual size of those explosions was probably similar to that of a typical thermonuclear bomb’s mushroom cloud. Er, no. We saw the results of the explosion, from the ground. Did you even SEE _First Contact_? They didn’t even damage buildings that were less than five meters away. And that’s why Star Trek sucks. Its fans can’t even remember its own movies, even the recent ones. Not that I blame, them, though, what with the drek like _Insurrection_ and the SW Clone Wars ripoff _Nemesis_, where we discover that the Most Powerful Ship In The Alpha Quadrant can be bested by a collision that wouldn’t even cause the airbags on a Honda Accord to deploy. At least Star Destroyers require asteroids to impact with the force of multi-megaton bombs in order to faze them… Sheesh. And I’ve yet to see a SINGLE Trekkie apologize for _Voyager_… ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/71 "2003-05-22T12:38:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\*And that’s why Star Trek sucks. Its fans can’t even remember its own movies, even the recent ones. \*\* And thousands of Star Wars fans are absolutely convinced that the first “Star Wars” movie was entitled “A New Hope” when it came out. Really, your obsession with this is stupid. They’re both terrific franchises and a whale of fun. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/72 "2003-05-22T14:12:21Z")
I liked the _Planet of the Apes_ franchise, too. remember the Saturday morning TV show? ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/73 "2003-05-22T14:32:47Z")
Star Trek = Star Wars They were both great franchises that have been run into the ground with a lack of vision and creativity. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/74 "2003-05-22T15:36:19Z")
They’re both fun franchises, and they both used to be better. That said… > [@](#): > > from _capacitor_ > Klingons \> Bounty Hunters, although if the Boba Fett story were fleshed out, he might have an edge. oh, please… Tribbles \> Boba Fett. We are talking about the bounty hunter who was _accidentally_ knocked into the creature’s pit and killed, by a still-blind and flailing Han Solo. You can’t claim bad-ass status when you get accidentally killed by a blind guy. My grandmother could kick Boba Fett’s ass… Note: Any arguments in favor of Star Wars should never be based on the merits of Boba Fett. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/75 "2003-05-22T15:39:40Z")
I think Star Trek is much more interesting. Star Wars is a space opera, there really isn’t much science in the fiction. Star Trek, otoh, deals with interesting scientific as well as philosophical questions. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/76 "2003-05-22T16:00:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\* > and the SW Clone Wars ripoff… \*\* Clone Wars, is that what that was? I thought I was watching a big screen adaptation of _Love, Alderaan Style_. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/77 "2003-05-22T16:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vivalostwages \* > \*\*I’ve been Trekked-up since 1976. \*\* I was born in 1976. Although, as far as I know, neither of my parents are Vulcans. I make no promises about them not being Ewoks, though. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/78 "2003-05-22T17:50:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > **Er, no. We saw the results of the explosion, from the ground. Did you even SEE _First Contact_? They didn’t even damage buildings that were less than five meters away.** Are we talking about the same scene here? The one where the Borg sphere has just gone through the time-travel tunnel and was bombarding the Earth from orbit? (Whereupon the Enterprise E quickly nailed them with a quantum torpedo spread?) > [@](#): > > \*\*Sheesh. And I’ve yet to see a SINGLE Trekkie apologize for _Voyager_… ::shudder:: \*\* I am terribly, terribly sorry for _Star Trek: Voyager_. I personally inflicted it on the world as revenge for not getting an Evel Knievel stunt bike toy when I was 8 years old. I purposely designed Neelix to be nearly as annoying as Jar Jar Binks, so that everyone forget how annoying my boyhood hero Wesley Crusher was. I ordered Kate Mulgrew to do her most shrewish Katherine Hepburn imitation for the entire 7-year run. There. Happy? ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Dracul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/50afbb/32.png) [@Vlad\_Dracul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Dracul)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/79 "2003-05-22T19:13:33Z")
Just throw 'em in a pit and let 'em fight it out: Kirk vs Vader… Vader, unless Kirk convinces him “we’re not going to kill today.” Picard vs Vader … Vader. “The line must be dra- AAAKKKK!” Neelix vs Jar-Jar… Who cares? Leave both in pit until they starve! Scotty vs whoever designed Death Star with an exposed point that would destroy the whole thing… Scotty. Wesley vs immature Luke… Luke. Them farm boys is tough. Tuvok vs Windu… uh, how do you measure “token blackness”? Worf vs Chewbacca… Chewbacca. Bigger, hairier, louder, can occasionally hit the broad side of a barn when shooting. Yoda vs Boothby… Yoda. Just as annoying, but a lot cuter. Janeway vs Leia AND Amidala… Janeway. Will have the other two bringing her coffee within five minutes. Starfleet security vs stormtroopers… no winner, ALL somehow manage to get killed. Harry Kim vs C3PO… Kim. Has died at least twice, hasn’t stopped him. Data vs R2D2… Data. When did a hot babe ever kiss R2? ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076/80 "2003-05-22T19:22:08Z")
Uh Treker since 1973… Remeber a time when the only Trek was the 6:00 reruns of TOS. It has cheesey effects and some cheap sets…maybe some odf the acting is ham fisted… and hammy but they knew how to tell a story about characters. Not Types… Star Wars is fun (well except the last three movies) but it and Aliens totally trashed the science fiction genre. There are so few real SF movies since Star Wars smashed the box office in 1977. Even Trek has been influenced by it. For that I will always side against it. Besides Our Meglomanical quirky creator is way tougher and better than yours! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-better-star-wars-or-star-trek/176076.md?page=5)