Star Trek Beyond (2016)

[Andy B]

But mainly the wow factor.

All good points...

Still not entirely convinced by the in universe argument. Star Trek is essentially a western: we're on the (final) frontier, and that doesn't ring true if, half way through their 5-year mission, they can swing past a miraculous place like this and stick the Enterprise in an underground car park. (but I'd forgotten the diverging timeline went all the way back to the Kelvin.)

Real world justification that something like DS9 wouldn't cut it in a 2016 blockbuster... Hard to argue with that 

[Magnetica]

you can't just use ..(or even) DS9.
But mainly the wow factor.

Yes I'll go along with that. And remember a Federation star base couldn't be based on DS9 as that was actually a Cardassian station.

[Steve Green]

Thought it was fun - the final showdown went on a bit, but I did tear up at the Original cast pic, and the To Boldly Go dialogue spoken by Anton

[Steve Green]

Oh and the big green hand making it into the credits

[Dreddzilla]

Just one complaint - and I know this is a really geeky one - the Yorktown. It was just too much: technologically far, far in advance of anything we've seen the Federation build in any timeline. They must have started building it before the Enterprise was even launched... How?

So that was jarring. Felt like it was in the wrong film.

Gotta disagree.

Real world justification: ST is set in the future. It's about the wonders of space exploration. In order to generate that sense of wonder in 2016, you can't just use the space station from Trouble with Tribbles, or even DS9. To capture the ST feel it has to be fresh and mind-blowing: Yorktown is. Your reference to the Culture's GSVs is spot on. That's what this type of Starbase is. Impressive, eh? One of my big beefs about the first two films was that the interiors of almost everything looked like 20th C industrial mixed with an Apple store: Beyond gives us the futuristic imagery I crave.

In universe explanation: technology has been hugely affected by the Kelvin incident, and the future tech it revealed. The Enterprise herself is over twice the length of the original, in and around the size of the TNG Enterprise-D. The ridiculous Vengeance from Into Darkness dwarfs even that, by far the biggest Starfleet vessel we've ever seen. The loss of Vulcan and most of Starfleet 4 years earlier may have shaken people's sense of security of even the founder planets, and made emigration to the frontier seem less daunting, as well as increasing Starfleet' funding massively.

But mainly the wow factor.

I have to disagree with you on the Diverging timelines starting after the Kelvin incident. I would argue the timeline was altered after the events of 'FC' which explains why the ENT era tech looked so much sleeker and advanced than anything from TOS era, especially the look and size of the Kelvin looking more like it came from the ENT era than classic Trek.

[TordelBack]

I would argue the timeline was altered after the events of 'FC' which explains why the ENT era tech looked so much sleeker and advanced than anything from TOS era, especially the look and size of the Kelvin looking more like it came from the ENT era than classic Trek.

A good point. Although changes as a result of First Contact (initially the Borgised 24th C Earth, subsequently its restored version where Geordie and Riker had been the crew of the Phoenix) would seem to have taken place within the same closed timeline, rather than creating a second parallel stream. Had FC altered the technological development of the proto-Federation it would have had effects in the TNG Series - but we see Scotty's holo-Enterprise, Picard's model and Sisko's Tribble one are the original design. The Enterprise D had to return to its own altered future in order to see the Earth free of the Borg, not an alternate one.

[Jim_Campbell]

Quality nerding on this thread.

[blackmocco]

I wholeheartedly apologize in advance for being that guy.

The Enterprise E had to return to its own altered future in order to see the Earth free of the Borg, not an alternate one.

[TordelBack]

I wholeheartedly apologize in advance for being that guy.

The Enterprise E had to return to its own altered future in order to see the Earth free of the Borg, not an alternate one.

This is a discussion forum for a 1970s boys' comic - we're all That Guy. I feel no shame being outgeeked by the nerdiest.