19 May 2009

Writer's Block: Space Wars

(Cross-posted to LiveJournal)

Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, Alien, 2001—there is a long list of movies and TV shows that take place in space. Which is your favourite?

I think the honour goes to Star Trek: TNG, and I might've said Star Wars once upon a time. But the prequels seriously damaged my fondness for Mr. Lucas and his universe. I still love the OT (and I mean the real OT, not the souped up re-released versions of those films), but ST:TNG ... I stayed up much later than I should've last night because Sci-Fi was playing reruns all evening until 23.00. It's probably fortunate that I don't own the series on DVD, because I'd sit around watching it all the time.

Sure, it's kitschy and self-righteous--but, honestly, the "do the right thing" message always appealed to me as a kid, and the possibility that people with power might do the right thing. And now, it's more a nostalgia for considering matters in a simpler light. Wouldn't it be great if planetary issues could be cleared up by some moral high-ground in the course of an hour (not even an hour, really--45 minutes)? That might be very dangerous in reality, actually, but it's [usually] done very neatly in TNG.

Also, we return to one of my favourite toys (I could call it "recreational equipment," but it's just an over-sized, expensive toy) of the future: The Holodeck. Sure, the crew are always getting into trouble on the holodeck (trapped in the Wild West with a dozen Data look-alikes, or a Sherlock Holmes novel with Professor Moriarty on the loose, etc.); but without the crazy and dangerous glitches, how brilliant would that be?

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(ETA: Comments from LJ)

Susan: Geek.

Yeah, I think that I would pick
Star Trek, too, actually. It's been consistently entertaining. I remember watching it on TV with my mom and brother and being just so excited and enthralled by what it had to offer ... new worlds ... new technology ... and, yes, the holodeck.

I must admit that my love for Star Wars has lessened--not that I don't love it, but my interest has been put into other things. Yeah, there are really annoying things in those films ... all in the prequels. LOL.

I was tempted to say
Battlestar Galactica, but the 70's version was laughable but entertaining. And the recent series was just frakken brilliant, but the ending kind of disappointed me.

And yes I too was watching
ST:TNG on Sci-Fi last night. :)

~*~


It never fails to draw me in. I was watching the episode with the Romulan spy, and I thought, Oh, I'll go to bed after this is done. And then I caught the teaser for the episode with the militant revolutionaries (well, terrorists, really), and I couldn't turn off the television without knowing what happened to Beverly--because I couldn't remember how the episode played out at all!

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