Comments on: Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Trek

By: adam smith

adam smith — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:45:16 +0000

I hate the new one compared to the old one. The old one was science fiction. The new one was science drama. Seriously, I kept hoping the pres would die already, enough with all the stupid dreams, oh and I guess we live on earth 2 since you see some of the original people still alive 500,000 years later at the very end. I thought that was quite a stretch. The original just had character. It’s like saying Voyager is better than the original Star Trek. I have to call b.s. on statements like that.

As for realism, why would you call it science FICTION if you expected them to be able to have a realistic setting? Yes, shuttle craft do disappear and somehow get replaced on shows like Voyager, but did Voyager have people who dies and were instantly reborn on another ship, consciousness intact? Did Voyager have people colonize a planet then skip ahead 500,000 years later and show that some of them were still alive? Did Voyager have ZERO explanation for why they had the technology to travel faster than the speed of light but used BULLETS in their guns? Did Voyager focus entire seasons to one rambling idiot on a radio preaching how he was the chosen one of God? Did Voyager do any of that? No. Don’t get me wrong, Voyager, Stargate, hell, even Star Wars all took liberties with fact and fiction, but then they kind of had to. They didn’t make any excuses for it either, though.

I’ll tell you one thing: do a little research and see how much of today’s technology you enjoy because of STAR TREK. Yeah, the vast majority of the ideas they created were made into reality. That’s why shows like that get naval ships and NASA shuttles named after them. There won’t be any shuttle Galactica, I guarantee you that.

By: SciFi-Rich

SciFi-Rich — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Newport,
Thank you for bringing up BSG ’s already much appropriated and increasingly bizarre Judeo-Christian overtones. As a fan of the show, I understood the place of the heavy employment of Greek mythological themes in the series. But as the storyline progressed, Old/New Testament religious themes rose to the forefront, especially in the last season. This change in mythological influences, culminated in a weird series finale where science and logic seemed to be thrown out the window. In there place was a “Touch by the Angel” aesthetic in which religious mysticism was used to explain fundamental plot points. So before we continue this praise of all things BSG over the Star Trek series, lets consider the inappropriate use of religion/magic in a supposed realistic sci-fi series.

By: newport

newport — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:44:00 +0000

As the finale of BSG and the pilot of Caprica showed, the downfall of man was the desired plan of “the One True God.” The Cylon’s god was the god of the monotheistic humans. One of whom, as we learned is reincarnated in a Cylon body.

In short, BSG just became another example of the Old Testament God on one of His homicidal/genocidal rages against wayward humans (see the Great Flood for an example).

By: Iggles

Iggles — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:07:00 +0000

“Star Trek is about who we want to be, and Battlestar Galactica is about who we are.”

Wow, this sentence pretty much sums it up. BSG is classic dysutopian sci fi. When sci fi explores the darker side of humanity it resonates in the gut, which is why Star Wars and Blade Runner live on as dark sci fi classics.

I can’t say one style is better than the other. For me, what appeals to me is not the special effects. The sci fi that hits me the hardest is when it examines human nature.

Understandably, I’m a huge BSG fan. I really like the Star Trek reboot. The bold moves taken in the plot really impressed me. I can see some aspects of Star Wars and BSG in the movie (elements of Kirk’s orgin story; Romance – which was AWESOME; and Genocide). While it had a upbeat ending some things could not be fixed (such as massive tragedy), which gave it more grit.

Now I know some Trekkies will take offense to this, but that’s how I see it. If it would have been a rehash of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” it would not have done so well at the box office. (V’Ger was the *worse* antagonist of all time..)

I never really watched TOS and I hate TNG. However, I really liked the last 3 trek tv franchises – DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise.

I think Ron Moore’s criticism of Voyager was valid. They could have pushed things farther. However, I *loved* the characters. Janeway was an awesome captian. Loved Chakotay, B’Lenna Torres and her husband. I even loved 7 of 9 once she came into her own, although I didn’t care for her last minute romance with Chakotay (felt forced).

Enterprise was my favorite one. I know it gets trashed, but I started watching season 3 when they had a full season arc in the Delta Expanse. That was a bit darker Trek season, which is why it stood out. Plus I loved T’Pol and Trip :D

Anyway, I just love sci fi in general, because the idea “what if” is so intriguing. But I like sci fi with a plot. Character development is also necessary for any sci fi series. I think both Star Trek (TOS) and BSG did this well.

By: Alex Y

Alex Y — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:53:00 +0000

I will take the opportunity to disagree with most comments.

The article limits itself to comparing the “cultures” in which actions take place. However, whilst ST TOS and TNG do what Sci-Fi does best, namely modify a fundamental premise of the world and analyze the consequences, BSG appears to be basically focused on interpersonal relationship stuff that could be achieved in any other setting. In fact, I am forced to deal with some of that sort of stuff every day…

This is probably also the reason why the DS9 was a real disappointment as far as Sci Fi content was concerned, and caused me to quit watching the other ST shows. If you all like real Sci Fi, “the outer limits” and “Red Dwarf” aren’t bad amongst others.

By: Jen Pen

Jen Pen — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:05:00 +0000

There’s some prejudice left in Star Trek. Only this time it’s directed towards Data (Measure of A Man, TNG) and The Doctor (Season 1 and Author, Author, VOY).

By: Erika

Erika — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:34:00 +0000

As a ST and BSG fan, I really enjoyed this article and I think you are 100% right. ST is all about what we can become and is fairly optimistic while BSG takes on a more realistic stance and deals with some of the most difficult issues we are faced with currently. I love them both equally and separately. ST holds a special place in my heart since I was raised on it, but BSG really resonates with me personally on several different levels. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on the cyclical nature of humanity. We see time and time again that humanity has a hard time learning from history and previous mistakes. I wonder what sort of lessons we will take with us as we embark into a new era of globalization, climate crisis, and terrorism?

“All of this has happened before…”
“But the question remains, does it have to happen again?”

By: Johnny Cat

Johnny Cat — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Again, having seen the complete series, I gotta say this series had a vision. It knew where it was going, and even though we were subjected to a lot of downtime science-fictionwise for a while, the final episode cleared it all up nicely. The revelations at the end were quite thought-provoking. The speeches by Baltar and Kara were worth the wait and weirdness of Bob Dylan references and what I like to refer to as Colonel Tighe Goes To The Dentist strip bar scenes. Overall, Commander Adama always kept his credo expressed in this blog entry. “Do we deserve to survive?” Yeah, I think we really do.

By: Con

Con — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:32:00 +0000

I know nothing about Battlestar Galactica but a hell of a lot about Star Trek. And I must say – this widely-held view that Star Trek depicts a perfect, idealised future is false. The universe it presents us with is rife with conflict. Humans may not be killing each other on Earth anymore, but there’s certainly a lot of killing going on outside our little solar system. Just watch Deep Space Nine and tell me the Trek universe is the future you want your descendants to live in, with its massive wars and unfathomable death tolls. Even TNG alludes to several serious conflicts that have taken place in the years immediately preceding the series. A lot of people hear Picard’s excessively benovolent view of his own era and take this at face value. The truth is the future as depicted in Star Trek is still a very messed-up and a very dangerous place. It’s just that the scale of the problems has changed. Rather than there being conflicts between different races, there are conflicts between different species. And instead of territorial conflicts between rival nation-states, you have territorial conflicts between rival planetary alliances. A perfect future? I think not.

By: Val

Val — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:41:00 +0000

I have to say that I believe BSG & ST to be about who we are and what we will become depending on which path we take. I can’t say that I like BSG more than I like ST. I’m a Trekkie and just because another show comes out I’m not going to stop watching a show that I like because of its storyline or the way it portrays humanity. Each show should be taken within its own context.

BSG is about humans who created a monster to do their bidding and now have to run from that monster who is now sentient. They believe in a God and believe that they are the better of the two species and should survive instead of humanity. What comes to mind to me is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

ST is about humans who’ve fought horrific wars and came out the better and want more for themselves and others. They explore for knowledge and yes to add to the Federation of Planets – think of it as ensuring democracy and freedom around the world – except its throughout space. They have rules that sometimes they have to decide what is better for themselves and the other species involved.

But comparing two shows that are about complete opposite states of humanity is a bit harsh.

ST is not BSG and BSG is not ST and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. BSG is a very real road humanity could easily take right now. ST is humanity having taken that road and rose above it and helping others to rise above it.

As I tell my friends all the time…I live reality, every so often I want a break – that’s what teevee is for – which is why I don’t watch ANY reality teevee.

I watch both BSG and ST and I like them for their separate views of humanity.