Star Trek versus Star Wars

This is deadly serious

Forget your football rivalries, forget petty party political differences of are they too left wing? or are their policies too draconion.As a fan of both sci-fi television/movie programmes i am about to open the Pandora`s box of debates " Which in my opinion is better Star Wars or Star Trek?"- This is a subject i have not taken lightly( ok a bit lightly) and i am sure i will recieve abuse back about this(its all feedback!!). Which tv show is the king of space based escapism, Is the light sabre mightier than the phaser. Well as fan i have devised a series of tests to show which show format is the worthy master of the genre. And for the record this hub came about due to a few too many beers after work!

DISCLAIMER : These shows are fiction until proved otherwise!

Now i was born in 1978 and my early memories of childhood involved the Christmas holidays and watching either Starwars or Startrek at some stage of the festivites. I was the typical 1980`s child with X-wing models, Sevaral Luke Skywalker figures and a box full of the special edition figures that you had to send the tokens off for!( I had a nice collection of figures, until my younger brother bit their heads off and buried them in the back garden) As i hit my teenage years i found myself drawn and almost obssessed with the Startrek :Next Generation. Before then the only Startrek i had really seen was the motion pictures and re-runs of the 1960`s series. So comparing StarWars to the original Startrek is like comparing a model T-Ford to a DB9! Do not fear or worry i have made allowances.

I have decided to judge the series on the whole franchise, so i will take into account Jar Jar Binks annoyingness and the strings on the 1960`s special effects. At the moment with our CGI and other fancy tricks i think its almost refreshing and amusing.

Right then how shall i score this? I think as a percentage of the subtopics and then averaging out the score at the end, this seems fair to me so lets begin!

Battle One- Ships

The big kid in me always dreamed of owning or piloting the X-Wing fighter from Episode IV: New Hope. As a proud Englishman they are like the Spitfires of the future, In my eyes they are still awesome, it is the Rebel Alliance`s ace in the hole and in my opinion i speculate a vastly better fighter than the Empires Tie-Fighter. If i was judging Starwars on one ship its X-wing 100% but i have to take off marks for the following ships in the Starwars universe. Millenium Falcon as it would fail any space M.O.T and the Imperial Destroyers could have had a lot more destructive power. Also the Death Star although a lethal moon-sized ship and scary, was let down by silly oversights in its architecture. SCORE 85%

Now StarTrek has a lot more ships within its universe but i struggle to see anything which is simular to the X-Wing. At a push the Borg/Federation fusion of the Delta flyer from Voyager, but it would not be a fair comparrison. Of course the Startrek universe has the legendary USS Enterprise running through its history, although it has been destroyed more than the deathstar. Still as flagship of the Federation it should be feared and respected. The best ship in the StarTrek universe for me is the USS Defiant, a robust and dangerous ship than in honesty would win a fight against bigger ships in either franchise. The Defiant was destroyed once by Breen weaponary in the DS9 series. It survived assaults by the Borg in First Contact and is maybe the most offensive ship in Starfleets armoury. The USS Defiant with its durability and the Romulan loaned Cloak may well sway the contest to StarTrek??? SCORE 90%

Battle Two- Villains

Not that difficult to say who the real villians in the Startrek universe currently are , there have been so many to choose from, although some villains evolve into friends in later series. I think the Borg are the ultimate Bad guy as they represent losing ones individuality. These cybornetic aliens have become a constant threat to the Federation and they can supply limitless resources against their prey as they seek to assimulate the universe. They look on space as their empire, as they believe all will fall to the hive mind. They have tough heavily shielded and adaptive ships, superior strength by augmentation and have knowledge and technologies that can bring down civilizations. The Borg alone are a frightening opponent and if you add into the mix the Imperial and focussed Romulans, The Warriors of the Jem Hadar, The cunning of the Cardassians and the Klingon warriors ethic. It is fair to say that all Startrek villains offer a challenge. I have omitted including the Q continuem in this section as i believe they are not truelly comparable to anything most science fiction shows have. Essentially they are as powerful as gods, having the ability to shape the universe to their ideal instantly. If the Federation every went to war with the Q, the Federation would be wiped from excistence and history before you could get a phaser lock!

SCORE 90% ( If we include the Ferengi recalculated score is ....)

The Starwars villians are harder to pin down, I suppose the Emperor,Darth Vader and other Sith lords, are the main threat. Using the darker side of the force they can reap ruin and destruction across the galaxy. The Emporers use of his lightening and other dark powers is very effective, combine this with his henchmen Darth Vader and his legions of cloned Stormtroopers any opponent would be in trouble. Also let us not forget the Hutt`s and the bounty hunters who are devious,proffessional and lethal

SCORE 92% ( removed 3% for the silly droids saying "Roger Roger" in Phantom Menace)