My local comic shop is having a big debate event next weekend- costumes/panels the whole nine yards. I’m not a Trekkie (but not a hater either). Anyone got a favorite argument and/or thesis they’d like to share? I know it’s crystal clear which is better, but I might need to sway some folks.
It IS crystal clear which is better: Star Trek.
ST is actual scifi whereas SW is more like a fairy tale set in space.
I have an 8-year old little brother who’s totally into SW right now, but once he gets into his teens, I’m pretty certain he will start favoring ST because while SW is great on action and adventure and draws very clear-cut lines between good and evil (which is fine for smaller kids, they need that), ST is way more sophisticated in what kind of stories they tell. In ST, you find all sorts of moral dilemmas, catch-22s, political, racial, social, religious issus - ST asks you to open your mind to questions that can only be raised by scifi whereas SW is about little else than the action.
Wow you know what - you make a good point. But I have to say - I still prefer Star Wars to Star Trek.
After 387 IYKWIM posts, I’m finally back to making actual points that can be discarded at will :D. Woot for me!
You know, I’ve never much cared for ST. The stories are often good and often not. Then again, the same can be said for SW. I find that the fx work in Trek hasn’t aged nearly as well as In SW, but I’d also agree that SW isn’t really sci-fi in the traditional sense either.
Which is to say, what does it matter? Why can’t someone like both?
If you’re talking about TOS, okay I’m with you. If not - have you seen STTMP or STTWOK lately? Those effects still look totally awesome. And other thing I always liked about Star Trek is that they always used real models, even after the advent of CGI, at least for the closeup. You’ll never find a starship in Trek that has this computer-ish look that’s just a dead giveaway of CGI and that the SW prequels were so full of.
Which is to say, what does it matter? Why can’t someone like both?
My thinking entirely. The last fight I had over this was in 6th grade.
The Star Trek versus Star Wars debate can be a pretty rich and deep discussion—in other words comparing and constrasting the two, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be about which is better or which you like more.
But before I go on with that thought, DawnAZ is indeed what the debate is about?
How can you say that??? The midi-chlorians make the Force scientifically sound. Bacterial infections usually cause superpowers. :rolleyes:
There can be only one.
There’s a simple reason for that. Movies have significantly larger budgets than a TV episode.
The last fight I had over this was in 6th grade.
Clearly it’s not a fair comparison, since Babylon 5 is better than both of them. 
i’ve never hated on ST myself, i’ve just never gotten much into the whole franchise. though i will concede that, from a strictly hard sci-fi point of view, ST is better than SW.
but my preference is with SW.
I prefer Star Wars, as it is much more entertaining to me. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up watching ST: TOS, and I liked it (though TNG, Voyager, and Enterprise put me to sleep), but when I ask myself which I would enjoy watching more, ST or SW, the answer is SW.
I think both ST and SW bring unique qualities to the whole SF genre. Star Wars has always been more epic space opera while Star Trek has tended to be more “the future as alagory for the present”. They both have their problems (with SW: bad writing, awful directing ala the prequel trilogy; ST: Voyager, the psuedo-hard sci-fi technobable), but both have enough good qualities to me. Now if you’re talking about Star Wars vs Star Trek cross-over war, the folks from Star Wars would stomp all over the poor bastards in Trek.
Quantum Torpedoes is all I’m saying.
(not for the easily offended)
and thanks, Pike, for sending me to DarthMojo. I needed something else to waste my time on 
and on advice from RonMooreHasPrettyHair, a warning: not workplace-friendly
That. Was. Totally, frakin’ Awesome—I just got that thing were you laugh until tears start to roll down my face.
Oh, and …um…one more thing :
Ahh, The endless Debate.
I think it’s unfair to make points on technical quality or quantitative analysis. Trek is primarily a television franchise, Star Wars is primarily a film franchise.
Both have engendered massive fanbases.
I don’t know which I like better. To me, they are wholly different. Trek is about us. It’s about you and me living in the 20/21st century and how we interact. StarWars is (as others have mentioned) a fairy tale. Neither goes into the other’s territory, they tend to do what they do well and stay away from getting off course.
I like both of them. I don’t care too much for ST:TOS, and I’m not too big on the SW prequels.
They can be equally loved!
Having been raised on both SW and ST (TOS-DS9), I appreciate both as good entertainment. That said, I definitely prefer SW because I found I could relate to it more.
ST sometimes struck me as cheesy and annoying, especially when they tried to make allegories in the future for some issue that was happening at the time (warp drive killing the space environment, anyone?).
In SW, I love the clearly drawn lines between good and evil in the original trilogy and the parts of the EU that contained Mara Jade. Timothy Zahn’s novels are still among my favorite books, and I love the EU for keeping my interest in SW alive.
I do for the most part pretend the prequels didn’t exist, though. 
For me, this is like choosing your favorite child. You don’t have one. I love them both equally. Sure there are issues but if I didn’t have anything to complain about I wouldn’t love them or at the very least have a passion for them.
I have seen this battle raged before with diametrical combatants. I never understood why I had to choose a side. Maybe that’s for the truly competitive. I love them for the entertainment value and the cerebral and emotional value. Both focus on the human condition in different ways. They teach us about choice and consequence. Star Wars teaches about a fall and redemption. Star Trek teaches about the potential of the human spirit/drive.
Battlestar touches on all these fronts, also, and deals with each of the issues differently. Where Star Trek shows almost super human strength of conscience, BSG shows human weakness and frailty. Where Star Wars shows archetypal mythical heroes, BSG offers Kara “Starbuck” Thrace.
In the immortal words of a man beaten 56 times in 81 seconds:
“People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?..It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice…Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out”
Would I blow everyone’s mind if I just added that STTMP was a bad movie, but that the effects were great nevertheless - and still are today - without commenting on the Bridge Porn bit?
2007 posts, GR?
I think we need an intervention
Oh. My. God. I can’t breathe. My wife came in wondering what was going on. I played it for her and she lost it too.