The ships in the OT are MUCH cooler than those in AOTC or TPM

Wow. How can you compare BATTLEFIELD EARTH to AOTC? I wish all bashers were as reasonable and likable as Green_destiny_sword

 

There is simply something more eye-catching with the OT designs.

 

Ree is right. From Executor to the AT-AT Imperial walkers every design was better in the OT...... you just have to compare the space battle of TPM and ROTJ.....I would say that it is much more credible the one of ROTJ..even the laser beams look better in ROTJ.
At the same time it should be said that the designs of AOTC are an improvement over TPM; the very cool Solar Sailor comes to mind...

 

I agree with you all, the designs of the ships in the entire SW saga are some of the best in film. It's nice to know with how much could have gone wrong, so few things did.

 

oh gomer you cockeyed optimist!

 

ia have to agree with you partly. some of the OT ships are better like the X-wing, tie fighter, and milenium falcon. but also you cant forget the naboo starfighter or the nubian.

 

No ship can compare to the Executor!

 

Here's some Speeder Bike comparison:

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/speederbike/img/eu_bg.jpg]

[image=http://www.rebelscum.com/swsaga/sw02dlxclonetroopersetsidert.jpg]
Speeder Bikes were cut out of AOTC, but are still survive in this toy. Basically it's almost the same as the ROTJ design, with some differences.

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/flaresswoop/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Flare-S, as seen in the SE and in TPM


[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/stap/img/eu_bg.jpg]
STAP

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/sithspeeder/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Maul's

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/owenbike/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Owen's

[image=http://www.starwars.hasbro.com/bountyhunter/repnews/imgs/Dooku-Speeder_lg.jpg]
Dooku's

 

And Landspeeders:


[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/flashspeeder/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Flash Speeder

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/gianspeeder/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Gian Speeder

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/v35landspeeder/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Lars Speeder

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/xp34landspeeder/img/bts_bg.jpg]
Luke's speeder

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/vehicle/xp34landspeeder/img/curve.jpg]
Similar speeder from TPM

 

even the laser beams look better in ROTJ.

?

 

Comparing the ships from the OT to the ones in the PT is like comparing cars from the 1950's to cars from the 1970's or 1990's.
They are from separate eras, so they have very different looks and design influences to them.
The chromed ships of Naboo show some of the grandeur of the Republic before it fell.
The vehicles in the OT are designed for functionality, as things are very frugal with the Empire running things.
(Think I read somewhere that this was Lucas' intent).

Myself, I love most of the vehicles in the PT as much as I do all the ones in the OT.

 

That Flare-S is really stupid looking.

 

But Maul's is easily the worst.

Ahh... what about this?

[image=http://www.animationpitstop.com/models/users/images/lightcycle.jpg]

 

Light cycles are cool!

 

Syd Mead vs. whoever admits to taking the blame for the PT design travesty that is Maul's speeder.

 

Any chance that picture of the Flare-S up there is CGI? Gee I wonder.

 

After examining all of the above pictures I noticed that the OT designs mostly used sharp angles whereas the less cool prequel vehicles are predominantly more curvy and rounded. Interesting.

 

Well, it WAS a more civilized time. LOL.

 

GuittarJedi is right. The OT designs look like the F-117 and the F-22 Raptor in comparison with the F-4 and Sabre from 40 years ago..... it is like the new Cadillacs are in the OT, very sharp edges make the ships look more menacing and agressive.

 

Here's some EU ships to add to the debate...are these designers better than the current prequel designers?.

[image=http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/comics/de/eclipse1.jpg]
The Eclipse, from the Dark Empire comic series.

[image=http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/books/egvv/vsd-eg2.gif]
Victory Class Star Destroyer(Chiang drawing)

[image=http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/books/egvv/mtat1.jpg]
Spider-Walker(MTT)(Chiang drawing)

[image=http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/books/egvv/atpt1.jpg]
AT-PT Walker(Chiang drawing)

[image=http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/books/egvv/tiedef-eg1.gif]
TIE Defender(Chiang drawing)

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/virago/img/curve.jpg]
Virago

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/z95headhunter/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Z-95 Headhunter

[image=http://www.theforce.net/scifi3d/starwars/yt2400thumb.jpg]
Outrider

[image=http://www.theforce.net/scifi3d/starwars/meshes/ewing.jpg]
E-wing

[image=http://www.theforce.net/scifi3d/starwars/meshes/interdictor2.jpg]
Interdictor

[image=http://www.theforce.net/scifi3d/starwars/meshes/tieadvanced.jpg]
TIE advanced mass production type

[image=http://www.synicon.com.au/sw/br/cv-isis3.jpg]
Correlian Gunship

 

According to Doug Chiang, Maul's speeder was suppossed to give the impression of a scythe. Interestingly, it seems to be based partially on Doug's non-Star Wars work.

 

Another comparison-

Military Droids...

ORIGINAL TRILOGY

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/ito/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Torture Droids

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/astromechdroid/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Imperial Astromechs

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/imperialprobedroid/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Probe Droid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/4lom/img/eu_bg.jpg]
4-LOM

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/ig88/img/movie_bg.jpg]
IG-88

PREQUEL TRILOGY

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/battledroid/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Battle Droid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/superbattledroid/img/eu_bg.jpg]
Super Battle Droid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/droideka/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Droideka

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/sithprobedroid/img/curve.jpg]
Sith Probe Droid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/droidstarfighter/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Droid Starfighter

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/dwarfspiderdroid/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Dwarf Spider Droid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/hailfiredroid/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Hailfire Droid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/droid/homingspiderdroid/img/movie_bg.jpg]
Homing spider Droid

 

Here is my opinion about each design:

The Eclipse
Kind of hard to tell from this "drawing" what the ship looks like. If it's designed the way I think it's designed, then it's really really stupid. Sorry to whoever. That's some straight awful text too, if I may add. What caliber of writing do you seriously expect from Dark Horse though.

Victory Class SD
Really vague drawing, hard to tell any detail. Looks pretty much like the old SD though.

Spider-Walker
What the hell is this? I think I saw this done better in Krull.

AT-PT Walker
Arbitrary.

TIE-Defender
I hated when I got stuck in this awful lump back in the TIE Fighter PC game. I only wanted to fly TIE Interceptors, the coolest TIE Fighter of all.

Virago
Looks like a still from Tron, except Tron vehicles were designed by Syd Mead, who is a design legend.

Z-95 Headhunter
Hate it of course. But what I hate more is this lousy comic-book drawing of it. Learn to draw dude.

Outrider
B-Wing wannabe. As if.

E-Wing
I've seen way better, a thousand times before.

Interdictor
Not too bad. Not great.

TIE advanced mass production type
I love the TIE Interceptor, but not this.

Correlian Gunship
Looks like FX-7 taking a nap. Not to diss FX-7 though...

Torture Droids
A classic droid, and pretty spooky.

Imperial Astromechs
These things are pretty hot, and a great color scheme.

Imperial Probe Droid
This thing might be the best of the lot. I love it on all levels. Sublime.

4-LOM
Great color scheme, and he looks like a badass version of C-3P0. Great gun, and great pose. Maybe my favorite bounty hunter.

IG-88
Another badass droid. IG-88 looks a lot like the torture device used on Han in Cloud City. He's about as scary too.

Battle Droid
Snoopy, COME HOME!

Super Battle Droid
See my thread regarding BATTLE OF THE ROCK LORDS.

Droideka
Shields? Who cares. Not fit to sit in a sandcrawler.

Sith Probe Droid
Sith wouldn't really need probe droids, but it's kind of cool, and I'd like to have one.

Droid Starfighter
Another embarrassing design from Lucas and Co. I can't imagine kids drawing this in their PEE-CHEE.

Dwarf Spider Droid
Yeah... RIGHT!!!

Hailfire Droid
You thought he died in the TPM podrace, but now he's fighting for the Trade Federation! Apparently, he fixed up his podracer and uses it to fight.

Homing Spider Droid
I seriously cannot belive this design got past the first five minutes of the production meeting. It just doesn't compute.

According to Doug Chiang, Maul's speeder was suppossed to give the impression of a scythe. Interestingly, it seems to be based partially on Doug's non-Star Wars work.

Check out Doug Chiang's offical site. I got the impression that the SW designs are just his cast-offs and failed ideas. The material looks pretty similar both ways. I'd say the non-SW is better though. A scythe you say? That speeder is revolting; I never want to see it again.

 

It must suck to think everything sucks.

 

It must suck to think sucky stuff is great.

Plenty of great designs out there, but this ain't it.