Det, MI Top 5

This was pulled from USA Today Weekend.


Top 5 Spaceships from Popular Sci-Fi TV and Movies:

5. Starfighter from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century -- Buck Rogers' super-sleek two-seat fighter was actually a discarded McQuarrie design from the original Battlestar Galactica. With retractable wings, it was convincingly airworthy, and with its aggressive angles, it looked like it was moving at warp speed just sitting there on the deck.

4. Eagle Transporter from Space: 1999 -- Predating Star Wars, the Eagle was covered with functional details like thrusters, hatches and springy landing gear. Gerry Anderson's previous work (UFO, Captain Scarlett, Thunderbirds) trained him to produce masterfully realistic spaceship shots using miniatures and pyrotechnics. The Eagle taking off and landing was always the highlight of the episode for me.

3. Viper from original Battlestar Galactica -- Although a blatant rip-off of Luke Skywalker's X-Wing fighter, the original Viper had a charm and personality of its own. Especially Starbuck's special recon Viper, equipped with an artificial intelligence named C.O.R.A. that fell in love with him. I doodled the Viper vs. Cylons literally hundreds of times while bored in high school.

2. Millenium Falcon from Star Wars -- The epitome of the new "ugly" aesthetic, the Falcon is the space RV we all wish we could take on vacation. The parody of Han Solo's trusty clunker in Spaceballs was literally a Winnebago. The fact that Lucas built a full-scale ship on the set completely sold the reality of the Falcon. The new CGI shots of the Falcon were also my favorite thing about the Special Edition releases of the original trilogy.

1. U.S.S. Enterprise from Star Trek -- This is unquestionably the most iconic spaceship design in science fiction history. Comprised of three silver rockets AND a flying saucer, it hews to the old aesthetic visually, but hints at the new rules of realism by being blatantly un-airworthy and incapable of landing. Its sheer scale set many a young imagination in motion. The Enterprise is an entire city in space. It can go anywhere and even travel through time. If I could be anywhere in fiction, I'd be sitting in her Captain's chair.


I've already established my feelings for most things Sci-Fi that aren't SW related. So my list would be completely from that universe. Curious to hear what Qonas and Scooby think, cause I know they are both much better Sci-Fi nerds than me.


With that in mind, my Top 5 Star Wars starships:

5. Geonosian solar sailer -- The only prequel ship to make the cut. From starwars.com: "Inspirations for the solar sailer came from abandoned concepts for the Queen's Royal Starship in Episode I. When the solar sail idea was removed from the chrome aesthetics of Naboo design sensibilities and placed into the harsh insectoid warrens of Geonosis, the ship itself also developed insect-like characteristics. Some designs closely resembled a water beetle in shape and texture, while others were more elegant, butterfly-like incarnations."

4. Imperial Lambda-class shuttle -- The personal shuttle of the Emperor. If walls could talk, am I right? From starwars.com: "Early designs of the shuttle were very box-like and square. As the concept was refined, the shuttle developed boat-like characteristics, and even a barge-like profile. A breakthrough illustration was a TIE-like cockpit pod bracketed by three large wings. Borrowing from the skyhopper design developed years earlier for A New Hope, final shuttle concept designs began to take shape through the illustrations of Joe Johnston, Ralph McQuarrie and Nilo Rodis-Jamero. Two models of the Imperial shuttle were made by ILM modelmakers Charlie Bailey and Bill George. One model was 28 x 30 x 18 centimeters in size, the other 33 x 53 x 56 centimeters. For new scenes in the Special Edition re-release of the Star Wars trilogy, the shuttle was rendered as a computer-generated creation."

3. Imperial Star Destroyer -- The signature vessel of the Imperial flee

 

Here is mine.

5)X-Wing
The X-wing was a prominent series of multiple starfighters produced by Incom with a characteristic "X"-shape of four wings, known as S-foils, extending out from the fuselage. These starfighters were found in the service of the Rebel Alliance, New Republic, and also the Galactic Alliance. They were originally meant for the Galactic Empire but when the entire Incom design team defected with the prototypes to the Rebel Alliance this deal was over.
4)B-Wing
The B-wing starfighter was one of the largest and most heavily armed starfighters/bombers in the Rebel Alliance's fleet. The name B-wing came from the craft's remote similarity in appearance to the lowercase letter "b", although its swordlike shape in attack mode has earned it the nickname "blade-wing", which may be another reason for the "b" prefix.

Known as "crosses" due to their distinct shape, the B-wing was designed by the Verpine company Slayn & Korpil in cooperation with then-Commander Ackbar as part of Project Shantipole. The B-wing, though difficult to fly, participated in numerous engagements across the galaxy during the latter parts of the Galactic Civil War, including the Battle of Endor and the liberation of Coruscant. The B-wing was used in its primary role of assault starfighter by both the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance throughout the Yuuzhan Vong War and beyond.
3) Tantive IV
Tantive IV was a CR90 corvette in the service of the Royal House of Alderaan. The ship was a central player in the events following the end of the Clone Wars and the beginning of the Galactic Civil War.

It started life as a CR70 corvette named Star of Alderaan, but was renamed in honor of diplomats from Tantive IV who visited Alderaan. Following the Clone Wars, the ship was upgraded to a CR90 corvette. The ship sported twin turbolaser turrets and a massive drive block of eleven ion turbine engines.

Tie(1)Y-Wing
The BTL Y-wing starfighter, built by Koensayr Manufacturing, was a mainstay of the Alliance Starfighter Corps. It was often used as an assault bomber to attack enemy capital ships directly in conjunction with the later B-wing starfighters.

Tie (1)Naboo Fighter
The Naboo Royal N-1 starfighter, sometimes known simply as the Naboo starfighter, was a starfighter used by the government of Naboo during the late years of the Galactic Republic[3] and early days of the Galactic Empire for defense, patrol, and escort duties.[6] The sleek vessel was manufactured by Theed Palace Space Vessel Engineering Corps, the group responsible for manufacturing Naboo royal starships.[1]

 

Echo 3, you think it says anything about our personalities that I went with mostly Imperial/Dark Side ships and you went with mostly Rebel/Light Side ships? I'm guessing there's a psych major out there that could have a field day with the subject. Hahaha ...

 

You are so right.

 

5)Imperial Star Destroyer
4)The speederbikes from ROTJ
3)Jedi Star Fighter from Ep.III
2)X-Wing Fighter
1)Millenium Falcon

 

5. StarDestoryer
4. X-wing/B-wing
3. Death star over endor
2. Slave 1
1. Falcon