'The Intergalactic War: Star Trek versus Star Wars'

"I have a bad feeling about this, Master."
                                       -Obi-Wan Kenobi to Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

"That'll be the day!"
                                      -Captain Jean-Luc Picard, fighting Klingons in Star Trek: The Next Generation
 

DISCLAIMER: These opinions are just that, opinions. I don't claim to be right in any point in this column. I may  have some facts about Star Wars wrong, as I'm more of a Trek watcher.

Ever since 1977 when the first Star Wars movie hit theatres (actually it was the fourth, technically speaking), there has been a controversy brewing over a simple question: Which franchise is better, Star Wars or Star Trek? I don't know if its a well-known fact or not, but the first Star Trek movie (Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979) was made partly because of the audience response to Star Wars. The result: a slow clunking movie with loads of special effects but not much else. It was good but not great, and Star Wars ran circles around it with its X-Wings and Death Stars and lightsabre-wielding Jedis. Only hardcore Trek fans truly enjoyed it, and even Leonard Nimoy (Spock) thought the fun from the Original TV series was missing from it.

So, how do they compare? Well, I'll start with the settings of the two universes (and you'll have to excuse in advance any mistakes I make with Star Wars, please). The Star Trek universe is set in the future about 300 years from now (except Enterprise, which is only 150 years away) and in this future, Earth is now a paradise, with crime, war, disease, hunger and poverty abolished. Earth is the founding world of the United Federation of Planets, which is a futuristic United Nations. The Federation has a exploratory/military branch called Starfleet and the Federation flagship is the famous Enterprise. The Federation is surrounded by the Klingon Empire(an ally) , the Romulan Star Empire, the Ferengi Alliance, and the Cardassian Union, and has had at least one war with each, with the exception of the Ferengi. The main point of Star Trek is "to boldly go where no one has gone before," and that's what the episodes and movies are mainly about. Star Wars, on the other hand takes place a "long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," with a Rebel Alliance insurrecting against the Galactic Empire. It is a classic battle of good versus evil, light versus dark, Jedi versus Sith, droid vs droid, everyone against Jar Jar Binks. It has a more run-down look than Star Trek, as the rebels must cobble together parts for their ships.

Next, I'll talk about the heroes and villains of the two franchises. Star Trek has many heroes, most of them starship captains. Take Captain James T. Kirk, for instance. He runs "where angels fear to tread", and faces down angry gods and other baddies on a daily basis. He also gets with every woman he sees, and he manages to lose his shirt at least once an episode. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a different sort of hero. As a matter of fact, Patrick Stewart (the actor behind Picard) was credited with creating a new genre of hero. Picard is more inflective and less impulsive than Kirk. He will consult with his senior staff when it is time to make a crucial decision, and the ship he runs is more like a Love Boat in space (at least in the series; in the movies, the new Enterprise-E is a warship). Picard has gotten himself in several difficult situations. He was assimilated by the Borg once and another time he was captured and tortured by Cardassians. He was also worshipped as a god once. But these experiences have only hardened him more. There are other heroes in the series, Data, Riker, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, and others, but Kirk and Picard stand out as they were created by Gene Roddenberry originally. In Star Wars we have Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker as the main heroes. Kenobi is one of the last of the Jedi Knights who had (then) Anakin Skywalker as his apprentice. Anakin fell to the dark side and turned into Darth Vader.  Luke Skywalker is Mr. Vader's son. Luke's destiny is to become the first in a new generation of Jedi Knights, as they will be(or were; depending on how you look at it) killed off in Episode III. Kenobi introduces Luke to the Force.

Now, then-the villains. The villains in Star Trek are not so black and white as Star Wars (with a few exceptions). The most menacing Trek villain is the Borg (at least they used to be, until the Voyager writers ruined their mystery). Something I'd like to see is a Borg Cube fighting a Death Star. Who would win? The Death Star may destroy one cube, but if another shows up, the Borg would have adapted to the technology and will overwhelm and assimilate the crew. One of the best Trek villains of all time would be Khan. He was a genetically-enhanced superhuman from our century who was stranded by Kirk on a planet. When they encounter each other 15 years later, the fight that follows results in great destruction and the death of Spock. Khan is cold and calculating, the perfect villain. Dr. Tolian Soran in Star Trek Generations is good too (he's played by Malcolm McDowell, of course he's good!) and his involvement results in the destruction of the Enterprise-D. In Star Wars, the villains are mainly the Darths (Maul, Sidious and Vader) and the ever-present Dark Side. One of my favourite villains of all time is Darth Maul, he only says three things throughout Phantom Menace and wields a red double lightsabre. Darth Vader is actually Luke Skywalker's father and he comes to his senses in Return of the Jedi, only to be killed. It's hard to believe that the little boy who couldn't act in Episode One ended up being Vader. And then . . . there's Jar Jar Binks. Though technically a good guy, he has made a lot of enemies in the viewing audience for being a stupid clumsy lout.

So, what franchise is better? I probably shouldn't be comparing the two, as I don't know a whole lot about Star Wars, except for what I pick up along the way. I wrote this article mainly because of the hype surrounding Episode II and the tenth and possibly final Star Trek film: Nemesis. I think Nemesis is going to be big, from what I'm reading on the official website. As long as it's not Insurrection, then its OK. You know something? I don't think I'm going to conclude this essay, because of flak I might receive from both sides.  I'll leave it up to the readers to decide and debate on the Communications Grid.

Live long and prosper and keep an eye out for Jawas.