"...all 72 torpedoes are still in their tubes."

Ok, the sheer number of torpedoes and all the talk about them is one thing that made it really hard for me to swallow what happens in this film. The only reason they have seventy-two torpedoes is that the original episode stated that Khan had seventy-two crewmen, and if each torpedo carries a crewman, there you go. But for a film like this, it's just too many torpedoes.

- You don't need that many torpedoes to kill one dude on a planet. One would suffice, and maybe bring an extra one.

- The Enterprise suddenly became equipped with torpedo launchers on the side of the ship. These are later called "tubes". It's ridiculous that it would have so many launchers. Are they all on the same side of the ship?

- We find out later the cryo-tubes (more than one use of the word "tubes" because these writers can't write) are inside the torpedoes are in the torpedoes. The script explicitly states that the fuel components were removed so the cases can be retrofitted to store the crew-members. So what the hell would have happened if Sulu didn't hear from Harrison (we never saw whether he did or not) and he decided to "unload the entire payload"? They had no fuel and would have probably not launch at all.

- But my biggest problem is at the end. The Enterprise is critically damaged, and there are gaping holes in the hull and there's red alert with an eminent threat, and somehow Spock manages to find enough experts to take the cryo-tubes out of the torpedoes and re-arm the torpedoes (of course, the ship took heavy damage but none of the torpedoes ever got hit). And all this experts did this in less than five minutes. What's more, they did it while torpedoes were still in those tubes (which we see how small those tubes are).. How can you do delicate engineering work in that space.

Because Khan says the "torpedoes are still in their tubes".

If they only had five torpedoes or so, I probably would go easier on this. 72 is too unwieldy. It's isn't a number, it's fan-service.

 

Not seeing a problem with any of this, dude.

 

Tihihi.

 

Though it is commonly assumed that the retrofitting completely removed the fuel from the torpedoes, that isn't necessarily the case. The plot depends on Marcus knowing Khan's people were in the torpedoes and still expecting Kirk to fire them. We should not forget that the torpedoes were designed by Khan and they may have been intentionally over-specced.

 

If you can't get past this but you can get past the Genesis torpedo and the Reliant, a science vessel, mis counting the number of planets in a solar system, then I don't know what to tell you.

 

It's fiction bro. Just sit back and enjoy, and if you can't enjoy, then don't watch.

 

In what way are these issues comparable?

 

They are plot holes and/or discrepancies.

Common to every movie, book, TV series, etc.

 

This covers just about everything. Now we can close 80% of the threads on the internet.

 

But, but... If we close down 80% of Star Trek griping, Trek fans will have nothing to congregate about! A complete shutdown of shut-in communications! Parents basements filled with the smell of rotting corpses and Cheetos...

 

And plot holes are binary?

 

Sounds like a public health emergency. I do want to know how exactly Kirby arrived at his "80%" figure. By my calculations I would estimate 56.5% of all threads would have to be closed, and I have several blueprints and technical layouts from the original designers of the Internet that I can use to prove MY point. So unless Kirby is trying to use the "alternate universe" theory of the Internet, then I don't see how he arrived at that number.

 

Of course not. It is interesting, however, to discuss why '72 torpedoes' is more or less bothersome than the Reliant not noticing an entire missing planet.

 

^That's my basic point. I certainly don't mind discussion of BIG issues, large plot holes, continuity issues, etc. If we didn't talk about those, then we might just as well all move over to the My Little Pony boards.

But this IMO does not qualify, as Starfleet vessels have always carried far too many weapons, those weapons have had varying amounts of destructive power, and anyone who actually keeps track of how long it takes in "real time" for events to happen will always be amazed at how fast or slow "story time" can move.

 

The problem is that when you start to think about it (who is fooling whom and for what purpose) the plot doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Sure you do. Carpet bomb the entire area to make sure he's killed. Why risk missing?

32 on each side, and a much bigger Enterprise than the old TV series and movies versions.

"Tubes" has been used interchangeably with "launchers" since TOS. Why does it matter here?

"Cryo tubes" is an age old sci-fi term. IIRC it was used in TNG's "The Neutral Zone". What would you prefer they call them? I'm curious to know what alternate terms you would use for a tubular cryogenic device, which would fulfill your good writer needs.

And unlike on Earth, if you launch something in space, it keeps going. I don't know what the maximum range on those torpedoes were, but i find it believable that they could launch, point towards Khan and keep going with whatever they had.

There is plenty of workspace just outside the tubes. And Carol used brute force to open the missile on the planetoid earlier.

Spock called for all engineering and medical personnel to the task - that's two of the three ship departments. According to the old Experience the Enterprise site they have 1100 crew, so thats maybe as many as 366 crewmembers put to the task.

It's nitpicky. "Aft nacelle" -level nitpicky.

 

Assuming the torpedoes were given a tube each, since they could have been parked one behind the other in a smaller number of tubes.

Each one capable of firing mutiple torpedoes, so that each front loaded torpedo could be fired in a salvo, next one slides up a place. Far faster firing/reloading rate, torpedoes that travel further and pack a bigger punch.

I could see that being useful on the biggest front line ship the Federation has, especially after it got its ass kicked on its maiden voyage.

Next.

 

Absolutely this!

Usually the discussion would just degenerate down to "well I liked that movie more so it didn't bother me".

 

For the sake or argument can they be just a bothersome as each other and for now we just focus our attention on the 72 torpedoes one?