The Excelsior Bridge Looks So Much Cooler in III Than VI

From the first time I saw the movie in '84, I assumed the glowing supports were force fields and the chairs were suspended in air. Seemed pretty advanced to me at the time, and it still does today.

In fact, this look was duplicated on the Enterprise-D, because you never see supports for the three command seats (yes, they're really attached to the back wall, but I don't think that was the intention).

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean there isn't some underlying advanced technology at work. Perhaps engaging the arm supports creates a restraint field / individual inertial dampener that secures one's entire body in the chair.

 

I would have liked to have seen this bridge fleshed out
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/wrap-around-viewscreen.287631/page-4#post-12098914

 

That dastardly JJ Abrams, reaching back though time itself to put HUDs on starship viewscreens!

 

I assume Excelsiors bridge in TSFS was designed specifically for testing all the experimental equipment.

 

I think the TSFS Excelsior bridge would have been great in Phase II if had ever come to fruition. It looks like something between TOS and TMP to me.

Kor

 

I loved that gentle but sweet manoeuvre the Enterprise did out of spacedock followed by the Excelsior in hot pursuit. Good ole Scotty!

 

Sadly I can't unsee the Enterprise taking up the whole doorway on the way out, then wondering how the much-larger Excelsior ever fitted through.

 

The SFS bridge looks like something SNL put together for a skit.

 

And the even much larger-er Enterprise-D in "11001001".