First Contact uniforms
- Thread starter Echtzeit
- Start date
They found those phasers in a closet.
Yeah, this pretty much covers it.
Personally I'm glad they never changed. I like the DS9/VOY jumpsuits way better that the gray and more gray of those horrible First Contact unis.
Before any details about the tenth movie were available, I'd always hoped back then that the TNG crew would meet up with VOY as a conclusion to the Delta Quadrant odyssey. (In my defense, I was ~15.)Her day would come.
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They found them in a crate at the back of a cargo bay halfway through the mission, of course.
And lost between the phaser crate and the bulkhead, a "how to build photon torpedoes" manual!
I always get a laugh over the phaser rifles. Half way through the third season they start using the new rifles featured in First Contact and continue using them throughout the fourth season, but by the fifth they switch back to the rifles they had at the beginning of the series and the FC ones are never seen again on Voyager.
Although, strangely enough, the seasons 1-3 rifles (am I correct in thinking they were called "pulse rifles"?) were used by the Starfleet officers who beam aboard the bridge of the Prometheus in Message in a Bottle even though A) They could have used the FC rifles and gotten away with it and B) That's the only time we see anyone using the pulse rifles in the Alpha Quadrant.
To make the issue even weirder, those two Starfleet officers were played by regular recurring background extras from DS9. Assuming they are the same characters (the Defiant is one of the ships sent to retake the Prometheus) than it's very odd indeed they are using the pulse rifles, since we never see a pulse rifle on DS9, and DS9 always used the old TNG rifles, right up to the end, with the exception of Empok Nor which does feature an FC rifle for some reason.
Although, strangely enough, the seasons 1-3 rifles (am I correct in thinking they were called "pulse rifles"?) were used by the Starfleet officers who beam aboard the bridge of the Prometheus in Message in a Bottle even though A) They could have used the FC rifles and gotten away with it and B) That's the only time we see anyone using the pulse rifles in the Alpha Quadrant.
To make the issue even weirder, those two Starfleet officers were played by regular recurring background extras from DS9. Assuming they are the same characters (the Defiant is one of the ships sent to retake the Prometheus) than it's very odd indeed they are using the pulse rifles, since we never see a pulse rifle on DS9, and DS9 always used the old TNG rifles, right up to the end, with the exception of Empok Nor which does feature an FC rifle for some reason.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
The DS9 Companion addresses this obliquely. The plan was always to switch everyone on DS9 over to the First Contact-style uniforms, once the decision was made to change the uniforms for the films.
However, this was considered a new element specifically created for the film, to add to the appeal for viewers to go to the theater to see the film, so the choice was made to hold off the uniform introcution on DS9 until well after the film had been released. (A similar situation had occured in reverse a few years earlier when the new Starfleet commbages designed for Generations were debuted prior to the film's release at the start of DS9's third season. Reportedly, someone at Paramount was not happy about this.)
Anyway: the Companion mentions how all the uniforms made for First Contact were then shuffled over to DS9 (for background actors, etc.) and the old DS9 uniforms were given to Voyager, "where they were badly needed."
(I'm paraphrasing from memory)
Obviously, this had the double effect of keeping the shows separate and distinct from one another, and really, can be easily explained away as a practical choice made by Janeway for her crew, regardless of it's relative inconsistency in the fictional Voyager universe.
If you pay attention to the shows, the holdovers from the films eventually find their way to the series. The Klingon bridge from Star Trek V was whored out for every series, including the ridiculous video game gunnery unit. The Borg and their trappings wound up being reused endlessly on Voyager; the Romulan designs, uniforms, and sets were later transferred to Enterprise. Even the Reman costumes were repurposed as the Xindi-Reptilian outfits.
From a practical standpoint, it makes perfect sense. But I also understand why it can be troubling to consider from a fan perspective when logically it sometimes doesn't make a lot of sense.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
Simpler idea:
TNG Uniforms = Starship Duty
DS9 Uniforms = Space station duty.
As Iguana points out, not very "uniform" per se, but it makes a lot more sense than what we got.
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
I used to retcon in my head that the reason the Starfleet/Federation transporter beam looks different on Voyager than the one used on TNG, DS9, and the TNG films was because of the bioneural circuits on Voyager.
Of course I have no idea how this would work, but my 16-year-old nerd brain didn't care.
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It seems to make sense that bio-neural gelpacks might affect how some ship systems functions.
On the subject of hand phasers and phaser rifles, Neelix probably swiped them from the Equinox when they came through. When Voyager picked him up, he suddenly "remembered" he had them.
On the subject of hand phasers and phaser rifles, Neelix probably swiped them from the Equinox when they came through. When Voyager picked him up, he suddenly "remembered" he had them.
I used to retcon in my head that the reason the Starfleet/Federation transporter beam looks different on Voyager than the one used on TNG, DS9, and the TNG films was because of the bioneural circuits on Voyager.
Of course I have no idea how this would work, but my 16-year-old nerd brain didn't care.
I thought the Enterprise E had bio-neural gel packs? And regardless, we see the Voyager transporter effect being used at Starfleet command in Non Sequitor, and on the Equinox. But then DS9 had the same TNG effect being used by all Starfleet, even though the Enterprise E had its own unique transporter beams. Well, it is the flagship.
Though how do we explain the Defiant using the Voyager effect in Message in a Bottle?
All the transporter effects looked exactly the same in real life. It was the translation of the historical documents to 20th/21st century television technology that made them look different. 
doubleohfive
Fleet Admiral
I used to retcon in my head that the reason the Starfleet/Federation transporter beam looks different on Voyager than the one used on TNG, DS9, and the TNG films was because of the bioneural circuits on Voyager.
Of course I have no idea how this would work, but my 16-year-old nerd brain didn't care.
I thought the Enterprise E had bio-neural gel packs? And regardless, we see the Voyager transporter effect being used at Starfleet command in Non Sequitor, and on the Equinox. But then DS9 had the same TNG effect being used by all Starfleet, even though the Enterprise E had its own unique transporter beams. Well, it is the flagship.
Though how do we explain the Defiant using the Voyager effect in Message in a Bottle?
1) I don't know if the Enterprise-E had bioneural gel-packs. In which film was that established?
2) The Voyager transporter beam used at Starfleet Headquarters in "Non Sequitur" can be explained away as Kim's delusion, assuming the events in that episode actually took place. (I know, I know, we're supposed to believe they did; it all could have easily been Kim daydreaming.)
3) The transporter beam being used on Equinox could mean that it (the transporter beam) isn't relate to th gel packs and is just a more modern edition of the transporter in use when Equinox and Voyager were launched but then retired when the Enterprise-E was launched.
4) I think I'm going cross-eyed.
5) DS9 and TNG used the same transporter beam effect throughout both their runs. The TNG film transporter effect was essentially the same thing, but done up as a 3D effect. On the big screen it looked a lot more impressive than on your scraggly 4x3 at home.
6) How do we know that was the Defiant? Could it have just been a Defiant-class starship launched in that same window of time when Equinox and Voyager had been?
7) "Call me Timo..."
I do actually like that they kept the uniforms distinct between the two shows. Not only because I prefer them to those horrible First Contact versions, but also because I thought it was cute that while we see the rest of the Alpha Quadrant going in a different visual direction, Voyager (literally and symbolically) retains the old standards, an immediate and consistent reminder to us of the crew's isolation from 'home'. It would have had even more visual impact if they'd be wearing the TNG Seasons 3-7 uniforms.
Maybe it's like changing a ringtone. There's a menu on the transporter console of every starship:I used to retcon in my head that the reason the Starfleet/Federation transporter beam looks different on Voyager than the one used on TNG, DS9, and the TNG films was because of the bioneural circuits on Voyager.
Of course I have no idea how this would work, but my 16-year-old nerd brain didn't care.
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