On this post, I intend to rank the destruction scenes of Hero ships, e.g. the main starships that have been featured throughout the Star Trek iterations. You know, the prominent ones (e.g. Enterprise incarnations, Discovery, Voyager, etc. - though the latter ones didn't go up for good at all). For this, I'm only counting those we saw on screen, so the destruction of the Enterprise-C as mentioned in "Yesterday's Enterprise" does not count. In addition, they have to be destroyed for GOOD - so for example, the destruction of the Enterprise-D multiple times in "Cause and Effect," the reset-button "destruction" of Voyager in "Year of Hell," or the similar reset-button in ENT's "Twilight." Those don't count. 4. The Destruction of the USS Enterprise: NCC-1701-D in "Star Trek: Generations." Hands down, this is the absolute worst. It was mostly done for kicks, not to mention that the destruction was the result of a rust-bucket Bird of Prey's damage. The main reason for this is that they wanted to be different and not save the Enterprise from potential jeopardy. Granted there was that spectacular saucer section crash-landing sequence (I don't blame Troi on this one too much). But Riker didn't fight back too hard when he should have. I grew to love this ship in TNG, only for it to go down in an undignified way, that was done solely for the sake of doing it. OK OK OK. They also thought the Enterprise-D didn't translate that well to the big screen. But still her demise was as bad as Yar's death from the first season TNG episode "Skin of Evil." Riker should have gotten at least probation (maybe he did). At least John Eaves gave us a winner with the Enterprise-E in "First Contact." 3. The Destruction of the alt USS Enterprise: NCC-1701 in "Star Trek Beyond" We never really got to know this incarnation of the Enterprise, at least I didn't; wasn't quite too crazy about it (no offense to those who adore it and I know there are some who do). However, it does reflect the risks of exploration and the dangers. The force that destroys the ship is quite powerful and cannot be reckoned with conventionally, as opposed to the Enterprise-D being trashed courtesy of a rust bucket. The destruction though narrative-wise is well, meh. Not very impactful, but also not as insulting as Generations. The next two are FAR, FAR better. By...a lot! 2. The Destruction of the USS Defiant: NX-74205 from DS9's "The Changing Face of Evil" This episode had a double punch-in-the-gut impact. First of course was the Breen's surprise attack on Starfleet HQ at beginning of the episode, then followed by the disastrous Second Battle of Chin'toka where the Breen's energy damping weapons make mincemeat out of the allied forces. The Defiant was Sisko's baby - he helped design the thing and she was quite a companion for Commander and later Captain Sisko not to mention being a REAL fan favorite especially here, I know. The Defiant's destruction went to show a narrative impact on how badly things are turning out for our heroes as they're put on a very rotten situation. True Sisko gets another Defiant, although from her short time on screen, it's clear that in the hearts of many that this one cannot fully replace the other one. 1. The destruction of the USS Enterprise in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" This is the best scene of the destruction of a hero ship, and fits the narrative seamlessly. In this movie, Kirk, going against Starfleet, steals the Enterprise with only his closest comrades crewing it and the ship jerry-rigged for automation. However, on their way to Genesis to retrieve Spock, they are stopped by a Klingon commander who has taken an interest into Project Genesis and can't fully engage the Klingon attacker, forcing Kirk to resort to scuttling his ship in order to defeat the Klingons. First off, the Enterprise was originally going to be decomissioned anyway. Secondly, he couldn't let Federation technology and a technology that would be devastating if weaponized fall into the Klingons' hands. And finally, it reflects the HUGE price that Kirk had to pay to get his friend Spock back. Sarek reflects on this after the katara ritual that was done to return Spock's consciousness to his revived body, basically saying to Kirk "was it worth it?" He had to sacrifice much that he held dear, including the Enterprise, for Spock.
I don't even remember the destruction of the Defiant. It's all pretty meaningless anyway since EVERY SINGLE TIME the destroyed ship is replaced. I loved how the crew fought and fought for the Enterprise in Beyond until she was a lost cause. The massive casualties during the invasion and systematic destruction of the ship, and that lasy shot of Kirk's escape pod launching. That's what made it matter. #1 for me will always be the first time I saw it happen. I'm a kid, it's the very early 1990's. "Time Squared" is on. That echoey distorted Captain's Log, and the energy pulse hitting the Enterprise and destroying her in the time vortex... holy shit, I saw the future and I was terrified. Fast forward to "Cause and Effect", and I'm utterly and totally numb to it by the end of that episode
Some more hero ship destructions: * HMS Bounty in Star Trek IV via crashing into Earth and sinking * Original USS Discovery in Scavengers via refit and redesign * USS Cabot in The Trouble with Edward via being overrun with tribbles and crashing * A bunch of runabouts throughout DS9
D, regardless of the questionable circumstances. The D was the proper enterprise, I've read 20 years of trek novels set on the E and every time I read about the bridge, or Engineering, I picture the D. It's the One True Enterprise, and as you say the actual destruction and crashing was amazing and devastating, yet also hopeful, at the same time. The E was never the same. The D was a flying city filled with hopefulness, the E was a warship, the D was the end of an era. Perhaps the original one may have had more effect if I'd grown up with it, but then they undid it all with an identical copy in the next film. Defiant struggled with the same problem as Kirk's - reset button a couple of weeks later. From a technicalities, I think Beyond was the best, but it could never have the emotional punch. From the "Fake Out" ones, I think I'd put Voyager's crash in Timeless near the top, although Year of Hell ranks well. I guess the CGI options helped, Cause and Effect honourable mention.
My rankings, from most impactful to least. 1) Enterprise (TSFS) 2) Odyssey (DS9) 3) Defiant (DS9) 4) Yamato (TNG) 5) Ent-D (GEN) 6) Kelvin (ST '09) 7) Enterprise (BEY) 8) Cabot (ST) 9) Tal’kir/Kumari (ENT) *only see the aftermath of both vessels
Going by the rules of this ranking, the 4 mentioned in the original post are the only ones we can really use. Those are good reasons, and I mostly agree, but my ranking would be a little different. 4 - Enterprise-D 3 - Enterprise 2 - Enterprise from Kelvin timeline 1 - Defiant Completely agreed about GENERATIONS. You pretty much nailed my thoughts. THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK was also great for the reasons you stated, and only takes number 3 because of very special reasons that are below. Mind you, I HATED the design of the Kelvin one. But the way it was destroyed in BEYOND actually made me feel sad for its demise. It gets a high rank simply because it made me feel that way. The Defiant gets the top rank because I am partial to that ship and series. But even without that, the buildup to that was excellent. From the Breen attack on Earth to the battle at Chin'toka, there were a lot of gut punches. And very effective use of the other destroyed ships of the fleet in the background as the final death blow tears apart the Defiant.
It's all fiction. It all counts the same. That was really Janeway, and that was the "real" Voyager blowing up, time travel be damned.
I didn't properly read the instructions at the start, so my fault. However, since the B Voyager in "Deadlock" was indeed permanently destroyed, I'll pick that one instead.
I wouldn't really count the B Voyager in deadlock. I don't count secondary vessels either, such as the Kelvin from ST09, although now that you mention it, it was moving for Kirk's father to pull off that sacrifice. I guess if it had to be there, I'd rank it definitely in the upper tier. Also, the Runabouts in DS9 do NOT count, neither do the shuttles on Voyager, though maybe with the exception of the original Delta Flyer. I don't count ship destructions like the Yamato in TNG's "Contagion" since that ship wasn't a "hero" ship, if you catch the drift. Same goes with the Odyssey from DS9's "Jem'Hadar." The Cabot is an interesting one, though it was destroyed because of one officer who was a total and complete idiot. Not sure how I'd rank that. In addition, I would imagine the Klingon Bird of Prey aka Bounty from TVH being salvaged after the ship splashed down in San Francisco Bay, so it wasn't necessarily destroyed. Starfleet Intelligence would love to get their hands on it! True the original Enterprise in TSFS and the Defiant in DS9's "The Changing Face of Evil" had semi reset buttons, both losses were dramatic to watch, even though you know they get replacements that look like the original thing.
Not on the list, but the Constellation went down swinging in The Doomsday Machine. Matt Decker would have been proud to know that his ship got the job done. I vote for Enterprise-1701 in TSFS. This was the ship that went to Talos-IV, the ship that served our heroes faithfully for decades.
Probably #1 or #2 on my list. Not since Blake's 7 has there been a great ship crash scene and the "D" was perfect for doing it with. Troi's actions saved the ship and crew as there was no way they could have escaped the engineering section's blast in time. Didn't Riker order her to take the helm? A second viewing lets the emotional impact finally hit. On initial viewing it's a bit quick and cheap, not unlike my ex, but your points are well-made in that space is a dangerous place and an alien can strike without warning. It's the best destruction scene of 21st Trek movies too, though they don't need to use the "DESTROY THE SHIP!" trope for every single movie... or even threaten it with the captain making a quip about "plenty of letters left in the alphabet". Meh. They got a shiny new version too quickly and conveniently. It didn't help that the original version was decommissioned from the get-go with neat design flaws for for being at risk of tearing itself apart, so they just give it to Sisko as if they don't care if the ship does disintegrate while at warp or otherwise. Ouch. Sisko's attitude is still commendable, but not even Kirk could turn an optimistic spin on getting a hand-me-down with such major flaws. Kira had something of a good point. Self defense is great, unless the ship disintegrates around you. 1701-D's crash looked better and had some weight to it, but nothing beats TSFS's handling - the f/x were robust enough, and the underlying build-up and tension is far stronger than the Duras Sisters giggling over Geordi being the only engineer in Starfleet who never went to Engineering...
USS Kelvin - ST09. Whether one considers it a hero ship or not, that scene packs the largest Trek starship gut-punch destruction - period!
You mean once, the integer that is just one higher than zero, which would indicate never happening, but one lower than twice, which would indicate multiple times?
I'm not disputing it was quite an effect, but I'm also talking in a narrative sense, not just the spectacular-ness of it. As I mentioned in my previous post, the destruction of the original Enterprise from TSFS fit the story's narrative about the high price Kirk and company had to pay to bring back Spock. While the crash scene was quite amazing, it was done just for kicks. The Enterprise-D, in a narrative standpoint, was destroyed for nothing, just like Yar's death was in "Skin of Evil." If I were the brass at Starfleet, I'd consider the loss of that ship to be one of the most humiliating travesties that Starfleet had to endure, and there would be a good deal of shame to go around. If you destroy a ship that doubles as a character, like one of the Enterprises, you should also have some good narrative reason to trash it than do it just for sense. That's why I rank it in the sewers. As for the initial Defiant, it was to show how bad the war was starting to go for the Federation with the Breen joining in on the Dominion's side. That's why I rank it as high as it is.