How do the new Star Trek shows compare to The Mandolarian?

[BillJ]

The Mandalorian is succeeding where no Star Trek show ever has. Whereas every Star Trek series has lackluster episodes, even if they are few and far between, The Mandalorian is consistently the best Star Wars production since the Original Trilogy. Every single episode is flawless, and practically perfect.

Star Wars and Star Trek are both in the same spots of their life-cycle, trying to satiated a niche audience with "Hey! Remember this?! We do!".

I find much of it dull and uninspired, outside of Lower Decks which takes a different angle on using what came before.

 

[Annorax849]

Mandalorian's good but it's been a bit overrated imo. I would bit it around equal to Picard. Again, it's solid, but we only get 8 35-minute episodes a year, and that means the standards are going to be higher for me.

Now I did say "it's been overrated" because the two previous episodes (I'm going to watch the new one later tonight) have been a notable increase in quality, and if 7-8 two continue that, it might satisfy the above standards.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Like a lot of Star Wars the technical side of MANDO is spectacular and even ground breaking, the characters tend to be from "central casting" but have a certain charisma and the plots play homage to films past wearing their influences on their sleeves.

 

[fireproof78]

I like them both. I see no reason to pit one against the other.

It reminds me of the old Orville comparisons. Again, they’re both cool, and they are going for different things. No need to cram one in everyone’s face as “better” as if sides Ned to be declared.

Ridiculous.

This.

 

[Lord Garth]

I was 18 in 1977. Those four years might make difference.

In a weird way, I kind of unintentionally got the Boomer experience, even though I'm not a Boomer.

I first became a Star Trek fan when I was 11 and didn't actually see a Star Wars film all the way through until I was 17, when they released the Remastered version of the Original Trilogy in the theater in Spring 1997. Up until that point, I'd only ever seen bits and pieces of Star Wars and I'd keep changing the channel. Even after I finally saw the trilogy, I never ended up becoming a Star Wars fan.

And it took me four years to watch all of TOS back in the early/mid-'90s. So it took me slightly more time to watch the entire series than when it was originally on.

Add to that: since I stopped watching new Star Trek in 1999 (with very few exceptions) and didn't pick up again until 2017, my personal gap (18 years) was actually just as long as the gap between TOS and TNG (1969-1987).

 

[Shawnster]

I'm liking Mandalorian better than DISCO. Maybe better than all current Star Trek. I like PIC better than DISCO. LD is it's own thing and I don't compare it with the rest.

I hate the Star Wars sequel trilogy. I love Rey and have no problem with her. My problem is with the writing, plot, Kylo Ren and Poe and too many characters shoehorned in and diluting the whole.

I'm OK with Burnam but I think I prefer Star Trek's main character to be the Captain. It was a nice experiment but failed. Perhaps this is a fault of the writing. Or setting. Traditional starship setting with the Captain very much involved each week, yet Burnam is the lead. I love Prime Universe Georgiou and wish she'd been the Captain the whole time instead of killed off in episode 1.

Loved season 2 of DISCO so I'm hopeful for SNW

 

[The Overlord]

I'm liking Mandalorian better than DISCO. Maybe better than all current Star Trek. I like PIC better than DISCO. LD is it's own thing and I don't compare it with the rest.

I hate the Star Wars sequel trilogy. I love Rey and have no problem with her. My problem is with the writing, plot, Kylo Ren and Poe and too many characters shoehorned in and diluting the whole.

I'm OK with Burnam but I think I prefer Star Trek's main character to be the Captain. It was a nice experiment but failed. Perhaps this is a fault of the writing. Or setting. Traditional starship setting with the Captain very much involved each week, yet Burnam is the lead. I love Prime Universe Georgiou and wish she'd been the Captain the whole time instead of killed off in episode 1.

Loved season 2 of DISCO so I'm hopeful for SNW

That is fair.

I think of terms of new Star Wars content, Mandalorian and Rogue One were the only content I really loved, the other stuff I found either okay (Solo) or hated (Last Skywalker).

New Star Trek is hit or miss too (the first season of Discovery was a bit rough, its gotten better in the last 2 seasons, I liked Picard at first, but got bored with the AI based plot), but Lower Decks was fun and 2 out of the 3 Kelvin movies were good.

 

[Bornin1980something]

2 out of the 3 Kelvin movies were good.

Which two?

 

[The Overlord]

Which two?

I liked Star Trek 2009 and Beyond, did not like Into Darkness and the only recent Star Wars film I liked was Rogue One.

The Kelvin movies having a better batting average than the TNG movies, where I only liked 1 out of 4 of them.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'm really looking forward to the growing Star Wars universe.

 

[Vger23]

I'm going to have to revisit Rogue One I guess. My impression upon watching it in the theater was that it was a dour, lifeless, joyless and meaningless set piece with zero characters and a lot of shameless fanwank. It never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to like it. I must be missing something...so it's on the holiday list for a re-watch. Maybe another go around will make me feel different.

In a way, I feel like I'm on the OTHER side of the spectrum with the SW franchise as to where I am with Trek. Many criticisms of DSC, for example, read like what I just wrote about R1 (and I really like DSC)...while R1 continues to be my most disliked entry into the SW franchise to date, and the only SW film I never bothered to rewatch.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm going to have to revisit Rogue One I guess. My impression upon watching it in the theater was that it was a dour, lifeless, joyless and meaningless set piece with zero characters and a lot of shameless fanwank. It never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to like it. I must be missing something...so it's on the holiday list for a re-watch. Maybe another go around will make me feel different.

In a way, I feel like I'm on the OTHER side of the spectrum with the SW franchise as to where I am with Trek. Many criticisms of DSC, for example, read like what I just wrote about R1 (and I really like DSC)...while R1 continues to be my most disliked entry into the SW franchise to date, and the only SW film I never bothered to rewatch.

I would be curious to see you revisit it and if it impacts your opinion. I was not overblown by the characters, especially the two mains, but for what the film was I thought it did decently in terms of expanding the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, and the different tools of war. It felt like it flexed out the galaxy a bit more.

That said, I agree that it was very dour and fanwank pervaded which bothered me far more than it reasonably should have for how long it was on the screen.

 

[Paul755]

I like Rogue One but I can understand those that don’t.

That last scene with Vader is pretty damn great, almost makes the movie worth it all on its own.

 

[1001001]

I loved everything about Rogue One, except whatever Forrest Whitaker was doing....

 

[JirinPanthosa]

After this season I think I’d rank Mandalorian higher, but it’s close. After last season I would have ranked Disco a bit higher.

I liked Rogue One and think it’s the best of the new Wars movie, but it doesn’t capture the sense of fun the way Mandalorian does. In retrospect after seeing Mandalorian I think that’s a key missing element from Star Wars since the OT. They’re no fun. When they try to be funny it comes off as transparent merchandising or hamfisted slapstick. The action scenes manage to be tightly choreographed but still no fun. Everyone’s always angry or sad and have no action hero attitude.

Mando and Grogu Made Star Wars Fun Again.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I thought MANDO got off to a tepid start this season, but the last few episodes have been great. DISCO has been pretty steady all season.

 

[plynch]

Original TOS watcher as a baby, am close to watching every filmed canonical iteration with filling in some TNG gaps now.

Casual SW fan, saw it in a movie palace in 77.

DSC I watch ever week with my wife, and my attitude is, Oh what now? It tries too hard to be of the now with the forced feelz and Hallmark movie moments. To me. and there's always some puzzle box mystery I couldn't care less about. At least this season it is only the fate of the entire federation and not all life in the multiverse.

Mando, I can't WAIT for that thing to come on, on Fridays. Love it like I haven't since Breaking Bad. Frankly, I am not sure why I like it. The sparser dialog and wide, open feel is part.

 

[Jayson1]

They compare badly and I even like Picard despite it having a bad finish. The Mandolarian is already one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever and the best action adventure tv show ever. The Orville compares better but even it can't hold up really to The Mandolarian. The Mandolarian's only true equal in terms of genre shows right now I think is Stranger Things. I think one could make a solid argument that Stranger Things is a better show though I don't think I would go their. I have a gut feeling some of these MCU shows starting with Wandavision though might give it a good go at being even better but it's going to be a hard climb to get over that hill.

Jason

 

[fireproof78]

The Mandalorian impresses me only with the guest characters and small bits of world building.

Discovery and Picard and even Lower Decks I cared about the characters and what happens to them in the story.

That's about the extent of my comparison between the two. They are trying to tell two different stories and generally succeeding.

 

[skip bittman]

Well, none of the new Star Trek shows are remotely in danger of being called overrated.