I thought you've been arguing that the Ent is NOT a character, so why NOT kill her, she's just a vehicle right?
I'm taking the base assumption that people are presenting with the ENTERPRISE as a character.
No, I don't agree with it. But, I can engage with the premise for the sake of discussion.
It being just a vehicle doesn't mean you blow stuff up for no good reason beyond shock.
It could've been a case of Kirk & Company being on bond during deliberations and one of the conditions of the bond was that they weren't to leave Vulcan until it was time to face trial.
Why would they want them to hang out on Vulcan and return in a Klingon Bird of Prey though, instead of returning to Earth to await trial and to do so in a Starfleet ship? Vulcan is a founding member of the Federation, after all. Surely there is at a starship stationed nearby.
Ordinarily the Federation wouldn't, but Kirk was already on Vulcan so they probably told him to stay put. There was supposed to be Starfleet escort when the BOP left Vulcan for Earth. Kirk said it was odd when there wasn't any escort, because he didn't know about the probe just yet until they received the transmission.
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That seems reasonable. Maybe they also told Kirk, "you can head home once you redesign and replace the Bird of Prey's bridge."
Given the political sensitivity of what occurred telling Kirk to stay put and then notify him when the Klingon ambassador was there to face consequences makes sense.
Those deaths did indeed serve a narrative purpose. The Enterprise's death did not. One of the film's writers and producers admitted as much.
They're going to be there a LONG time if that had been the case...That seems reasonable. Maybe they also told Kirk, "you can head home once you redesign and replace the Bird of Prey's bridge."
I'll say this much: I can understand how dramatic it must've looked to watch the Enterprise blow up in theaters in 1984. Except I didn't watch it in 1984. TVH was my first exposure to Star Trek, so I've always known the Refit Enterprise as the ship that blows up and gets immediately replaced with a look-alike.
I have mixed thoughts about it. I think the destruction of the Refit Enterprise would've carried more weight going forward if the Enterprise-A didn't look just like it. As it is, the impact it would've still had was significantly blunted. At the same time, that's my favorite version of the Enterprise, so I'm glad they keep it looking the same.
There was definitely some having their cake and eating it too, by having it both ways.
I have mixed thoughts about it. I think the destruction of the Refit Enterprise would've carried more weight going forward if the Enterprise-A didn't look just like it. As it is, the impact it would've still had was significantly blunted. At the same time, that's my favorite version of the Enterprise, so I'm glad they keep it looking the same.
There was definitely some having their cake and eating it too, by having it both ways.
I watched it when it got to cable.
So I think some of you are aware that JTVFX has done some work on scenes with the 1701 voyaging home. You can see some clips in these videos.
and HIKE did their "Star Trek: Resurrection" where the 1701 was recovered from Genesis.
Probably not what you were after but I had imagined the 1701 surviving Genesis by being captured by the Klingons and turned into IKS Enterprise. Then years later IKS Enterprise faces the 1701-A.
If you wanted the story to follow close to TVH you could probably have the 1701 getting repaired in a Vulcan spacedock and just have it that the crew are preparing to go back to Earth separately. Then the Probe strikes and then Kirk nicks the 1701 again and heads for Earth and then does himself a time travel. I can't remember how they hid from detection in "Tomorrow is Yesterday" - did they just put the shields up? Do they do that again? I've had this image for a while of the 1701 hiding in big canyon somewhere so maybe they could do that. The mission could probably just go the same. And yes you absolutely should dunk the ship into San Francisco bay in the climax. Now, does the ship get refit or retired? I think that depends on what you think happens next, because 1701 just saved the planet but it's still all beat to hell. Does it go to the museum, in place of Bounty? Was there always a plan for a/the next Enterprise to be an Excelsior-class? Did Kirk saving the planet change things, move it so that he got rewarded with the 1701-A while the original planned Enterprise became 1701-B? Or would Kirk get the 1701 with a new refit as a reward for what just happened?
and HIKE did their "Star Trek: Resurrection" where the 1701 was recovered from Genesis.
Probably not what you were after but I had imagined the 1701 surviving Genesis by being captured by the Klingons and turned into IKS Enterprise. Then years later IKS Enterprise faces the 1701-A.
If you wanted the story to follow close to TVH you could probably have the 1701 getting repaired in a Vulcan spacedock and just have it that the crew are preparing to go back to Earth separately. Then the Probe strikes and then Kirk nicks the 1701 again and heads for Earth and then does himself a time travel. I can't remember how they hid from detection in "Tomorrow is Yesterday" - did they just put the shields up? Do they do that again? I've had this image for a while of the 1701 hiding in big canyon somewhere so maybe they could do that. The mission could probably just go the same. And yes you absolutely should dunk the ship into San Francisco bay in the climax. Now, does the ship get refit or retired? I think that depends on what you think happens next, because 1701 just saved the planet but it's still all beat to hell. Does it go to the museum, in place of Bounty? Was there always a plan for a/the next Enterprise to be an Excelsior-class? Did Kirk saving the planet change things, move it so that he got rewarded with the 1701-A while the original planned Enterprise became 1701-B? Or would Kirk get the 1701 with a new refit as a reward for what just happened?
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I was eight and watched TSFS in theaters. Even at that age, I felt the pain of the ship blowing up, primarily because of the cast's performance when they're watching her burn up in the atmopshere.
It's harder to watch now knowing that it was a contrived plot point that robbed the series of her star. Everyone survives the series and the films but the Enterprise. It didn't help that the Enterprise-A was portrayed as " a disaster," even though I love TFF otherwise.
I knew I'd seen this on YT but couldn't recall where...thank you! I think the Enterprise heads back to Earth, receives the transmission to stay away, and then slingshots around the nearest star that isn't Sol. Once in the 20th century, they proceed to Earth. I like your idea about hiding in a canyon, though I think they could have just as easily stayed out of range of 20th century detection while remaining in transporter range.
Ultimately, I'd loved for the Enterprise to survive TVH, get a repair and refit in recognition of her service and that of her crew, and then continue on through the next two films. She rides into the sunset with her crew, then rests in power in the Starfleet Museum. There's a fan edit of TFF out there that removes all references to the Enterprise-A's malfunctions, which goes a long way to improve some of TFF's issues. If the original Enterprise continued on, that subplot wouldn't be an issue.
One thing I really like about TUC is that it's the first time we're seeing a non-new ship with presumably a full crew complement in the entire film series.
TMP: New ship
TWOK: Training vessel
TSFS: Skeleton crew (at best!)
TVH: No E in any meaningful capacity
TFF: New-ish ship and skeleton crew
TUC: Non-new ship and fully(?) crewed
TMP: New ship
TWOK: Training vessel
TSFS: Skeleton crew (at best!)
TVH: No E in any meaningful capacity
TFF: New-ish ship and skeleton crew
TUC: Non-new ship and fully(?) crewed
Sure looked fully crewed when they were looking for the gravity boots!
I was thinking about a joke photoshop post where it's TMP and the refit 1701 launches and then you pan over to another drydock where all the stuff that got replaced is now stored, like maybe the nacelles and bridge and the satellite dish. And then a few years after Genesis they shove all that on another Constitution class and voila you got a 1701 reborn baby! Hey it worked for the 1701-D! (kinda)
That's kinda how I interpreted the bridge of the rebuilt D in Picard. The bridge wasn't in the final configuration from Generations, and the bridge modules were supposed to be swappable, so I assumed that that bridge module was swapped out after "All Good Things..." for the new one we saw in Generations, and Geordi went through Starfleet's used part junk yards looking for it years later and either found the original or one close enough.
Having bought car parts as a used parts junk yard -- great place to get a radiator -- that's how it works.
Michael Jan Friedman used the same idea in his novel Crossover. The Starfleet Museum had a pre-refit Connie (the Yorktown, IIRC), and its bridge module was the one from Kirk's Enterprise.
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