Star Trek
Poll: Best Sci-Fi/Fan Franchise LOTR, ST, or SW?
- Thread starter Plomeek Broth
- Start date
I voted LOTR, but they're hard to compare: Trek had to meet the weekly deadlines of making a new TV episode, and has literally 700+ episodes. Not all will be great.
LOTR is just one long book, so its just 12 hours of film. Further, no one really tries to writer "expanded universe" books (which would have to be prequels) even to "fill in the gaps", because what Tolkien wrote was so self-contained
No question about it, the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was a letdown.
However, Star Wars successfully shfited into having an "Expanded Universe" of books and comics which can be pretty good: Star Wars is going to survive for decades as an ongoing book series. Trek's spinoff books, while at times entertaining, never really got as developed.
LOTR is just one long book, so its just 12 hours of film. Further, no one really tries to writer "expanded universe" books (which would have to be prequels) even to "fill in the gaps", because what Tolkien wrote was so self-contained
No question about it, the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy was a letdown.
However, Star Wars successfully shfited into having an "Expanded Universe" of books and comics which can be pretty good: Star Wars is going to survive for decades as an ongoing book series. Trek's spinoff books, while at times entertaining, never really got as developed.
Right now I think the LOTR movies are still the best thing ever.
To clarify - What is your favorite franchise of these 3 in sci-fi/fantasy (or other) that includes anything with the brand name on it (EU, tv, film, etc.)? I didn't just mean the films.
Bearing that in mind, LOTR is the only possible answer, even though it's not my favorite. But that's kind of an unfair setup. As V said, it's a lot harder to produce quality work when you have a weekly deadline. And TV and movies also depend on several people doing their jobs well--the director, the writer, all the actors, the DP, lighting, producers, the editor, etc. That's several opportunities for failure, whereas a book has only two, the author and the editor.
Marian
Siwilliams
Fleet Captain
Star Wars and Star Trek
Marian doth speak the truth mightily. Each form of entertainment for each franchise is fraught with chances to screw up as well s to benefit. The greater number involved in making a TV series or a theatrical movie can increase the chances of a frell-up. It can also increases the chances of success, with someone compensating for someone else's mistake. All three of the specific choices are monstrously successful, if you can separate yourself from your favorite. I suspect each will for generations hold a solid place in pop culture and art and entertainment and more.
It's not about which franchise will stand the test of time the best or which one was the most consistent, it's just about which one is your favorite and why. 
Right, and from that perspective there's no way anyone could really argue that the LOTR trilogy are the "best" (not favorite) product out there.
I mean, take the best 3 Star Wars movies and 3 best Star Trek movies and it really isn't all that close, and that's especially true with the star wars.
Best 3 Star Wars movies:
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Revenge of the Sith
3. Star Wars : A New Hope. (Some might argue either Return of the Jedi or Attack of the Clones here but I don't think there's a huge difference in quality between the three.)
Best 3 Star Trek movies:
1. Wrath of Kahn
2. First Contact
3. Either Undiscovered Country or The Voyage Home
I'd say Empire Strikes Back and Wrath of Kahn are arguably in the same realm as any of the LOTR movies (though some would say that's a stretch and I'd have a hard time arguing) but the other 4 movies aren't really that close in terms of quality.
That being said, I love both the Star Wars and Star Trek universes and with the right writers, some amazing stories could be told there. If we could just get rid of Lucas and bring some real directing and writing (and acting) in, I think the Star Wars universe has tons of potential.
I'm not sure I follow. Couldn't one make a case that LOTR is the best, as justifiably as anyone can for Trek or SW?
Sorry, clumsy phrasing on my part.
What I was trying to assert was that the 3 LOTR movies are clearly superior movies in terms of overall quality compared to the movies from the other two franchises.
Not saying that LOTR should be everyone's cup of tea and turn their noses up at the Star Wars or Star Trek movies because of the differences in quality, just that it's pretty evident which are the best "products" from an objective point of view (as much as that's possible for one to do), or from future generations perspectives.
Obviously personal taste might prompt someone to claim one of the others series as the best franchise but limiting one's vote to personal preference rather than trying to evaluate objective quality of the product is little more than saying "I like <fill in the blank> blank because I like it the best" which doesn't seem to serve much of a point to me beyond just disseminating personal preferences to the board at large.
Gotta go with Star Trek for the vast quantity (some bad but a lot good), also I like that its a positive depiction of the future, that the characters usually are friendly.
I dislike that a deal of the SW EU is bad things repeating themselves. The LotR movies were good but long (the first film was a bit too violent) and the books a bit dull although I prefer the Gollum in them.
I dislike that a deal of the SW EU is bad things repeating themselves. The LotR movies were good but long (the first film was a bit too violent) and the books a bit dull although I prefer the Gollum in them.
Exactly. As a general rule of thumb, I can't stand country music or Rap. That being said, as a musician I'm able to appreciate the quality of some artists in both those genre's as being very good and talented even if it's not something I would ever buy or even necessarily even like.
It's like that with the LOTR movies, I think. Someone may not care for the LOTR movies all that much and may, in fact, not be into fantasy at all for that matter. But objectively speaking, one I think cannot help but recognize how well-crafted the movies are in all facets even if they don't particularly care for the movies themselves.
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