More like the last three, I'd say.
Poll: Sovereign love it or hate it?
- Thread starter asdf1
- Start date
In one of his interviews, Ron Moore, one of the co-writers for FC, said that, as far as he was concerned, the Ent-E didn't have any kids aboard. He never ever liked the idea of kids aboard the Enterprise in the first place, because he thought it never made a lot of sense.
It totally is, mostly because John Eaves was a big fan of Bill George's Excelsior design.
I really like the Sovereign Ent-E, probably because the TMP Enterprise (or Ent-A) is my favorite version of the ship and I also thoght the Excelsior was a great design too.
The Ent-E is definitely retro in that sense. It's stretched out along its roll axis, unlike Andrew Probert's Ent-D which was stretched along its pitch-axis. The nacceles are longer and swept back, like the TMP Ent and Excelsior and unlike the Ent-D, where they were pushed forwards. The Ent-E has flat sides for insignia, unlike the Ent-D which had an edge. The Ent-E has a rear shuttle bay ( I believe), the Ent-D doesn't. The Ent-E has a circular deflector dish, the Ent-D's is elliptica (the repeating motif of that ship).
The retroness even extends to the inside of the ship. The beige, hotel-like coloring is gone, replaced by darker tones. Picard's command chair is on a platform like Kirk's, and it swivels. The two forward consoles, helm and ops are on struts on the inside, making them look like the helm-nav console of the original Enterprise bridge. Even the TMP Ent turbolift alcoves and master situation display (from TFF and TUC) were incorporated in the back of the Ent-E bridge set.
Yes, the Ent-D is a more original design. Andrew Probert, with some direction from GR, wanted to do something different with that ship. With the Ent-E, on the other hand, John Eaves went back to the Excelsior (which was, in turn, a step up from the TMP Ent) and took that a step further.
That's how I see it anyway.
^The Ent-D had a LARGE rear-facing shuttlebay in the upper part of the saucer section. Also, 2 more smaller rear-racing bays near the top of the neck on the stardrive section.
^^The Ent-E has significantly less interior volume than the Ent-D. This, plus the fact we never see civilians or children, makes me think the Ent-E is a non-family ship.
It's a lot of little things that nag at me (as a designer) about the Ent-E. Just the fact that the NEWER bridge has STEPS (I guess accessible starships went out of style during the war) drives me nuts. Poor Nog would have a much easier time getting around on a Galaxy class ship.
^^The Ent-E has significantly less interior volume than the Ent-D. This, plus the fact we never see civilians or children, makes me think the Ent-E is a non-family ship.
It's a lot of little things that nag at me (as a designer) about the Ent-E. Just the fact that the NEWER bridge has STEPS (I guess accessible starships went out of style during the war) drives me nuts. Poor Nog would have a much easier time getting around on a Galaxy class ship.
I like the Sovereign class for the most part, it definitely has a more aggressive posture, like a panther about to pounce or something. I think the design is reflective of a ship that was purposed more as a battle cruiser than a scientific/exporation vessel like the Galaxy class. (Disclaimer: I always hated the Galaxy class. As someone else said it looks ridiculously unbalanced with that ginormous saucer and tiny nacelles and secondary hull. And the interior looked like the world's biggest Holiday Inn. I shed no tears when the Ent-D bit the dust in "Generations", unlike the loss of the original Enterprise in TSFS, which was a genuinely emotional moment for me.)
I know, I guess I may have said that wrong. I just meant that the secondary hull of the Ent-D had no shuttlebay, like the original Enterprise and the Excelsior.
I think you're right. The Ent-E is longer but it looks to me that, overall, the Ent-D is larger. I don't think there are families either. Ron Moore said there wasn't and we didn't see any kids in FC, INS, and NEM. I guess SF finally learned that sending kids on a ship that could get into scrapes with the Borg and Romulans, not to mention other adversaries, wasn't such a good idea.
I hear you. I guess it's a love or hate thing. My favorite incarnation of ST has always been the original series and the movie version of the Enterprise is my favorite, so I loved the retro Ent-E. I liked the Ent-D a lot too, but I find the Ent-E cooler. It all just comes down to your personal sense of aesthetics I guess.
But the secondary hull of the Enterprise-D had a shuttlebay!
I don't think so. The main shuttle bay was on the saucer and there were two smaller bays, the ones usually shone on the show, on the back of the interconecting dorsal. There was no shuttle bay, as far as I know, on the Ent-D's secondary hull proper, particularly at the rear of the ship.
The Sovereign class is my favorite design. I too always disliked the "neck" on Federation starships. I was glad when the newer designs toned that feature down. If I was a Klingon commander I'd be yelling at my gunner to aim for the neck, it's the kill shot.
I liked the Galaxy class a lot, loved it in fact, just as I liked the original 1701 (and its refit), plus the Excelsior, plus the Sovereign...hehe I like all the 'main' starships.
However this thread makes me realize that of the two TNG ships, the Galaxy was better suited to a weekly TV series and multiple missions, including diplomacy/exploration, whereas the Sovereign was better suited to combat and the movies. It is true the Sovereign was a future-retro deal, and does in some ways go backwards to go forward.
Now I'm wondering what it would be like to 'Galaxy'-ize the Sovereign in keeping the general structure but change the surface detailing to be more smooth and sculptural.
However this thread makes me realize that of the two TNG ships, the Galaxy was better suited to a weekly TV series and multiple missions, including diplomacy/exploration, whereas the Sovereign was better suited to combat and the movies. It is true the Sovereign was a future-retro deal, and does in some ways go backwards to go forward.
Now I'm wondering what it would be like to 'Galaxy'-ize the Sovereign in keeping the general structure but change the surface detailing to be more smooth and sculptural.
Similar threads
