STV question

[Duane]

I just saw Star Trek V again. I was packing my bags in a hotel room and was busy doing other things while it was on the TV. I have to say that the movie is not nearly as bad when watched in this fashion.

I do have a question. When Kirk, Spock and McCoy are trying to navigate through the turbo shaft with Spock's rocket boots, the signs along the turbo shaft seem to indicate that the ship has 70+ decks (which we know it doesn't.)

Does anyone have an explanation as to what was going on there? Thanks.

 

[Timo]

Well, a 20+ story building doesn't sound too impressive to an American who is used to 100+ story skyscrapers. So the shaft was made to look three times as tall as it "ought" to be.

A worse problem IMHO is that the decks are numbered from bottom to top, while all other Trek has the decks numbered from top to bottom...

If one wants to, one can have fun with the deck numbers and argue that "DECK 78" in fact means that the shaft is between decks 7 and 8. That would be a perfectly viable top end for a vertical shaft in a Constitution class vessel - and it would be perfectly reasonable for the lifts to travel horizontally between decks, rather than on decks, so as not to block other means of horizontal passage.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Michael]

It's just a minor inconsistency which doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie.

 

[CheapTrick]

and they're not numbered either, are they? I thought they were "lettered" with the bridge being "A" deck.

 

[Timo]

Nope, that's not a rule or anything.

Only ST2:TWoK ever supposedly used letter designations for decks, or at least there was a big "A" painted on the bridge turbolift doors of the Enterprise and the Reliant. In turn, numbers were actually seen painted on various doors and walls of movie-era ships such as the Excelsior in VOY "Flashback".

There may have been some sort of a double system in place in ST2 (much as Shane Johnson rationalizes in Mr Scott's Guide). Then again, an alternate rationalization would go that there never was any system in Starfleet where decks would be letter-coded in general, that the letter A on the turbolift doors simply denoted lift A as opposed to lift B, and that Spock's single line regarding "C deck" referred to something completely unrelated to "deck 3".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[SchwEnt]

Kirk Spock and McCoy enter the bottom of the turboshaft and begin a long climb.
But Spock splits...somehow gets up to the top of the turbolift shaft...finds some jetboots...and then appears as if by magic to the still-climbing Kirk and McCoy.

So the *real* question is:

How did Spock find some secret way to the top of the turboshaft without climbing?
And why didn't he just take Kirk and McCoy with him in the first place???

 

[A beaker full of death]

70+ decks

Oh good. haven't heard this major criticism in hours.

 

[ancient]

I just call it a numbering mistake and move on. No big deal.

You'd think it was the fucking end of the world from the amount of bitching about it though.

 

[Duane]

My apologies for having raised an issue that has been discussed so many times. I've only read this board a few times in the past year or so. I've missed a lot of the discussion. I prefer to accept the above explanation that "deck 78" is a reference to a space between decks 7 and 8. That idea would not have occurred to me, so I am grateful.

As to the other problems mentioned -- I'd need to re-watch the movie. You'll understand if I am not quite prepared to do right now after having seen it a few days ago. I'd love to see a re-mastered version, though.

 

[Timo]

How did Spock find some secret way to the top of the turboshaft without climbing? And why didn't he just take Kirk and McCoy with him in the first place???

Umm, by all rights, Spock should be a much better climber than either Kirk or the huffing and puffing McCoy. Superior Vulcan strength, mind you. He could have sprinted forward to get the boots from a few levels higher up (say, from shuttlebay level since that's where he'd drop gear like that).

The problem that troubles me the most is that the camera never reveals any obvious side openings to the turboshaft. What good is the shaft if it doesn't even have doors to each deck, let alone horizontal branches? And how does Spock reach the boots if he can't get off the shaft except at the top?

Some creative CGI redesigning of that turboshaft would be in order... The dramatic concept as such is perfectly sound, even when the treknological execution / set construction is lacking.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Unicron]

I think TWOK also had signs suggesting there were four torpedo bays, even though there are only two launchers on the ship. Probably something they assumed wouldn't be noticed in the background, like the deck 78 sign.

 

[RobertScorpio]

It's just a minor inconsistency which doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie.

I'm with you NCC-1701..I find STV far more watchable than the final two TNG movies, by far. I can quite literally say that I will probably never see NEMESIS again before I die, which will be, hopefully, another 50 years from now..

Rob
scorpio

 

[Jon1701]

Star Trek V rocks.

The plot is a load of old bollocks, but you can say that about 90 percent of Star Trek episodes.

 

[balls]

About 8 or 9 years ago, there was an online chat with Mike Okuda. I asked about the 78 decks and he said something like, "We told the director that the ship would not have 78 decks and that deck 1 has always been considered the bridge. However, the director felt that it would be more dramatic to have it numbered up to 78. Ultimately, you do what the director wants."

 

[ancient]

What does God need with 78 decks?

 

[FalTorPan]

I think TWOK also had signs suggesting there were four torpedo bays, even though there are only two launchers on the ship. Probably something they assumed wouldn't be noticed in the background, like the deck 78 sign.

Yup.

 

[STIntergalactic]

Only ST2:TWoK ever supposedly used letter designations for decks, or at least there was a big "A" painted on the bridge turbolift doors of the Enterprise and the Reliant. In turn, numbers were actually seen painted on various doors and walls of movie-era ships such as the Excelsior in VOY "Flashback".

There may have been some sort of a double system in place in ST2 (much as Shane Johnson rationalizes in Mr Scott's Guide). Then again, an alternate rationalization would go that there never was any system in Starfleet where decks would be letter-coded in general, that the letter A on the turbolift doors simply denoted lift A as opposed to lift B, and that Spock's single line regarding "C deck" referred to something completely unrelated to "deck 3".

Timo Saloniemi

The NX-01 had seven decks lettered A-G with the bridge being deck A.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

What does God need with 78 decks?

LOL!