The potential for amazing starship battles in Trek XI.

Not to sound too much like a purist, but whenever the TOS Enterprise was attacked, either by beam or torpedo, the ship would be enveloped. Heck, an incoming energy projectile normally grew and grew until it took up the viewscreen. I could definitely be wrong about this, but I think TWOK started the trend of torpedoes acting as smaller warheads up until the end of Enterprise.

 

There wouldn't be much of an explosion, really - just a really bright flash, like the world's biggest flash bulb going off. The effects on the ship would be somewhat more visible. This ships HAVE shields. I think it would look incredible to see them deflecting weapons of that yield.

 

Then again, a Z-plus/Z-minus maneuver is still tied to a two-dimensional X/Y reference plane. It's just declaring how far above or below that plane to go. We never see Kirk order the ship to angle up thirty degrees and proceed from there, for example, or roll the ship on its long axis to bring different weapons to bear.

 

I remember Kirk's order, but I was referring to the "stately" manner in which the Enterprise moved in the effect shots. It did not appear to move in three-dimensions. Although, the shot where the Enterprise ascends behind Reliant is close. Nevertheless, it still looks like an old sailing frigate coming upon the ship in foggy waters.

From the trailer, it seems as if the ships are not shot in that stately pan-and-scan flyby manner usually associated with Trek. There's something kinetic about them that's been lacking in previous Trek battle shots.

However, I hope that the ships, particularly the Enterprise, does not maneuver like some WW II bomber plane; just as the ENT-E did in NEM or the NX-01 did in ENT (series). I want the Enterprise to feel like a huge vessel in the way it moves. Thus, giving it some "weight" on screen.

 

The X/Y/Z plane is 3-D. You don't have to angle up or down to do 3-D maneuvers. Of course, if the Enterprise was coasting under forward momentum, descending 10,000 meters WOULD be an angling maneuver. All movements in space are relative.

 

However, it's extremely weird not to. Sure, x/y/z describes three dimensions, as x/y describes two. Well, consider this: when you're walking, you're moving in a 2-d plane. (There's no such thing as a 3-D plane.) Do you therefore only walk either forward/backward and/or sidewise?

 

I want to see the JJ-Prise go into a space battle with a P-38 Lightning, a pink pegasus, a Veritech, the warrior chick and her flying thing from "HeavyMetal"/"Booobage", and the Flying Star-Of-David from "History of the World, Part 2". Now that would be something!

 

You might if you were in a fight and trying for the best tactical position.

I don't see anything awkward about the move in TWOK. Kirk realized that he'd overestimated Khan's tactical prowess in space, and was looking for him in the wrong place. He ordered full stop, and then a descent. We don't know which way he went from there - the next thing it shows is the big E coming up behind the Reliant.