"Turbo"lifts

[George]

I still disagree.

(don't blame me, I'm part British )

 

[FormerLurker]

Turbolifts:

Shoe inserts that help you stand really tall.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The fastest turbolift journey in Trek history: In last year's film, Spock goes from engineering to the bridge in three seconds.

JJ made turbolifts better

 

[SilentP]

^ Which made it funny that Uhura managed to get the turbolift to pause before it reached it's destination when she went after Spock. Where was he going in that lift? Earth?

 

[Timo]

In last year's film, Spock goes from engineering to the bridge in three seconds.

To be sure, he starts from a location that is not named or described in any way. It features the same sort of structures as several other facilities such as the shuttlebay or Uhura's original workstation (due to being filmed in the same location), but its only truly known quality is that it's a location where people disembarking from shuttles tend to, or are forced to, travel on foot for a while before reaching either Sickbay or Bridge.

We've never before heard of people changing turbolifts in the middle of a ride - or a reason for abandoning a turbolift, apart from the lift system malfunctioning. So we might say that this facility indeed is the shuttlebay, and none of our heroes have reached the nearest elevator station yet.

OTOH, the ship is pulling an Enterprise - leaving dock ahead of schedule. Perhaps there indeed is a malfunction in the turbolift system that forces people to change lifts in mid-run from shuttlebay to bridge? In that case, the change appears to take place within walking distance of Sickbay. We don't know where Sickbay is located exactly - only that a hit in the lower end of the neck of the ship (or perhaps the simultaneous, smaller hit on the saucer underside) will fry Sickbay and kill the CMO! It would make some sense to assume Sickbay is in the saucer section, though - in which case Spock's ride probably only involved going up half a dozen decks.

Later on, we explicitly see Pike change turbolifts: he leaves the bridge with Kirk, Spock and Sulu in a lift, then walks in that generic set with them, sends Spock back and proceeds to the shuttles in another lift with the rest. Spock then immediately returns to the bridge. The switchover area might thus be a permanent feature of the lift system, or an indicator of its sorry status during this mission... But in either case, it's a necessary waystation, and thus doesn't have to be particularly close to either Bridge or Engineering or Shuttlebay. It only has to be close to Sickbay. (Assuming it's the same area both times!)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Except you can see the tanks that the warp cores shoot out of at the end high above.

When Pike goes through later I assumed that was an airlock door to the shuttlebay, not a second turbolift.

If you're gonna decide the same location is playing different parts of the ship each time, fine and good for you. But IMO it makes a lot of sense (and avoids needless complication) if the cadets were swarming through from the shuttlebay, which whould likely share a wall with the engineering complex, to their duty assignments.

If only I could find floorplans of the San Fernando Valley brewery somewhere...

 

[FalTorPan]

The British term for elevator is Lift.

I think most of us non-Brits are aware of that fact. We didn't just fall off a turnip truck, you know.

Although both “lift” and “elevator” aren't really accurate terms for a conveyance that goes down as well as up! Sideways is another matter altogether.

The "lift" part of "turbolift" makes less sense than the "turbo" part, since the cars move both horizontally and vertically.

Thanks for the insightful comment.

 

[Timo]

If you're gonna decide the same location is playing different parts of the ship each time, fine and good for you.

That's true of virtually every Trek movie, really (say, different parts of San Francisco may portray the same end of Golden Gate).

Certainly in this movie, a single industrial installation was used for portraying multiple areas of a ship that may be as much as a kilometer long. Heck, they even CGI-faked those distinct yellow cross-beams into the shuttlebay walls for this shot:

http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/xihd/trekxihd0986.jpg

Supposedly, such beams would be found everywhere in the ship, then. Quite possibly including the saucer section, and at least the immediate vicinity of the sickbay.

When Pike goes through later I assumed that was an airlock door to the shuttlebay, not a second turbolift.

Might well be. But if we go the route that locations/sets identify fictional setting, the set used here did look distinctly similar to the turbolift:

http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/xihd/trekxihd0993.jpg
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/xihd/trekxihd1321.jpg

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

It could have been a lift to the second level of the hangar deck, I guess. I must admit I don't remember what level Pike's shuttle launched from.

But as I said earlier, I'm going with the brewery being right behind the shuttlebay. It fits with the core ejection scene at the end and makes sense as a through-way for the cadets arriving in shuttles. Plus I'm not too keen on the idea of the ship having identical-looking vats that house the warp cores being used for other purposes elsewhere. I can buy the communications' centre being part of the engineering complex too.

The early script at IMSDB describes the our time in the turbolift being "--just a moment--" from the shuttlebay to the bridge for Spock's journey. Maybe sensor scans of the Nerada led to amazing breakthoughs in turbolift technology in the alternate universe 25 years later

 

[Timo]

It fits with the core ejection scene at the end and makes sense as a through-way for the cadets arriving in shuttles.

We're in a degree of trouble here anyway: apparently, Kirk and McCoy head for Sickbay right away, yet run into Spock who's walking the opposite way to reach the turbolift that will take him to the Bridge!

If the area is right next to the shuttle hangars, it's odd that McCoy wasn't walking Kirk into that same turbolift (which would be nearest to them), but past it, moments before Spock hove to view and forced them to hide. Or is Sickbay right next to the hangars as well? The other possibility is that the vast ship has multiple dedicated lift networks, and that taking the express lift to the Bridge would not bring our officers to Sickbay the fastest way, or at least would risk bringing them to the attention of higher-up officers who'd object to them being there.

Multiple lift options, perhaps with different properties, make some sense. The idea that one would have to step out of one lift and into another may make sense in that context, too - although it's still somewhat awkward.

Perhaps during the initial boarding, a single turbolift took Kirk and McCoy to the immediate vicinity of Sickbay in the saucer, which is where this staging area (with the vats) was - and Spock had made a stop there, too, because it was also close to Uhura's workplace and Spock wanted to meet her before going to the Bridge? That's a fairly natural explanation for that particular pit stop.

Why would Pike change lifts in mid-run when going for the shuttle, then? Well, it would be natural for him to stop at Engineering or Armory to join with Olsen. We don't exactly see whether Olsen joins them or not, IIRC: the action cuts away before the lift doors close on Pike, Kirk and Sulu on the supposed second lift.

Whichever our explanation, we're left wondering about the lack of rapid lift connections even when we wonder about Spock's rapid ride.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[F. King Daniel]

Kirk and McCoy don't head for sickbay right away - they find Kirk a change of clothes first. This could have been almost anywhere on the ship, from someone's quarters to a storage locker (and of course it would fit perfectly). I doubt there's only one turbolift from engineering, anyway - and even failing that there are, at long last, stairs on the USS Enterprise .

Remember also that on Pike's trip to the shuttlebay the Enterprise had been heavily damaged. There were radiation leaks in the lower levels and the ship was limited to warp 4. Turbo shafts may have suffered, too.

I think we're over thinking this a bit.

 

[Captrek]

Turbolifts take as long to get where needed as the conversation the occupants are having last.

^ The computer calculates the estimated time it will take the occupants to finish their conversation and adjusts velocity accordingly.

“Who’s been holding up the damn elevator?”
“We were just talking...”