Why does the Kelvin look ahead of its time?

[plynch]

Is there an in-universe explanation for why the Kelvin looks ahead-of-its-time prior to the timline-altering meet-up with Nero? It already looks like the Con-refit-style from TMP-TFF era. The uniforms and interior design are all different from what would have been a generation before WNMHGB.

If the answer is simply, "It's a movie," I can live with that fine.

Are we perhaps not seeing, at the film's start, the "original timeline" we had come to know, but a slightly different one that itself gets altered by Nero?

 

[Cky]

It doesn't? I thought it looked like a natural ancestor of a few of the ships you see at Space Dock before the fleet go to Vulcan.

Also, for all we know the Kelvin was brand new then, obviously JJ changed some things to make it seem more realistic.

 

[ChristopherPike]

The Kelvin looked perfect. Those uniforms however didn't work for me...

 

[Phily B]

They didn't have CGI in 1966

 

[David cgc]

The Kelvin looked perfect. Those uniforms however didn't work for me...

I just had a thought. What if Starfleet periodically engineers more form-fitting uniforms as part of Fleetwide programs to improve physical fitness? Then, once everyone is nice and buff, they switch to more comfortable (and modest) outfits. Think about it. ST09 -> TOS, TMP -> TWOK, TNG S1&2 -> The rest of the 24th century...

 

[Sci]

Is there an in-universe explanation for why the Kelvin looks ahead-of-its-time prior to the timline-altering meet-up with Nero? It already looks like the Con-refit-style from TMP-TFF era.

That's a subjective thing, isn't it? I mean, the original iMac from the late 90s probably looks more advanced than your typical Dell desktop does today, but that doesn't mean that today's Dell doesn't outperform that old iMac.

The uniforms and interior design are all different from what would have been a generation before WNMHGB.

Erm, where was it established what any of that would have looked like one generation prior to "Where No Man Has Gone Before?" The uniforms, in particular, I thought looked like they could easily be a transitional uniform from the ENT era to the "Cage" era.

If the answer is simply, "It's a movie," I can live with that fine.

Are we perhaps not seeing, at the film's start, the "original timeline" we had come to know, but a slightly different one that itself gets altered by Nero?

No, we're seeing the original timeline.

 

[Jon1701]

Its a reboot.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Is there an in-universe explanation for why the Kelvin looks ahead-of-its-time prior to the timline-altering meet-up with Nero? It already looks like the Con-refit-style from TMP-TFF era. The uniforms and interior design are all different from what would have been a generation before WNMHGB.

If the answer is simply, "It's a movie," I can live with that fine.

Are we perhaps not seeing, at the film's start, the "original timeline" we had come to know, but a slightly different one that itself gets altered by Nero?

Why did Enterprise (NX-01) look ahead of its time?

(hint... Both Q's have the same answer: Production budget and FX technology)

 

[Michael]

It's a movie.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

The Kelvin didn't look ahead of its time. I really cannot understand where people are getting this from.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I've only seen the movie once, what makes it look "more advanced"?

 

[Hyperspace05]

I've only seen the movie once, what makes it look "more advanced"?

I can only assume that the original poster compares the Kelvin to the TOS Enterprise.

 

[Squiggy]

Because this:

would look stupid for a movie released in 2009.

 

[Jimmy_C]

It doesn't look ahead of its time? I don't understand. It looks like they turned the Ent-era cloth-uniforms into spandex-uniforms. I figured that was a homage to both Enterprise and the first season of TNG. The interior seemed a lot like a cross between Enterprise and the TOS enterprise to me, with the only exceptions being the viewscreen, shuttlebay, and Engineering. The ship itself seemed clunky like the Enterprise-era - bigger and requiring more maintance than TOS-era ships of the same capibilities. So I don't see it as being ahead of its time.

 

[Jimmy_C]

The Kelvin looked perfect. Those uniforms however didn't work for me...

I just had a thought. What if Starfleet periodically engineers more form-fitting uniforms as part of Fleetwide programs to improve physical fitness? Then, once everyone is nice and buff, they switch to more comfortable (and modest) outfits. Think about it. ST09 -> TOS, TMP -> TWOK, TNG S1&2 -> The rest of the 24th century...

ROTFLOL! I like that idea!

 

[Jon1701]

Because this:

would look stupid for a movie released in 2009.

Dammit!

Wood is canon.

I want a wooden deflector dish!

 

[bryce]

I think in addition to the whole "alternate timeline" explanation...we are also gonna have to accept (on top of it) that some things are just gonna be...different...for the sake of realism.

I mean...like if we *do* get a Kahn story - while (as an old-school fan) I'd like the Botany Bay to look the same - and if this was *just* a later branching of the OTL it *would* and *should* look the same...for the sake of realism in a 21stCen movie, it probably *won't* look like the TOS version.

Same as Kahn *won't* be a "20th century criminal" - because nobody today would buy that.

Or buy the "secret history" angle - I don't think that most audiences would find the idea of a baddie being believably Really Really Scary and Threatening and Bad Criminal Dictator Who Ruled half The Planet Absolutely and Brutally - if his Reign of Terror was supposedly somehow (also) still a "secret" and we all never even knew he *existed*!

"But trust us - he was TERRIBLE!!!"

(Hell, even as a Trekkie used to retcons, I still have a pretty hard time swallowing *THAT* one! Or the whole "secret history" thing in general...)

Some changes and differences, we just have to shrug and say "Yep, that's just how it is now!"

 

[SonicRanger]

What other 2230s-era starship do we have for comparison?

I think that the one huge nacelle worked nicely to indicate its era.

 

[Kpnuts]

Creative movie license.

FFS, not that hard to realise.

 

[ChristopherPike]

It doesn't look ahead of its time? I don't understand. It looks like they turned the Ent-era cloth-uniforms into spandex-uniforms. I figured that was a homage to both Enterprise and the first season of TNG. The interior seemed a lot like a cross between Enterprise and the TOS enterprise to me, with the only exceptions being the viewscreen, shuttlebay, and Engineering. The ship itself seemed clunky like the Enterprise-era - bigger and requiring more maintance than TOS-era ships of the same capibilities. So I don't see it as being ahead of its time.

That, right there is why the ship works and the uniforms just don't. TNG was basically a 24th century luxury liner compared to the roughty-toughtie interiors of the Kelvin. Computer interface looked like a decent advancement from the exposed flat panel monitors and inlayed buttons of Enterprise... but do you really want to be wearing a low cut top when sparks are flying off all that welding going on? I didn't see "spandex" coming between the ENT and Cage era uniforms, both of which had high collars - either buttoned up shirt or turtle-neck sweater. In fact, I always imagined the flightsuit developing into those one piece overalls seen on any number of miners and colonists during TOS. For example, they're worn by practically everybody in "Devil in the Dark" or on Deneva, where Kirk's brother died during "Operation: Annilihilate". My logic being like army surplus, eventually the population get "forces" cast-offs from previous decades, for everyday use because they prove practical.