Star Trek

For over 40 years, Star Trek has been a fixture in Science Fiction television and film. “Star Trek, The Original Series” first aired in September of 1969, featuring the now legendary and unforgettable, William Shatner, as Captain Kirk. Although the ratings struggled and the Original series only lasted three years, Star Trek became a instant cult classic. Since the original series, there have been numerous films and five additional television series’. One of the most widely successful of which was “Star Trek , The Final Frontier”, with Patrick Stewart playing Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise.

Star Trek story-lines are based around space exploration and the goal to “to boldly go where no man has gone before”. Each television series depicts the adventures of crews from different star ships. Along the way, conflict is brought about by clashes with alien life forms and the inherit dangers of space exploration.

Some of the memorable Star Trek characters include: Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, Spock, Data , Geordi La Forge, Worf (to name a few).

While Star Trek has always had an overall serious feel, there was always a humorous undertone. Who could forget the episode from Next Generation when Data is learning to understand humor and tries his hand at stand up?

Star Wars

If you were to ask a person what movie comes to mind when you say the word “Sci-Fi”, “Star Wars” would likely be the answer. In a lot of ways, the Star Wars series defined what Sci-Fi is today.

The first Star Wars movie, “Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope” was released in 1977. Since the release of A New Hope, the series has become a pop culture phenomenon. Every type of merchandise that can be imagined has been created base on the Star Wars films. From video games to drinking cups, there are very few things that don’t offer a Star Wars themed option. Even Motorola jumped on the star wars bandwagon releasing an R2D2 version of their successful Droid Phone in 2010.

The Star Wars films have earned over 4 billion dollars worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing film series in history. The plot of Star Wars is based around the life of Luke and Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader). To sum it up… with an in depth, well thought out storyline derived from a meticulous attention to detail, the films overall plot is a story depicting an epic battle between good and evil. Luke, a Jedi is the protagonist for “Good” while Darth Vader, a high ranking general of the “the Dark Side” is the protagonist for evil. The two characters meet in the end of an epic journey to make for one of the most memorable moments in film history.

The execution of the film and the special effects in each film have always been ahead of their time. George Lucas and his production company, Lucasfilm was a pioneer in CGI. Lucas pulled out all the stops when it came to special effects and editing techniques in the the Star Wars films. They are known as some of the most groundbreaking films in CGI.

While Star Wars was an instant classic in the theatres as is today a cultural phenomenon, can the longevity and originality of Star Trek hold up in contrast?