gagnonrich opened this issue on May 10, 2006 · 71 posts
gagnonrich posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 1:45 PM
I was watching Star Wars again and, with all the effects driven films since then, the opening sequence isn't as breathtaking as it was almost thirty years ago. I remember what it was like when I watched it in it's first run and that sequence alone set the movie up as something amazing. Part of what made that sequence so memorable was that the Star Destroyer had a size that dwarfed what I could remember seeing before that time. I started thinking about the spaceships, that were portrayed on movies and TV, and most were fairly small vehicles. The biggest one I can think of would probably be Star Trek's Enterprise. Does anybody remember anything else that was large scale?
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Khai posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 1:51 PM
http://www.merzo.net/
have a look here ;)
BAR-CODE posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 1:52 PM
BAttlestar Galactica? pretty big too...
IF YOU WANT TO CONTACT BAR-CODE SENT A PM to 26FAHRENHEIT "same person"
Chris
Acadia posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:03 PM
Attached Link: http://www.plexico.net/b4/coolships.html
Babylon 5 Space: 1999 Battlestar Galactica Star Trek Star WarsOthers:
Cocoon
Contact
Plus many more at this link:
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/astrofilm.html
Then there was the very old TV show called Stingray, which I never watched
EDIT: I forget the name of the movie :( Near or at the end, there is a huge blue and white luminous ship slowly decending to the ground while everyone is standing around in total awe. I can't remember if anyone/thing exits it though. Probably a movie from the 1970's or 1980's.
"It is good to see ourselves as
others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we
are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not
angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to
say." - Ghandi
Khai posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:12 PM
erm.. Stingray was a submarine ;)
Acadia posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:13 PM
Oh. Well, I did say that I never watched it, LOL
"It is good to see ourselves as
others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we
are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not
angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to
say." - Ghandi
gagnonrich posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:14 PM
Oops...my post wasn't all that clear -- I was more curious about pre-Star Wars ships. Star Wars set a new look for ships, and their scope, after its release.
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Acadia posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:18 PM
So before circa 1978 or 1979 or whenever StarWars was first released?
Space: 1999 which was a 1975 series.
Star Trek the original series.
Space Odyssey might fall into this too. It a science fiction series of novels and films created from 1953 to 1997
"It is good to see ourselves as
others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we
are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not
angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to
say." - Ghandi
Miss Nancy posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:22 PM
also off-topic - warner bros. announced they are gonna sell babylon 5 episodes on bitTorrent at $1 each.
Khai posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:29 PM
if you want scale pre starwars.. there is one that takes all..
the Ringworld
(oneday they may make the movie.....)
Khai posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:33 PM
Quote - Space Odyssey might fall into this too. It a science fiction series of novels and films created from 1953 to 1997
2001 was released in 1969, so the Discovery could be said to influence the look of star wars a lot in certain aspects (detailing on the hull)
but pre star wars, you need to go back to the 1950's and movies like When Worlds Collide for big ships.. they were pretty rare on screen due to the idea that all ships are smooth... no much for the audeince to look at.
but after star wars... ships like the Nostromo (Alien) and the Galactica are noteworthy...
RHaseltine posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 2:57 PM
Was Silent Running pre SW? The ship in that was pretty large.
diolma posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 3:15 PM
"Space Odyssey might fall into this too. It a science fiction series of novels and films created from 1953 to 1997"
Correct, but possibly misleading...:-)
Kubrick's film ("2001 - A Space Odyssey") was based on a short story by Arthur C Clarke ("The Sentinel"), written several years before the film. The short story ended with the discovery (and activation) of the 1st sentinel, on the moon.
IIRC, Clarke & Kubrick collaborated on the film and extended the original. The book of the film was later released by ACC. After that there were some (IMHO) not very good pot-boiler follow-ups.
The film was the biggest-grossing Sci-Fi film before Star Wars.
Nuff trivia - I suspect that the Discovery was probably the biggest pre-StarWars space ship in sheer overall size (even if most of it was made up of unexplained modules which mainly separated the living area from the engines). At least it wasn't stream-lined (no need for streamlining in space-craft...)
Cheers,
Diolma
(Who read the original before the film was released, and also saw the film during its release year, and was wowed. But that was then...)
Khai posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 4:27 PM
Quote - Was Silent Running pre SW? The ship in that was pretty large.
Silent Running is listed as 1972 ;) good call there.
the ship later appeared as stock footage in the series Battlestar Galactica as an 'Agro Ship'
but the model was destroyed shortly after the making of Silent Running.. the interiors were filmed on an Aircraft Carrier if memory serves..
mrsparky posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 4:38 PM
In the 1977 Special Collectors Edition (UK) magazine states
"the ...Falcon was the only ship built to life size proportions"..
The exterior death star sets where "sixteen hundred square" but the death star itself was "no bigger than a football".
John Dykstra,the designer of Dykstraflex a special camera used to create the 365 composiste effects, was also involved in the FX of 2001.
I recall another early s/wars magazine saying the 'gribbles' (details) on the models in s/wars was based heavily from 2001.
Byrdie posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 5:09 PM
Quote - also off-topic - warner bros. announced they are gonna sell babylon 5 episodes on bitTorrent at $1 each.
Darn! Now I'm gonna have to go hunt up a new BT program -- E-Donkey/E-Mule does torrents but I got rid of it after getting that virus last week. Anybody know a good, safe one I can use to download these when I buy?
gagnonrich posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 5:19 PM
According to the Starship Dimensions site that Khai referenced, here's the sizes of some of the ships mentioned:
Star Wars Destroyer - 1.6 km
Silent Running - 1.6 km
Battlestar Galactica - 610 m (after Star Wars)
Enterprise - 305 m
Discovery - 113 m
Eagle (Space 1999) - 68 m
I don't think the old "When Worlds Collide" ships are in the listings, but I don't recall that they were as large as the bigger ships here.
There's no question that "Star Wars" owes a lot to "2001". That movie still holds up well today with effects that remain realistic. John Dykstra, at least according to IMDB, didn't work on "2001", but did work on "Silent Running", which was directed by Douglas Trumball, who was the effects director on "2001".
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Gareee posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 5:43 PM
Um, what about those BIG ships in the original Star Trek episodes from the 60's?
The planet eater?
Or that large Jupiter 2 eating ship from Lost in Space?
There was the Searcher from Buck Rogers, and also the War Witch from (I think) it's last episode(Plus the large Draconian mother ship from the Buck Rogers movie as well.)
But I think Buck as a few years after Star Wars, around BG time.
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
stahlratte posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 6:11 PM
@MrSparky: Many of the 'gribbles' (details) on the StarWars models used for filming are in fact parts "borrowed" from scale kits of WW2 planes, tanks and armoured cars.
For example you can find the rear storage boxes of Tamiya´s 1/35 scale German "Panther" tank on the Millenium Falcon, and the SandCrawler uses parts of the SdKfz. 222 armoured car.
:-)
Stahlratte
Gareee posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 6:29 PM
Much the same as the detailing on the CE3K mothership. heck, there was even a small r2-d2 on that!
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
sturkwurk posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 7:00 PM
Well the mother ship in close encounters was pretty big - not as big as a Star Destroyer though. I know both movies (Star Wars and CE) came out in 1977 - I think Star Wars was early summer and CE was later - but they were both in production at the same time. Doug
I came, I rendered, I'm still broke.
sturkwurk posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 7:08 PM
whoops crossed with gareee
I came, I rendered, I'm still broke.
Redfern posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 7:38 PM
In terms of spaceships that appeared on screen (in this case, television), the flagship "Fesarius" commanded by the diminutive Balok (played by then child actor Clint Howard), positively dwarfed the starship Enterprise. Let's see, the TOS Enterprise is listed as 947 feet long. The Fesarius kept approaching until its "buckyball" surface completely filled the TV and Kirk's ship stretched only about a third of the screen's width.
I'm gonna pull a number outa' my @$$ and say the Fesarius was probably 5 miles in diameter. Yes, I know that's nothing compared to the Deathstars, but for its time, it was probably the largest "filmed" vessel (as opposed to narrative passages) ever shown.
Sincerely,
Bill
Tempt the Hand of Fate and it'll give you the "finger"!
Khai posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 8:32 PM
actually there was a ship larger filmed in 1963... and still on screen now..
an old beatup Type 40 Time Capsule... ;)
the TARDIS.... if you count the interior.... almost infinate... just very petite on the outside ;)
kaveman posted Wed, 10 May 2006 at 9:02 PM
What about those huge ships in Flash Gordon, the B&W movie serials. and wasn't there a early rocket hit the moon in the face and it looked like the rocket was almost larger than the moon. I think they blasted it out of a canon.
steerpike posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 7:54 AM
Quote - if you want scale pre starwars.. there is one that takes all..
the Ringworld
(oneday they may make the movie.....)
Rumour has it that there's a TV movie of Ringworld in pre-production, by the same people who made 'Dune' (is that the Sci-Fi Channel?).
Until then... if by 'cinematic' you mean movies only, then probably the 'Discovery' and the 'Silent Running' ships as already mentioned. If you mean TV as well, two Star Trek vessels come to mind - the 'planet-killer' that someone's noted, and I'm pretty sure there was an asteroid-sized generation starship in one of the episodes as well.
Redfern posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 8:15 AM
Quote - ...two Star Trek vessels come to mind - the 'planet-killer' that someone's noted, and I'm pretty sure there was an asteroid-sized generation starship in one of the episodes as well.
Yep, forgot about that one, Yonada built by the Fabrini from "For the World is Hollow, and I have Touched the Sky". The same painting (prop?) was portrayed as a "killer" asteroid in "The Paradise Syndrome". I can't remember which episode was filmed first (thus establishing the "rock's" original production purpose).
Sincerely,
Bill
Tempt the Hand of Fate and it'll give you the "finger"!
gagnonrich posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 8:44 AM
I wouldn't count the George Melies bullet in the moon because that had cartoonlike proportions because the actual bullet was only a little taller than the passengers standing inside it. "Lost in Space"'s Jupiter was only about the size of a large room.
I'd forgotten that "Close Encounters" crossed production with "Star Wars" because it seemed as if it had come out a lot later, but that's memory. I just watched the documentary, on the DVD, and "Star Wars" is barely mentioned. It's hard to tell how much influence "Star Wars" had on the movie. The fact that there's a little R2D2, on the mothership, is a good indication that "Close Encounters" effects were post-"Star Wars" release. Dennis Muren, one of the lead effects gurus on "Star Wars", worked on "Close Encounters" after "Star Wars" release. Ralph McQuarrie, the artist who helped sell the vision of "Star War", was brought in to visualize the mothership, so there's a fair possibility that "Star Wars" influenced the scope of the "Close Encounters" mothership.
I had forgotten about some of the 1-episode ships from "Star Trek", so they certainly qualify as pre-dating "Star Wars". Mainstream science fiction novels had tales of huge ships for decades before the movie. Science fiction artwork, likewise, was filled with such visions before "Star Wars".
"Star Wars" still managed to shake up how Hollywood viewed science fiction.
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Acadia posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 11:01 AM
"Close Encounters" !!! That was the movie title that escaped me! I knew it started with an "E" though. I can't remember any of the movie except for the part about the huge decending space ship towards the end.
"It is good to see ourselves as
others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we
are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not
angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to
say." - Ghandi
Gareee posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 11:03 AM
"I wouldn't count the George Melies bullet in the moon because that had cartoonlike proportions because the actual bullet was only a little taller than the passengers standing inside it. "Lost in Space"'s Jupiter was only about the size of a large room. "
The main control room was, but the outer hull blueprints show "rooms" where items like the chariot parts and space pod were stored.
Watch the shows with people walking around the ship, or the episode where they show the full sized mockup, and you'll see it's MUCH larger then just one room.. tit was 2-3 stories tall, and then add the circumference as well.
But the main point of this, is that it was tiny being swallowed by the alien ship, so that ship would have been 30-50 stories tall, and a 7-8 hundered stories in length.
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
Khai posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 11:16 AM
still say the largest is the TARDIS :tt2:
Jimdoria posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 12:47 PM
2001's Discovery may have predated many of these other ships (or not, not sure of the chronology of some of the TV show ships) but Discovery was NOT the biggest ship in 2001. That honor would go to the orbiting space station that Heywood Floyd landed on before his trip to the moon. (As shown in the movie, the station was partially under construction.) The station would have dwarfed Discovery, had the two been shown side-by-side.
I dunno about the TARDIS, Khai - I suppose it depends on whether we are measuring the inside or the outside. :tongue1:
ptrope posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 2:08 PM
Quote - Silent Running is listed as 1972 ;) good call there.
the ship later appeared as stock footage in the series Battlestar Galactica as an 'Agro Ship'
but the model was destroyed shortly after the making of Silent Running.. the interiors were filmed on an Aircraft Carrier if memory serves..
The aircraft carrier was U.S.S. Valley Forge, CV-45, and its name was also used for Dern's spaceship in the movie ;).
I'd say that Discovery, in 2001: A Space Odyssey, isn't really as big as some think it is - it's only a couple hundred feet long; the pod doors alone, which take up almost 1/3 the height of the main forward hull, are only about 8' tall, at most, so you get an idea of the scale - the ship was only about 30' in diameter. I'd say the ship from When Worlds Collide is one of the big ones - despite its smoothness making it look small, don't forget that it was an ark. Valley Forge is likely amongst the biggest ships; I've never seen a scale for it, but those domes certainly weren't small.
JHoagland posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 3:22 PM
Quote - "the ...Falcon was the only ship built to life size proportions"..
Actually, only the left half of the Falcon was built life-size (the side with the cockpit and ramp). The other half was created with the use of matte paintings.
Since they didn't think Star Wars would be popular, they destroyed the exterior Falcon sets after filming was finished... and had to re-create it for Empire Strikes Back. This time, the entire ship was built (especially for the scenes on Hoth where Han and Chewbacca walk on the exterior).
And, no, the exterior ramp did not actually lead into an interior set: the actors ran up the ramp and hit a wall. But, with clever editting, it looks like the actors ran up the ramp, through the interior, and into the cockpit.
The star destroyer in Star Wars seemed so big because it was the first time spaceships had been filmed like that: the slow movement made it seem like the ship just kept going on and on and on.
Even though the Enterprise, the Death Star, and 2001's Discovery may be the same size or larger, those ships were never filmed like the star destroyer.
--John
VanishingPoint... Advanced 3D Modeling Solutions
Andi3d posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 3:31 PM
Ringworld mentioned earlier....based on the Larry Niven set of books?
and it's about time some-one tackled Arthur C Clark's Rama....
"That which doesn't kill you is probably re-loading"
Andi3d posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 3:33 PM
oh....and then there was the ship, the name of which escapes me, in the Black Hole....that was supposedly rather long....
"That which doesn't kill you is probably re-loading"
Khai posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 3:56 PM
well Rama is basically a long tube with airlock bunkers at each end..
the black hole ship was the Cygnus..
(Khai the mine of useless SF info...)
diolma posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 4:08 PM
Just to provide a little guidance (word chosen specifically)..
The subject of this thread was "cinematic spaceship".
Not "cinematic space construction"
Spaceships imply a propulsion device. A way to change position other than just orbiting.
So anything that cannot change it's position under it's own propulsion methods should be excluded?
OK. I'm just showing off and being pedantic:-))
(Just wanted to keep this thread alive, so that I could learn more for trivia quizzes, actually)
Cheers,
Diolma
Khai posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 4:08 PM
well Rama is basically a long tube with airlock bunkers at each end..
the black hole ship was the Cygnus..
(Khai the mine of useless SF info...)
LostinSpaceman posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 4:50 PM
Plot Summary - the Official Blurb
THE STARLOST: the incredible adventure of a giant spacecraft carrying the survivors of a dead planet Earth on the most critical mission ever launched by man: an endless journey across the Universe in search of a new world. Earth ship ARK: hundreds of miles long... a huge grapelike cluster of metal domes, each a tiny world isolated from all the others. In the countless generations that have lived and died since the launching of the ARK, everyone has forgotten that the Earth ever existed... forgotten that they are streaking through space on a collision course with disaster. Forgotten... until one man stumbles on the truth: that they are...
THE STARLOST *********************************************************************************************
So What do I win for the biggest onscreen ship pre-Star Wars?
Gareee posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 5:16 PM
Quote - > Quote - "the ...Falcon was the only ship built to life size proportions"..
Actually, only the left half of the Falcon was built life-size (the side with the cockpit and ramp). The other half was created with the use of matte paintings.John
I'm pretty sure I have an old Cinefex around here that shows pictures of the full life sized falcon.. not just 1/2 of it.
A quick google search revealed this:
http://www.blueharvest.net/images/falcon.shtml
About Dr. Who.. I remember quite a number of VERY large alien ships in the older series.. maybe one of those would take the top prize?
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
LostinSpaceman posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 5:30 PM
The Falcon looks to be close to the same size as the original Jupiter 2 exterior. There's a prop I'd like to have in my yard!
Gareee posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 5:32 PM
Check this out:
http://www.mentalwardfilm.com/Falcondocumentary.htm
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
LostinSpaceman posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 5:53 PM
Taking Geekdom to a whole new level! o.O
Khai posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 7:12 PM
still saying the TARDIS here.. why? well the Police Box is a stuck disguise, meaning if the chameleon circuit was working properly is can be as large as the inside ;)
pakled posted Thu, 11 May 2006 at 10:32 PM
sounds like all the bases are covered. There was a Japanese cartoon (in America it was called Starship Yamato)..which was the size of a large battleship...wait.. it was a large batteship..;) I'm not sure if it predates Star Wars, tho..
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
Andi3d posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 12:12 AM
Red Dwarf......wasn't pre Star Wars, but was damn big
"That which doesn't kill you is probably re-loading"
sturkwurk posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 12:30 AM
Speaking of Star Blazers - what about the comet empire - they're base ship was a comet! (if I remember corectly)
If you're going Post Star Wars - then the dyson sphere in STTNG is the big daddy. It's in the episode where Scotty came back. Much bigger then the Death Star.
Doug
I came, I rendered, I'm still broke.
dallas40m posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 12:56 AM
Silent Running was one of my favorite old movies!! :D
Warmest Regards,
Dallas
dallas40m posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 1:01 AM
Warmest Regards,
Dallas
Letterworks posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 1:20 AM
I have to vote with Mizrael. The show Starlost wasn't very big, a Saturday morning type show as I remember, but the ship was huge! I remeber reading the "bible" for the show and it was made up of a large number of habitats that measured on the order of 3 miles (or maybe kilometers) across.
mike
Letterworks posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 1:26 AM
I have to vote with Mizrael. The show Starlost wasn't very big, a Saturday morning type show as I remember, but the ship was huge! I remeber reading the "bible" for the show and it was made up of a large number of habitats that measured on the order of 3 miles (or maybe kilometers) across.
mike
Letterworks posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 1:27 AM
JHoagland posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 11:52 AM
Quote - sounds like all the bases are covered. There was a Japanese cartoon (in America it was called Starship Yamato)..which was the size of a large battleship...wait.. it was a large batteship..;) I'm not sure if it predates Star Wars, tho..
The Argo was designed to resemble the WWII battleship Yamato, so, yes, it was the size of a battleship.
The other EDF (Earth Defense Force) battecruisers were actually larger than the Argo. And the ships with the dual wave-motion guns were much larger. In fact, by the time of the "Comet Empire" series, the Argo was one of the smaller ships in the fleet!
The Comet Empire was actually a massive starship within a moon-sized ship, which was then covered with a comet-like shielding.
P.S. In the US, the series was called "Star Blazers". Season 1 was "The Quest For Iscandar", season 2 was "The Comet Empire", and season 3 was "The Bolar Wars".
In Japan, the series' title was translated to be "Spacebattleship Yamato", "Be Forever Yamato", and "Arrivederci Yamato". Sorry, I don't know why the last series was translated into Italian!
--John
VanishingPoint... Advanced 3D Modeling Solutions
bandolin posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 12:07 PM
Yeah, I'll go with Star Lost. One of my favourites growing up. If memory serves, there were dozens domes, each housing a different culture. Each dome was roughly the size of a carribean island.
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Jimdoria posted Fri, 12 May 2006 at 3:14 PM
Never saw Starlost. Was it a UK or a US show? Did Harlan Ellison write it? I seem to remember that name in connection with his, somehow.
OMG DIOLMA! Pedantic?! Just a bit! "Space ship" vs "space construction" is really splitting hairs. Especially since just about anything in space MUST have some cabability to maneuver. Even orbiting stations would need attitude jets to make minor course corrections and keep from eventually de-orbiting due to atmospheric drag. Remember Skylab? (Pedants in da house! Woo hoo!)
I remember Silent Running too. I saw it as an adult back in the 90s. Great movie, great concept, and the sensibility was just about 180 degrees from modern day science fiction. (The hero of the movie is an ENVIRONMENTALIST? He feels REMORSE and GUILT over killing? He HUGS a ROBOT?! Who are they going to get to play him in the remake - The Rock?)
Does anyone remember Dark Star? Didn't that also involve a gigantic ship?
gagnonrich posted Sat, 13 May 2006 at 12:24 AM
Attached Link: Starlost
I'd forgotten about Starlost, but it wasn't on very long to be memorable. It was developed by Harlan Ellison, whose creative career in the last decade seems to be more devoted to suing anybody who makes a movie that remotely used an element that could have come from one of his tales. Ellison successfully sued for the Terminator series as being based on his Outer Limits episode, Soldier, because it involved a soldier traveling back in time. Luckily, for Harlan, HG Welles isn't around to ask him where he got the time travel idea. The Starlost ship owes a lot to Silent Running. I don't recall liking Starlost. I wanted to because there wasn't much TV scifi back then, but it was so dreadfully boring. The concept was fine, but it was badly executed.Even cooler trivia about Battlestar Galactica was using stock footage from Earthquake to show Cylon ships ravaging earth. A Cyclon ship comes swooping down, shooting rays, and a clever cut shows the rays hitting a building being demolished from Earthquake footage. As clunky as it sounds, it was very impressive.
Black Hole was after Star Wars, but the ship's design is more like the spindly Silent Running without the biospheres.
I don't recall the Darkstar ship as being big. Then, everybody's helping me remember shows and films I'd forgotten about, so I'm not going to count too heavily on my memory there.
Speaking of taking geekdom to new levels, there's an easter egg on the Aliens DVD showing a guy that created a poweloader costume for a Halloween contest. On a whim, he went to James Cameron's office and, without an appointment, put the costume on in the parking lot and was hired on the spot
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Gareee posted Sat, 13 May 2006 at 8:10 AM
"I don't recall liking Starlost. I wanted to because there wasn't much TV scifi back then, but it was so dreadfully boring. The concept was fine, but it was badly executed."
Funny..Ii remember similar feelings.
Darkstar was't large at all.. maybe Mill Falcon sized.
I'm surprised there are no 50's Sci-Fi movies with large spaceships I can recall.
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
slinger posted Sat, 13 May 2006 at 6:44 PM
Attached Link: http://www.planit3d.com
The largest pre-Starwars space vehicle, was...well...there are two correct answers actually, and you can find 'em both in the "Trivia and Quizzes" forum over at PlanIt 3D 'cos someone set this question there very recently in the "Calling all Movie Buffs part II" thread. One is from 1938 and the other from 1967. My guess was "The Moon" from Space 1999, but that was deemed too small.[](http://www.planit3d.com/source/viewforum.php?f=42)The liver is evil - It must be punished.
pakled posted Sat, 13 May 2006 at 8:28 PM
to whomever asked for Jupiter 2, Tony01701 has a model on his site. Also, would the monolith around Jupiter count as a spaceship? just wondering. It's been mentioned before, but the ship(s) from When the Earth Collides (there was a sequel book, which just brought current fights between the Russians, Germans, etc., against the US ship on the new planet..too much baggage for nowadays..;)
As to who might play the environmentalist on a remake of Silent running, I don't know why, but Will Ferrel popped into mind..;)
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
Gareee posted Sat, 13 May 2006 at 9:39 PM
Nope, Tony doesn't have one there, but he does have a robot for a $25 "donation"
There is a J2 over at rendervisions for about $10 though.
Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.
elenorcoli posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 12:14 AM
there was this really wierd series i saw a long time ago on very late night tv, like the arc 2 or something like that. it was a spaceship that housed these civilizations from earth that was going to crash into a sun. the people lived in huge domed environments that stuck off the side of a long middle piece, and didn't even know in many cases that they were on a space ship. there were a lot of wierd social structures...i specifically remember one where the society was a midevil society enduring a plague. the adventurers were attempting to get through the domes to get to the controls to keep the ship from crashing in a long storyline.
that thing was probably pretty big. i don't know if it is a 70's or 60's thing.
elenorcoli posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 12:18 AM
doh! o okay starlost...
helps if you read the entire thread...
redarti posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 2:54 AM
Has anyone mentioned Battlestar Galactica?
It's "mind over matter". If I don't mind,it don't matter.
SamTherapy posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 4:35 AM
Quote - "Close Encounters" !!! That was the movie title that escaped me! I knew it started with an "E" though. I can't remember any of the movie except for the part about the huge decending space ship towards the end.
Dig this for a piece of music and movie trivia...
David Bowie's album, "Ziggy Stardust", released in 1971, features a track titled "Starman". The chorus of that particular song is a direct steal from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
Fast forward a few years to "Close Encounters" and you'll note that the plot of the movie is almost exactly based on Bowie's song. And at the end of the movie, the mothership and the ground contact crew play a duet of...
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
PJF posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 8:59 AM
"Okay, now this first thing is just going to look like a used bandaid, and it is, but the rest of the stuff don't make no sense without it, so you know, bear with me...
...Um, okay, this is a number 6 from somebody's address. Or.. is it a 9? You don't know! Ah, this is gravel, okay? Gravel. This is uuh... that's more gravel. Okay, oh, this is a shell. That.. to me, this is just me talking; it looks like a helmet for a mouse. Now, that sounds crazy, right? But, if you ask the mice about it they don't say nuttin'. I mean, they run the other way. At first I was just fishing with the helmet thing, but then from the mouse reaction I got, I.. got a little more.. concerned..."
;-)
redhorse posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 10:12 AM
I know that it was obviously post-Star Wars, but I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Spaceball 1.
For anyone who hasn't seen Spaceballs, the opening scene was a parody of the opening scene from Star Wars. Spaceball 1 passed by the camera just like the Star Destroyer, but every time you thought the end of the ship was near, another section started and it just went on and on for about 2 minutes. When the end finally did pass by, there was a bumper sticker saying "We brake for nobody."
ThePinkus posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 12:13 PM
Ouch... I passed all the posts just to put there a note about the Spaceball's looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong ship... OK never mind...
pakled posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 2:13 PM
I guess that leaves out 'Jews in Outer Space' from history of the world part 1..;) Yeah, I guess you'd have to go pre-77 for any submissions on this..;)
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
3dCritter posted Sun, 14 May 2006 at 2:45 PM
First season Star Trek - There was a giant spaceship in "The_Corbomite_Maneuver" episode:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corbomite_Maneuver
3dCritter
slinger posted Mon, 15 May 2006 at 5:59 PM
Quote - First season Star Trek - There was a giant spaceship in "The_Corbomite_Maneuver" episode:
That's Balok's ship, the I.S.S. Feserious. Around 200 times the size of the Enterprise, and still a lot smaller than the "correct" answer according to our "expert" at P3D.
The liver is evil - It must be punished.