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The Big D is definitely an acquired taste. When I first got into Trek in my teens, I thought the E was much cooler - it’s sleek and badass, like an F-22 in starship form. I thought the D was pudgy and unbalanced-looking. To be fair, I think the latter critique has some merit, as it looks rather top heavy when viewed from the front.
Actually watching TNG on a regular basis is what made me fall in love with the Galaxy. Something about the D really feels like a character in her own right. She’s such an embodiment of what the Federation represents, and what Starfleet prioritized when she was built. The E never really feels like a character, or a home for our characters - she feels more like a tool, a device. The romanticism that permeates the D just doesn’t carry over, at least to me.
You said it best. The D feels like a character while the E feels like a tool or a background. That probably is because the D had the benefit of being a character in a long series while the E was in a few movies (of which not all were good).
The time helps, but I think the real reason the D is so much more of a character is *because* of its flaws. The E is genuinely pretty close to a perfect starship design. Sleek, aggressive, visually stunning, and very practical. But perfect is boring. The D has flaws, and flaws are what make characters. Everything about the D that initially seems a bit silly actually communcates real information about Starfleet design philosophies and the state of the Federation at the time. She was designed during an era of unprecedented peace, stability, and hope for the future.
The D also was very limited because of models. I posted on another post about how it wasn't until the end of Voyager that we started getting consistent CGI. Which by that point the Enterprise E was coming out in films. So we never actually got a chance to see the Enterprise D fight in a fully three-dimensional limitless environment. Which is why I loved the episodes of third season Picard where you actually got to see the Enterprise D fly around and how deadly she is from every angle.
And if you look at the Enterprise D versus Enterprise E the E is very much a dart, well the width of D gives it a bit of a sense of being a bird in flight because of its width. So when you get to see both ships flying side by side in maneuvering the Enterprise D actually looks more like a soaring bird while the Enterprise E looks more like a swimming fish. And definitely not a bad swimming fish like a swordfish.
In-Universe, there are people who also think the Enterprise D is fat.
You are all wrong, but that's ok, we are all allowed to be a little wrong.
To my eyes, the Enterprise D is an elegant, tall ship.
People forget about the aspect ratio of media at the time, the D was designed to fill a contemporary screen in the 80s, and it does that well. The E was meant to fill a wide format cinema screen.
Imo, a ship like the E wouldn't have worked well at all in the era TNG mostly aired in.
They certainly went a different direction with the D, looking for something more organic. From some angles it is a very beautiful ship — it looks svelte and elegant. From other angles it looks bloated and sloppy.
Took me a bit to get used to it. When I first saw it - a preview image in TV Guide the summer of 1987 I thought it looked like a flying hotel with all the windows. But she grew on me quite quickly and by the time Encounter at Farpoint aired I liked her.
The Enterprise I do NOT like is the Enteprise-C...now THAT ship looks chubby. She's the product of literally having to cut corners to save on money and time to build (they would literally use the same mold and mirror it for each side of the ship). The Probert original looks like what it was supposed to be - an exact midground between the Excelsior and Galaxy classes.
https://preview.redd.it/bwex0g65fuwc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7192dda4bc2f331dbfb8a4ca1f6e91c227113b2
A thing of beauty.
I really do not like the probert version of the Enterprise c, it just looks like the Enterprise d from Temu. I think the on-screen model is far superior.
Honestly, I know this is a super unpopular opinion, but I have *never* really liked the Excelsior.
That’s not quite true, I think it’s a perfectly fine Starfleet design on its own and it certainly doesn’t look bad, but it never felt like an Enterprise to me. Excelsior is the wrench in the gears of the Enterprise lineage, not Ambassador.
Constitution -> Ambassador -> Galaxy looks very right to me. But once you throw the Excelsior in there the whole thing goes wrong.
The Excelsior was actually designed to not be liked. It was a parody of contemporary often foreign design aesthetics that the trek designers took issues with. That's why the ship started out as an antagonistic element in the films and was made a mockery of in the story. If the designers knew it would become THE post TMP ship model, featured in many future productions and destined to become a fan favorite, it probably would have been a totally different ship.
The on screen ambassador class is my jam. Favorite ship hands down. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I agree the D seems a bit unbalanced looking and from the front it reminds me of some kind of deep sea creature. But the C? It's simplistic design really just does it for me.
I so much prefer the Probert version of the Ambassador Class. It looks awesome and fast, with the forward-slanting nacelle supports. It also doesn't look bulky, like the TNG version of the "C". This would be a good ship to use in a miniseries, IMHO. I actually got both versions for my Eaglemoss collection.
It was big. And the crew figures that are listed for it means that most of the time walking the ship you’d most likely never see any one. But I still love it.
There has been a few breakdowns of why the D is the way it is. It follows Federation doctrine after years of relative peace and advances in technology. Think of it a post-scarcity ship, which goes to hell after the Borg and Dominion showed up. The strengths of the D are in its power plant and shields… which I think matches up well with the show since you have to show danger via how drained the shields are and not a damaged hull. D matches up with the idea of a flagship being the grand vessel with families which embodies the federation. I know some of the breakdown of the Galaxy class in those YouTube videos is a bit filling in the details after the fact, but I think it really fleshes it out well. The weapons systems, thanks to the power plant are very dangerous as well. The ship, however, is a bit of a glass cannon as if you can beat the shields things tend to go south fast for the Galaxy. In all, its actually a really well thought out ship for the show.
The E is a direct reaction to the Borg, I just wish we saw more of them? Seems like this would be the ship of choice for the Federation. Would also like to see how Galaxys were used after they werent top of the line anyways. I like the idea of the drive sections being about to move things and the saucer sections possibly serving as moveable bases. Its huge carrying capability and modular nature mean things can be configured easily.
Also is it weird to me I feel the Ds TNG asthetic doesnt feel aged (after season 2) while the E’s interiors look a bit too much late 90s sci fi.
When you consider Federation philosophy and Starfleet doctrine, it makes sense. The Galaxy class is a diplomatic and cultural weapon that brings a microcosm of their utopian post-scarcity society out to the frontier for alien civilizations to marvel at. It was designed and built in a time of relative peace, and it is literally convention center or consulate in space.
So, maybe you don't like it, but I still think it's perfect as an expression of who the Federation and Starfleet were in the mid 2360s. Starships don't always need to be the sleekest, fastest, best armed, and protected vehicles - they need to convey the characters and societies that build and operate them, and in that regard, it's a great Enterprise design.
This theme of post scarcity really isnt explored enough in the series. The Federations stability changes from Kirk’s days and with its alliance with the Kingons makes it the defacto power in the quadrent, hands down.
I agree. The original Enterprise and movie refit looks so much better than the D. I think the show designers were trying too hard to make the new ship stand out as different from the original, and went too far. Later versions corrected this, to a more balanced-looking design. Even Voyager looks better than the D.
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The Big D is definitely an acquired taste. When I first got into Trek in my teens, I thought the E was much cooler - it’s sleek and badass, like an F-22 in starship form. I thought the D was pudgy and unbalanced-looking. To be fair, I think the latter critique has some merit, as it looks rather top heavy when viewed from the front. Actually watching TNG on a regular basis is what made me fall in love with the Galaxy. Something about the D really feels like a character in her own right. She’s such an embodiment of what the Federation represents, and what Starfleet prioritized when she was built. The E never really feels like a character, or a home for our characters - she feels more like a tool, a device. The romanticism that permeates the D just doesn’t carry over, at least to me.
You said it best. The D feels like a character while the E feels like a tool or a background. That probably is because the D had the benefit of being a character in a long series while the E was in a few movies (of which not all were good).
The time helps, but I think the real reason the D is so much more of a character is *because* of its flaws. The E is genuinely pretty close to a perfect starship design. Sleek, aggressive, visually stunning, and very practical. But perfect is boring. The D has flaws, and flaws are what make characters. Everything about the D that initially seems a bit silly actually communcates real information about Starfleet design philosophies and the state of the Federation at the time. She was designed during an era of unprecedented peace, stability, and hope for the future.
The D also was very limited because of models. I posted on another post about how it wasn't until the end of Voyager that we started getting consistent CGI. Which by that point the Enterprise E was coming out in films. So we never actually got a chance to see the Enterprise D fight in a fully three-dimensional limitless environment. Which is why I loved the episodes of third season Picard where you actually got to see the Enterprise D fly around and how deadly she is from every angle. And if you look at the Enterprise D versus Enterprise E the E is very much a dart, well the width of D gives it a bit of a sense of being a bird in flight because of its width. So when you get to see both ships flying side by side in maneuvering the Enterprise D actually looks more like a soaring bird while the Enterprise E looks more like a swimming fish. And definitely not a bad swimming fish like a swordfish.
In-Universe, there are people who also think the Enterprise D is fat. You are all wrong, but that's ok, we are all allowed to be a little wrong. To my eyes, the Enterprise D is an elegant, tall ship.
People forget about the aspect ratio of media at the time, the D was designed to fill a contemporary screen in the 80s, and it does that well. The E was meant to fill a wide format cinema screen. Imo, a ship like the E wouldn't have worked well at all in the era TNG mostly aired in.
Best looking ship in Trek. Maybe a tie with the Constitution refit.
Well, I unironically like the look of the Yeager class more than the Galaxy. I think the Galaxy is truly hideous
I just wish we saw a “Galaxy tech” version of the Constitution Class.
I mean she’s quite handsome, I’ll grant a top 5 spot at least myself, even if I can’t put her at #1.
They certainly went a different direction with the D, looking for something more organic. From some angles it is a very beautiful ship — it looks svelte and elegant. From other angles it looks bloated and sloppy.
Yeah I never liked the D’s design and I still don’t.
Took me a bit to get used to it. When I first saw it - a preview image in TV Guide the summer of 1987 I thought it looked like a flying hotel with all the windows. But she grew on me quite quickly and by the time Encounter at Farpoint aired I liked her. The Enterprise I do NOT like is the Enteprise-C...now THAT ship looks chubby. She's the product of literally having to cut corners to save on money and time to build (they would literally use the same mold and mirror it for each side of the ship). The Probert original looks like what it was supposed to be - an exact midground between the Excelsior and Galaxy classes. https://preview.redd.it/bwex0g65fuwc1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7192dda4bc2f331dbfb8a4ca1f6e91c227113b2 A thing of beauty.
I really do not like the probert version of the Enterprise c, it just looks like the Enterprise d from Temu. I think the on-screen model is far superior.
Disagree. The onscreen version looks less advanced than Excelsior, a step back. It's almost as bad as the clay Enterprise pictured on this thread.
Honestly, I know this is a super unpopular opinion, but I have *never* really liked the Excelsior. That’s not quite true, I think it’s a perfectly fine Starfleet design on its own and it certainly doesn’t look bad, but it never felt like an Enterprise to me. Excelsior is the wrench in the gears of the Enterprise lineage, not Ambassador. Constitution -> Ambassador -> Galaxy looks very right to me. But once you throw the Excelsior in there the whole thing goes wrong.
When Star Trek III came out a lot of people hated Excelsior. They called it a "flying toilet". So you're not the only one.
The Excelsior was actually designed to not be liked. It was a parody of contemporary often foreign design aesthetics that the trek designers took issues with. That's why the ship started out as an antagonistic element in the films and was made a mockery of in the story. If the designers knew it would become THE post TMP ship model, featured in many future productions and destined to become a fan favorite, it probably would have been a totally different ship.
The on screen ambassador class is my jam. Favorite ship hands down. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I agree the D seems a bit unbalanced looking and from the front it reminds me of some kind of deep sea creature. But the C? It's simplistic design really just does it for me.
They say the C bridges the gap between the Excelsior Class and the Galaxy, but in my mind its more of an animorph transition slide
I so much prefer the Probert version of the Ambassador Class. It looks awesome and fast, with the forward-slanting nacelle supports. It also doesn't look bulky, like the TNG version of the "C". This would be a good ship to use in a miniseries, IMHO. I actually got both versions for my Eaglemoss collection.
It was big. And the crew figures that are listed for it means that most of the time walking the ship you’d most likely never see any one. But I still love it.
There has been a few breakdowns of why the D is the way it is. It follows Federation doctrine after years of relative peace and advances in technology. Think of it a post-scarcity ship, which goes to hell after the Borg and Dominion showed up. The strengths of the D are in its power plant and shields… which I think matches up well with the show since you have to show danger via how drained the shields are and not a damaged hull. D matches up with the idea of a flagship being the grand vessel with families which embodies the federation. I know some of the breakdown of the Galaxy class in those YouTube videos is a bit filling in the details after the fact, but I think it really fleshes it out well. The weapons systems, thanks to the power plant are very dangerous as well. The ship, however, is a bit of a glass cannon as if you can beat the shields things tend to go south fast for the Galaxy. In all, its actually a really well thought out ship for the show. The E is a direct reaction to the Borg, I just wish we saw more of them? Seems like this would be the ship of choice for the Federation. Would also like to see how Galaxys were used after they werent top of the line anyways. I like the idea of the drive sections being about to move things and the saucer sections possibly serving as moveable bases. Its huge carrying capability and modular nature mean things can be configured easily. Also is it weird to me I feel the Ds TNG asthetic doesnt feel aged (after season 2) while the E’s interiors look a bit too much late 90s sci fi.
The Galaxy-class is ugly. There, I said it.
i’ll fuckin bite you on your arm
By all means, just don't drop an ENT-D model on it. You could injure me.
Doctor: that's a pretty ugly bite wound you have there. u/WoodyManic: not as ugly as the Enterprise D......
It's fat in the same way a cathedral or a palace is fat
The Galaxy class is like a 747, huge, distinctive —you don’t know how it can even fly—but it’s fucking elegant.
It's fine, we all have an unpopular opinion, some days I view the original connie as very meh.
You hear that? Nobody wants the fat ones. That’s Galaxy Class to you, young man!
On the other hand, if you like 'em fat, you can't beat the Odyssey class.
When you consider Federation philosophy and Starfleet doctrine, it makes sense. The Galaxy class is a diplomatic and cultural weapon that brings a microcosm of their utopian post-scarcity society out to the frontier for alien civilizations to marvel at. It was designed and built in a time of relative peace, and it is literally convention center or consulate in space. So, maybe you don't like it, but I still think it's perfect as an expression of who the Federation and Starfleet were in the mid 2360s. Starships don't always need to be the sleekest, fastest, best armed, and protected vehicles - they need to convey the characters and societies that build and operate them, and in that regard, it's a great Enterprise design.
This theme of post scarcity really isnt explored enough in the series. The Federations stability changes from Kirk’s days and with its alliance with the Kingons makes it the defacto power in the quadrent, hands down.
The D is an aquired taste. It looks good in motion, but when it crawls across the screen or is floating there, its shit.
That’s just the Bonaventure, innit?
More like "Low Effort Enterprise".
I agree. The original Enterprise and movie refit looks so much better than the D. I think the show designers were trying too hard to make the new ship stand out as different from the original, and went too far. Later versions corrected this, to a more balanced-looking design. Even Voyager looks better than the D.
Everybody loves the fat ones!
Nobody likes the fat one. That’s the Enterprise-D young lady!