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I could've predicted your #1 favorite was the Enterprise-E. the rest was a pleasant surprise; also nice to see your reasonings for how the other ships stood out positively or negatively. :) You did not include the Enterprise-F that Star Trek Online introduced. I was curious to know if you had any opinion on it. Though, if you were sponsored by STFC... probably hard to refer to a ship that's from a different game than theirs (and that they possibly don't have licence to include in their game).
i stand with with you on everything except the NX was my favorite for me it would be a clean move from 5 to 1 with everything just shifting down. IDK why but I liked it the best
The Sovereign Class Enterprise is gorgeous, from the hull exterior to the layout of the bridge. The bridge design, now over 25 years, still looks modern and sleek today, can't fault it.
Agreed- looking back, the effects in the battle of the Basin Rift of Star Trek Nemesis aged like a fine wine, in no small part due to seeing the Sovereign
The first time I saw it on screen, I hated it... I was expecting a beefed up Galaxy and I felt the E was a fat looking crap pile. In time however, I have come to Love it, especially once I started realizing how they designed it (the Warship over Love-boat design)
For me, the first version of the Sovereign Bridge, with the Holo-Viewscreen and dim lighting was the overall BEST design. It pissed me off that they removed the holo-screen with a small, Voyager-like view screen and brighten up the lighting in the later two films - those two didn't work for me. Screw you, behind-the-scenes budget costs! XP
I love the NX01, especially how manual it all is. You have to open doors with a button, and step over thresholds like in a sub. The texture is amazing, with all those individual labeled panels. The pilot uses a joystick. And the grappler, my favorite low tech weapon. Of all of the Ents, the NX01 felt the most high stakes and fragile, just right for humanity’s first foray into space.
@@SportyMabamba Funny you should mention that. They came out at around roughly the same time; at the very least they were contemporaries of one another.
Actually the Odyssey and Yorktown are canon due to being featured in the canon Star Trek Picard tie-in graphic novel Prelude. It clearly shows Picard and Raffi being in command of the U.S.S. Verity. I just checked and its not listed on memory alpha but it is on memory beta. I believe any books published since Discovery are now canon. But i do very specifically recall especially the picard prelude was canon to season 1 of Picard. If i can find any links to support this, i will try and update this comment with them, for now a pinch of salt I guess. Cheers!
Agreed. The Sovereign Class Enterprise has to be one of the most elegant Federation Starship design. It's beauty matches its ferocity in the Battlefield of Starships.
If the future holds ships like this for us it would be a huge mistake and missed opportunity to not build the real thing. Like the way they build modern cars with 50s and 60s designs esthetics. And in an era where form no longer has to follow function. Why not right?
I agree with you on the B looking better then the og excelsior. But the sovereign is roughly the same size as the galaxy while it is shorter deckwise its longer
@@johnathanbutler7718 it's not that much longer and the D as way more internal volume. If I were on a five year mission I want the Galaxy Class. If I were going into battle, no question the Sovereign is what you stand the best chance with.🙂👍
@@emperorgizmo3014 that's likely true but the size isn't that signicant. The crew of the E was around 700 and we never see family onboard (though it likely did have families on board after the dominion war) the D had a total crew complement of around 1000 including families. Also I don't know where this notion that the galaxy was weak or somehow just a huge luxury liner. She was still the premier starship of the line and sent out when starfleet need to make a show of strength. I think people missed the point of the Odyssey being destroyed by the dominion in DS9
My favorite thing about the NX class is just how much it cuts the silhouette of a Constitution class from so many angles but then the camera moves or it changes course and it suddenly reveals that it’s an entirely distinct construction. I never get tired of that.
Agreed. While there are aspects of the NX I don't particularly like I will say that as a pre-Federation, purely Earth design it's perfect. Plus it has my absolute favorite warp core.
I like how the NX looks like it's a tool that's barely going to be up to the task, and then you see it in its element and you realize that it's not the best ship we've ever seen, but it's all that it's crew will ever need. It can scan well enough, fly fast enough, take enough of a beating to let its crew handle the job and get back to exploring. It's a leading-edge, all-rounder, workhorse with a supercharged engine and a powerful scanner packed into a durable chassis. What more do you want? A holodeck? Nah, son, we've got a projector and a shit-ton of popcorn, we're good.
@@thomasbranch3826 It was more realistic in being a pre-1701 ship than the too modern JJ Abrams and Discovery ships. Having grown up watching "TOS", I wouldn't expect the ship in the first JJ Abrams to immediately follow the NX-01.
@@virginiaconnor8350 According to the comics, it didn't. There was another Enterprise commanded by Captain Robert April that more closely resembled the TOS Enterprise before the Kelvin Timeline Enterprise was built.
Originally the Galaxy class was built during the " Glory" days of the Federation when their ego was big. They believed the Galaxy was at peace , and optimism was big. Then came the new enemies. The Galaxy class had to prove her worth in New battles.
That shot of every ship showing up at once. " Captain Kirk, .....the Enterprise is the only ship in the quadrant." They only wanted Kirk to quit lounging around in the movies. In Picard, we see that star fleet had plenty of other ships on hand.
Agreed - they reached a design peak - so well balanced - frankly the JJ & TRASH trek ships are just that - TRASH - the J stands for JOKE.....however I quite liked the NX too..
@@michaelwhiles5282 Uhm, J is from the original TV series and not Kelvin Timeline. JJprise is as beautiful as some other ships you'd see, people have preferences so just calling things trash isn't the way, and there's a ton more ships in kelvin timeline that looks phenomenal.
@@IchigoKurosakicool hello joke....the only good thing to be said about anything from the jjverse is that its not a bad as std and star tp and anything else from the even bigger piece of garbage than jar jar abrams kirkman.
The Enterprise-E has always been my favorite Enterprise. You can tell just by looking at it that it’s faster, more powerful, and more sophisticated than any Federation ship that came before.
Except it wasn't fast at all at first. It was much slower than Defiant or Intrepids in First Contact, but when the Ent-E was in spacedock for repairs (ie Borg cleanup) they took all of the Ent's field mods and the mods they h intended to make and revamped the warp core (the problem was not the engines it was power generation, Sovereign was a nonstop power hog when it was new, Enterprise' crew largely solved the problems at least in theory). After the warp core upgrade it surpassed everything but Prometheus (and tied Defiant at 9.985 emergency warp).
The enterprise-B style looks like a warship version of the Excelsior class. The flaring around the nacelles and deflector dish look like extra armor plating
@@joshuahadams basically If you also look at it as what was done with the T-34 Russian tanks with the sloped armor could help deflect impacts so that if a torpedo were fired at the nacelles or defector dish areas it could restrict damage
To me it’s the long-range exploration or command version. Meant to serve as a small base of operations in uncharted regions or the frontline. Even as a light carrier in a pinch. The extra volume was for added shuttle/secondary craft capacity and the extra impulse engines to compensate for the extra mass.
You're not alone in liking the B and the E. Something about the no nonsense chunkiness of the Excelsior class has always appealed to me and the Ent-B really perfected the look of that class for me. The Sovereign just feels right as a post Dominion War Federation capital ship and manages to look both sleek and powerful.
@@GeeVanderplas I find the opposite. I think the excelsior looks derpy without the B-refit. Always have. The secondary hull slopping down looks odd outside of the Sovereign (which has matching curves to tie it in) 🤷🏼♂️
The Excelsior refit just looks better to me but it also makes more sense, the addition to the nacelles which I can only assume were basard collectors is an upgrade to the original nacelles that just seemed out of place to me considering we had seen two previous types of nacelles with basard collectors and all of a sudden we don't. Having a flared out secondary hull fits as it guard the deflector dish better.
Strange New Worlds has proven you right. They improved the Discovery model and shoot it with gorgeous angles and lighting. It feels very physical and every shot is like a celebration of the TOS aesthetic.
NCC-1701-A, from ST IV, V, and VI. Hands down. Even though it's pretty much identical to the Refit from TMP, there's no denying how iconic this design is, and how beautiful it looks. This will always be my favorite of all the Enterprise designs.
I'm surprised the roided-out Enterprise from All Good Things didn't get a mention. There's something endearingly over-the-top about its third grafted-on nacelle and the giant guns mounted on the saucer. It's like something a 12-year-old me would've drawn in math class.
The Excelsior feels like a B-52; it’s a good platform that newer tech can be retrofitted on. But it’s never taken out of service because hits all the right notes. Like the Miranda class
@@trekker105 Think that's what the Constitution class is meant to be, they directly copy the ship hull formula, they just modernize it. Saucer/neck/secondary hull/pylons/nacelles all in the same places. There won't be a TOS style excelsior cos it was specifically designed from the ground up for the 'great experiment'.
You’re not the only person who loves the Enterprise-B. The Enterprise B is my second favorite Enteprise (E being my all time favorite) and it DOES look better than the original Excelsior.
i love the fact you gave a big thumbs up to the NX enterprise. i love the style of it because it has the vibe of starting off as a star fairing race. AND i love the fact that First Contact has an NX in the display cabinet, nice little recognition of the series
@@gaffawebber Voyager's only mis-step was those articulated nacelle pylons. IIRC, it wasn't the first design to blend the saucer and engineering hulls, but it bent the rules of Federation design and paved the way for the Sovereign and so many other great designs.
@@mattp1337 I don't think the articulation is the problem, rather that the nacelles on Voyager are just too damn tiny! They look like little chicken wings! E-Dubs on the other hand has some damn sexy nacelles...
Galaxy class fanboi here. Maybe because of nostalgia as it was my first exposure to Trek (that together withVoy on Sunday noon TV in Germany during the early noughties) but I just really dig how something that was designed to be futuristic in the eighties still looks modern and yes, futuristic, in this day and age. To me it just aged incredibly well, much better that the TOS era designs. I also love how the warp nacelles are balanced in between the saucer and secondary hull, not stick out far above or below either section - which to me would just be unbalanced for a propulsion system that is needed to move mass in a vacuum
I feel they kinda squandered some of the design choices but that's a case of budget and the like more than anything. Still. the Galaxy Class Enterprise really is a grand old girl.
Some surprises, but no complaints! Love the Sovereign Class, def my favourite Star fleet ship Design! Also, I'm thankfull the NX- Class gets some well deserved love, it's such a great looking early stage Enterprise- esque ship... Only change I'd make would be to rank the KTL ships higher, these are just gorgeous in my opinion!
Just want to put in a word for the original Constitution design: I won't disagree that the texturing and detailing has aged significantly, but I like the shape of the TOS constitution more than any subsequent enterprise, even subsequent constitutions. The straight nacelle pylons and forward-leaning neck give it this proud, swan-like posture that versions of the design with swept pylons lose. It has a stark simplicity in its shape language that I find compelling. Also the generally thin and spindly nature of it is a big plus for me. It's retroactively evocative of things like the ISS and feels more like a true space exploration vehicle than any of it's successors IMO.
Aye. The original Connie laid the foundation for ship design that, sadly, feels like its becoming standardized to other space shows when Trek pretty much stood out with their bold yet cinematically appealing choice of design. You can take a picture anywhere and it will look good. By comparison you photo the Voyager and your pretty much relegated to above and under shots since the ship has no strong presence along it's flattest plane.
No other design of starship beats the simplicity of the TOS Enterprise. It's sleek and easy on the eyes. I also like the Constitution class refit. Very good and streamlined and is a worthy successor to the TOS Enterprise.
To me, the straight pylons completely negate the balance and swiftness suggested by the swept forward neck. It comes as something of a visual shock every time I see it, like a sentence that ends too soon. It makes the ship look front heavy, in my opinion.
Connie refit will forever be a hard one to beat, for me. The art-deco nacelles, the angles and lines, the way she seems to gleam like sails catching the sun. Excelsior Refit was always my close second, and yeah, very much took the original Excelsior and made it better.
Yeah, I was tossed up between the refit and the e for #1. The e is super well designed, and absolutely beautiful, but the refit, to me at least was when st got real. I'd call it more iconic than tos personally. Like Daniel noted, tos did look like a toy, and seeing the refit in the theater was just awesome. Personally I always love the pearl in the paint, and the advent of aztecing.
Agreed, I do think it's hilarious that when talking about the sturdiness of the Excelsior that he shows one beat to sht in the DS9 battle for Cardasia.
I won't lie, it's a gorgeous ship. But there are some parts I don't like. The neck torpedo bays, the impulse bay. Sorta miss the big gold dish. But they don't completely ruin the ship.
The Sovereign will always be probably my number one favorite ship but I fell in love with the Ambassador Class ship for really the very reasons you pointed out. Ive imagined myself as this StarFleet officer serving aboard one of these ships in the mid to late 24th century during that era of peace that we didn't get to see a whole lot on. Those are definitely my favorite. I also like how the NX-01 got love because to me this is a representation of what our own Earth space ships would be like. Just fast enough to do space travel using real life engines and real life technology, with a fairly small crew compared to later shows. This one was definitely more grounded in our own reality than other starships. That isn't to say the other shows didn't have real life tech but Enterprise definitely has as you say that NASA feel to it. Obviously the putting the TOS Enterprise low on the list will get you a lot of flak but I do see your point, and being first doesn't make you the best it just makes you first and the fact you put the Discovery Enterprise on there to me is just basically saying that yeah the Constitution class is still top dog in Star Trek but you're going with this updated refresh look to it like this is what it was meant to look like but models of the 60s just couldn't do it. Overall pretty good list I'd say, obviously everyone has their own list that will never satisfy everyone.
thinking about that scene from picard where the fleet appears, and about how just, a single sovereign jumping in, shown on camera from that view flying over the camera, would have been far more of a 'you're in trouble now, the fleet is here' moment than copy pasted ships from far away, the sovereign shown with fluid, close in shots is far more powerful on camera and feels like it would genuinely be scary to most potential hostiles
You are 100% correct. That fleet needed way more beef to it. Though, I'd actually have preferred a three-nacelle Galaxy-class instead of the E, or at least in addition to. It might be more thematically appropriate, given Picard should be lining up with All Good Things.
I enjoyed a lot of Picard, but that scene was such a slap in the face to the fandom. We would have preferred 10 appropriate and beautiful ships, new and old classes mixed, to the poorly designed and rendered copy/pasted 100 ships we got. It’s so frustrating that these show makers don’t realize that we prefer spectacle over scope. Not every story line has to be a threat to the entire galaxy to be interesting, and neither does a fleet need 100 new ships.
Spacedock - The one thing I would be curious to hear is what your thoughts are on the "All Good Things..." future Enterprise-D, in terms of where it would come on this list. Would it just be roped in with the standard Enterprise-D, or would it actually be in a different place on the list? Otherwise, I think this is a great list and everything makes sense. Rock on, mate.
I wonder if it wasn't included because "technically" it never existed. It was from a potential timeline, but never actually existed, while all the other ships technically have. I think he included KTL stuff because those, while being movies, were still fleshed out and existed. The other part of its exclusion arises from the fact that the D is on this list, so the alternate reality version is included in that, although not mentioned. I can see the argument though, that since Kelvin stuff was included, alternate future stuff should be too.
@@Zadkiel862 To be fair, he also mentioned the NX-class upgrade with the secondary hull, which was never canonized (bloody beautiful it may be--yes, I own the Eaglemoss special edition of it, haha!), and that's what actually got me thinking about the Galaxy-X/upgrade. I figure it would probably be looped in with the regular Galaxy, but some people (like myself) actually like the proportions better with the high-mount third nacelle. I never really cared for the nacelles mounted so much lower than the (gigantic/oversized) saucer, myself, and while I prefer nacelles in even numbers, I feel that the third high-mount nacelle solves the overall proportion issue.
NX-01 was my favorite, especially for it's era. it felt like the submarines of WWII with pipes exposed, or un-smooth hallways, equipment sitting out in the middle of hallways, and the engine room felt like an engine room and not a disco or storage bay.
Funnily enough, a submarine is actually the best design type for a realistic spaceship. They function nearly identically to space craft and the only real differences are the propulsion/maneuvering and how the pressure hull and hatches are designed and reinforced. Space hulls and doors keep pressure in, while sub hulls/doors keep pressure out. Of course, having windows in a spaceship is also a little easier then in a sub! ;) If we ever built real spaceships, the best people to pick as crew and command for them would be submariners. =^x^=
Yeah, it really feels like they just went "Well, submarines already have all the stuff we need for a ship, a pressurized hull, bulkheads, reinforcements. Let's just strap engines on it and put it in space. Done." It's also why I liked the ship designs from the Wing Commander movie.
When I first saw the Sovereign-class Enterprise in First Contact, I gasped in awe - it is just such a thing of beauty! At that time I didn’t think anything could replace my love for the Constitution-class refit we got in the movies, but one glorious shot of the Enterprise E in that nebula blew it all away. Deservedly ranked first for me as well, an none of the others even come close.
Connies are such an iconic design. Fine it has flaws (the disc new worlds connie is REALLY growing on me now that i can SEE the fucking thing. Fuck that blue doom lighting. Just.. FUCK THAT...) but like c'mon... It's the connie.
Junkball media has an amazing video about the Sovereign Class. The detail they put into the practical model is mind blowing. The craftsmanship puts the slapped together CGI ships at the end of Picard to shame.
Personally my favorite will always be NX-01 Enterprise, because of the realistic (as much as possible) design, as it's similar to something we could make some time in the near future.
My only question is how did they get Ericsson's wheelchair everywhere if they had those hatches in the doorways? I'm guessing they didn't have them everywhere? I loved the uniforms better in "STE" than in "TOS". My brother served in the US Navy in the early-mid '70s and served on an Enterprise. I have a patch from a shirt of his and went aboard a ship he served on: the USS Savannah: AOR-4 in '70. I wish there was a starship by that name in "Star Trek".
I'd say it does that. But only for its time. For that era of Trek it's perfect in every way. He said it in the video. Like a luxurious cruise ship that just happens to have great weapons as a side feature. Like if I had to go to war, then give me the E all day long. But if I'm doing the Enterprise's main mission, seeking out new life and new civilizations, doing that long term deep space exploration kind of work? Yeah I'd much rather have D and have my wife and son on board and have a nice bar kind of place and civilian activities for us to do. You need a break from work and I garuntee E never got any complaints about the lack of comfort on board. Well when the ship wasn't in danger anyway, lol
@@pjduker05 Yes, If you design a ship for "to boldly go", that's the Galaxy. Not the timid "every step is new" of Archer's ship, but the "we may not know what we will find, but we have a lot of experience with unknown and are well equipped, so let's go" feel.
@@steemlenn8797 100 my friend! And while the Galaxys certainly get a lot of hate for being a "flying 5 star hotel", let's be honest. Is that really something to complain about? I mean unless you're a Klingon I'd think you would want nice soft carpets and luxurious living quarters over metal bulk heads and a nice "clank clank clank" sound everytime you walk across your tiny metal bunk room. How about we ask our modern sailors? What's that? You'd rather be on a Carnival Cruise Ship than a Navy Fleet Tanker? Room service is better than 3 room mates to your section of hallway bunks on that Ohio class submarine? Go figure! Lol Admittedly though, I'd still probably settle with E. The sovereign is still plenty of luxurious enough by any normal standards and if my wife and kid were to be on board with me, then perhaps it would be nice to know the ship can handle anything. And I mean like we don't even worry about a Borg Cube. In fact we all rush to a forward view port to watch the quantum torpedoes be fired. "Wow Daddy look!" "Yes son. Those mechanical monsters are about to have a really bad day."
I agree with you 100% about the Enterprise B. I liked how the Excelsior Class of starship looked, but to me it looked like they upgraded everything about it when they made the Enterprise B. It seemed to me that they were trying to streamline the exterior so that it would be able to more easily navigate transwarp.
NX-01 is my personal favorite. I also loved the whole aesthetic and feel of the show, which extends to the ship design. Since it was smaller and more lived in, I developed a personal connection to many of its areas, such as the mess hall and bridge.
I liked how we even got to know about some of the crew, it made times when they killed a named background character like Crewman Fuller actually mean something.
Making the Sovereign class so lean and manoeuvrable really fitted with the Starfleet ethos and played to the strength of its personnel. It doesn't win by being a tank that sits and trades blows in a slugfest till the other side crumbles, it is designed for a smart innovative quick thinking Captain and crew to beat the opposition by tactical skill and strategic manoeuvring … it's meant for a dynamic style of combat.
What I loved about the NX Enterprise, humanity gave their all in this ship, and once they got into space, there's the realization that this ship is totally outclassed in almost every way by almost every other ship. Humanity worked so hard making a slow, underpowered, underarmed ship. But it's Captain and crew made up for the ships shortcomings, and it did get upgrades over the years. It would have been lovely to see the fully Refit version in action, but there's Star Trek Online for that.
I would say it’s a tie for number one between the NX-01 (just feels very realistic and practical as a ship) and the DSC Enterprise (takes what made the TOS enterprise great and makes its damn near perfection)
I think STO really made the Universe class work much better. Mainly by making it massive so the bits that look silly shrunk and stretched actually work. Also by having more 31st century ships along side with it that make it feel more cohisive and part of a fleet. I do love the 32nd century ships (most of them at least) as well though.
100% Agree, When the Universe was first revealed, I /despised/ it. But then, after randomly actually getting one, I decided to poke around in it a bit, and it dawned on me what they actually wanted. This is Star Trek's answer to a Star Destroyer. You're not supposed to look at the whole thing at once, or it's just a thing. But when it dominates the screen, when you let it swoop by or loom above you, or creep into frame, the dramatic effect is jaw-dropping. Those spindley parts are thicker than some entire ships are, and the grace and presence it exemplifies traveling alongside a fleet of smaller ships, it truly gives a sense of a time in which space is no longer just a frontier. This is the Federation's Nimitz, and now, shockingly, one of my favorites.
Agreed...it took me years to get a universe class...and I have a hard time not playing it all the time (well, when I could play, since the EV suit slot update, a bug has been crashing me out of the game in the character selection...2 weeks without loging in...oh well...forced vacation it is...). if it wasn't for the KTL Vengeance Intel Dreadnaught I wouldn't play another ship....and I do go back to my Odysseys every few weeks and/or events....
I totally agree with this list, and agree that the Enterprise B is an improvement on the original Excelsior design. In fact, the only thing I'd change about this list is that I'd move the Enterprise B to number one in my ranking. Glad to see the NX-01 and Sovereign get a lot of love. I think the J was an interesting premise, and suffered from us not getting to see it in a lot of detail. It's massive size as a city ship fascinated me, and I've always wanted to see more of it.
Hull polarization is genius because it's how you make technical sense while keeping the "shields up" routine, in a time where the Federation didn't exist and we depended on Vulcan crumbs of developmental leaps. It's just an electromagnetic infusion that strengthens the atomic and molecular bonds of hull alloys, and it makes sense to become one of the many built in safety systems in the future, that operate with shields, deflector array shenanigans, and countless other protective redundancies to be expected from over engineering Starfleet.
I LOVE the Enterprise-B and I, too, thought I was alone in that opinion! It was so nice to see her get the respect she deserves. I always liked the flared secondary hull and the extra impulse module. (I love the Disco Enterprise as well!)
well done! I stopped watching the latest shows so did not see the new model of the Constitution. I have to agree with exactly what you said. Its a beautiful ship and lots of detail the couple of glimpses without all the "Blue Hue of Doom" but knew the heat would head that way for messing with it. It seems to fit the time so well. Now I want to go look it up more. And yes, number 1 is your pick. Very thoughtful overall. Again well done!
The Enterprise A from ST6 was my favourite ship and really got me into Star Trek. It could have been the Constitution Class refit from ST2. Next for me was the Enterprise D
Enterprise-B needs so so so much more love. I'd love to see adventures about the ship and crew. I read a couple of the Lost Era books back in the day but it's not the same as actually seeing it fly.
Yes, I hope we get a series on the B. But I do hope they do it more the traditional way, with an actual studio model, and better, more polished CGI effects. The effects on DISC and Picard are hideous for today standards. And even Voyager had better CGI effects then todays shows (but not as much of them). And I would hope that the characters of the show are more fleshed out, with an actual background story).
@@JustinStrife It reminds me of the anti torpedo bulges of old warships. They were also retrofitted on those vessels. I like the idea of an upgraded Excelsior Class ship. And it doesnt look too bad to my eye. Also the designers stated that at the time they wanted it to look more Japanese, since Japanese stuff was the latest shit in the 1970s and 1980s in the US. Every hightech article came from Japan. So they went for that look. Its the same story with Darth Vaders helmet by the way, which looks like that of a Samurai.
I think what’s really cool about Star Trek is that since it has lasted so many generations, inevitably there will be different eras of fans that entered the franchise through different series and with their respective Enterprises’. Being a younger fan in my mid-20s, I never watched TOS, watched many reruns of TNG, and some reruns of Star Trek Enterprise. But honestly, I really got into Star Trek from 2009 JJ-verse Star Trek and forward. I loved the cinematic, modern look of it, the younger actors, and its version of the first Enterprise is just damn beautiful to me. And since it’s an alternate timeline it doesn’t really step on the work of past series or mess with future canon.
Yes, the Enterprise B is a better design than the original Excelsior class. I often thought if I was a captain, I would definitely prefer the Enterprise B design as my ship.
Personally I always felt the Sovereign was the Excelsior done right. They have some strong similarity with a much more developed secondary hull and slimmer nacelles. It's still my favorite Enterprise and deserved to be alongside some of my other favorite vessels. Though of TOS 'inspired' designs... I'm torn between the KTL A redesign and the Discovery era... Both have a lot of points in common as well. The big thing I really appreciate is a thought to the weapons that didn't really go into the original series, such as turrets.
A year on, I find my Favourite Enterprise has changed from the B to the D. Just the whole concept of a slice of the Federation on tour and the general lines of the ship have just grown on me, massively.
My first love is the the A.. It was the first enterprise I ever saw and got me hook on the series. As for the B I do love the design, all the additions have a purpose and give that "I'm bigger and faster" look. The additional impulse engines give me that late 80's early 90's wide body race car feel
NX-01 (refit) has to be my favourite even though it never got canonised. It's such a good design iteration on the NX-01 which already is my favourite canon enterprise. The NASA vibe to it as well as the whole Enterprise show creates an atmosphere that not only is this a future that is bright and hopeful, but one we can recognise, you can believe that this will be our near future.
I Believe it is cannon since it's appeared in the movies. Not only in First Contact but I believe it appears on the Admirals Shelf of models in Star Trek Into Darkness. I'll have to double check that.
Other than a bit of a color update, the 1701 refit and the A are externally the same ship. I personally would lump them together in a comparison such as this.
Enterprise C is my favorite. I just thought that it looked so well-proportioned. I didn't love Enterprise D because I always thought the saucer section was oversized, I will admit that it did grow on me but when I saw Yesterday's Enterprise I realized that I had found my ship.
Great episode. About the TOS Enterprise, I've read that its lack of detail was partly a design decision by Jeffries, who felt you would want to surround the ship's components in a shell so you wouldn't have to go outside to work on anything. Interestingly, due to stealth concerns, modern frigates and destroyers are increasingly enclosed in featureless shells lacking in surface detail.
We see working on the hull pose a huge problem twice in Enterprise. First, unavoidably, in the Romulan minefield. Second towards the end of the third season when Malcolm and Trip head out to stop a massive plasma fire. That time they had to remove two hull plates to turn two valves to stop the plasma flow. Granted the ship was horrifically damaged, but you can see how engineers would have learned lessons from that. Malcolm almost died from heat exhaustion.
My favorite Enterprise was the Galaxy X version shown in the final episode "All good things". There was just something bad-ass about that version of the Galaxy, like it was tired of getting it's butt kicked, and ready for payback.
Agreed. Galaxy X refit, Sovereign, Galaxy, Excelsior refit... Galaxy X. It would only be improved with the removal of the third necelle and inclusion of a sensor pod, weapons pod, or tactical pod, then adding two smaller streamlined nacelles below the pod of choice, like blended into the neck of the pod, to retain the higher warp speed capabilities of the third warp nacelle addition. Galaxy X for sure.
I agree. That was a much better look for the galaxy class. They need to keep the galaxy x look, take out the needles yoga rooms and turn it into an overgrown steam-runner by upgrading the plate armor and adding more weapons. That would make a ship you could take to fight and kick a dominion battleships butt but the UFP is all about feeling even if it gets them almost overran and cost millions of lives.
@@dragonknightleader1 I would say your numbers are way more closer than mine in lives lost because of them fools in star fleet and UFP. On the cloaking system you made a comment about, Picard on that one EP should have pocketed that and told the crew to keep their mouths shut and it may save their lives again like it did on the show. It's a good thing to have if they are going to keep boldly trespassing in others space where they never trespassed before. They need to stop doing that because it seems to get them in more fights than anything else.
One thing to make JJ Abrams ship more practical. The lore behind it’s size is that it came out at a later date to the original. I think it was like a couple years of more upgrades. This was because a massive ship came out of nowhere and turned the kelvin to ash. They knew of this threat and wanted bigger stronger ships. I’ve also heard that it’s weapons are as powerful as the ships in the next generation. Going to show that the Federation was more militarized in the Kelvin timeline.
Practical? In space the shape of your ship doesnt matter... how on earth does everybody miss this, oh yeah your brain is so slow it is locked into thinking that a spaceship needs to be practical on earth.
@@thomgizziz You think the shape of a ship in space doesn't matter? Acceleration produces G-Force, meaning that structural integrity is always important, and the surface area ratio is important for heat dissipation. If the shape didn't matter then all of these ships would be the same shape. Arbitraryshoe49 didn't even talk about the shape, they talked only about the size. Which actually does matter because - shockingly - bigger ships can have more guns.
Kinda sad we didn't get to see the Enterprise D Refit on this list. Admiral Rikers flagship from All good things. The Galaxy Dreadnought I believe its class ranking is officially called.
I'm conflicted on that one. I remember watching those the first time and full on squeeing that they actually did the dreadnought. And it's still cool, but now that I have some distance, it seems like they were trying too hard w it. A lot of the modifications look tacked on and didn't work with the asthetic at all.
I loved the aesthetic of the D-Refit. Very much star fleet shipyards bolting on newer technology to older ships. Just like how the B-52 and C-130 aircraft are continually getting new stuff added. Plus, I think the D-Refit is a sign of Riker’s hubris and reluctance to part with the Enterprise-D; like an old beat up classic car which the owner continues to put money into despite newer models existing.
I re-evaluated the Enterprise B when I got its Eaglemoss model and reviewed it because my initial reaction was always one of shortcut kit bash, but it does have a major impulse engine shift from the standard Excelsior and not just the flare around the deflector dish which did make me appreciate it more. The Enterprise C also really grew on me and its Eaglemoss XL version is HUGE! The sad irony is that we see so little of both of those ships on screen...
The big D is my favorite but the NX-01 really grew on me. just watching the show really made me love it. The BIG and powerful E is my contender against the NX. The E was a perfect mix of warship-like Defiant kind of starship and the exploration of the Galaxy.
Definitely agree on the E introducing some much needed streamlining to the Enterprise design. The Galaxy class ships always gave me vibes of a giant whale blundering in space; the Sovereign class was more akin to a shark or dolphin with its maneuvering grace.
Galaxy-Class looks like if a 1986 Ford Taurus was morphed into a gigantic starship. It was a revolutionary design aesthetic for the time but it became dated, definitely not a timeless design.
I was never in love with the Galaxy class. It's grown on me a bit over the past 30+ years, but I'm still not sold over bulbous exterior shape, and the Love Boat interiors. And you can count me among the people who didn't like the Enterprise B's goofy added-on gewgaws. The Excelsior's original lines are so much cleaner and less busy. They only added those weird scoups to the sides of the deflector so they could blow them up without damaging the Excelsior model underneath... Which the glue they used ended up doing anyway.
Emotionally the D is my favourite (and I would have liked to see more of the ‘All Good Things’ adaptation). I think the Dominion war occasionally showed an interesting side of the Galaxy class as a classic line-of-battle ship (or even Flying Fortress-style aircraft) supported by smaller frigate-like ships. Yes, it was a big, easy-to-hit target, but it’s also a tank - a damage-soaker, and can deal out as good as it takes. I dislike the flattening trend aesthetically that leads to the E and later 24th century designs. I think that’s at least partly because I dislike the trend to be more militaristic and less exploratory than optimistic the D era. I do recognise the need for it and appreciate the narrative cohesion in the design. I once read that the design of the TOS Enterprise is deliberately spindly-looking, because Jeffries wanted it to appear unlikely as an indication of the wondrous future-tech underpinning it. I love the refit Constitution from the original movies because it retains that profile and distinctiveness while making it feel more grounded and tangible. The Wrath of Khan was amazing, but I think Undiscovered Country was my favourite interior and exterior outworking of the ship. Finally, I’m likewise looking forward to seeing more of the Strange New Worlds Connie. I’m prepared to fall in love and find a new top-spot for my list, if they get those effects shots and stories right.
As I mentioned in another comment it was a missed opportunity to see the AGT variant of the Galaxy Class in DS9 for the Dominion War. Like they could have even done an episode to feature a prototype of the "refit" for Sisko and crew to assist in a shakedown cruise to prepare for the invasion of Cardassia or something.
The Enterprise E is my favorite Enterprise. In nemesis we really got to see what it's capable of. I even used the sovereign class as a template for my star trek ship I created.
Big ups for putting the NX-01 so high on the list! I think your #1 choice is accurate. When they brought out Voyager is was a real "aha" moment I think for ST ship design and the Ent-E cribs the best parts of Voyagers design and runs with them. Also I'm in love with the visual reboot of the Disco Constitution class! The bridge looks amazing and the ship itself looks so well updated, like they learned from the Kelvin-verse missteps.
My favorite Enterprise would be the NCC-1701-F from Star Trek: Online. I love how it combines the sleek sexiness of the -E with the organic curves of the -D, and unlike the -J looks like a plausible evolution to the Enterprise lineup. My favorite cannon Enterprise is the -E, followed closely by the -A.
The only thing I dislike about the F is the bridge. It's to big. If you're in a combat situation and something happens to the tactical officer there's no way to quickly get to that station from any other station. I guess you could just reroute the controls to your station but still. It's just unnecessarily huge.
I think I need to agree with all of this, honestly. I particularly appreciate the love for the NX-01. The series _Enterprise_ was not great, but the tech was really well thought through, and looks amazing, top to bottom.
Personally my favorite is the Refit Constitution version, it just looks gorgeous it will always be the best. 2nd place goes to the Discovery Enterprise, it’s a beauty as Kayla Detmer said. 3rd is the Sovereign class it looks like a good warship.
tng era interiors are perfection EDIT glad to see the constitution refit (tos movies) so high on your list, easily my second favorite. can't argue against the sovereign, that thing is awesome
I'd be interested to find out how the other hero ships, or notable ship designs stack up. Like how does including the Intrepid, Defiant, or California classes stack up.
The Intrepid design is underrated IMO for being true enough to the federation design criteria, both viable as a hero ship but distinct enough from an Enterprise. But if I could have a federation ship of my own it's be a Nova or a Titan.
I'd have to say, I'm a fan of pretty much any Enterprise without letters at the end of its registry number. While the D was my first, I'm more partial to the NX-01 and the NCC-1701 for their practicality in design. NX-01 especially looks like one we could build and fly today if money (and figuring out the propulsion system) weren't an issue.
You're definitely not alone in loving the refit Excelsior class. It's a well-deserved nod that the Excelsior was the best design of the TMP era, just as the Sovereign was the apex of TNG styling. Other than that, I'd demote the Discovery-era Enterprise a few spots, and raise the Ambassador class a little, but this list is good overall.
I'm not a big Star Trek guy but I do agree, I like the belled-out lower hull, it looks like it has plenty of internal space to support lots of different projects and missions.
I love the new Discovery/Strange New Worlds version of the Enterprise. Old and new nice combination. When Eaglemoss made a model of it, to me it was a must have. As a kid always wondered what it would be like to have Capt. Pike out there and we are now getting it in the movies and a new show both plays by great actors! Can't wait to see the future stories I am optimistic and hopeful.
I agree with most of the list. However, I would add in the F as number 2 even though it is a beta cannon ship. The F is a logical next step in design trends coming from the E. The bridge is a little big but mostly because of the need to fit the in-game camera, but the design and layout is fantastic.
The turbines in the "JJ-Enterprise" bussard generators aren't evoking jet engines, they are evoking the original TOS Enterprise. As for all the other designs, you can rank them for durability quite easily just by giving plastic models of them to a toddler. Whichever one lasts the longest is the best. In that respect, I know from personal experience that the Enterprise-D is the most durable design -- it was the only one my baby brother didn't _immediately_ break when he got his hands on them.
My favorite version of the Enterprise is the "All good things.... " Enterprise D+. That third nacelle, twin dorsal phase cannons, and ventral main gun make it my kind of ship.
As my absolute favourite, the Odyssey class Enterprise F has yet to be truly made canon (although I'm still holding out hope we get to see it in Picard season 2 or 3, since the U.S.S. Verity was shown to be an Odyssey class in the prequel comic), I totally agree that the Sovereign class is the most amazing ship design Trek has ever had. Hopefully we get to see more of it in the future.
@@kriszloki5746 The Enterprise-F started as an Odyssey-class, then was refit to the Yorktown-class, and I believe it also had a small bit of time as the Endeavor-class
I always thought the B was goofy looking. My favorite is the Enterprise E. The Enterprise B was just too damn FAT at the bottom around the deflector dish.
Great walkthrough. Thank you. With the TOS Enterprise, I'm curious if you have different views on the variant presentations. Obviously, there is the main TOS ship in contrast to the two pilot versions. But there is also a slight difference between the original version of the episodes and the remakes. The latter, while cool in many ways, kind of makes the Enterprise look less realistic (the original often had a softer, slightly grander feel to it). And we could get into the TAS presentation lol. Anyways, just curious on these TOS versions. Yes, the TMP refit was beautiful and the Sovereign class is elegant. :)
Also, I completely agree with your thoughts on the Enterprise D being such a risky / brave design. It's sooo odd for a flagship design when you consider what was before it. But I love it.
its a Ballsy opinion, i was putting a list like this together my picks would be 1 Enterprise E (It combines my two favorite ships, Voyager and TOS Enterprise) 2 Kelvin 2009 Enterprise (With fat Nacelles) 3 TOS Enterprise 4.Archer Enterprise 5. Enterprise D the A's and B.s where nice but Meh
I will never forget the first time I saw the Enterprise-E. 14 years old and my jaw D R O P P E D. Absolute beauty of a ship, nothing compares to it's pure elegance. Great video!
Thanks to Scopely for sponsoring this video - Download Star Trek Fleet Command on iOS & Android and battle in the Star Trek universe here: pixly.go2cloud.org/SH2ka
Gonna do an expanse trailer breakdown video??
I am absolutely your opinion that the Excelsior Refit (Enterprise-B) looks better as the original Excelsior Design ;)
Disappointed that the Enterprise D refit from the final TNG episode isn't featured.
I could've predicted your #1 favorite was the Enterprise-E. the rest was a pleasant surprise; also nice to see your reasonings for how the other ships stood out positively or negatively. :)
You did not include the Enterprise-F that Star Trek Online introduced. I was curious to know if you had any opinion on it. Though, if you were sponsored by STFC... probably hard to refer to a ship that's from a different game than theirs (and that they possibly don't have licence to include in their game).
i stand with with you on everything except the NX was my favorite for me it would be a clean move from 5 to 1 with everything just shifting down. IDK why but I liked it the best
The Sovereign Class Enterprise is gorgeous, from the hull exterior to the layout of the bridge. The bridge design, now over 25 years, still looks modern and sleek today, can't fault it.
Agreed- looking back, the effects in the battle of the Basin Rift of Star Trek Nemesis aged like a fine wine, in no small part due to seeing the Sovereign
The first time I saw it on screen, I hated it... I was expecting a beefed up Galaxy and I felt the E was a fat looking crap pile.
In time however, I have come to Love it, especially once I started realizing how they designed it (the Warship over Love-boat design)
25 years!!!! thanks for making me feel older than the ark! ..... jeeeez
For me, the first version of the Sovereign Bridge, with the Holo-Viewscreen and dim lighting was the overall BEST design. It pissed me off that they removed the holo-screen with a small, Voyager-like view screen and brighten up the lighting in the later two films - those two didn't work for me. Screw you, behind-the-scenes budget costs! XP
Agreed!
I love the NX01, especially how manual it all is. You have to open doors with a button, and step over thresholds like in a sub. The texture is amazing, with all those individual labeled panels. The pilot uses a joystick. And the grappler, my favorite low tech weapon. Of all of the Ents, the NX01 felt the most high stakes and fragile, just right for humanity’s first foray into space.
Similar technology vibe to the 2000s remake of Battlestar Galactica, doors and thresholds and buttons 😁
@@SportyMabamba Funny you should mention that. They came out at around roughly the same time; at the very least they were contemporaries of one another.
I so agree it’s like how Tom Paris had his shuttle with knobs, and lever’s.
Star Trek Enterprise was so slept on it’s sad
@@AlistairAi Slept on?
Even though it isn’t canon, I absolutely love the Odyssey class Enterprise F from Star Trek Online and is probably my favorite in all of Star Trek
Actually the Odyssey and Yorktown are canon due to being featured in the canon Star Trek Picard tie-in graphic novel Prelude. It clearly shows Picard and Raffi being in command of the U.S.S. Verity. I just checked and its not listed on memory alpha but it is on memory beta. I believe any books published since Discovery are now canon. But i do very specifically recall especially the picard prelude was canon to season 1 of Picard. If i can find any links to support this, i will try and update this comment with them, for now a pinch of salt I guess. Cheers!
no memory alpha entry on the verity so hard to say, (i know it's a fan wiki but it's generally kept up to date on things considered canon)
In my world I'll consider the enterprise-f cannon before I ever consider the enterprise-j or any of the j.j. prizes
I like the Odyssey class, but not as an Enterprise. Good on ya though
Well, wish granted... it looks absolutely stunning in that one shot too. Looking forward to seeing it in action.
Agreed. The Sovereign Class Enterprise has to be one of the most elegant Federation Starship design. It's beauty matches its ferocity in the Battlefield of Starships.
If the future holds ships like this for us it would be a huge mistake and missed opportunity to not build the real thing. Like the way they build modern cars with 50s and 60s designs esthetics. And in an era where form no longer has to follow function. Why not right?
I agree with you on the B looking better then the og excelsior. But the sovereign is roughly the same size as the galaxy while it is shorter deckwise its longer
@@johnathanbutler7718 it's not that much longer and the D as way more internal volume. If I were on a five year mission I want the Galaxy Class. If I were going into battle, no question the Sovereign is what you stand the best chance with.🙂👍
@@kobayashimaru8114 there's no reason why it can't be both.
@@emperorgizmo3014 that's likely true but the size isn't that signicant. The crew of the E was around 700 and we never see family onboard (though it likely did have families on board after the dominion war) the D had a total crew complement of around 1000 including families. Also I don't know where this notion that the galaxy was weak or somehow just a huge luxury liner. She was still the premier starship of the line and sent out when starfleet need to make a show of strength. I think people missed the point of the Odyssey being destroyed by the dominion in DS9
My favorite thing about the NX class is just how much it cuts the silhouette of a Constitution class from so many angles but then the camera moves or it changes course and it suddenly reveals that it’s an entirely distinct construction. I never get tired of that.
Agreed. While there are aspects of the NX I don't particularly like I will say that as a pre-Federation, purely Earth design it's perfect. Plus it has my absolute favorite warp core.
I really like the NX class it looks like it was the predecessor to the Tos constitution class ships.
I like how the NX looks like it's a tool that's barely going to be up to the task, and then you see it in its element and you realize that it's not the best ship we've ever seen, but it's all that it's crew will ever need. It can scan well enough, fly fast enough, take enough of a beating to let its crew handle the job and get back to exploring.
It's a leading-edge, all-rounder, workhorse with a supercharged engine and a powerful scanner packed into a durable chassis. What more do you want? A holodeck? Nah, son, we've got a projector and a shit-ton of popcorn, we're good.
@@thomasbranch3826 It was more realistic in being a pre-1701 ship than the too modern JJ Abrams and Discovery ships. Having grown up watching "TOS", I wouldn't expect the ship in the first JJ Abrams to immediately follow the NX-01.
@@virginiaconnor8350 According to the comics, it didn't. There was another Enterprise commanded by Captain Robert April that more closely resembled the TOS Enterprise before the Kelvin Timeline Enterprise was built.
YES! "The Blue Hue of Doom" is such a good way to describe the space scenes of Discovery. I will definitely use that in the future!
The crew of Enterprise J have their own personal vehicles to drive around from deck to deck.
JJ Enterprise has its own brewery.
Originally the Galaxy class was built during the " Glory" days of the Federation when their ego was big. They believed the Galaxy was at peace , and optimism was big. Then came the new enemies.
The Galaxy class had to prove her worth in New battles.
That shot of every ship showing up at once. " Captain Kirk, .....the Enterprise is the only ship in the quadrant."
They only wanted Kirk to quit lounging around in the movies.
In Picard, we see that star fleet had plenty of other ships on hand.
yes the lighting was crap...dark blue neon dark blurry. hazy depressing.
I've always thought the Enterprise Refit/-A were the most beautiful versions of the Enterprise. The least elegant was the Enterprise-J.
Agreed - they reached a design peak - so well balanced - frankly the JJ & TRASH trek ships are just that - TRASH - the J stands for JOKE.....however I quite liked the NX too..
@@michaelwhiles5282 Uhm, J is from the original TV series and not Kelvin Timeline. JJprise is as beautiful as some other ships you'd see, people have preferences so just calling things trash isn't the way, and there's a ton more ships in kelvin timeline that looks phenomenal.
@@michaelwhiles5282 the js stand for JAR JAR abrams.
@@IchigoKurosakicool hello joke....the only good thing to be said about anything from the jjverse is that its not a bad as std and star tp and anything else from the even bigger piece of garbage than jar jar abrams kirkman.
@@IchigoKurosakicool oh and the enterprise J is NOT from the original series. It is from enterprise. No wonder u like jarjarverse.
The Enterprise-E has always been my favorite Enterprise. You can tell just by looking at it that it’s faster, more powerful, and more sophisticated than any Federation ship that came before.
Except it wasn't fast at all at first. It was much slower than Defiant or Intrepids in First Contact, but when the Ent-E was in spacedock for repairs (ie Borg cleanup) they took all of the Ent's field mods and the mods they h intended to make and revamped the warp core (the problem was not the engines it was power generation, Sovereign was a nonstop power hog when it was new, Enterprise' crew largely solved the problems at least in theory). After the warp core upgrade it surpassed everything but Prometheus (and tied Defiant at 9.985 emergency warp).
I think galaxy class must be my favorite, just because of how much over the 7 years we get to explore over it. The ship becomes so personal somehow.
Galaxy Class is the most elegant and beautiful.
yes this list is a travesty.
The .galaxy looks like a bloated whale ugliest class 8n in trek
The enterprise-B style looks like a warship version of the Excelsior class. The flaring around the nacelles and deflector dish look like extra armor plating
All that extra plating didn't help Kirk much though did it?
Calling back to torpedo bulges in battleships, eh?
@@seanmmccarthy that's because his plot armor wasn't due till tuesday
@@joshuahadams basically
If you also look at it as what was done with the T-34 Russian tanks with the sloped armor could help deflect impacts so that if a torpedo were fired at the nacelles or defector dish areas it could restrict damage
To me it’s the long-range exploration or command version. Meant to serve as a small base of operations in uncharted regions or the frontline. Even as a light carrier in a pinch. The extra volume was for added shuttle/secondary craft capacity and the extra impulse engines to compensate for the extra mass.
You're not alone in liking the B and the E. Something about the no nonsense chunkiness of the Excelsior class has always appealed to me and the Ent-B really perfected the look of that class for me. The Sovereign just feels right as a post Dominion War Federation capital ship and manages to look both sleek and powerful.
Excelsior is my favorite class, but I thought the added bits on the B took away a bit from the elegance of the design. But still a beautiful ship!
@@GeeVanderplas I find the opposite. I think the excelsior looks derpy without the B-refit. Always have. The secondary hull slopping down looks odd outside of the Sovereign (which has matching curves to tie it in) 🤷🏼♂️
The Excelsior refit just looks better to me but it also makes more sense, the addition to the nacelles which I can only assume were basard collectors is an upgrade to the original nacelles that just seemed out of place to me considering we had seen two previous types of nacelles with basard collectors and all of a sudden we don't. Having a flared out secondary hull fits as it guard the deflector dish better.
You are all mad!
The Excelsior is an ugly piece of clunky junk! It's a ball with a disc! How can you find it appealing?
Strange New Worlds has proven you right. They improved the Discovery model and shoot it with gorgeous angles and lighting. It feels very physical and every shot is like a celebration of the TOS aesthetic.
You are high and this video creator is proving more and more how little people should listen to him.
NCC-1701-A, from ST IV, V, and VI. Hands down. Even though it's pretty much identical to the Refit from TMP, there's no denying how iconic this design is, and how beautiful it looks. This will always be my favorite of all the Enterprise designs.
Externally, other than a color update for ST:VI, the A is the same as the refit from ST:TMP/II/III.
The way the A was shot in VI was fantastic, best rendition of the Enterprise for me
Totally agree it's the most beautiful Enterprise of all designs and most iconic.
@@AT2Productions In fact it's the same model just with the NCC-1701 decaling rotated slightly and a "-A" added.
I’m just glad that NX-1 got so high on the list, as my love for Star Trek started with this ship.
I'm surprised the roided-out Enterprise from All Good Things didn't get a mention. There's something endearingly over-the-top about its third grafted-on nacelle and the giant guns mounted on the saucer. It's like something a 12-year-old me would've drawn in math class.
Roided out is probably the most underrated way to describe the 1701-D from that episode. 🤣
That third nacelle was a bad idea. The underslung cannon was good though. That and a cloak alone were enough to sell it as a major refit version.
The Excelsior feels like a B-52; it’s a good platform that newer tech can be retrofitted on. But it’s never taken out of service because hits all the right notes. Like the Miranda class
One wonders, then, if there was ever an Old Dog equivalent for the Excelsior.
@@trekker105 Think that's what the Constitution class is meant to be, they directly copy the ship hull formula, they just modernize it. Saucer/neck/secondary hull/pylons/nacelles all in the same places.
There won't be a TOS style excelsior cos it was specifically designed from the ground up for the 'great experiment'.
Excelsior >>>>Miranda
@@trekker105isn’t that basically the Lakota?
Correct but...
The Miranda WORKS?!
You’re not the only person who loves the Enterprise-B. The Enterprise B is my second favorite Enteprise (E being my all time favorite) and it DOES look better than the original Excelsior.
I think the original is better but i still share you opinon
AMEN!
Same, I love the Enterprise-B.
Same, always liked they added bussard collectors on the nacelles, looks way better then the full on wrap around blue.
Adore the Enterprise B and totally agree with it being an improved Excelsior model.
i love the fact you gave a big thumbs up to the NX enterprise. i love the style of it because it has the vibe of starting off as a star fairing race. AND i love the fact that First Contact has an NX in the display cabinet, nice little recognition of the series
I think tbh the Enterprise-E is one of the most beautiful starships in media period.
Agree. That and Voyager.
@@gaffawebber Voyager's only mis-step was those articulated nacelle pylons. IIRC, it wasn't the first design to blend the saucer and engineering hulls, but it bent the rules of Federation design and paved the way for the Sovereign and so many other great designs.
@@mattp1337 - I quite like the pylons, tbh. The ship would look better with them up always, but as a plot device they were an interesting feature.
Agreed thrice over!
NCC-1701-E
@@mattp1337 I don't think the articulation is the problem, rather that the nacelles on Voyager are just too damn tiny! They look like little chicken wings!
E-Dubs on the other hand has some damn sexy nacelles...
Galaxy class fanboi here. Maybe because of nostalgia as it was my first exposure to Trek (that together withVoy on Sunday noon TV in Germany during the early noughties) but I just really dig how something that was designed to be futuristic in the eighties still looks modern and yes, futuristic, in this day and age. To me it just aged incredibly well, much better that the TOS era designs. I also love how the warp nacelles are balanced in between the saucer and secondary hull, not stick out far above or below either section - which to me would just be unbalanced for a propulsion system that is needed to move mass in a vacuum
I feel they kinda squandered some of the design choices but that's a case of budget and the like more than anything. Still. the Galaxy Class Enterprise really is a grand old girl.
Galaxy class is the best looking ship
Some surprises, but no complaints!
Love the Sovereign Class, def my favourite Star fleet ship Design!
Also, I'm thankfull the NX- Class gets some well deserved love, it's such a great looking early stage Enterprise- esque ship...
Only change I'd make would be to rank the KTL ships higher, these are just gorgeous in my opinion!
Just want to put in a word for the original Constitution design:
I won't disagree that the texturing and detailing has aged significantly, but I like the shape of the TOS constitution more than any subsequent enterprise, even subsequent constitutions. The straight nacelle pylons and forward-leaning neck give it this proud, swan-like posture that versions of the design with swept pylons lose. It has a stark simplicity in its shape language that I find compelling.
Also the generally thin and spindly nature of it is a big plus for me. It's retroactively evocative of things like the ISS and feels more like a true space exploration vehicle than any of it's successors IMO.
Aye. The original Connie laid the foundation for ship design that, sadly, feels like its becoming standardized to other space shows when Trek pretty much stood out with their bold yet cinematically appealing choice of design. You can take a picture anywhere and it will look good.
By comparison you photo the Voyager and your pretty much relegated to above and under shots since the ship has no strong presence along it's flattest plane.
No other design of starship beats the simplicity of the TOS Enterprise.
It's sleek and easy on the eyes.
I also like the Constitution class refit. Very good and streamlined and is a worthy successor to the TOS Enterprise.
The straight nacelle pylons on the TOS Enterprise look like they would snap off the very first time the ship had to make a hard turn.
To me, the straight pylons completely negate the balance and swiftness suggested by the swept forward neck. It comes as something of a visual shock every time I see it, like a sentence that ends too soon. It makes the ship look front heavy, in my opinion.
Enterprise-A was the most beautiful version of all.
Connie refit will forever be a hard one to beat, for me. The art-deco nacelles, the angles and lines, the way she seems to gleam like sails catching the sun.
Excelsior Refit was always my close second, and yeah, very much took the original Excelsior and made it better.
Yeah, I was tossed up between the refit and the e for #1. The e is super well designed, and absolutely beautiful, but the refit, to me at least was when st got real. I'd call it more iconic than tos personally. Like Daniel noted, tos did look like a toy, and seeing the refit in the theater was just awesome. Personally I always love the pearl in the paint, and the advent of aztecing.
Agreed, I do think it's hilarious that when talking about the sturdiness of the Excelsior that he shows one beat to sht in the DS9 battle for Cardasia.
@@noneya3635 Lasting 100 years is a kind of sturdiness, and bigger ships were getting spanked just as easily.
But yeah it is funny.
I won't lie, it's a gorgeous ship. But there are some parts I don't like. The neck torpedo bays, the impulse bay. Sorta miss the big gold dish. But they don't completely ruin the ship.
Connie refit in its final outing in Stat Trek VI is top to bottom gorgeous inside and out.
The Sovereign will always be probably my number one favorite ship but I fell in love with the Ambassador Class ship for really the very reasons you pointed out. Ive imagined myself as this StarFleet officer serving aboard one of these ships in the mid to late 24th century during that era of peace that we didn't get to see a whole lot on. Those are definitely my favorite.
I also like how the NX-01 got love because to me this is a representation of what our own Earth space ships would be like. Just fast enough to do space travel using real life engines and real life technology, with a fairly small crew compared to later shows. This one was definitely more grounded in our own reality than other starships. That isn't to say the other shows didn't have real life tech but Enterprise definitely has as you say that NASA feel to it.
Obviously the putting the TOS Enterprise low on the list will get you a lot of flak but I do see your point, and being first doesn't make you the best it just makes you first and the fact you put the Discovery Enterprise on there to me is just basically saying that yeah the Constitution class is still top dog in Star Trek but you're going with this updated refresh look to it like this is what it was meant to look like but models of the 60s just couldn't do it.
Overall pretty good list I'd say, obviously everyone has their own list that will never satisfy everyone.
thinking about that scene from picard where the fleet appears, and about how just, a single sovereign jumping in, shown on camera from that view flying over the camera, would have been far more of a 'you're in trouble now, the fleet is here' moment than copy pasted ships from far away, the sovereign shown with fluid, close in shots is far more powerful on camera and feels like it would genuinely be scary to most potential hostiles
You are 100% correct. That fleet needed way more beef to it.
Though, I'd actually have preferred a three-nacelle Galaxy-class instead of the E, or at least in addition to. It might be more thematically appropriate, given Picard should be lining up with All Good Things.
Especially if it was flying the 1701-E hull number. That's the ship that destroyed the Scimitar after all.
I enjoyed a lot of Picard, but that scene was such a slap in the face to the fandom. We would have preferred 10 appropriate and beautiful ships, new and old classes mixed, to the poorly designed and rendered copy/pasted 100 ships we got.
It’s so frustrating that these show makers don’t realize that we prefer spectacle over scope. Not every story line has to be a threat to the entire galaxy to be interesting, and neither does a fleet need 100 new ships.
I agree with you... The "Strange New Worlds" Enterprise is beautiful indeed!
bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Spacedock - The one thing I would be curious to hear is what your thoughts are on the "All Good Things..." future Enterprise-D, in terms of where it would come on this list. Would it just be roped in with the standard Enterprise-D, or would it actually be in a different place on the list?
Otherwise, I think this is a great list and everything makes sense. Rock on, mate.
Was going to ask the same. Old game I played referred to it as the "Galaxy-X" class, but I doubt that is canon.
I wonder if it wasn't included because "technically" it never existed. It was from a potential timeline, but never actually existed, while all the other ships technically have. I think he included KTL stuff because those, while being movies, were still fleshed out and existed. The other part of its exclusion arises from the fact that the D is on this list, so the alternate reality version is included in that, although not mentioned.
I can see the argument though, that since Kelvin stuff was included, alternate future stuff should be too.
Yeah, I think it would be pretty low on the list now, but when this episode aired I was 14 and thought it was so cool.
@@Tiglath-Pileser3 The Galaxy X upgrade is canon, just not prime timeline.
@@Zadkiel862 To be fair, he also mentioned the NX-class upgrade with the secondary hull, which was never canonized (bloody beautiful it may be--yes, I own the Eaglemoss special edition of it, haha!), and that's what actually got me thinking about the Galaxy-X/upgrade. I figure it would probably be looped in with the regular Galaxy, but some people (like myself) actually like the proportions better with the high-mount third nacelle. I never really cared for the nacelles mounted so much lower than the (gigantic/oversized) saucer, myself, and while I prefer nacelles in even numbers, I feel that the third high-mount nacelle solves the overall proportion issue.
NX-01 was my favorite, especially for it's era. it felt like the submarines of WWII with pipes exposed, or un-smooth hallways, equipment sitting out in the middle of hallways, and the engine room felt like an engine room and not a disco or storage bay.
Funnily enough, a submarine is actually the best design type for a realistic spaceship. They function nearly identically to space craft and the only real differences are the propulsion/maneuvering and how the pressure hull and hatches are designed and reinforced. Space hulls and doors keep pressure in, while sub hulls/doors keep pressure out. Of course, having windows in a spaceship is also a little easier then in a sub! ;) If we ever built real spaceships, the best people to pick as crew and command for them would be submariners. =^x^=
Yeah, it really feels like they just went "Well, submarines already have all the stuff we need for a ship, a pressurized hull, bulkheads, reinforcements. Let's just strap engines on it and put it in space. Done."
It's also why I liked the ship designs from the Wing Commander movie.
I think this is perhaps the best ranking video I've ever seen. Informative, fair and straight to the point. ^_^
When I first saw the Sovereign-class Enterprise in First Contact, I gasped in awe - it is just such a thing of beauty! At that time I didn’t think anything could replace my love for the Constitution-class refit we got in the movies, but one glorious shot of the Enterprise E in that nebula blew it all away. Deservedly ranked first for me as well, an none of the others even come close.
Connies are such an iconic design. Fine it has flaws (the disc new worlds connie is REALLY growing on me now that i can SEE the fucking thing. Fuck that blue doom lighting. Just.. FUCK THAT...) but like c'mon... It's the connie.
Junkball media has an amazing video about the Sovereign Class. The detail they put into the practical model is mind blowing. The craftsmanship puts the slapped together CGI ships at the end of Picard to shame.
Personally my favorite will always be NX-01 Enterprise, because of the realistic (as much as possible) design, as it's similar to something we could make some time in the near future.
My only question is how did they get Ericsson's wheelchair everywhere if they had those hatches in the doorways? I'm guessing they didn't have them everywhere? I loved the uniforms better in "STE" than in "TOS". My brother served in the US Navy in the early-mid '70s and served on an Enterprise. I have a patch from a shirt of his and went aboard a ship he served on: the USS Savannah: AOR-4 in '70. I wish there was a starship by that name in "Star Trek".
I really did not want to agree with you, but you had me with the Excelsior class (and the
Sovereign). Well done.
The Galaxy Class is my favorite. It perfectly encapsulates the exploration, diplomatic and the defensive facets of Star Fleet.
Totally
And I would add the alternate timeline Enterprise D refit with the third nacelle and big fuck-off phaser cannon.
I'd say it does that. But only for its time. For that era of Trek it's perfect in every way. He said it in the video. Like a luxurious cruise ship that just happens to have great weapons as a side feature. Like if I had to go to war, then give me the E all day long. But if I'm doing the Enterprise's main mission, seeking out new life and new civilizations, doing that long term deep space exploration kind of work? Yeah I'd much rather have D and have my wife and son on board and have a nice bar kind of place and civilian activities for us to do. You need a break from work and I garuntee E never got any complaints about the lack of comfort on board. Well when the ship wasn't in danger anyway, lol
@@pjduker05 Yes, If you design a ship for "to boldly go", that's the Galaxy. Not the timid "every step is new" of Archer's ship, but the "we may not know what we will find, but we have a lot of experience with unknown and are well equipped, so let's go" feel.
@@steemlenn8797 100 my friend! And while the Galaxys certainly get a lot of hate for being a "flying 5 star hotel", let's be honest. Is that really something to complain about? I mean unless you're a Klingon I'd think you would want nice soft carpets and luxurious living quarters over metal bulk heads and a nice "clank clank clank" sound everytime you walk across your tiny metal bunk room. How about we ask our modern sailors? What's that? You'd rather be on a Carnival Cruise Ship than a Navy Fleet Tanker? Room service is better than 3 room mates to your section of hallway bunks on that Ohio class submarine? Go figure! Lol
Admittedly though, I'd still probably settle with E. The sovereign is still plenty of luxurious enough by any normal standards and if my wife and kid were to be on board with me, then perhaps it would be nice to know the ship can handle anything. And I mean like we don't even worry about a Borg Cube. In fact we all rush to a forward view port to watch the quantum torpedoes be fired. "Wow Daddy look!" "Yes son. Those mechanical monsters are about to have a really bad day."
I really love the NX class. Of all the designs, it is the one that most seems like an actual space ship.
It really does. Nothing gimmicky. Uniforms were practical. No magical device to always save them.
@Plxsma Edits I think we can agree that ST: E was WAY BETTER than any of the star wars prequels and subsequent movies.
@@sigbauer9782 I like the Star Wars prequels, it's the sequels(7-9) that I have a problem with.
I agree with you 100% about the Enterprise B. I liked how the Excelsior Class of starship looked, but to me it looked like they upgraded everything about it when they made the Enterprise B. It seemed to me that they were trying to streamline the exterior so that it would be able to more easily navigate transwarp.
NX-01 is my personal favorite. I also loved the whole aesthetic and feel of the show, which extends to the ship design. Since it was smaller and more lived in, I developed a personal connection to many of its areas, such as the mess hall and bridge.
I liked how we even got to know about some of the crew, it made times when they killed a named background character like Crewman Fuller actually mean something.
Making the Sovereign class so lean and manoeuvrable really fitted with the Starfleet ethos and played to the strength of its personnel.
It doesn't win by being a tank that sits and trades blows in a slugfest till the other side crumbles, it is designed for a smart innovative quick thinking Captain and crew to beat the opposition by tactical skill and strategic manoeuvring … it's meant for a dynamic style of combat.
What I loved about the NX Enterprise, humanity gave their all in this ship, and once they got into space, there's the realization that this ship is totally outclassed in almost every way by almost every other ship. Humanity worked so hard making a slow, underpowered, underarmed ship. But it's Captain and crew made up for the ships shortcomings, and it did get upgrades over the years. It would have been lovely to see the fully Refit version in action, but there's Star Trek Online for that.
I would say it’s a tie for number one between the NX-01 (just feels very realistic and practical as a ship) and the DSC Enterprise (takes what made the TOS enterprise great and makes its damn near perfection)
Practical? You understand that the shape of the ship doesnt matter in space. Practical would be a brick shape... how is everybody so bad at thinking?
I think STO really made the Universe class work much better. Mainly by making it massive so the bits that look silly shrunk and stretched actually work. Also by having more 31st century ships along side with it that make it feel more cohisive and part of a fleet. I do love the 32nd century ships (most of them at least) as well though.
100% Agree, When the Universe was first revealed, I /despised/ it. But then, after randomly actually getting one, I decided to poke around in it a bit, and it dawned on me what they actually wanted.
This is Star Trek's answer to a Star Destroyer. You're not supposed to look at the whole thing at once, or it's just a thing. But when it dominates the screen, when you let it swoop by or loom above you, or creep into frame, the dramatic effect is jaw-dropping. Those spindley parts are thicker than some entire ships are, and the grace and presence it exemplifies traveling alongside a fleet of smaller ships, it truly gives a sense of a time in which space is no longer just a frontier. This is the Federation's Nimitz, and now, shockingly, one of my favorites.
Agreed...it took me years to get a universe class...and I have a hard time not playing it all the time (well, when I could play, since the EV suit slot update, a bug has been crashing me out of the game in the character selection...2 weeks without loging in...oh well...forced vacation it is...). if it wasn't for the KTL Vengeance Intel Dreadnaught I wouldn't play another ship....and I do go back to my Odysseys every few weeks and/or events....
The Size of the Universe in STO is the size given to it by the original designer, they didn't make up.
I totally agree with this list, and agree that the Enterprise B is an improvement on the original Excelsior design. In fact, the only thing I'd change about this list is that I'd move the Enterprise B to number one in my ranking. Glad to see the NX-01 and Sovereign get a lot of love. I think the J was an interesting premise, and suffered from us not getting to see it in a lot of detail. It's massive size as a city ship fascinated me, and I've always wanted to see more of it.
I love the Enterprise D's interior. It just seems to safe, calming and comfortable.
For me its basically a head-to-head between the refit-Connie from Movies I to VI and the Enterprise-E.
Movies version sure has the sexier waist.
Goes perfectly along with bell-bottoms uniforms 😎
This is the correct opinion.
100% agree.
Also agreed.
Hull polarization is genius because it's how you make technical sense while keeping the "shields up" routine, in a time where the Federation didn't exist and we depended on Vulcan crumbs of developmental leaps.
It's just an electromagnetic infusion that strengthens the atomic and molecular bonds of hull alloys, and it makes sense to become one of the many built in safety systems in the future, that operate with shields, deflector array shenanigans, and countless other protective redundancies to be expected from over engineering Starfleet.
Would love to see a video in this format for Halo ships. Or ship classes?
I LOVE the Enterprise-B and I, too, thought I was alone in that opinion! It was so nice to see her get the respect she deserves. I always liked the flared secondary hull and the extra impulse module.
(I love the Disco Enterprise as well!)
I really like the back-top of the saucer. Such a nice arrangement of greeblies
well done! I stopped watching the latest shows so did not see the new model of the Constitution. I have to agree with exactly what you said. Its a beautiful ship and lots of detail the couple of glimpses without all the "Blue Hue of Doom" but knew the heat would head that way for messing with it. It seems to fit the time so well. Now I want to go look it up more. And yes, number 1 is your pick. Very thoughtful overall. Again well done!
Glad to see the NX that high on the list. Both it and ENT have aged like a fine wine.
it was the peak of TV and movie CGI. sadly everything was Marvelized afterwards...
TMP Constitution Refit is by far my favorite. Took the TOS design which was very 1960s and made it universal in age.
Dang right! 🤟
Agree about the Excelsior class refit. And you are right about the Enterprise E
The Enterprise A from ST6 was my favourite ship and really got me into Star Trek.
It could have been the Constitution Class refit from ST2.
Next for me was the Enterprise D
D has its flaws but.... c'mon it's the star trek series i grew up with.
Enterprise-B needs so so so much more love. I'd love to see adventures about the ship and crew. I read a couple of the Lost Era books back in the day but it's not the same as actually seeing it fly.
Yes, I hope we get a series on the B. But I do hope they do it more the traditional way, with an actual studio model, and better, more polished CGI effects. The effects on DISC and Picard are hideous for today standards. And even Voyager had better CGI effects then todays shows (but not as much of them). And I would hope that the characters of the show are more fleshed out, with an actual background story).
I don't know why people like the look of the B. The whole thing just looks bloated and just plain weird.
@@JustinStrife It reminds me of the anti torpedo bulges of old warships. They were also retrofitted on those vessels. I like the idea of an upgraded Excelsior Class ship. And it doesnt look too bad to my eye.
Also the designers stated that at the time they wanted it to look more Japanese, since Japanese stuff was the latest shit in the 1970s and 1980s in the US. Every hightech article came from Japan. So they went for that look. Its the same story with Darth Vaders helmet by the way, which looks like that of a Samurai.
I think what’s really cool about Star Trek is that since it has lasted so many generations, inevitably there will be different eras of fans that entered the franchise through different series and with their respective Enterprises’.
Being a younger fan in my mid-20s, I never watched TOS, watched many reruns of TNG, and some reruns of Star Trek Enterprise. But honestly, I really got into Star Trek from 2009 JJ-verse Star Trek and forward.
I loved the cinematic, modern look of it, the younger actors, and its version of the first Enterprise is just damn beautiful to me. And since it’s an alternate timeline it doesn’t really step on the work of past series or mess with future canon.
Yes, the Enterprise B is a better design than the original Excelsior class. I often thought if I was a captain, I would definitely prefer the Enterprise B design as my ship.
Personally I always felt the Sovereign was the Excelsior done right. They have some strong similarity with a much more developed secondary hull and slimmer nacelles. It's still my favorite Enterprise and deserved to be alongside some of my other favorite vessels. Though of TOS 'inspired' designs... I'm torn between the KTL A redesign and the Discovery era... Both have a lot of points in common as well. The big thing I really appreciate is a thought to the weapons that didn't really go into the original series, such as turrets.
A year on, I find my Favourite Enterprise has changed from the B to the D. Just the whole concept of a slice of the Federation on tour and the general lines of the ship have just grown on me, massively.
My first love is the the A.. It was the first enterprise I ever saw and got me hook on the series. As for the B I do love the design, all the additions have a purpose and give that "I'm bigger and faster" look. The additional impulse engines give me that late 80's early 90's wide body race car feel
Enterprise-A (original not Kelvin) will always be the best and most iconic design. Also...my first Enterprise too!
In the same design vein as the Enterprise B, I absolutely LOVED the "Sovereign-ified" Obena class ship from season 2's finale on Lower Decks!
NX-01 (refit) has to be my favourite even though it never got canonised. It's such a good design iteration on the NX-01 which already is my favourite canon enterprise. The NASA vibe to it as well as the whole Enterprise show creates an atmosphere that not only is this a future that is bright and hopeful, but one we can recognise, you can believe that this will be our near future.
I Believe it is cannon since it's appeared in the movies. Not only in First Contact but I believe it appears on the Admirals Shelf of models in Star Trek Into Darkness. I'll have to double check that.
I totally agree with you about the Excelsior refix; I love that design. My Fav is Consistution - 1701-A, which you didn't mention at all :(
Other than a bit of a color update, the 1701 refit and the A are externally the same ship. I personally would lump them together in a comparison such as this.
I always preferred the alternate future Enterprise with the three nacelle. Sad to see it didn't make the list
Enterprise C is my favorite. I just thought that it looked so well-proportioned. I didn't love Enterprise D because I always thought the saucer section was oversized, I will admit that it did grow on me but when I saw Yesterday's Enterprise I realized that I had found my ship.
Great episode. About the TOS Enterprise, I've read that its lack of detail was partly a design decision by Jeffries, who felt you would want to surround the ship's components in a shell so you wouldn't have to go outside to work on anything. Interestingly, due to stealth concerns, modern frigates and destroyers are increasingly enclosed in featureless shells lacking in surface detail.
We see working on the hull pose a huge problem twice in Enterprise. First, unavoidably, in the Romulan minefield. Second towards the end of the third season when Malcolm and Trip head out to stop a massive plasma fire. That time they had to remove two hull plates to turn two valves to stop the plasma flow. Granted the ship was horrifically damaged, but you can see how engineers would have learned lessons from that. Malcolm almost died from heat exhaustion.
Its detail was appropriate for the television resolution of the time. Judging it in its HD remaster is unfair.
My favorite Enterprise was the Galaxy X version shown in the final episode "All good things".
There was just something bad-ass about that version of the Galaxy, like it was tired of getting it's butt kicked, and ready for payback.
Admiral Riker's decision to refit it comes down to "I need a really big gun. Also cloak because that Treaty of Algeron was stupid."
Agreed. Galaxy X refit, Sovereign, Galaxy, Excelsior refit...
Galaxy X. It would only be improved with the removal of the third necelle and inclusion of a sensor pod, weapons pod, or tactical pod, then adding two smaller streamlined nacelles below the pod of choice, like blended into the neck of the pod, to retain the higher warp speed capabilities of the third warp nacelle addition. Galaxy X for sure.
I agree. That was a much better look for the galaxy class. They need to keep the galaxy x look, take out the needles yoga rooms and turn it into an overgrown steam-runner by upgrading the plate armor and adding more weapons. That would make a ship you could take to fight and kick a dominion battleships butt but the UFP is all about feeling even if it gets them almost overran and cost millions of lives.
@@neganrex5693 Trillions, considering it consists of 150 member states.
@@dragonknightleader1 I would say your numbers are way more closer than mine in lives lost because of them fools in star fleet and UFP. On the cloaking system you made a comment about, Picard on that one EP should have pocketed that and told the crew to keep their mouths shut and it may save their lives again like it did on the show. It's a good thing to have if they are going to keep boldly trespassing in others space where they never trespassed before. They need to stop doing that because it seems to get them in more fights than anything else.
One thing to make JJ Abrams ship more practical. The lore behind it’s size is that it came out at a later date to the original. I think it was like a couple years of more upgrades. This was because a massive ship came out of nowhere and turned the kelvin to ash. They knew of this threat and wanted bigger stronger ships. I’ve also heard that it’s weapons are as powerful as the ships in the next generation. Going to show that the Federation was more militarized in the Kelvin timeline.
Practical? In space the shape of your ship doesnt matter... how on earth does everybody miss this, oh yeah your brain is so slow it is locked into thinking that a spaceship needs to be practical on earth.
@@thomgizziz You think the shape of a ship in space doesn't matter? Acceleration produces G-Force, meaning that structural integrity is always important, and the surface area ratio is important for heat dissipation. If the shape didn't matter then all of these ships would be the same shape.
Arbitraryshoe49 didn't even talk about the shape, they talked only about the size. Which actually does matter because - shockingly - bigger ships can have more guns.
Kinda sad we didn't get to see the Enterprise D Refit on this list. Admiral Rikers flagship from All good things. The Galaxy Dreadnought I believe its class ranking is officially called.
I'm conflicted on that one. I remember watching those the first time and full on squeeing that they actually did the dreadnought. And it's still cool, but now that I have some distance, it seems like they were trying too hard w it. A lot of the modifications look tacked on and didn't work with the asthetic at all.
I loved the aesthetic of the D-Refit. Very much star fleet shipyards bolting on newer technology to older ships. Just like how the B-52 and C-130 aircraft are continually getting new stuff added.
Plus, I think the D-Refit is a sign of Riker’s hubris and reluctance to part with the Enterprise-D; like an old beat up classic car which the owner continues to put money into despite newer models existing.
I hate that ship. 3 nacelle designs always look dumb. It looked cheap
I re-evaluated the Enterprise B when I got its Eaglemoss model and reviewed it because my initial reaction was always one of shortcut kit bash, but it does have a major impulse engine shift from the standard Excelsior and not just the flare around the deflector dish which did make me appreciate it more. The Enterprise C also really grew on me and its Eaglemoss XL version is HUGE! The sad irony is that we see so little of both of those ships on screen...
I would say I love the Excelsior Refit and I wish we had seen more of it as a main Character ship
The big D is my favorite but the NX-01 really grew on me. just watching the show really made me love it. The BIG and powerful E is my contender against the NX. The E was a perfect mix of warship-like Defiant kind of starship and the exploration of the Galaxy.
Definitely agree on the E introducing some much needed streamlining to the Enterprise design. The Galaxy class ships always gave me vibes of a giant whale blundering in space; the Sovereign class was more akin to a shark or dolphin with its maneuvering grace.
Elegantly put.
Galaxy-Class looks like if a 1986 Ford Taurus was morphed into a gigantic starship.
It was a revolutionary design aesthetic for the time but it became dated, definitely not a timeless design.
There are whales that can out maneuver most fast attack submarines (at least the ones I qualified on)
The Galaxy class Enterprise was made to look good on 4:3 television format. The Sovereign class was made to look good in widescreen movie format.
@@TheRocco96 Dude, you just blew my mind. The D really *is* scaled 4:3 and the E is 16:9. When you see it, you can't unsee it. My brain just exploded.
I was never in love with the Galaxy class. It's grown on me a bit over the past 30+ years, but I'm still not sold over bulbous exterior shape, and the Love Boat interiors.
And you can count me among the people who didn't like the Enterprise B's goofy added-on gewgaws. The Excelsior's original lines are so much cleaner and less busy. They only added those weird scoups to the sides of the deflector so they could blow them up without damaging the Excelsior model underneath... Which the glue they used ended up doing anyway.
Emotionally the D is my favourite (and I would have liked to see more of the ‘All Good Things’ adaptation).
I think the Dominion war occasionally showed an interesting side of the Galaxy class as a classic line-of-battle ship (or even Flying Fortress-style aircraft) supported by smaller frigate-like ships. Yes, it was a big, easy-to-hit target, but it’s also a tank - a damage-soaker, and can deal out as good as it takes.
I dislike the flattening trend aesthetically that leads to the E and later 24th century designs. I think that’s at least partly because I dislike the trend to be more militaristic and less exploratory than optimistic the D era. I do recognise the need for it and appreciate the narrative cohesion in the design.
I once read that the design of the TOS Enterprise is deliberately spindly-looking, because Jeffries wanted it to appear unlikely as an indication of the wondrous future-tech underpinning it. I love the refit Constitution from the original movies because it retains that profile and distinctiveness while making it feel more grounded and tangible. The Wrath of Khan was amazing, but I think Undiscovered Country was my favourite interior and exterior outworking of the ship.
Finally, I’m likewise looking forward to seeing more of the Strange New Worlds Connie. I’m prepared to fall in love and find a new top-spot for my list, if they get those effects shots and stories right.
As I mentioned in another comment it was a missed opportunity to see the AGT variant of the Galaxy Class in DS9 for the Dominion War. Like they could have even done an episode to feature a prototype of the "refit" for Sisko and crew to assist in a shakedown cruise to prepare for the invasion of Cardassia or something.
The Enterprise E is my favorite Enterprise. In nemesis we really got to see what it's capable of. I even used the sovereign class as a template for my star trek ship I created.
Big ups for putting the NX-01 so high on the list! I think your #1 choice is accurate. When they brought out Voyager is was a real "aha" moment I think for ST ship design and the Ent-E cribs the best parts of Voyagers design and runs with them.
Also I'm in love with the visual reboot of the Disco Constitution class! The bridge looks amazing and the ship itself looks so well updated, like they learned from the Kelvin-verse missteps.
My favorite Enterprise would be the NCC-1701-F from Star Trek: Online. I love how it combines the sleek sexiness of the -E with the organic curves of the -D, and unlike the -J looks like a plausible evolution to the Enterprise lineup.
My favorite cannon Enterprise is the -E, followed closely by the -A.
The only thing I dislike about the F is the bridge. It's to big. If you're in a combat situation and something happens to the tactical officer there's no way to quickly get to that station from any other station. I guess you could just reroute the controls to your station but still. It's just unnecessarily huge.
I agree, the F is the absolute best in my opinion, but if we're only talking non sto then the E takes it hands down
@@Kakarott03512 I like the bridge that came with the original Anniversary ship.
@@varthelm the one that looks like a upgraded version of the D? That one was a little big too, but it looking like the D makes me like it more.
I dislike the hole in between the neck, but it looks great otherwise
I think I need to agree with all of this, honestly. I particularly appreciate the love for the NX-01. The series _Enterprise_ was not great, but the tech was really well thought through, and looks amazing, top to bottom.
Enterprise has really aged incredibly well. I'm giving it a rewatch on Hulu and I'm amazed how much I like it now.
Personally my favorite is the Refit Constitution version, it just looks gorgeous it will always be the best. 2nd place goes to the Discovery Enterprise, it’s a beauty as Kayla Detmer said. 3rd is the Sovereign class it looks like a good warship.
I agree with this list. The Odyssey Class Enterprise is growing on me and might move into 4th for me.
tng era interiors are perfection
EDIT
glad to see the constitution refit (tos movies) so high on your list, easily my second favorite. can't argue against the sovereign, that thing is awesome
I'd be interested to find out how the other hero ships, or notable ship designs stack up. Like how does including the Intrepid, Defiant, or California classes stack up.
I love the defiant, it serves its purpose superbly. But it sure as he'll isn't a ship you'd want to live on for any significant length of time.
@@MWBalls I very much love it's design but no you wouldn't want to live on her. The USS Franklin seems like a very small ship I'd like to live on
The Intrepid design is underrated IMO for being true enough to the federation design criteria, both viable as a hero ship but distinct enough from an Enterprise.
But if I could have a federation ship of my own it's be a Nova or a Titan.
I'd have to say, I'm a fan of pretty much any Enterprise without letters at the end of its registry number. While the D was my first, I'm more partial to the NX-01 and the NCC-1701 for their practicality in design. NX-01 especially looks like one we could build and fly today if money (and figuring out the propulsion system) weren't an issue.
As Scotty said in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics": "No A, B, C, or D!"
We could fly any of them... do you think they fly through the air? You can fly a brick in space and it wouldnt matter... smh
Oh man the battle zone 2 music at the beginning is so unbelievably nostalgic to me. Thanks for that.
You're definitely not alone in loving the refit Excelsior class. It's a well-deserved nod that the Excelsior was the best design of the TMP era, just as the Sovereign was the apex of TNG styling.
Other than that, I'd demote the Discovery-era Enterprise a few spots, and raise the Ambassador class a little, but this list is good overall.
I'm not a big Star Trek guy but I do agree, I like the belled-out lower hull, it looks like it has plenty of internal space to support lots of different projects and missions.
I love the new Discovery/Strange New Worlds version of the Enterprise. Old and new nice combination. When Eaglemoss made a model of it, to me it was a must have. As a kid always wondered what it would be like to have Capt. Pike out there and we are now getting it in the movies and a new show both plays by great actors! Can't wait to see the future stories I am optimistic and hopeful.
Excelsior refit is amazing. I genuinely love it more than the original, so you’re not alone in that.
My rose tinted goggles are just solid red plastic.
TOS enterprise deserves at least middle of the stack.
I agree with most of the list. However, I would add in the F as number 2 even though it is a beta cannon ship. The F is a logical next step in design trends coming from the E. The bridge is a little big but mostly because of the need to fit the in-game camera, but the design and layout is fantastic.
I'm just glad you typed "starships Enterprise" and not "starship Enterprises". That's already a win for you in my book!
The turbines in the "JJ-Enterprise" bussard generators aren't evoking jet engines, they are evoking the original TOS Enterprise.
As for all the other designs, you can rank them for durability quite easily just by giving plastic models of them to a toddler. Whichever one lasts the longest is the best. In that respect, I know from personal experience that the Enterprise-D is the most durable design -- it was the only one my baby brother didn't _immediately_ break when he got his hands on them.
My favorite version of the Enterprise is the "All good things.... " Enterprise D+. That third nacelle, twin dorsal phase cannons, and ventral main gun make it my kind of ship.
I'm glad I'm not the only one! I was a little sad "D" didn't survive long enough to get that refit in main timeline.
D with a bunch a crap pasted on?
It was a cool scene but the actual design wasn’t good at all, IMo
@@BC08 well, that’s just your opinion and I respect that.
@Accela the US's defiant also brakes that rule
This is by far my favorite variant!
I love that you use the Battlezone 2 main menu music for your intro.
Oh and the ingame music for your outro.
As my absolute favourite, the Odyssey class Enterprise F has yet to be truly made canon (although I'm still holding out hope we get to see it in Picard season 2 or 3, since the U.S.S. Verity was shown to be an Odyssey class in the prequel comic), I totally agree that the Sovereign class is the most amazing ship design Trek has ever had. Hopefully we get to see more of it in the future.
Yeh the Odyssey Class is really good looking. But the F was a Yorktown class. (which is a Odyssey variant)
The F was a standard Odyssey at first, and refit to Yorktown specs after the Iconian War.
@@kriszloki5746 The Enterprise-F started as an Odyssey-class, then was refit to the Yorktown-class, and I believe it also had a small bit of time as the Endeavor-class
Judging by that title, I see that you've chosen to start fights today.
This is my first ever comment on TH-cam - I completely agree with your list ; especially your choice for #1: Enterprise E is simply perfect.
I always thought the B was goofy looking. My favorite is the Enterprise E. The Enterprise B was just too damn FAT at the bottom around the deflector dish.
Great walkthrough. Thank you. With the TOS Enterprise, I'm curious if you have different views on the variant presentations. Obviously, there is the main TOS ship in contrast to the two pilot versions. But there is also a slight difference between the original version of the episodes and the remakes. The latter, while cool in many ways, kind of makes the Enterprise look less realistic (the original often had a softer, slightly grander feel to it). And we could get into the TAS presentation lol. Anyways, just curious on these TOS versions. Yes, the TMP refit was beautiful and the Sovereign class is elegant. :)
I would love to see you do a deep dive into the USS Vengeance. It is my favorite ship profile and many other people agree !
Also, I completely agree with your thoughts on the Enterprise D being such a risky / brave design. It's sooo odd for a flagship design when you consider what was before it. But I love it.
its a Ballsy opinion, i was putting a list like this together my picks would be
1 Enterprise E (It combines my two favorite ships, Voyager and TOS Enterprise)
2 Kelvin 2009 Enterprise (With fat Nacelles)
3 TOS Enterprise
4.Archer Enterprise
5. Enterprise D
the A's and B.s where nice but Meh
I will never forget the first time I saw the Enterprise-E. 14 years old and my jaw D R O P P E D. Absolute beauty of a ship, nothing compares to it's pure elegance. Great video!
Best thing about the B was it looked HUGE and real. Most CGI ships look about as real as a $3 bill. Refit/A was beautiful.