Plot-Driven Features of the Movie Enterprises Ranked
Never-before-seen features of the Enterprise pop up in the TOS and TNG movies like the proverbial Vulcan third eyelid. Usually plot-driven, rarely seen or spoken of again, here are my ratings of surprising “new” features of the move-era ships called Enterprise.
Manual Steering Column (Star Trek: Insurrection)
"Computer, access manual steering column!" And with that, Riker summons...a joystick. Out of the floor. Somewhere between ops and the conn. That you have to use from a heroic standing position. Did I mention the Sovereign Class starship has a joystick? I get it, it fits the movie's theme of youth and playfulness, but it's one of the silliest plot-driven features of any ship called Enterprise.
Plausibility: 1/10 Story Telling Value: 4/10 Overall Rating: 2/10
Service Corridors (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
The service corridors on the Enterprise-A, with their colorful pipes and trip hazards, primarily serve as a set up for Scotty to say “I know this ship like the back of my hand.” And promptly bang his head on a low hanging bulkhead. Like a storm trooper. At least the tunnels themselves are a plausible extrapolation of the Jefferies tube seen in TOS. The joke, on the other hand, is…clunky at best.
Plausibility: 9/10 Story Telling Value: 2/10Overall Rating: 3/10
Phaser Alarms (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
"It would set off the alarm." Suddenly the Enterprise has an alarm that goes off when someone fires an "unauthorized" phaser? Even though there are cabinets full of phasers all over the ship? Even in the galley? And we never hear of this alarm ever again? This is purely plot-driven to explain why the assassins didn't vaporize their incriminating uniforms and footwear. I have a soft spot this move and the whodunnit investigation, but if I'm honest this doesn't really add up. Maybe there should be such an alarm, but I don't see any evidence that there ever was or ever will be again. And surely there are ways to dispose of unwanted items in the 23rd century...like dispersing an item into space with the transporter beam. I'm more willing to buy that there are suddenly digital clocks everywhere.
Plausibility: 2/10 Story Telling Value: 5/10 Overall Rating: 4/10
The Captain's Yacht (Star Trek: Insurrection)
The introduction of the Captain’s Yacht on the Enterprise-E is way more successful than the manual steering column in the same movie. For long-time fans who studied the Technical Manual, it’s a nod to the fabled Captain's Yacht of Enterprise-D. But perhaps that also makes this addition to the Enterprise-E bittersweet, a reminder of the unique oblong-shaped craft we never got to see on screen. And perhaps large shuttle or runabout could have done as well? (It also lends credence to the existence of a similar auxiliary class on the underside of Intrepid-class ships, but that only deepens the mystery of why this so-called “aeroshuttle" was never seen or mentioned on Voyager.)
Plausibility: 10/10 Story Telling Value: 6/10 Overall Rating: 7/10
Stellar Cartography (Star Trek: Generations)
We had seen smaller stellar cartography labs during TNG’s run, but this is the first (and sadly last time) we saw this large stellar cartography set. It’s an impressive and plausible set we can imagine was on the Enterprise-D all along. While the same plot details could have been delivered at any Enterprise computer terminal (or even on the holodeck), this serves as a striking backdrop for Picard and Data to unravel Soran’s plan while at the same time advancing Picard and Data’s emotional arcs. And it anticipated the look of the Cerebro set Patrick Steward would inhabit in X-Men six years later.
Plausibility: 10/10
Story Telling Value: 6/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
Plasma Coolant Tanks (Star Trek: First Contact)
My what big coolant tanks you have. All the better to melt you with. The engineering set for the Enterprise-E has a grand scale appropriate to a feature film. We’ve heard about coolant and coolant leaks in tense moments on the Enterprise-D, but never before have we seen such large, exposed, and smashable coolant tanks. We might as well call them Chekov's coolant tanks whose introduction at the beginning of the movie is to set up dissolving the Queen’s organic components at the end of the movie. Still, it’s an impressive backdrop for the film’s climax.
Story Telling Value: 9/10
Overall Rating: 8/10
Reactor Room (Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn)
We haven’t seen a chamber like this before or since in the engineering section of any ship called Enterprise. But given the dangers of matter/antimatter reactions, radiation, and high-energy plasma, it makes sense that a starship would have containment rooms like this. It certainly feels safer and more realistic than forcefields and slowly closing bulkheads. It's hard to think of a moment in the franchise that’s more poignant than Spock sacrificing the needs of the one for the needs of the many. Just thinking of the scene is enough to get choked up. This isn’t about the layout of the engine room. This is about the power of a profound friendship, a heart-wrenching good-bye, and the emotional heart of Star Trek at its best.
Plausibility: 10/10
Story Telling Value: 10/10
Overall Rating: 10/10
What are your picks for the best and worst plot-driven features of the Enterprise? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
PS: By far the most poorly written plot-driven feature of any starship.
Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D™ LEGO Set
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