Spaceships
are probably the nerdiest aspect of any fanboy's
repertoire and knowledge. I'm not one of those nerds who
take pride in owning Millennium Falcon blueprints
because unless I can board it, what's the point of
owning it? Even with Harrison Ford, George Lucas, and
Chewbacca's signatures, owning a blueprint of a
fictitious ship is just above and beyond nerdy and
pointless. But in honor of the slew of upcoming science
fiction films storming theaters like "Skyline," and
"Battle: Los Angeles," and the foreign import
"Monsters," and "Super 8," and whatever crap Eli Roth is
planning with his alien movie, extra-terrestrials and
spaceships are slowly becoming all the rage, so we
thought we'd cash in our final chances with a living
breathing woman and list our ten favorite movie
spaceships in order. If we're never going to touch
breasts again, we might as well be anal about it, right?
Spaceships can be just as much a character as their
alien pilots, and ninety percent of the time they're
even more complex characters than the denizens within
them. Sometimes they're beacons, sometimes ratty old
rust buckets, and other times they can signal ultimate
annihilation for a populace consisting of forty million
city goers.
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DISHONORABLE MENTION:
Alien "Attacker" Ships
(INDEPENDENCE DAY)
On the plus
side, science fiction foes can also be
housed in big fancy lookin' monstrosities
where they can be the size of small moons
without collapsing the planet in on itself,
can shoot fire from their bellies blowing up
major US landmarks for no apparent reason,
engage in one on one dog fights with the
Fresh Prince and a piano player, and be
brought down by a simple firewall from a MAC
Laptop by the Fly! Hey, just because they
say they're a higher intelligence, it
doesn't mean they're being honest about it.
Sometimes they may just be over
compensating.
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10.
The
Death Star
(STAR WARS Trilogy)
The Death
Star is a star. Of Death. A space
station that looks like a star, or is
the size of a star, but is also built to
bring death to every planet in firing
range. I think that's the basic premise
for the plans of the Death Star, but in
either case it's one of the most iconic
plot devices and deus ex machinas of the
original trilogy that is able to end
whole worlds in a single blast but can
be brought down by shooting a single
laser down a port hole that leads in to
the central nervous system of the entire
station. That tomfoolery aside, the
Death Star is a massive weapon that is
the central theme for all three Star
Wars movies and is the key ingredient to
total galactic domination from the
emperor who uses Vader to demonstrate
its power by snuffing out an entire
world before Leia's eyes eliminating her
entire family in a mere minute. The
Death Star is the primary ace in the
hole for Palpatine thus it's something
he is constantly intent on building
throughout the trilogy, in spite of the
fact a single laser can bring it to its
knees. Just because something has a
small flaw, doesn't mean you stop using
it, right?
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9. GunStar
(THE LAST STARFIGHTER)
Hell in
the history of post-Star Wars
rip-offs that tried for the same
success of the original movies from
Lucas, "The Last Starfighter" comes
very close to achieving levels of
magic and excitement. Possessing the
same premise of a sorts, "The Last
Starfighter" has a small farm boy
living among his own kind dreaming
of something bigger who secretly has
the skills and is recruited thanks
to fate by a mysterious mentor who
trains him to become the last hope
for the galaxy. We also learn
arcades of their time were the
recruitment tools for intergalactic
armies. |
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For an admittedly obscure
science fiction fantasy flick,
the GunStar is one of the more
underrated vessels of the
science fiction genre.
Possessing one of the best ship
designs of its king, the Gunstar
is a fantastic ship that is
capable of taking down many
enemies with its gunfire and
panning gun stations capable of
knocking enemies out of the
skies. It also provides its
fighters with a full view of the
black with their own dome and it
has with it one of the greatest
last resorts: The Death Blossom!
When all else fails the pilot
will hit a button that will
completely revolve the entire
ship in multiple directions
shooting lasers in every single
angle and view imaginable at a
rapid fire pace bringing down
anything in their paths and
giving the enemy one hell of a
bad headache. It's one of the
most entertaining devices in a
fantasy film and the Gunstar
earns a spot on the list because
if the Death Blossom.
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8. Star Destroyer
(STAR WARS TRILOGY)
While many Wars fans are big
advocates of the Death
Star's grandiose appearance
and threat to the galaxy,
the Imperial Star Destroyer
is the most important
element in the "Star Wars"
trilogy. The opening shot of
its nose descending in to
the picture revealing a vast
juggernaut of unstoppable
force became a standard for
genre space epics, and was
mimicked for decades. Beyond
that it's one of the key
moments in the story where
the droids are discovered,
Princess Leia is captured
and stunned, and Darth Vader
makes his entrance aboard
the rebel ship strangling
soldiers, striding about
like the cock of the walk,
and making it clear he'll do
whatever he can to please
his master. Armed with a Tie
Squadron, turbolasors, and
two shuttles, this is a man
made force to be reckoned
with from the empire that is
one of Palpatine's primary
aces.
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7. U.S.S. Sulaco
(ALIENS, ALIEN3)
The USS Sulaco is the
Conestoga class ship
that transported the
United States Colonial
Marines to investigate
the lost communication
with the colony in
"Aliens," and is a key
element to Cameron's
science fiction actioner
and the primary plot
point to exploring the
Marines and their
individual
personalities. Here is
where we not only get to
re-unite with Ellen
Ripley and re-form our
bond with her and her
tribulations, but we're
given some great moments
of characterization
involving the Marines
and their rough and
tumble rituals that bond
them closely. Armed to
the teeth with missiles,
and Cheyenne utility
droids, this is
practically a character
of its own.
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6. Rebel X-Wing
Fighter
(STAR WARS TRILOGY)
Becoming one of the
most iconic plot
elements of the
original "Star Wars"
trilogy, the X-Wing
is a dynamic fighter
ship for the
rebellion that is
shaped like a normal
fighter and then
spreads its wings
before combat to
form four blasters
which provide extra
fire power for the
pilot and it looks
ultra-bad-ass when
storming down the
skies. The X-Wing is
one of the most
popular parts of the
original trilogy
save for the
Millennium Falcon,
and it's a beautiful
and deadly force to
be reckoned with
with the right pilot
behind it. The basic
fighter jet for Luke
Skywalker, Wedge
Antilles, and the
rebel alliance, the
X-Wing is the more
rugged battle
machine of the
trilogy playing an
important role in
the destruction of
the original Death
Star, the final raid
on the second Death
Star, and Luke
honing his abilities
of the force in
front of Yoda. More
X-Wing action was
added in the much
hyped re-release
from Lucas that
showed the rebel
alliance swarming in
on the Death Star.
We're talking about
the first
re-release... not
the second
re-release or third
re-release... the
one in the nineties
with the Doritos
tie-in. |
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"Our Ten Favorite Movie Spaceships" Part Two >>
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