Star Trek VS Star Wars

I like both, though they're don't have many commonalities beyond using a lot of technology far advanced to our own. I don't think it's a very good comparison to begin with.

Since what people typically compare are the Star Trek television series with the Star Wars movies, I'll ignore the Star Trek movies. First of all, comparing a movie with a syndicated series isn't really fair. The movies don't have nearly the time to flesh out the multiple subtle story arcs typically taking place behind the main one like TV shows do. Likewise, their character delevopment is a lot less complete. It would really be more fair to compare a movie to a miniseries, but whatever.

Though I'm a fan of Star Wars, I like Star Trek more if for no other reason than Deep Space Nine, which is where I will completely disagree with Crash's sentiment that the franchise should've ended in '93. That series is not only the best Star Trek series I've seen, but one of the straight-up best TV shows I've ever seen. It had the standard technobabble scifi episodes like every other series, but its commentary on social and political issues was unmatched. Some episodes were obvious and lame, but the majority of them were exceptionally written and performed.

The acting in DS9 is some of the best I've ever seen, ever, with a group of people who really get a feel for their characters. They all have subtleties of their own, and though some occasionally fall into certain stereotypes, they're the minority. Fortunately, they're all also written really well, and I wasn't ever left with the feeling that a character was being pushed in an unnatural direction.

I appreciated, too, how the writers could occasionally just let go and have a comedic episode that was close to being ridiculous. I really felt like they maintained a sense of fun throughout the entire run of the show. Some of the subtle characterizations throughout the episodes left me howling just as much as most comedy shows have.

It takes a couple of seasons to really get going at full steam, but if you're patient enough to let the actors and writers feel their way through some things, I'd really recommend watching it.

That said, it's not really comparable to Star Wars because it has such a long period of time to allow you to get to know the characters and their subtleties. Star Wars has a lot of stereotyped characters, but since it's not a drama it was kind of forced into using them. The majority of the screentime is devoted to plot development and action, so exploring each of the characters in such depth, though it would be cool, isn't realistic.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I despised classes like calculus and love acting. I think of myself as a pretty creative person. I prefer Star Trek.

I think what it more comes down to, is do you prefer a standard good vs. evil fantasy story, or a show that often comments on social issues and examines human nature?

There's nowhere I can't reach.