Today, I wanted to examine the differences between the two most popular space franchises, in specific different categories, to see which franchise wins.
Uniforms
Easy win for Star Wars here. Even if we put the Starfleet space pajamas aside and look at other races, they are all pretty dull. Other than the Breen, they are all basically boring. Meanwhile, Star Wars has Stormtroopers, Mandalorians, Vader, Kylo, the list could go on and on. Heck, even the plain Jedi robes are more festive than the PJs.
Weapons
Going to lean Star Wars again. The blaster is basically a phaser without a stun setting, so we’ll call those a wash. The win here comes 100% thanks to light sabres. I mean c’mon, it’s a laser space sword that can deflect blasters, cut through anything, and also works as a decent night-light. Not to mention, Star Trek phasers are constantly broken. Oh no, the atmosphere of this planet contains bacon bits, and our phasers can’t work around bacon. Let’s not think of other weapons to bring just in case. At least the Klingons bring daggers and swords. Maybe Starfleet away missions need to include a Glock 19.
Ships
This one goes Trek. Not that Star Wars ships are not cool or powerful, there just aren’t that many different ones to choose from. The empire basically uses Star Destroyers and Tie fighters. I’m sure they have different names for them, but they all literally look the same. Except maybe one Tie fighter is black. The Rebels basically have X-Wings, the Falcon, and whatever that weird ass space pistol Ackbar flew. In Trek, each race has a plethora of different ships, and all of them are totally different. The ships in Star Trek are also more heavily featured, while ships in Star Wars not named the Millennium Falcon are basically forgettable.
Science
Easy win for team Trek. First of all, Trek is more science fiction, while Star Wars is more fantasy. Star Trek is set in our galaxy, with our race, in a future that is possibly conceivable. Star Wars is set in the past, far away, with space wizards fighting each other with laser swords. Even the far-fetched parts of Star Trek like the Q are attempted to be explained or examined. There is also the idea of warp versus light speed. Many episodes of Star Trek go into the design, function, and progress of the warp engine. In Star Wars, the hyperdrive motivator makes them go fast. No tech, no backstory, just magical tech that everyone in the galaxy casually uses.
Content
Last but not least, the nail in the coffin for Star Wars. Content. There is just so much more Star Trek content than Star Wars. In film, it’s nearly even, with 13 Trek to 12 Wars films. TV is where Trek takes the cake. For the most part, Star Wars has only Clone Wars (7 seasons), Rebels (4 seasons), and Mandalorian (2 seasons so far). There were more series, but most all were very short-lived. Star Trek has TOS (3 seasons), TNG (7 seasons), Voyager (7 seasons), DS9 (7 seasons), and Enterprise (4 seasons). And now we have Picard (2 seasons), Disco (3 seasons), Lower Decks (2 seasons), and at least 2 more series coming in the next few years. There is just so much content that Star Wars can’t keep up.
Final tally:
Star Trek 3
Star Wars 2
MCPO Dan Zaltsberg, USS Tiburon Chief of the Boat
