Continuing my coverage of various SDCC 2016 panels, I was also fortunate enough to attend ‘Star Trek Fights,’ featuring some of the folk from Screen Junkies, and also including one of the prolific writers of ‘Star Trek’ and various other science-fiction stories, Brannon Braga. They were there to discuss pressing matters of import to the ‘Star Trek’ community, with topics including the Best ‘Star Trek’ movie (with some definitely harsh words being said about the most recent, ‘Star Trek Beyond,’) best alien species of ‘Star Trek’ (with one of the panelists humorously pushing for the Silicon Rock creature from the original series), best Captain (with the same panelist pushing for Captain Edward Jellico, arguing that the Enterprise was in prime form when the man took over), all the way down to a speed round where they argued about the best episode of the franchise and which ‘Star Trek’ tech do we most wish was real. It was hilarious and fascinating, and great to see fans and those involved argue with such passion about the series we all love. Check out the full list of debate topics and answers below followed by a video of the entire panel!
Best ‘Star Trek’ Movie:
Despite a valiant arguement by Brannon Braga for ‘The Voyage Home,’ it was ultimately decided that ‘1st Contact’ was the best movie of the franchise, with one panelist stating there was no way the best ‘Trek’ movie was the one with the whales.
Best ‘Star Trek’ Alien Species:
Unless you count the Silicon Rock creature, the argument was basically between the Vulcans and the Borg, with the Vulcans ultimately winning out after Brannon Braga pointed out that the Borg has little character, and is difficult to write for as they are basically techno-zombies.
Best ‘Star Trek’ Captain:
The eternal debate, Kirk Vs Picard, with Kirk ultimately winning during the audience’s final decision, the most damning argument against Picard being that Kirk was in the wild-west of the space frontier, while Picard was “basically managing a cruise ship.”
Which ‘Star Trek’ Crew Member Would You Want to be Stranded With?
In the end, this came down to Data versus Geordi la Forge, with Geordi winning based on the argument that he would be the most likely to escape whatever place you were stranded on due to his combined technology and human initiation.
Best Episode of the Franchise:
Speed Round question #1, with the winner being ‘All Good Things’ which Braga argued was ambitious, had multiple time periods, hit every character, and was an amazing finale.
‘Star Trek’ Tech You Most Wish Was Real:
The second Speed Round question basically came down to the Holodeck versus the Warp Drive, with the crowd ending up going with the argument that the Warp Drive would change the world/ galaxy as we know it, whereas the Holodeck would just be another way to entertain ourselves without actually going anywhere.
Do you agree with the decisions above? Do you have your own opinions to share? Feel free to lay out your arguments in the comments section below!
Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.
