The Top 10 Spaceships: A Tale of Thrusters and Heat Shields

You brilliant bastard.

For your consideration: SERENITY.

Yes, Serenity was close. So close. I should have had a 15-way tie for 10th place, and I could have fit all the others in. The Borg cube too.

And for the record we limited the list to two “Star Wars” spacecrafts because you could easily create an entire top 10 list out of only “Star Wars” designs

Ohgodyawn…Toys designed to look like spaceships, with the exception of the Millenium Falcon.

How ’bout the spaceship from District 9, the presence of which permeated almost every part of that movie? The craggy, gun-shaped cruiser from Aliens? The classic Martian war machines from War of the Worlds? And so on…

interesting – you DON’T like the Star Destroyer?

That said: Yes, District 9 was quite close on my list. Not just for how it looks but the way it establishes a most original sense of atmosphere. As was War of the Worlds.

I think I should post my 10 runners-up, becaues this was a hard list to narrow down.

That Aliens model almost seems too simple for me, if I’m thinking of the same one. But I guess that’s part of the fun, right? That it feels like something people have actually used, rather than something that just got out of the model shop.

Let’s be honest, if we were trapped on a spacecraft, we’d want to be on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 craft, although I think technically its a space station.

I almost put that!! But yes, it’s a station. I was also tempted by a few of the one-man shuttles that have popped up in various franchises. Okay, I think I’ll put my list of the next 15 right here in the comments area….watch for it later today….

…if I’m thinking of the same one.

For reference.

It’s not that I don’t like the Star Destroyer, it’s that the only purpose they serve in the movie is to be menacing and big, which was parodied in Spaceballs.

Romulan ship > Bird of Prey. Just saying.

Also, to argue against the ‘Aliens’ ship mentioned in an above comment and then use the exact same argument in favor of the moon lander from 2001 only shows your bias toward 2001! Why not just put the Monolith at #1!

Awesome Flight of the navigator pick. Totally agree with pick and placement on list.

Finally, what are you trying to tell the readers with 3 phallic ships? This is a family site, Steve.

grape_crush – yep, Spaceballs almost made the list too.

jsnyde, i don’t know what your family’s like, but mine would appreciate the sexual innuendo.

FOR THE RECORD: I seriously thought of listing the Monolith as a ship. I really did.

And bias towards 2001? That’s like saying a bias towards Mozart. Or Picasso. Brilliant art is brilliant art, there’s no denying it.

Not sure if it should make the top 10 but is a good honorable mention in my opinion. The Event Horizon. Sure it messed with your mind but it was pretty cool.

Serenity should have been in there,
Event Horizon,
Battle star Galactica (either original or new, but I think the new one kicked ass)
Moya from farscape.

I lobbied for Eagle V and Serenity.

what about the “Eagle” from space 1999. those cargo lunar ships they used.

oooh… the ships from close encounters!

I’ll take a Gunstar with Death Blossom, anyday.

Hey-hey! Look at what I found! A spaceship for everyone…

If they count, the “Batteries Not Included” robot spaceship things should definitely be on here.

I had mulled over the gunstar as well, but thought I had made enough suggestions already, lol.

No love for Space:1999 with regards to the Eagles?

Considering the visuals and designs for the show were kin to 2001:A Space Odyssey.

And on another note, loved the JJ Abrams “remade” Enterprise in “Star Trek” as well.

Oh and lets not forget Ron D. Moore and David Eick’s rebooted Battlestar Galactica.

Froggy is on point! Everyone knows the most feared ship in a galaxy far far away is Slave I.

As I promised – here were the runners-up

25. Alien Spaceship, The Day the Earth Stood Still
24. Pod, Planet of the Apes (2001)
23. Event Horizon, Event Horizon
22. Colonial Viper, Battlestar Galactica (1978)
21. U.S.S. Enterprise, Star Trek (the original series)
20. Slave 1, Empire Strikes Back
19. Spaceball One, Spaceballs
18. Nostromo, Alien
17. Eagle Transporter, Space: 1999
16. Serenity, Firefly
15. Monolith, 2001
14. UD4L Cheyenne Dropship, Aliens
13. Nebulon-B Frigate, Empire Strikes Back/Return of the Jedi
12. Tie Fighter, Star Wars
11. Borg Cube, Star Trek the Next Generation

I think that TARDIS was a well-deserved first, and the Falcon an extremely well-deserved second.

Borg Cube at 11, very nice. Is the Nebulon B the mon-cal cruiser? I’m too lazy to go on wookiepedia right now. Anyway, the Slave 1 is cooler than the mon-cal cruiser.

C’mon, no mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind?! Tsk tsk…

Finally some gets the nuance of what the Tardis is. The simplicity of the design still allows it to be anything at anytime. It’s the only spacecraft (time craft?) that has not had to be re-imagined because it was all imagination.

It will show my age, but to me the Thunderbird vehicles and the original series Colonial Vipers from Battlestar defined spacecraft for all time. I’m still waiting for NASA to build them.

I definitely agree with the Tardis as #1 and the Millennium Falcon as #2.

grape_crush, I always thought that scene in Spaceballs was parodying “2001″ (you know that shot that’s like 15 minutes long, panning along Discovery 1?)

A little disappointed that Serenity and the Borg Cube didn’t make the top ten. And come on, Heart of Gold (Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy) didn’t even make the runners-up list? I would have put that at #3!

I agree 100% with the Tardis winning first place!

May I humbly submit one of my all-time favorite starships for discussion?

Nell, from Battle Beyond the Stars. One look and the reason should be obvious…

Borg Tactical Cube from Voyager FTW!

Sounds like a lot of people agree with your #1 and #2 choices. I know I certainly do.

Funny how the two top entries are both constant maintenance projects.