"My God, Bones... what have I done?"

Torg: My lord, the ship appears to be deserted.

Kruge: How can that be? They're hiding!
Torg: Yes, sir. The ship appears to be run by computer. It is the only thing that is speaking.
Kruge: Speaking? Let me hear it.
Enterprise computer:  9-8-7-6-5...
Kruge: Get out! Get out of there! Get out!
Enterprise computer: 2-1...

The Search for Spock

When I saw the footage of the debris from the SpaceX Starship explosion this week, I was immediately reminded of the scene from 1984's Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, where the remnants of the U.S.S. Enterprise destructively re-enter the atmosphere of the Genesis planet that was created during the climax of The Wrath of Khan.

 

The various photos and videos of the SpaceX iteration actually look more impressive than the Star Trek version - lots of scatter, brighter flare from the re-entry burn, and more details in the debris - but then, Elon Musk is estimated to have spent at least $100M USD on creating this one shot, which is a lot more than Industrial Light & Magic had in their budget for the entire movie back in 1984.

- Sid

 

 

P.S. Hey, trivia fans - until researching this posting, I had no idea that a young John Larroquette played the role of Maltz, a member of the Klingon Bird of Prey's bridge crew:

    Kirk: You! Help us or die!
    Maltz: I do not deserve to live!
    Kirk: Fine, I'll kill you later!

    [Later, once safely in warp]
    Kirk: Take care of the prisoner.
    Maltz: Wait! You said you would kill me!
    Kirk: I lied!