Despite being designed over 40 years ago, the refit Enterprise STILL has to be one of the most beautiful & believable Starship creations in Science Fiction.
@@hobomike6935 According to the novelization of ST:TMP, I believe eighteen months elapsed between the end of the 5-year mission and the Enterprise’s return to Earth and her re-launch as the ‘refit’ Enterprise for the V’Ger intercept.
We were at the theater watching tmp for the first time and scotty brought the transport around showing the full view for the first time.everybody stood and cheered,what a great moment.
Those of us who loved and grew up on the original series will never forget that scene and the perfect music that accompanied it. And we'll never forget how great it felt to see Enterprise fly again.
I whispered, "She's beautiful." My now ex-wife said "Who? that's just a spaceship" the we saw it in theater. Present wife of 27 years teared up when she saw the movie when I played it for her on our second date.
I grew up watch TNG and it's still my favorite cast, but the refit/Enterprise-A is my favorite ship. There's something about the blue light from the deflector dish and the wide engine pylons that just gives this ship an incredible look. Phenomenal work on this video.
Same here. I was 8 when TNG aired in 87. I still Remember watching star trek 6 in the theaters. Loved the TNG cast but the enterprise A is still my Fav !!!!
I also grew up watching first run Tng, but there was just something special about the refit Enterprise , Enterprise-A and T.O.S movies that you really got totally lost in and warped away with.
Had a real rough day working on subway trains. Back is killing me, hands are busted up, knees shot. Just a bad day. This video just took all that bad away. Excellent work! Got chills down my spine seeing her launch once again. You do some real excellent work. Thanks for making a bad day end good.
I say with no shame at all that watching the Enterprise leave the space dock in TMP made me tear up. Thank you (and I mean that sincerely) for making me tear up again.
@Writer B.L. Alley You can thank Matt Jefferies for the original concept and design of the Enterprise. Matt’s starship creations in miniature for the original television series were almost as visionary as that of Star Trek’s creator, Gene Roddenberry.
@@tls5669 The Sovereign-class certainly fixes what was wrong with the Galaxy-class (including how front-heavy the latter was), and I grew up with the D. Nothing can replace the Constitution-class for many.
"We had to replace the primary hull, and the secondary hull, and the engines, and the pylons, and the wiring and conduits; but the dedication plaque stayed and it occupies the same space intrinsically." My apologies to Michael Davis.
lol that's nothing. there's a webcomic of star blazers that picks up after Be Forever Yamato where they literally find all the pieces of the Yamato after the self-destruct and put the entire damn ship back together. Don't get me wrong, it's a terrific webcomic.
I've always loved Space Battleship Yamato, but one thing never made sense to me. When Okita fired the wave motion gun at the end of Final Yamato, shouldn't the ship have been completely vaporized?
For the US Navy, the name Enterprise goes all the way back to the Revolutionary War, 1775. Originally a British ship, she was captured by Americans in 1775 and served until 1777 when she was burned to prevent British recapture. She was at times commanded by Colonel Benedict Arnold. The most famous Enterprise was Yorktown-class aircraft carrier CV-6 which fought the Japanese all through World War 2, Dec 1941 - August 1945. After the war, several attempts were made to turn her into a museum ship including by Admiral Halsey but failed. She was scrapped in 1958. USS Enterprise CV-6 was the most famous aircraft carrier of WW2. 0:38 It would have been cool to show Enterprise NCC-1701 with patches before moving into repair dock. 4:11 The video needed twice as much frame rate. It's stuttering here.
This is delightful! However according to the Motion Picture novel, the Saucer section was separated and went down to earth for it's ReFit, leaving just the Star-Drive section to be completely rebuilt in Space-Dock. The saucer then re-docked with the new stardrive section just before the VGer emergency became apparent. Still Gorgeous work. :D
I haven't and I'm sticking with the original "in space" everything due to the way they're defined to warp! The ships can only be in atmosphere so long before there is too much atmosphere to regain the standard flight In the novel the writer probably didn't agree with this point and why. The second reboot had her sat underwater, and then rose, cute.
Not considered canon but in another novel Scotty steals the Constitution-Class USS Yorktown from the fleet museum (probably the same one Picard told him about in 'Relics') and discovers the bridge is actually the original Enteprise Bridge (dedication plaque still on the wall). The entire bridge section was removed during the refit of the Enterprise. I love touches like that.
That was kick ass!!!!! May those who have gone before us R.I.P. September 8, 1966 A Great mans dream came to fruition and to TV. I was born about 40 days into the first season, October 1966 !! I am a TREK JUNKIE. Started watching back in 1970 when it went into reruns. Gene Roddenberry had a dream and a vision that has inspired millions to always keep reaching for the stars ✨ and hopefully one day you’ll get off the ground!
Very cool. The first half of this, where the "old" Enterprise is being pulled apart, is what they should have had during the "overture" at the beginning of STTMP. Then, jump to opening credits. Good job.
@The SNES Man Seeing the old ship pulled into space dock would have been a sight to see - without spoiling the reveal you describe. I don't really believe the model at the Smithsonian now would be as unusable for film as was claimed. Certainly it would look better than some CGI of the 1990s. Obviously a tear down is impossible without modern CGI - though only fan films like this have ever attempted it.
I've just re-watched the Motion Picture and it's much better than I remember it. A very underrated film. This is a great prequel to that spectacular and dramatic drydock scene.
I like these where the viewer sees the transformation from TOS to TMP. I understand its painstaking work but personally Id love more detail in the conversion process. Well done
I just can’t get over how sexy this ship is! And those nacelles! A mix of Art Deco and futurism, and utterly timeless, as is the entire ship! Great video! 🖖😀
Back again to watch this magnificent video! Like an old, trusted friend, the starship and this video have waited three more years, and she is every bit as beautiful as she was the last time I was here!
The nacelle domes look just like the studio model! Weren't they Christmas tree lights & broken mirror fragments? The original will always be my favorite. In the "Enterprise" series, "In a mirror darkly", the episode showed this class star ship (the Defiant) in a way that gave us TOS fans a new appreciation for something we just got used to, or took for granted. It was cool to see it in a different light. All the more reason to love this star ship. Another labor of love. Recreated beautifully. Nice job, Rob.
When I first saw this video I really liked it as it showed the transition between the T.O.S. series and the Motion Picture and showing what they most likely did when they started the redesign and refit of the Enterprise.
Brilliant choice of subject matter for animation. And nice use of what look like Oberth class vessels. Mind you, the transition from original to re-fit really highlights for me how it is difficult to accept the changing look in-story. Why would an upgrading to a ship suddenly make all its surface tiling more apparent? The only explanation that really works is the out-of-story one that we got better at depicting detail in film.
Fuck, this is so amazing! Never seen a retrofit video like this before. Very well done, love it, can't stop watching. 1701 Retrofit or also 1701-A are the most beautiful spaceships that will ever exist in that universe :)
"These departure orders, sir...we've just spent eighteen months redesigning and refitting the Enterprise. How in the hell do they expect us to be ready in twelve hours?"
@@jeffbaker1124 Willard Decker probably wasn't "untried". He probably came from a previous command. Starfleet wouldn't just give a newbie command of their newest and best ship. But then again, they did do just that in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek.
@@marcmoonrider Another reason why those movies are.....meh, at best. Some good moments, better than the shows that have come after (Discovery and Picard being dumpster fires of the worst sort), but still no comparison to the originals.
@@compmanio36 It makes you wonder just how many thousands of senior officers were passed over to give Kirk the Enterprise. And how did he get promoted from ensign to captain in one day? Doesn't that takes years of experience?
@@marcmoonrider The idea was that all the senior officers had been killed, so there was nobody to put in place. Of course that makes no sense either, given the size of the Federation, but that was the idea. Of course, even if that had been the case, they wouldn't believably make a raw cadet a captain, they'd bring a retiree back to take command for a while until the new kids were seasoned.
In Star Trek,The Motion Picture,Scotty told Admiral Kirk that they finished redesigning and refitting the Enterprise after 18 months before Kirk said that he had been Chief of Starfleet Operations for 2 and a half years.
Stunningly beautiful work! The first video I have ever seen showing the replacement of the warp engines AND the impulse thrusters! Gorgeous work, Robert! It is videos of this quality that give me such a good feeling to have grown through the years with the legend that is Star Trek!
I always get a kick in seeing the Enterprise leaving Space dock. Thank you Scotty where ever you are for keeping the dream alive, and Thank you for the artist for making this film... Keep Gene's Dream Alive...
🖖😎👍Very cool and very nicely well done and nicely executed in every detail and every way possibly provided indeed, I myself will always love the TOS Enterprise that I grew up with but you have to admit that the refit is a real beauty in its self and one of my favorites indeed!,👌...
These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Her 5 year mission to explore strange new worlds and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
This is beautiful work, but one comes away watching it thinking why do a "refit" when it's practically piece by piece a brand new vessel created simply to give the feature film a better looking ship.
The Enterprise crew sure had to take their time disembarking their ship so that they can pack up their belongings before leaving so that the Enterprise can get redesigned and refitted.
Inspired use of the Oberth class hull form as a tug for the new warp nacelles. Great example to showcase that the Constitution class really does look great from any angle.
I love the original design by Matt Jefferies but the refit for the Motion picture is a work of art too and in many ways improves upon the original! It's too bad JJ never understood or appreciated the original designs. How someone could make something so beautiful and iconic into something so bloated and unbalanced is beyond me. As a designer myself JJ really has no sense or appreciation of great design.
The refit is my favorite version of the Enterprise on the big and little screen. The narrower nacelles and the glowing deflector dish give it an extra oomph. The perfectly round nacelles and especially the antenna deflector seem more reflective of the 1960s even 1950s vision of space. It reminds me of the Lego Classic Space line of toys I had in the late 70s where just about every space vehicle or base had an antenna dish and needle. It felt more retro than future. The refit, with just a few tweaks (unlike the infamous redesign for Phase 2 / Planet of Titans which radically changed the Enterprise design) gave the Enterprise a look that was less retro and more futuristic.
The problem I have with the JJ Enterprise is just it's nacelles are too close together. That's it. But in the Star Trek Beyond movies they made the pylons literally at the front of the nacelles-just ugh.
I wish you could have done a scene where the Enterprise of the legendary 5 year mission and the refit Enterprise would go to warp in the way it's been animated since TNG. Refer to that scene with the USS Defiant (NCC-1764) flying at warp in the Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly".
Very nice. Such a beautiful ship. Not like that one from the alternate universe. lol. The space dock scene from TMP is one of my favorite scenes in the entire canon.Thanks for sharing.
Jon, I agree completely. I've watched that space dock scene countless times, it still makes me tear up. Captain Kirk is seeing his starship for the first time in presumably several years. We, the audience had waited for Star Trek to return for a decade. It is a beautiful scene. People dismiss TMP too quickly.
And yet, not one person anywhere can explain why the refit looks so much different than the original. It's bigger, has completely different angles all over. As much as they changed for the refit, they almost literally could have just built an entirely new ship from scratch, 'cause that's pretty much all they did.
I don't think the design refit was ever meant to be completely scrutinized and compared to one another at the time. All of the Star Trek universe seemed to have gotten a face lift for the big screen. Visually there is very little that connects the films to the original series. It's entirely possible that we were given a soft reboot in a sense.
That's certainly possible, but it's also pretty much accepted in canon that the TOS Enterprise and motion picture Enterprise(s) are the same ship, just upgraded parts. When you look at all the comparison pics, they show the TOS being much smaller than the refit. Maybe I'm just thinking too hard about it, but it bugs me :P
I agree, it bothers me for continuity reasons. But at the time I think they were giving very little thought to minor details and canon. With that being said, I don't think the refit could have been done better in any way.
cujoedaman I think it can be argued that the 'refit' made it a "totally new Enterprise" quoted by Will Decker. But, I personally think AFTER the original Constitutions were refitted the Constitution II Program kicked off with the Yorktown. Having all the latest and greatest gadgets the Federation could pack into their workhorse. As we know the Yorktown was renamed the Enterprise-A and it had a new bridge, new engineering that had the M/ARC that was the precursor to future federation vessels.
The ship was gutted during the refit. Mostly keeping the main skeletal structure. Old Enterprise, The rooms and capabilities of the Primary Hull was duplicated in the Secondary Hull. That was eliminated in the refit as the secondary hull was gutted and made room for the new warp core, greatly expanded cargo capabilities and enlarged shuttle facilities. The changes were drastic and according to Mr. Scotts guide to the Enterprise, It was so different as more and more things were changed to not only to the interior, but the hull itself the refit was referred to as the Enterprise-class. That was dropped later as Paramount wanted to keep the Constitution-class name.
My ONLY WISH... is that I wish SOMEONE would do like a 30 minute to hour or so long video showing the ENTIRE Re-Build/Re-Fit process! Because when the Enterprise was "Re-Fit" it was basically almost ENTIRELY Re-BUILT From the Keel UP! ALOT More Extensive then just some new Nacelles etc. So yea... Just Sayin'! :D
Thanks .. my husband worked in a real shipyard when young and the rest of his life as a NC Programmer at an Aerospace company. It's very pleasurable to see the technical side of refitting, acknowledging that people do that work. ... we always joked that it would be an honor to work on actual starships but it was the wrong generation. Excellent job, by the way.
I've always loved the TOS and TMP Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers the same. They both strike me as profoundly beautiful. But the Stark contrast between the detail in the ships is staggeringly apparent. And yes, the original was build in the 60s on a somewhat small budget but it's stood the test of time and has remained very iconic. However, with that statement, I feel that Star Trek: Discovery actually did the best rendition of the Constitution probably ever. It takes the best aspects of both the TOS and TMP and blends them into arguably the best ship in Star Trek. Yet, all three(technically four) can exist in Canon. The Cage Version is the NX-1700 USS Constitution, the TOS is the NX-1701 USS Enterprise. Then after their shake down cruise and testing the Disc Connie comes into play as the rest of the class is build with the Constitution and Enterprise being refit into this config. And then when the Golden age comes to a end, the TMP Connie's roll out.
Great work! I liked the movie Enterprise, but wish they designers on the TMP had kept it closer to the original Phase 2 design. Despite some making attempts to show that it could be the same ship as TOS it just does not work. It would have been nice if it had kept the same hull, but with upgrades and refits. A movie version of TOS Enterprise with finer details (needed for higher resolution of film) and new bridge, sensor array, engines, torpedo tubes in the dorsal, on the original hull would have been great. As it was made it just is unimaginable that it was the same ship. It was still a looker, just not the same.
Joseph Nichols Seen the phase two ship on the back of the comic books years ago months before being released. Suppose to be in next series of Star Trek about Titans or something.
... TOS Enterprise is good (She is the baseline)... ... TMP Enterprise is probably the finest: she is someway different, she has different curves, but for me remind a lot about all of those straight airplane carriers left from WW2 that were heavily refittet to have the angled landing deck. We do not really know where the main structural pieces could be in the TOS one to make worthy to rebuild around a new ship, rather than build them too from scratches.........
You made only a few very tiny mistakes. 1. When they first turn on the deflector dish, it's gold, not blue. It doesn't turn blue until they're just about to use the warp engines for the first time. 2. The 1701 refit dish had a ring of weird little matching rectangles around it. Your dish is in the 1701-A style, which didn't have those. 3. The inner grilles on the warp nacelles didn't glow unless the ship was at warp.
Outstanding video! A great connecting point between TOS and TMP that I'll be watching over and over again! This video is inspiring me to finish my illuminated TMP Enterprise model, and maybe even to try making a mid-refit Enterprise model...
Its odd that ENTERPRISE wasnt REFIT where she was built, Utopia Planitia. Instead disassembled in orbital drydock and the saucer section sent planetside to San Francisco, etc........
That’s why Gene Roddenberry said,...& HER ongoing missions...to explore strange new worlds, to seek out a new life, to boldly gooo where no one has gone beforeeee...!!!
Robert, if more, too see how USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-A, come about. Was from the U.S.S. YORKTOWN, refit after ST-4, after Kirk save Earth, New starship he want,
@@catinabox2878 that's what I heard too. Something about it being the USS Ti-Ho (NCC-1798), which was built as a Constitution II (refit-style) ship, and that she was hastily completed and commissioned as Enterprise NCC-1701-A, thus explaining the numerous problems as mentioned in Star Trek V.
You, good sir, have done a grand old lady absolute justice. I don't think I've seen anyone else try the refit process, let alone done such fine work with it. Applause!!
As much as the original ship means to me, it was the -A ship that's the crown jewel. Fuck the rest of the alphabet. This is what the enterprise is to me.
Sorry kids but the 1701-A was a second experimental Transwarp equipped ship after Excelsior and it was renamed and numbered from the USS Ti-Ho NCC 1788 or 1798 to ENTERPRISE NCC 1701-A. THAT is CANON.
R.I.P. Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner! Alexander Courage might've done the original TV series themes, But Goldsmith and Horner gave us the legendary and iconic Star Trek movie soundtracks!!!
The Constitution Refit is my favorite ship. This is the first time I've actually seen her get upgraded. Very cool. This video deserves a lot more views than it has.
