William Shatner Joins the Star Trek vs. Star Wars Debate
William Shatner recently sat down to discuss his feelings about the Star Trek franchise, comparing it to Star Wars.
Shatner believes the story lines are more believable in Star Trek, in which he played the role of Captain Kirk.
“Star Trek had relationships, and conflict among the relationships, and stories that involved humanity and philosophical questions which were dramatized,” Shatner said in a YouTube video that was released to his account recently.
According to Shatner, Star Wars was little more than special effects. He joked about fans of the show never seeing the real actors, who are always covered in elaborate clothing and makeup.
“Star Wars was special effects. Star Wars is derivative of Star Trek by 10, 15, 20 years.” the former Star Trek actor said. “God knows what those actors looked like in reality with those special effects. There's no telling what ILM did for those faces and hairdos. “
However, Shatner said the actors on his show had no choice other than to show their faces to the world.
“There was no question that we puny humans on Star Trek facing that cold camera every day were exposed to a far greater degree,” Shatner said. "(The clothes were) tight fitting after lunch.”
After J.J. Abrams’ released a blockbuster of Star Trek in 2009, Shatner said Star Wars cannot compete.
“There's a big difference with Star Wars and Star Trek. With J.J. Abrams piling on the special effects now I would say that there is a resurgence of star trek in a big movie frame that supersedes star wars on every level,” Shatner said in the video.
“Not only was the television show more humane and dealt with more human principles than Star Wars, but now Star Trek has even more special effects than star wars. So star wars has nothing to stand on.”