Customer Reviews

Star Trek Ships of the Line 2003 Calendar (Wall Calendar)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I was eagerly awaiting the release of the 2002 Star Trek: Ships of the Line Calendar. I was so thrilled with the 2001 edition that I preordered the 2002 edition months in advance. I received it today and am unfortunately, utterly disappointed.

Gone are the two-page lavish spread per month of the 2001 calendar that made each ship image look like a panoramic photo with the calendars taking up an unobtrusive square on the side of the image. Instead, we get the one square for image & one square for calendar that is standard for every cast photo.

Not only that, but instead of the crisp clear glamour shots of the ships that we got in 2001, in the latest edition, we are "treated" to speed blurred images or images representing ships in various spacial, atmospheric & just plain "fuzzy" shots. We also get the worst possible use of black & white in the centerfold that I have ever seen. Out of the whole calendar, I only like one image.

Beauty MAY be in the eye of the beholder ... but I bought this calendar to see ships.... Show us the ships! If (somehow) a 2003 calendar is published, I hope it returns to the original format. Regardless, I won't buy it unless I see an open calendar first.

Never ceases to amaze me how some simple design considerations and keeping one's core audience in mind can help change what could easily have become a mundane product into something that is very much appreciated by all. Too bad these simple design considerations are always ignored by the Simon & Shuster crew when it comes to the design of ALL Star Trek calendars. They seem to throw a calendar together, making it reminiscent of a "Puppies" or "Your Favorite Cat" calendar.

The 2001 "Ships of the Line" had all the great images. If it were not for the ridiculous idea of turning what should have been a one piece, horizontal calendar into a folding calendar. Of course, this placed a crease, free of charge, down the middle of what might have been a series of nice posters, suitable for framing.

2002 "Ships of the Line" has just the opposite. That being a majority of mediocre images with only a couple of exceptions, many we've seen before, and the traditional square format. Hey, if it were the horizontal format, Simon & Shuster would fold it anyway. A couple of the images would have been truly worth framing in this one. Such as the crewman standing outside the hull of the Galaxy Class nacelle and the 'garage' of Worker Bees. The rest seem to have been created in a hurry.

Maybe in 2003, "Ships of the Line" will come out with a horizontal format and some clear, precise, never-seen-before views of Federation Starships. And then again, maybe Simon and Shuster will fold that one too.

Those looking for or expecting detailed, solid or crisp "beauty" shots of starships will likely be disappointed. The makers of this calendar appear to aspire towards something higher than mere photographs of starships (which the title of the calendar does seem to suggest). Instead, what we have here are attempts to portray starships in somewhat more aesthetically abstract terms, occasionally with an overdose of blur or shadow. These are pictures of ships in visual situations which are more likely to evoke thoughts, rather than just appeal to the eye. The results are mixed - there are some pictures which are indeed breathtaking, both visually and emotionally. There are some which are downright disappointing and poorly cast:

COVER - The Enterprise E flies past a moon or planetoid, entering its dark side. The colour scheme is entirely in sepia, and evokes a sense of mystery and nebulous tranquility. Quite impressive.

JANUARY - one of the calendars most breathtakingly beautiful pages. A lone crewman stands on the port nacelle pylon of the Enterprise D, beside a workbee. The warp nacelle looms giant above him, and the hull and saucer of the Enterprise are in the foreground. The entire ship basks in the glorious sunrise of a planet the ship is approaching. The sensation of Man's tiny place in the immense world of the starship, and that itself in the infinity of space, is palpable - and wondrous.

FEBRUARY - a grainy shot of the Defiant flying above the rings of a planet. Apparently, the graininess of the picture is due to the fact that the ship is in a "micrometeorite" storm. Er, it looks more like a poor excuse for the bad quality of the picture. Disappointing.

MARCH - The refit Enterprise from ST: The Motion Picture flying towards us, from within the V'Ger cloud. The shafts of light and shadow across the ship make this a beautifully misty shot. Grand and evocative.

APRIL - You'll probably love this or hate it. For April, we have rows upon rows of... yellow workbees! The title is "Hangar 06 at Utopia Planitia, moments before the construction crews arrive." Yeah, ok. Still, a curious and quaint picture, with a tinge of humour.

MAY - This is an odd picture which will either be annoying or evocative. We are looking through the construction scaffolding of a dry dock, floating above Utopia Planitia (i.e. the Martian surface). Most of the picture is in shadow/black. Through the gaps in the dock, we can just see the silver-grey hull of... something. If not for the title, one would have no idea what this is: "A rare quiet moment during the construction of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D over Utopia Planitia." Yeah right. I predict this picture is going to make everyone go "What's THAT?" Still, if you think about it, it can be a provocative picture.

JUNE - A "three-minute exposure" shot, light trails included, of a Galaxy-class starship departing from starbase. Except that, if this is a "three-minute exposure", why is that Nebula-class ship in clear focus, unless it was stationary? But that's just a small flaw (I am glad to see a Nebula in this calendar, pity it's only an inch wide). Quite a nice picture, but the "artistic" touch of the "three-minute exposure" wasn't necessary.

CENTREFOLD - A beautiful black-and-white spread, showing the Galaxy-class USS Challenger(?) in the foreground right, flying above the USS Enterprise E. Both ships are apparently in low orbit over a planet - you can see the clouds and even landmasses below. It's way too bad that this wasn't in colour. This picture is ostensibly an "advert" for the upcoming book "Star Trek: The Unseen Frontier - Declassified Images from the History of the Federation" (Pocket Books, Winter 2002 - previous announcement was 2001). Quite impressive; again, colour would be tremendously better.

JULY - A tiny Delta Flyer flies through the Borg Unicomplex. Mostly Borg green and black, this picture is similar to, but better than the May picture.

AUGUST - Oh dear. An overexposed picture of a TOS Romulan Bird-of-Prey, apparently the "final image transmitted by Neutral Zone Outpost 4". Oh. OK. Horrible choice. Horrible. Makes February and May look great by comparison.

SEPTEMBER - Nice. The Klingon battlecruiser Kahless hurtles to its fiery end in the atmosphere of a planet, as we watch from the surface, facing a sunset over the horizon. The orange-black colour scheme is perfect. The atmosphere exudes an honorable Klingon death.

OCTOBER - Hmmmm. We are looking from the perspective of the starboard nacelle, just behind the saucer of the Constitution-refit Enterprise. We are looking towards the inside space between the two nacelles, above the engineering hull. There's a bit of light play, and.... not much inspiration I'm afraid. The calendar calls this "Commander William Duffy captured the color and light patterns dancing along the surface of the newly refitted Enterprise. [He] calls this a "Song of Light". It sounds much better than it looks. Nevertheless, it is an unusual perspective.

NOVEMBER - It's a red alert and there's nobody on the bridge!!! "Silent and abandoned over Omega IV, the sensors of the USS Exeter note the arrival of her sister ship, the Enterprise". We are on the bridge of the Exeter, just behind the captain's chair. The atmosphere is dim, silent and foreboding, save the big "Condition Alert" signal and the TOS Enterprise looming on the viewscreen. Not too bad, but it's also somewhat grainy.

DECEMBER - The USS Voyager flies over a valley, with mist-shrouded mountains in the foreground. Except that, the ship is an unnecessary blur. (Sigh). Otherwise, a nice brick-orange colour scheme.

As a calendar, this performs all the basic functions adequately. The calendar proper is of average print quality, in somewhat faded 2-tone colour schemes. Though neat and fairly spacious for additional notes, it's not exactly an original or distinctive design. Mini-calendars for the previous and next months are available on every month's page. The special dates includes birthdays of well-known trek actors.

All in all, one can see that the producers of this calendar have attempted to be unconventional, with some successes and some outright failures. I would have loved it if this calendar were full of pictures of the style depicted in January. To reiterate, I think the idea was to see starships not just as phaser-totting flying hulks of metal, but potential works of art depicted in artistic, provocative situations. A good effort, as shown by the successes, and I don't regret buying this - but I'm sure this can be bettered. Best of luck for 2003.

A few years ago this would have been an 'OK' calendar, but after the magnificent 2002 Ships of the Line offering, this one is a HUGE disappointment. Small, washed out and poorly detailed (for the most part) pictures make this item best left on the shelf.
Hopefully, next year the team that put the 2001 calendar together will work on the 2003 edition. PLEASE!

I love the 2001 Star Trek Ships of the Line calendar; I am disappointed with the 2002 calendar. There are only one or two shots that I like, with an additional one or two that are "acceptable". I thought the title should dictate what you should expect to see. Instead, you get some partial shots of ships and the so-called action shots are just plain blurry. If I had taken a photo that turned out like that, I would've thrown it away. Hopefully the 2003 calendar, if there is one, will get back to the standards set by the 2001 calendar.

It a very good Calender,the Pictures are all original art work.a great job.

The issue of to landscape or not to landscape has been argued long and hard since this calendar first came out. Personally, I like the landscape version as I don't write on my calendar, I just use it to reference the date. Perhaps they should release two versions of the calendar and then we can debate "letterbox versus fullscreen" to our little trekkie heart's content. As always it's the artwork that keeps me buying this calendar no matter what the format. The beautifully rendered pictures are so much more fascinating than a calendar filled with frames cut from the TV shows or movies. I would have rated it five stars, but Simon and Schuster has cancelled the book that they have been promising in the last two versions of the calendar, so I'm a little peeved at them.

I expected a CLEAR image of different ships in Star Trek or in the Federation. Instead, the calendar contains artsy shots of lots of shuttles lined up so that you see only a piece of each, or very blurry images of a starship flying by. I think whoever executed this calendar should have to refund money to all who bought it. It is badly, badly mismarketed. I already gave mine away at a "white elephant" exchange.

To say that the title 'Ships of the Line' is misleading, is an understatement. I was expecting something along the same lines as the 2001 calender, a more technical, close-up look at the ships themselves. Maybe, I'm out of touch, but I don't think 50 work bees parked in a bay qualifies as a 'ship of the line'. Somehow I think the issuers were just capitalizing on the success of the 2001 calender. It would have been more appropriatley named, 'Star Fleet: A Day in the Life'.

I had to give this one star just because it was Star Trek, and because the rating system doesn't allow for zero stars.

Sure to become a collectable, this calender features some great shots of the favorite ships of Star Trek. Every one from the classic Enterprise to Voyager and even the new Enterprise. The pictures are so nice that you will be proud to hang this on your office wall. Just don't ruin it, you will want to go back and look at it time and time again.