# Best space battle



## Brian G Turner (Dec 24, 2002)

This is what makes me watch sci-fi - the space battles. Who doesn't love a properly done space battle? 

For the best I'm putting my vote into "Return of the Jedi". Those were the days when proper special effects actually made models look like starships, and ROTJ is the ultimate accomplishment of that - the fleet looks great, and the dog fights look great! Okay, the physics is a bit askew, but it doesn't detract from the effect. At least there's no overdone CGI to texture the ships with false lighting, which is really giving the game away too often and spoiling the look.

There have been a numnber of large-scale space battles since - especially with the Treks - DS9 in particular. Seen some people state the last episodes with the Dominion battle as best.

There's supposed to be a decent one at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, but I've not seen that film yet.

Anyway - best space battle - whaddya think?  ;D


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## mac1 (Dec 24, 2002)

I have to go with DS9 I think. The six-parter at the start of season 6, where the federation lost DS9. It was huge. That whole six-part-arc was amazing and it started what was to be the two best seasons of Star Trek to date.

The Star Wars ones are great too. (except episode 1 - where Anakin is the accidental hero (I hate accidental heroes))

To be honest no others really stand out in my memory. I remember a pretty huge one in Babylon 5, but I never really got into that show in a big way, it looked a little too computer generated.

The attack on the Borg Cube/Sphere at the start of First Contact looked really nice, but it was a bit too short to be really memorable.

Hang On - you haven't specified that it has to be in film. Does anyone remember the Area 6 level on the N64 game Lylat Wars? That was an epic space battle. One ship against about 1000 others, it was possible to take out upto 500 enemy ships, including some huge ones. Does that count?

If not it has to be DS9, the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Federation all in a huge battle against the Dominion and the Cardassians, that was great. The other DS9 battle that springs to mind was the one where Enabran Tain takes a fleet of cloaked Cardassian and Romulan ship into the Wormhole to destroy the Founders' homeworld, only to discover it was a trap, and they all get destroyed in a huge battle with the Jem 'Hader. DS9 had a lot of great battles.


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## Brian G Turner (Dec 25, 2002)

I was disappointed with the Klingon attack at the start of series 3, but never watched much DS9 after that. I did see the last couple of episodes at a friend's once, but remember precious little of it.

Babylon 5 had a great conflict episode in Series 3 - ships from earth sent to attack the Babylon 5 station. It wasn't so much the special effects themselves, as much as the way the general conflict was handled - and the great climax when the Minbari came to the defence. One of the best Babylon 5 episodes, and one I'll surely own on DVD one day!


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## Kilroy (Dec 26, 2002)

The battle in Star Trek: Nemesis was cool.
Best Space battles; Star Wars epIV, Star Trek: First Contact, and the Federation/Dominion war in DS9.


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## Archangel Scream (Dec 30, 2002)

Forget space ships! The best space battle was in a space between dimensions, of Good Kirk versus Evil Kirk for all eternity!  ;D


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## Survivor (Dec 31, 2002)

Wait, are you talking about the alternate universe episode or the _anti_-universe episode?  Because in the alternate universe episodes, the Kirks don't fight it out for all eternity, and in the _anti_-universe episode it isn't Kirk at all, it's some guy that's only in that one episode (albeit twice ).


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## Archangel Scream (Jan 1, 2003)

Aaarrggghhh! I wuz confused! I was bribed, I was coerced, I was made confused with a bagful of Tribbles!  ;D


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## Kilroy (Jan 3, 2003)

Without Spaceships, okay.  How about the laser battle from James Bond in Moonraker.  If you haven't seen it, do so.

Kilroy Was Here


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## PaenDragaan (Jan 5, 2003)

well, if we're going just plain battles here.  The fight between the two cars in the Artic in the latest James Bond flick, can't remember the name right now.


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## Kilroy (Jan 5, 2003)

Die Another Day

Kilroy Was Here


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## nemesis (Jan 6, 2003)

ROTJ


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## Brian G Turner (Sep 6, 2003)

Maybe I'm still living in isolation - haven't gone back to revisit the DS9 that I missed - but I'm still with Return of the Jedi as the best space battle.


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## BAYLOR (Feb 8, 2021)

*The Orville* Identity  part 2   2020 . The machine race of which Isaac is member known as the Kaylons , launch a genocidal   war against the galaxy starting with planet  Earth . The battle is epic and by far  one of  best space battles  of all time.


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## alexvss (Feb 8, 2021)

@BAYLOR, this got to be the greatest thread ressuscitation ever!  I was but a snort-nosed kid when people were discussing space battles eighteen years ago.

BTW, I just watched Netflix's *Space Sweepers* (2021). Another great South-Korean flick, proving once again that they're the best filmmakers active today. It's the best *Cowboy Bebop* adaptation (withouth actually being based on *Cowboy Bebop*).


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## BAYLOR (Feb 8, 2021)

alexvss said:


> @BAYLOR, this got to be the greatest thread ressuscitation ever!  I was but a snort-nosed kid when people were discussing space battles eighteen years ago.
> 
> BTW, I just watched Netflix's *Space Sweepers* (2021). Another great South-Korean flick, proving once again that they're the best filmmakers active today. It's the best *Cowboy Bebop* adaptation (withouth actually being based on *Cowboy Bebop*).



This  topic has a bit of timeless quality to it.


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## CupofJoe (Feb 8, 2021)

I'd put a bid in for *S:AAB* [Space: Above And Beyond] 
The lack of FX made the battles feel very claustrophobic.
If were are talking films, then the original *Star Wars* Trilogy. The FX may have gotten better, but I don't think they have felt more real.


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## Rodders (Feb 8, 2021)

I adore the battle around the second Death Star at the end of Return of the Jedi.

The Opening battle for Revenge of the Sith was pretty awesome, too.

Battlestar Galactica had some incredible battles. The ones that come immediately to mind is Ragnar Anchorage was awesome. The use of the Adama Maneuver to liberate the colonists from Cylon rule was inspired.

Personally, i think they are all insignificant next to the battles in Babylon 5. The ones in season 4 were too expansive and quick to really take a note of what was going on, but i adored the smaller ones. My personal favourites? Earthforce vs Earthforce in Severed Dreams really packs a punch. The Battle at the Narn Colony in the Coming of Shadows or their defeat at the Battle Goresh VII. Oh i did love the Shadows.


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## Pyan (Feb 8, 2021)

There's a great battle in _Serenity_ when the Operative's fleet is waiting to destroy our hero's ship, hiding in gas clouds above a planet. _Serenity_ comes through the clouds, and the Operative is about to fire when a huge fleet of Reivers (seriously nasty guys) appear behind _Serenity_, having being  chasing her. Big battle, excellent effects.






And _Babylon 5_: not really a battle - but the moment when Earthforce jump in to take over B5, only for Delenn to arrive with the Mimbari fleet. _"If you value your lives, be somewhere else..."_


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## Vince W (Feb 8, 2021)

More of a duel than a battle but the fight at the end of Wrath of Khan between Enterprise and Reliant showed some real tactical thinking and the fact that you fight a space battle in three dimensions.

And of course Alex Rogan's fight with the Ko-Dan Armada in _The Last Starfighter._


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## Phyrebrat (Feb 8, 2021)

Battle of Coruscant -  Revenge of the Sith
Liberation of New Caprica - S3 Battlestar Galactica


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## BAYLOR (Feb 8, 2021)

pyan said:


> There's a great battle in _Serenity_ when the Operative's fleet is waiting to destroy our hero's ship, hiding in gas clouds above a planet. _Serenity_ comes through the clouds, and the Operative is about to fire when a huge fleet of Reivers (seriously nasty guys) appear behind _Serenity_, having being  chasing her. Big battle, excellent effects.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The battle in Serenity , yes that one was magnificent and the expression on the Operative face upon seeing the Reavers was priceless .

Babylon 5  Yes,  Delenn's arrival is truly memorable.


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## Rodders (Feb 9, 2021)

Great shout with ST: TWoK. Quite a tense battle, more like submariner warfare. Beautifully executed. 

One of the new scenes that i actually enjoyed in the Star Wars Special Edition was the improvements made to the Death Star Battle. I know it doesn't count, but the battle of Hoth was very cool. (great music too.)


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## G.T. (Feb 9, 2021)

CupofJoe said:


> I'd put a bid in for *S:AAB* [Space: Above And Beyond]
> The lack of FX made the battles feel very claustrophobic.



This is still one of my all-time favourite Sci-Fi shows. There was someone doing AI HD remasters of scenes for a while on YouTube. Looks great.


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## Rodders (Feb 9, 2021)

I'd love to see this get another shot.


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## BAYLOR (Feb 10, 2021)

Rodders said:


> I'd love to see this get another shot.



It was a good show. It deserves a second chance.


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## paranoid marvin (Feb 13, 2021)

Whilst the second Death Star attack is really impressive, it's basically a re-run of A New Hope. The first time you saw that movie as a kid, with Luke hurtling down that trench with Darth in pursuit, you genuinely didn't know how it was going to turn out. And when Han suddenly appears in the Falcon to save the day , you couldn't help giving a cheer. By the time of RotJ , you kind of knew how it would all pan out. 

I am a sucker though for Star Destroyers, and I think for me the best space battle was that towards the end of Rogue One, with the SD being pushed into the shield. That was pretty awesome.


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## F.J. Hansen (Feb 15, 2021)

Battle of Endor will always be my favorite space battle in movies, especially considering it was all done with models.

As for TV series... it's a tough call. "Severed Dreams" and "Never Surrender, Never Retreat" in Babylon 5, "Sacrifice of Angels" and "Tears of the Prophets" in DS9, and "Be All My Sins Remember'd" in SGA.


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## paranoid marvin (Feb 15, 2021)

For those of you who mention the use of models; whilst I appreciate the extra technical achievement of using them , tbh I struggle to see the difference. Was the battle at the end of Rogue One models or CGI? I'm guessing the latter, but I couldn't honestly tell.

On an aside I remember going to see the Star Was collection in London a few years ago, with some of the original models (as well as props and costumes) on display. They really were very impressive to look at, and I was so pleased that I had attended the event. As much as a work of expert craft, they were obviously a work of love too.


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## F.J. Hansen (Feb 16, 2021)

paranoid marvin said:


> For those of you who mention the use of models; whilst I appreciate the extra technical achievement of using them , tbh I struggle to see the difference. Was the battle at the end of Rogue One models or CGI? I'm guessing the latter, but I couldn't honestly tell.



To be fair, I only saw Rogue One once, and that was when it was first released. Not because I didn't like it, but because of  how I've been going through movies and TV shows in the last 10 years.

I'm not hating on CGI. After all, CGI is what made possible the space battles in the TV shows I mentioned. But it is because of the extra technical achievement that I would place such a battle over a similarly well-done battle using CGI.

But that's just me.


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## Parson (Feb 16, 2021)

Frankly I don't think that there is a movie or T.V. space battle that can hold a candle to one in a book. I still get chills when I think about David Weber's ultimate battle in *On Basilisk Station. *I thought the Star Wars space battles had entirely too many ships entirely too close together to really be like a real space battle. I could never get past the poor special effects of Babylon 5 to give them a really good grade, and the fact that I can't remember a one of them also speaks to their forgetablity. Books have the incredible advantage of being able to show what is almost certain, that a space battle would be perhaps hours of positioning for eye blink length battles when faced head on. Or hours of trading shots and missiles and near incomprehensible distances. 

If I have to pick the best, most realistic video battle, right now I'd pick the space battles of *The Expanse -- *utterly brutal deadly and over almost before it begins.


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## BAYLOR (Mar 2, 2021)

*Yesterdays Enterprise   *The Enterprise D vs 3  Klingon ships.


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## Guttersnipe (Sep 21, 2021)

The battles in The Last Starfighter are pretty fun.


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## BAYLOR (Sep 22, 2021)

Guttersnipe said:


> The battles in The Last Starfighter are pretty fun.



I loved  Death Blossom .


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## Droflet (Sep 22, 2021)

Everything mentioned is noteworthy to be sure.
Let us not forget the ancient times. In 1959 the Japanese gave us *Battle in Outer Space*. Was it cheesy? Yep. Was it layered with well-intentioned pathos? Yep. Were the special effects poor by today's standards? You bet. But this was *1959*, and as a boy I thought, at the time, it was the great film since Forbidden Planet. It's fair to mention this movie because it was the first to have a real go at a space battle. That's all.


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## KiraAnn (Sep 27, 2021)

The 2010 live action Space Battleship Yamato had a couple of decent battle scenes.


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## BAYLOR (Sep 27, 2021)

KiraAnn said:


> The 2010 live action Space Battleship Yamato had a couple of decent battle scenes.



Indeed , The Battle of Mars was decent.


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## BAYLOR (Sep 27, 2021)

Droflet said:


> Everything mentioned is noteworthy to be sure.
> Let us not forget the ancient times. In 1959 the Japanese gave us *Battle in Outer Space*. Was it cheesy? Yep. Was it layered with well-intentioned pathos? Yep. Were the special effects poor by today's standards? You bet. But this was *1959*, and as a boy I thought, at the time, it was the great film since Forbidden Planet. It's fair to mention this movie because it was the first to have a real go at a space battle. That's all.
> 
> View attachment 82187



Yes it's dated ,but still a very entertaining and fun film to watch.


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## BAYLOR (Dec 19, 2021)

*Battle Beyond the Stars  *1980  given the budgetary and technical  limitations , the battle sequences in that one are still pretty good.


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## BAYLOR (Jan 2, 2022)

Ron Moore's *Battlestar Galactica  *had quite a number terrific battles in space.


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