SIGforum
Star Trek and seat belts

This topic can be found at:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/720601935/m/1910082564

January 10, 2020, 09:59 AM
Fed161
Star Trek and seat belts
I am sure others may have noted this in the past, and may have commented on it here. I happened to be watching a Star Trek movie, and a ship gets hit by a photon torpedo. All of the crew are thrown out of their chairs violently. This happens frequently in all of the various incarnations of Star Trek. I don't recall a single episode of Star Trek, either TV or movie, where any of the chairs were equipped with seat belts. Wondering why the advance technology of seat belts got lost in the Star Trek universe? Any thoughts?
January 10, 2020, 10:19 AM
mr kablammo
That kind of irked me too.


"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
January 10, 2020, 10:28 AM
RogueJSK
quote:
Originally posted by Fed161:
I don't recall a single episode of Star Trek, either TV or movie, where any of the chairs were equipped with seat belts.


The newest JJ Abrams Star Trek movies have seat belts that automatically deploy out of the chairs.



The shuttles in The Next Generation are shown as having seat belts.



And in the 1980s Star Trek movies, the chairs have a few different styles of retaining armrests that lock down over their thighs or around the waist to keep crew in their seats.




January 10, 2020, 10:29 AM
P250UA5
I may be mis-remembering, but I seem to recall some form of seat belts being used in the first Chris Pine ST movie, they looked like a harness that auto attached from the shoulders down.




The Enemy's gate is down.
January 10, 2020, 10:52 AM
sigmonkey
EAMI (Electro Ass Magnet Implants)




"the meaning of life, is to give life meaning" Ani Yehudi אני יהודי Le'olam lo shuv לעולם לא שוב!
January 10, 2020, 11:13 AM
sigspecops
The same people who didn’t install seat belts also couldn’t figure out how to wire consoles so that they didn’t explode in the faces of crew members every time they were fired upon.


No one's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.- Mark Twain
January 10, 2020, 02:47 PM
Hound Dog
I'm a huge life-long TrekNerd, and I never noticed the seat arms thing on the Excelsior from Star Trek III. . . Frown

They had a deleted scene from I think Star Trek Nemesis, where they showed Picard an automatic deploying seatbelt, like seen on the clip from the JJTrek movie that RogueJSK posted. I think Picard said "It's about time!"

Lack of seatbelts was a lame plot gimmick. It helped the bridge look 'futuristic,' yet also gave immediate visual drama to show when the Enterprise was REALLY hit hard. I always thought it was lame.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hound Dog,



Fear God and Dread Nought
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jacky Fisher
January 10, 2020, 04:25 PM
airsoft guy
Sort of like the lost technology of guardrails in Star Wars.



quote:
Originally posted by Will938:
If you don't become a screen writer for comedy movies, then you're an asshole.
January 10, 2020, 10:44 PM
Rawny
Starting with TNG era, star ships have inertial dampeners to soften the blow. It does go offline sometimes, and that's when people get thrown like rag-dolls.
January 11, 2020, 07:29 PM
egregore
Why didn't the Enterprise in TOS carry spare dilithium crystals? The ship was in deep shit when they went bad. Being only the size of a man's fist, a five-gallon bucket could have carried enough for the whole five-year mission.
January 12, 2020, 02:03 PM
nighthawk
If they were wearing red shirts it didn’t matter, they were toast anyway.


"Hold my beer.....Watch this".
January 12, 2020, 02:28 PM
rebut10
Wasn't it all about "inertial dampeners"? You know, sudden jumps to warp speed, sudden stops and jolts...inertial dampeners were "standard equipment" on star ships. It was the "group lean" and the "all fall down" scenes that were the flaws in the action.


______________________

Live free or die...
Don't tread on me...
Molon Labe...
Take your pick.