The Star Trek franchise has always been influential in the science fiction community. Since its creation by Gene Roddenberry in the ’60s, it has been the flagship of the genre. It is no wonder that sci-fi has been strongly influenced by the formula. Some in the genre are better than the others, while there are many that are far from good. Here are the best Star Trek rip-offs when one franchise just isn’t enough.
10 Sea Quest 2032
Sea Quest is what happens when you put Star Trek in the ocean. When humanity settles into the deep ocean, the UEO is created and acts as a militarized police force. The storylines are as Star Trek as they can be. From meeting gods to rewriting myths. The series has a strong sense of justice, with plots surrounding environmental issues. The setting is in the near future, with the first season being set in 2016, and it has a charm to it. It premiered alongside the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It followed the Star Trek formula but diverted enough to keep things interesting.
The first season was met with mixed reviews, causing a catastrophe for the subsequent seasons. In an attempt to gain more viewers, they changed what the original concept was in an attempt to draw in new viewers. It is an enjoyable sci-fi series, but the quality does decline as the show progresses. The ocean setting gives it a more interesting idea than other sci-fi series, which is a nice change of pace for science fiction in general.
9 Beyond the Trek
The movie Beyond the Trek, also known as Teleios, takes the majority of its inspiration from the Star Trek set design. The director, Ian Truitner, even discusses how Star Trek: The Original Series heavily inspired him to use more practical effects to enhance the story, rather than to be a distraction. Beyond the Trek sends a group of genetically modified humans to Saturn’s moon, Titan, to check on the crew of a mining vessel. It is presumed that the miners on the vessel destroyed one another. Upon arrival, the crew of genetically modified humans discovers something that could destroy them and all of humanity.
The balance of the visual effects to story ratio is just right. The set designers and the special effects experts used their artistry well. It is clear, their low budget didn’t take anything from the movie. The story starts off slow, kicking itself off with one narrative, and then the venture changes completely. It is a thought-provoking space odyssey that is akin to Star Trek.
8 Earth: Final Conflict
Earth: Final Conflict is a little on the nose, as it was originally written by Gene Roddenberry and later produced by his wife, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. It is a near-future science fiction series about aliens called Taelons who have landed on Earth, claiming they are here to help humanity as they rid the Earth of all its downfalls: crime, illness, and even famine. A group of humans becomes suspicious of the aliens and forms a resistance. The series focuses on Commander William Boone (Kevin Kilner) as a double agent working for both the Taelons and the resistance. The resistance soon learns that the alien beings are using humans as an experiment to help them defeat their own overlords, the Jaridians.
The focus of the plot is on whom the true villain is. Taelons don’t entirely seem like the villains that the resistance sees them as, but at the same time, the resistance has every right to be afraid. Experimentation is not anything an intelligent creature wants to be part of. Gene Roddenberry’s ideas for the ambiguous relationship between humanity and its first contact were brilliant. This series explores a concept that isn’t often touched on in alien-based sci-fi.
7 Battlestar Galactica
Of all the late ’90s futuristic fiction, Battlestar Galactica mimics Star Trek the most. After a war with Cylons, Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) of the Battlestar Galactica must lead refugees to safety. They are chased by Cylons, intent on destroying all of humanity. This forces the fleet of refugees to search for the long-lost 13th colony. The series often echoes Star Trek, with even the Cylons acting as a robotic Klingon-like enemy.
It is a series like Star Trek about human nature and surviving in deep space. There are definite nods to the original science fiction TV show while also keeping itself original. It is also important to note that Ronald D. Moore was also a writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica. It makes sense that there are similarities between the two series. Battlestar Galactica was so popular that it had a reboot.
6 Farscape
The aesthetics of Farscape make it clear that this was a Jim Henson Company production. A group attempts to escape corrupt authorities known as the Peacekeepers. Similar to Star Trek, they all live on a large ship; however, the twist is the ship is a living machine. The series has an overall plot with standalone episodes scattered between. It seemed, despite the effort to distance themselves from Star Trek, the diverse crew in space formula, cemented the comparison.
The plots can be a bit cliché, but that fits in well with the genre. It is wildly entertaining and even inspired James Gunn when he was creating the Guardians of the Galaxymovies. Farscape’s style of sci-fidid pull away from the standard Star Trek style in some ways, while at the same time understanding the original genre. It is an underrated science fiction classic that deserves a re-watch. Farscape walked, so movies like Guardians of the Galaxy could run.
5 Andromeda
Andromeda is another series based on Gene Roddenberry’s ideas. Kevin Sorbo plays Captain Dylan Hunt, a man who was kept frozen for 300 years. In those 300 years, a war is lost, and peace in the galaxies crumbles. Hunt’s ship is found on the edge of a black hole by a group of scavengers. The captain recruits the scavengers, convincing them to help him reconcile peace in the galaxies.
Hunt is the standard perfect captain, with strong similarities to Captain Kirk. The rest of the crew is filled with unique and interesting characters that are easily loved. Even the ship Andromeda has its own personality, as the AI tries to learn what it is like to be human.
4 Red Dwarf
Parodying all sci-fi, Red Dwarf is an obvious contender for one of the best Star Trek rip-offs. It is a British TV series, where a slacker is the only survivor of a radiation leak. He wakes up 3 million years in the future and discovers he is the only human left. Lister (Craig Charles) and his crew travel the universe while he deals with being the last of his species.
The costumes and the makeup for the humanoid creatures mimic Star Trek. It uses characters with similar personalities to those in Star Trek and puts them in unexpected and hilarious positions. Rather than aliens, all the characters are from Earth, but they are evolved from different creatures. This makes for an interesting spin on the standard science fiction. It isStar Trek meets British comedy in the best way.
3 Babylon 5
Baton Broadcasting Company
Babylon 5 is set 10 years after a war between the Earth and the Minbari. Commander Sinclair, in an attempt to keep peace between the planets, takes control of the space station Babylon 5. The space station is used as neutral ground for trade and communication between the planets. Babylon 5 was ahead of its time; each episode was part of a larger scheme. When something would change in one episode, it would be continued into the rest of the series. The episodes also have the same type of lessons that Star Trek always had.
There are, however, controversial accusations between fans of Babylon 5 and Star Trek. When Babylon 5 came out, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was released. There were a lot of questions from the fans of Babylon 5 about the similarities between the shows. Even J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, has voiced concerns over the origins of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The two shows are often compared, especially since the names were similar and the settings were identical. There is a lot of debate on who copied who, even among the creators. It has continued to be a debate filled with controversy.
2 The Orville
It is fairly clear, The Orville is a Star Trek parody. It copies the formulation of space exploration to a tee. The USS Orville is a mid-class ship exploring the Planetary Union. The crew faces challenges that parallel the original Star Trek series. Between the colors of the uniforms and the overall stylization of the set, it does the intended job of making a loving joke out of the Star Trek series. The Orville is actually the first non-animated series created by Seth MacFarlane.
The Orville is the most recent series on this list, and it is the most obvious as far as a Star Trek rip-off goes. It is definitely a Seth MacFarlane take, on the Star Trek universe, filled with his style of humor. Despite being a parody, it can also be viewed as a stand-alone and is great science fiction in its own right. The cast has great chemistry, and the comedy doesn’t feel over the top or ridiculous.
1 Star Wars
Star Wars being called a rip-off of Star Trek is undeniably fighting words. Star Wars, of course, is a hero’s journey classic, following Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he saves Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) from the clutches of Darth Vader (David Prowse). He meets a variety of people and creatures that help him meet his destiny. Both Star Wars and Star Trek have iconic fan bases, and they often argue that the franchises are completely different. However, their resemblances are very uncanny.
Each series pulls from the other, but it’s hard not to be similar, since they both have political commentary and take inspiration from Western movies and TV shows. We can also compare the aliens and the technology, due to their similarity. Overall, it is difficult to create sci-fi without ripping off Star Trek, as it is the essential bread and butter of the genre.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
