Shiny-Looking Spaceships: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
Older and more [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism|idealistic]] [[Speculative Fiction Series]] feature spacecraft that are shiny, pristine and bright in almost all conditions. This trope was pretty much the standard before the 1970s with films like ''Silent Running'' (1972), ''[[Dark Star]]'' (1974), ''[[Star Wars]]'' (1977) and ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' (1979), which depicted many space vessels as a heavily lived-in, industrial or pragmatic; i.e. function over form, whereas Shiny Looking Spaceships are more form over function.
For ships that never enter the atmosphere of a planet, this is actually (semi-)realistic. There is no mud or dust in interstellar space that would leave grit or dirt on the outsides of passing spaceships, though there are micrometeorites that gradually erode the surface, so older vessels would have more of a matte hull. Also, having a reflective surface means that [[Frickin' Laser Beams]] will have a harder time burning a hole in your hull, and you have some degree of innate heat-shielding.
The ''interiors'' of said ships are also often curiously spotless considering how many people are crammed into them for extended periods of time. This can be [[Hand Wave|hand waved]] away by having [[Dirt Forcefield|very efficient air filtering systems]], or micro/nanoscopic cleaner robots (or just really good visible-scale robots offcamera). It can also be answered with very dedicated crews (as aboard military vessels with many enlisted men and women to keep occupied),
Contrast [[Used Future]], [[Zeerust]]. See also [[Ascetic Aesthetic]].
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* ''[[Andromeda]]''
* The Minbari in ''[[Babylon 5]]'', in keeping with their [[Crystal Spires and Togas]]/[[Our Elves Are Better|Space Elves]] characteristic. The Centauri, in keeping with their pompous [[Bling of War]], has elements of this. [[All There in the Manual|Narns have exotic looking ships to make them look more advanced than they really are]]. Human vessels on the other hand, are rather more functional-looking.
** At least a few Minbari like to poke fun at the humans for taking this entirely in the opposite direction, claiming that humans think the only colors that should be anywhere on a starship are green or grey. The Narn and Centauri ships at least can back up their flashy looks with actual performance, although the Centauri tend to come out on top, presumably because their use of [[Artificial Gravity]] allows their ships to be much faster <ref>
* The Liberator in ''[[Blake's 7|Blakes Seven]]''. Averted in Season 4 with the broken-down cargo ship Scorpio.
* [[Space: 1999]]
** The Eagle, workhorse spacecraft of Moonbase: Alpha, was eminently functional in form, but it was also usually squeaky-clean. This seems incredible considering the amount of moondust kicked up by its engines every time it takes off. The real Apollo astronauts had to frequently wipe the moon dust from their helmets just to maintain visibility.
*** In behind-the-scenes photographs it's obvious that the miniatures were heavily weathered. Unfortunately, it just didn't show up very well on TV.
* An odd juxtaposition of
* Cylon basestars in the new ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'' are very shiny indeed. This contrasts with the titular ship, [[Used Future|an obsolete old bucket]] which gets more and more damaged as the series goes on (though notably it still outperforms a shiny basestar one on
** That would be because the Cylons meant for the Basestars to be more straight-up aircraft carriers ([[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!!]]), relying on their Raider wings and long-range missiles to attack their enemies, while the Colonials with their less sophisticated technology preferred to built their Battlestars as... well... [[The Battlestar|Battlestars]], using their Vipers to protect the mothership while she pressed the attack at closer ranges with heavy cannons.
* The Heart Of Gold in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', justified in that it's brand new (with some controls still wrapped in cellophane). Arthur favorably compares it to the "dingy Vogon crate" he and Ford have just left.
** The blacker-than-black spaceship they stole from the Restaurant's parking lot was even
*** Actually, Hotblack Desiato's ship was perfectly frictionless. The light just sort of... slid off it.
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* In ''[[Tachyon the Fringe]]'', [[Mega Corp|GalSpan]] ships all shiny with smooth lines and exotic shapes and are also colored with white and blue paint. They are shown to be less sturdy than their [[La Résistance|Bora]] counterparts, which are converted cargo haulers and look [[Used Future|accordingly]].
* In keeping with the clean, futuristic aesthetic of ''[[Mass Effect]]'', there are many ship designs that are shiny, spotless and strangely lacking in right angles. Most of these belong to the [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|Asari]] or the [[Mecha-Mooks|Geth]].
** The ''Normandy'' SR-2 from [[Mass Effect 2|the second game]] is probably the best example from the
* The pulp fiction stylings of ''[[Red Alert 3 Paradox]]'' demanded this. Soviet spacecraft are even chromed against radiation.
* The Thul ships in ''[[Dark Star One]]''. Since they want to prove that they are better than the other races (especially the Terrans, who they were descended from) in every way, it's natural that they make their ships look much better than all of the rest.
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