GadgetSGGS

 Sci-fi spaceships

Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle

The movie: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Why it's a damn fine vessel: Probably one of the most elegant space ships ever designed, the Lambda class Shuttle stood apart from the rest of the imperial space craft in the movie saga. Inspired by the “Skyhopper” vehicle briefly seen in A New Hope, one of these graceful ships makes a cameo appearance in the pilot episode of Joss Whedon’s Firefly.

Gunstar

The movie: The Last Starfighter (1984)

Why it's a damn fine vessel: The Gunstar broke cinematic ground for being the first spaceship that was entirely computer rendered. A Cray X-MP pushed the pixels for this 1984 classic video game riff on the “Sword in the Stone” story. Although the arcade game in the film was fictional, it has since been made by the fan community, complete with it’s own custom arcade cabinet identical to the one in the movie.

Battlestar Galactica

The show: Battlestar Galactica Original Series (1978)

Why it's a damn fine vessel: The original Battlestar Galactica is essentially an aircraft carrier in space, creating a surprisingly original looking design for the era. The interior of the Galactica sets were filled with redundant laboratory equipment such as multi meters, power supplies, and racks of signal generators to give it the “war room of the future” aesthetic.

Ranger

The movie: Interstellar (2014)

Why it's a damn fine vessel: This iconic shuttle craft was realised in the movie using practical effects, various scale miniatures, and a full-scale build of the ship on-set. Inspired by the 1980s space shuttle, this sleek landing craft is one of the most recognisable vehicles seen in science fiction film in recent years.

Event Horizon

The movie: Event Horizon (1997)

Why it's a damn fine vessel: Originally pitched as “the Shining in space”, the iconic experimental ship Event Horizon hosted some of the most graphic horror put to celluloid in the '90s. The ship’s design perfectly reflected the horror inherent in the story, and the spooky, gothic design is as much cathedral as it is space ship.