5 Companion Spacecraft We Can’t Help But Love

Audiences love their action heroes. These larger than life characters take us to places we can only dream about. The film industry is a billion dollar juggernaut; it trudges on as movies continue to get bigger. At the same time, audiences are exposed to heroes that take on tasks proving to be just as daunting – Pitting them against odds that no one could overcome.

Although it’s easy to fall in love with these larger than life heroes and ensemble cast members , there’s usually another underlying love that tends to tug at our heart strings. It isn’t the action or the romance of a plot but the realization that behind every good hero is a great companion craft.

Whether it’s a craft with innumerable bells and whistles or one that has it where it counts, some of the most classic heroes in cinema have a soft spot for a piece of metal that has gotten them out of more jams than they can count on one hand. Cinema is full of these larger than life spacecraft and the places they take these mammoth heroes.

The Milano

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Starting out of the gate with the 2014 Marvel space epic, Guardians of the Galaxy, fans quickly fell in love with Star Lord Peter Quill’s and his craft the Milano. The Milano is a fast, nimble space craft that proves to be a trusted extension of its owner. It’s a no brainer this ship will easily fall inline with a number of other favorite sci-fi spacecraft that audiences have grown to love over the years. As the Marvel universe is still building, it’s already been announced that a Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is already in the works with another assumed appearance of the Milano.

Guardians is jam packed full of 1980s pop culture references due to a young Peter being abducted by space scavengers at a young age. In a past interview, director James Gunn clarified the reasoning for the name as another throwback to the 80s. It’s a reference to young Alyssa Milano from her days on Who’s The Boss? and a certain childhood crush that was passed on to the trusted spacecraft.

Serenity

Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures

Although this trusted companion is known more for its short lived fun on Firefly, Serenity did make a big screen appearance in a film of the same name. Serenity is the ship of Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds and his crew made up of a rag tag group of individuals that all call the ship home. The Serenity franchise has gone to garner a significant amount of cult following as it is the original love child of his excellency Joss Whedon – The genius currently behind the Avengers films.

The ship itself is a Firefly-class transport ship, as its design and structure suggest, that has proven to see just as much action as its wayward captain and crew.  Piloted by Hoban “Wash” Washburne, the ship is an unquestionable 7th member to one of the best ensemble casts to ever grace both the small screen and big screen. If you’ve proven to be a fan of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. than it’s highly recommended that you give Firefly a chance.

Nostromo

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox

In space, no one can hear you scream. The famous tagline attached to one of science fictions best thrill rides. Although Alien is remembered more for its famous dinner time chest buster scene than the space craft setting itself, movie connoisseurs the world round will know of the Nostromo and the purpose it served in this edge of your seat thriller. The Nostromo was a mammoth star-freighter owned by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation – A fictional corporate empire created just for the Alien universe.

The Nostromo was the equivalent to an outer space tractor trailer which hauled massive loads across the stars. After making an unscheduled stop on a planet known only as LV-426, the crew of the Nostromo unintentionally brought aboard an alien life form that would ravage and kill most of the crew. The ship would forever go down as one of the most memorable in cinema history as the playground for one of Hollywood’s most feared creations.

Millennium Falcon

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox

How could the ship that made the Kessel in 12 parsecs, saved the Rebellion twice over, and is home to the galaxy’s most famous scoundrel not make this list? The Millennium Falcon is just as famous as its captain and first mate – Han Solo and his Wookiee copilot Chewbacca. The ship is easily as iconic as the franchise it comes from. So iconic, that a full size replica has been constructed for the next Star Wars film set to hit theaters in next year.

In the Star Wars mythology and prior to the ownership of Han Solo, the Millennium Falcon is believed to have a history that stretches back to the days prior to the Clone Wars. Although the ship is storied to have had a number of different owners, the most famous is easily the smuggler Han Solo. Before his days with the Rebellion, Solo won the ship from a friend of his named Lando Calrissian. Touted as being the fastest ship in the galaxy, it’s the crew and character of the ship that make it a stable in the science fiction world.

USS Enterprise

Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures

It’s difficult to choose between the final two spacecraft on this list but the USS Enterprise has to beat out the Millennium Falcon by the tightest of margins. Both ships have a place in two distinct fanboy cultures but the Enterprise gets the nudge by age and on screen experiences alone. If there was ever a crew that relied on a spacecraft, it was the crew under Captain James Kirk and Starfleet.

The USS Enterprise was a Federation cruiser that was in service with Starfleet in the 23rd century.  In sticking to the original story structure of the series, it is believed that the Enterprise has forty years of service – Not to mention a number of different crew changes and story reiterations over the years. Through all the Star Trek ups and downs, the USS Enterprise has remained the focal point that has lasted through everything.

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