- 4 minutes ago
Today is a good day to deep dive.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Hello, hello, and welcome back to this latest video of
00:04We are going to be going through one of the most famous ships in all of Star Trek history now
00:09in a
00:10moment. Before we do that, please don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. We are so close to
00:15250,000 subscribers. You are amazing and awesome, and we massively, massively appreciate your
00:22support. Thank you so much, everyone. Remember as well to give the original article that this
00:27video was based on a read. It was written by the astounding Paul Sutherland, who I fully believe
00:34will be running Utopia Planitia shipyards given half a chance. Now, as you've probably guessed
00:39from the thumbnail, we're going to be going through the Klingon Bird of Prey, which is probably the most
00:44famous alien ship of them all. This ship is almost as recognizable as the Klingons themselves, famously
00:51beginning life as a Romulan vessel before being retconned to being part of the Empire. This has
00:57gone through several different iterations and sizes. We will be going through the Birel, Kvort, and D-12
01:03class ships as well. Grab yourself a gallon or two of blood wine, and let's get to it.
01:11Hey, I love you.
01:12I love you.
01:13Welcome to 10 secrets of the Klingon Bird of Prey. Number 10, Romulan retcon. Now, as I just noted,
01:22the Klingon Bird of Prey was originally intended to be a motion picture era style redesign of the
01:28classic Romulan Bird of Prey from the original series. Initial drafts of the ship would refer to
01:34the ship as Romulan, and that's where the Bird of Prey title came from. However, as the scripting
01:40process went on, the Romulans were swapped out for Klingons, and their proprietary Bird of Prey
01:46was swapped out to be a stolen one. Ultimately, in the version of the script that was filmed and
01:51released, the Bird of Prey was simply a Klingon Bird of Prey with no reference to the Romulan
01:57connection whatsoever. There was, however, an in-universe explanation. According to writer-producer
02:02Harv Bennett, I didn't change their ship because I remembered a piece of trivia that stated there
02:06was a mutual assistance military pact between the Klingons and the Romulans for an exchange
02:11of military equipment. Bennett's explanation would remain as part of Fanon for decades,
02:17and like the Romulan use of Klingon battlecruisers in the original series, it was simply a way of
02:23explaining it away. That is, until Star Trek Enterprise came along and showed the Klingons
02:28using 22nd century variations of the Bird of Prey, thus completely retconning that in-universe
02:35explanation. It was nice while it lasted, though. Number nine, wonderful muscles. While you can
02:41easily trace the configuration and inspiration for the Klingon Bird of Prey back to the original
02:47series episode Balance of Terror, the filmmakers didn't rely solely on Hua Chang's original
02:52design. In a somewhat novel move for Star Trek films at the time, the art department itself
02:58was bypassed and Leonard Nimoy handed off design of the Klingon Bird of Prey to ILM which was doing
03:05the effects for the film. During early discussions with Nimoy, ILM's Nilo Rodas, David Carson and Bill
03:12George were inspired by the director's imitation of a predatory bird, arms outstretched like wings.
03:18Nimoy's guidance also included the directive that the ship should possess an elongated neck,
03:23again a characteristic of an attacking bird and one that would be incorporated in Klingon starship
03:28designs for decades to come. Further exploring various concepts for this ship, Nilo Rodas drew
03:34a vague impression of a muscled man and then based the Bird of Prey as this man flexing his muscles
03:41in
03:42a downward position. Model maker Bill George then designed the ship around that with the railed vents
03:48above the wings as the shoulders of this muscle man and the wings down in attack position like the
03:54arms being outstretched. There was even red piping added around the head of the Bird of Prey to simulate
03:59the chin guard on a football player's helmet. As instantly iconic as the ship would become,
04:06it started life with Leonard Nimoy pretending to be a bird and modelling it on a football player.
04:12Number eight, Honourable Movement. A first for the franchise, the Bird of Prey model
04:17featured mechanized wings that could be lowered and raised as per command. There were three different
04:24configurations displayed in the search for Spock. Horizontal for flight configuration, down for attack
04:31configuration and then raised for landing configuration. Now while all three were on show
04:36in the search for Spock, they would be used again over the course of the TOS movies but they would
04:42become
04:42less and less frequent going into next generation and beyond. This is because the physical
04:47model itself began to break down and the mechanized components stopped working, which is why for the
04:54most part you see Birds of Prey in the next generation permanently in a horizontal flight position. This
05:02would eventually change with the move to CGI in Deep Space Nine. Number seven, Down Periscope.
05:08Continuing on with the franchise's long-running effort to save money, the Klingon bridge from Star Trek
05:14the search for Spock was actually a reuse of a set from another series, the name of which has
05:20unfortunately been lost to time. Now it incorporated various elements that have been left over from the
05:25motion picture and the Wrath of Cannes and such futuristic elements as plastic sandwich boxes.
05:31I'm actually serious. But the main feature of Krooge's Bird of Prey is the monstrous looking dog that was
05:39sitting beside the captain's chair for the majority of the film. This was a practical model that was
05:44operated by Ken Ralston, who was the ILM VFX supervisor who hid under the floor and moved it
05:52with his arms. Bizarrely, the set was totally redesigned for Star Trek IV The Voyage Home when the
05:57very same ship, now dubbed the HMS Bounty, was used by the renegade crew of the USS Enterprise for their
06:02titular voyage home. More than the design used in Star Trek III, this version from Star Trek IV would
06:09effectively set the template for all Klingon ships to follow. Newcomer Mike Okuda also contributed to
06:16that design. In Star Trek V The Final Frontier, the set was more or less the same, although they added
06:22a
06:22periscope that could be lowered over the gunner's chair. Number six, Kalos take the wheel. Now as stated,
06:29the bridge for Captain Klaa's Bird of Prey in Star Trek V The Final Frontier was a new build,
06:35although based on the build from Star Trek IV The Voyage Home. It would be used almost wholesale
06:40again in Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country. It was given a bit of a different colour scheme to
06:46represent General Chang's Bird of Prey. Remaining largely unchanged, the green lighting scale depicted
06:53the ship while at battle stations, there was a console added behind the General's chair,
06:58and there was something else that was a first for this ship as well. A steering wheel. Described by
07:03director Nicholas Meyer as an enormous thing that was impossible to move, the Bird of Prey's steering
07:08wheel is barely visible in the finished film, but an unnamed Klingon officer can be seen operating the
07:13antiquated technology in the background of a couple of shots during the movie's climax. Sadly, while many
07:19aspects of both Klaa's and Chang's Bird of Prey bridge were incorporated into future versions of the
07:24Klingon Bird of Prey as well, this steering wheel was gifted to Meyer when production wrapped on Star
07:30Trek VI and it has since long ago disappeared. Number five. Everybody remember where we parked.
07:38Because of its relative small size, we'll get to it, the Klingon Bird of Prey turns up in various
07:44different locations in Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, including landing in Golden Gate Park, hovering and
07:49intimidating a Norwegian whaling ship, and of course crashing into San Francisco Bay. To achieve this
07:56last shot, a version of the Bird of Prey was built and crashed into a water tank, combined with footage
08:02of a miniature Golden Gate Bridge. However, the final section of the film required Kirk and crew to escape
08:10the sinking Bird of Prey into the bay, which required a full-scale section of the ship to be built.
08:17Obviously unable to actually film the scene in open ocean, the filmmakers instead constructed the
08:21Bird of Prey's nose section in Paramount Studio's disused water tank, at the time being used as a
08:27parking lot. As Mike Okuda described the location, this parking lot at Paramount Pictures was known as
08:32B-Tank. With short walls on two sides, raised beams on the other two, and the blue sky backing behind,
08:38it could be flooded to simulate an open ocean. One of the very rare times that a full-scale section
08:43was
08:43built for Star Trek, and it was parked in Paramount Pictures parking lot. Appropriate.
08:49Number four, size matters. Long before fans were left scratching their heads about the TARDIS-like
08:56interior of the Discovery A, people have been wondering what in the name of Grethor is up with
09:02the various sizes of Klingon Birds of Prey. There's been many in-depth articles, and YouTuber EC Henry has
09:08actually done a fantastic video breaking down just how exactly two humpback whales could fit inside a
09:14Klingon Bird of Prey. The Bird of Prey seems to fluctuate between 50 and 150 meters long in the
09:20Voyage Home itself, and then in several episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation, for example,
09:26Reunion and The Defector, it could be up to 350 meters long. To clear this whole mess up, the writers
09:33of TNG and
09:34Deep Space Nine have referred to two types of Bird of Prey, the Burel and Kvort classes, and Star Trek
09:38Generations introduced the retired D12-type Bird of Prey, which also retroactively appeared in DS9's
09:45past prologue. What's the difference between these three styles? Well, the episodes and movies
09:50themselves, along with Michael and Denise Okuda's Star Trek Encyclopedia, don't really help matters.
09:56Initially telling us that the Burel is the larger of the three variants, then saying it's the Kvort,
10:01Rick Sternbach's Star Trek Deep Space Nine technical manual muddies the waters even more by suggesting
10:07there's a 685 meter long jumbo Bird of Prey that's roughly the same size as a galaxy-class starship.
10:15But sure, no, go on and tell me how Discovery is the one that ruined continuity.
10:20Number three, Klingon Keepsakes. As we've previously mentioned in this dolphin series, it's always loads
10:26of fun when Star Trek merch turns up on screen. Now for example, there's the AMT model kit of the
10:32Enterprise that turned up on screen in Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country, and then there's Playmates
10:37Borg Cube, which turned up as definitely not a toy in the episode Dark Frontier of Star Trek Voyager.
10:44Now we've got one more for you, Hallmark's Klingon Bird of Prey turned up in this DS9 season 4 Klingon
10:51extravaganza The Way of the Warrior. While the producers initially commissioned illustrator John
10:56Eves to create a batch of new Klingon starships for The Way of the Warrior, the massive scale of
11:01the episode's centerpiece battle sequence meant the budget was tight and existing models would have to
11:06suffice. To fill out the Klingon fleet, Deep Space Nine's in-house VFX crew brought the Old Bird of Prey,
11:11Vortcha-class attack cruiser, and Katinga-class battlecruiser filming models out from storage,
11:16and quickly recalled the All Good Things Nagvar model from a touring exhibition. Still, the sheer
11:22quantity of ships that were on show meant they had to reach out to other ways of getting them on
11:28screen,
11:29including model kits and, yes, Hallmark ornaments. In fact, quite a few of the Birds of Prey that are
11:36shown on screen in The Way of the Warrior are those exact same Christmas ornaments that could be hanging
11:43from your Christmas tree this Christmas. Number two, Mbop. Paul, some of these titles work lovely on
11:51the page, but then you don't have to say them. After the destruction of the USS Enterprise in Star
11:57Trek III The Search for Spock, The Bird of Prey became the main starship setting of Star Trek IV The
12:02Voyage Home. To quote producer Harv Bennett, they had a lot of fun designing that one, and I think the
12:07colour selection, a kind of serpentine kind of green, went on to help us, not only there but later.
12:13We utilised it in Star Trek IV because it's so dramatic a look. Now, the drama of the ship must
12:18have
12:18been contagious because it went on to appear in Star Trek V as Captain Klaa's ship, Star Trek VI as
12:24General Chang's ship, and Star Trek Generations as the Juros Sisters, RIP, ship as well. Despite these
12:31major motion picture appearances and the aforementioned Star to the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine,
12:36Voyager, Enterprise, Short Treks, Lower Decks, and Star Trek Prodigy, the ship was actually slated for more
12:42appearances than even that. The scripts for the TNG episodes, Aequiel and The Chase, and the DS9
12:47episodes, Dramatis Personae and Crossover, all indicated the use of the Bird of Prey, though the
12:52ship was ultimately replaced with the Vortja-class attack cruiser itself created for TNG to replace
12:58the Bird of Prey, but only moderately successful. And to note, while General Chang's Bird of Prey was
13:03able to fire while cloaked in Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country, there was an additional prologue planned
13:08that would have seen the HMS Bounty being deconstructed and studied by Captain Montgomery
13:14Scott. Number one, Qolth, now roughly translated, Legacy. The legacy of the Klingon Bird of Prey extends
13:22well past the movies, the episodes, the toys, the Hallmark ornaments, and goes into Star Trek design
13:28language to this day. Now while Star Trek's producers commissioned Rick Sternbach to create a new
13:34Vortja-class attack cruiser to replace the Klingon Bird of Prey, the popularity of the ship ensured
13:41that it would continue to make appearances. In fact, it's one of Star Trek's longest lived ships.
13:46It was so popular in fact with executive producer Rick Berman that he would often encourage illustrators
13:52and designers to use elements of the Bird of Prey when he felt other designs weren't working, including in
13:58the film's Star Trek Nemesis. Both the Valdor-type warbird and the Riemann Scimitar incorporate elements
14:04of the Bird of Prey, despite them having Romulan design. A seeming anachronism, Star Trek Enterprise
14:11featured a new spin on the Klingon Bird of Prey, designed by John Eves after several other 22nd
14:16century Klingon vessels were created for the show but failed to meet the producer's approval. Even
14:21Star Trek Discovery featured a Bird of Prey in its Klingon-centric first season, a ship that was heavily
14:26influenced by gothic architecture and H.R. Giger's biomechanical style, but still clearly bearing
14:32all the hallmarks of that very first Bird of Prey. It has since appeared in Star Trek Prodigy and of
14:38course in Star Trek Lower Decks, most notably in the episode Way Dush, where a lot of the interior
14:44are recreated so faithfully, the only thing we're still waiting to see in live action again is another
14:51one of those dogs. Give us one of those monster dogs you patawks!
14:55Thank you so much for watching this video, thank you so much Paul Sullivan for putting together an
14:59amazing article again, please don't forget to go and check that out. Everyone remember you can
15:03catch us over on Twitter at TrekCulture, you can catch myself at SeanFerrick on Twitter as well,
15:08at Sean.Ferrick88 on Instagram, and you can catch our editor at EditChrisEdit on Twitter.
15:14You are all amazing and wonderful, thank you so much, we'll see you again soon. Our friends in Ukraine,
15:19stay strong, our friends in Iran, we are so proud of you. Everyone, live long and prosper, we'll see you
15:27soon.
Comments