One of the oldest debates in nerd culture is Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Both are huge franchises with tons of ancillary material and deep lore. The most clear form this age-old debate has taken is comparing the two franchises' most iconic spaceships. The Starship Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon. From the outset, this doesn't really seem like much of a contest. After all, the Enterprise is a state of the art military research vessel and the Falcon is a hunk of junk that barely holds together while🔥 flying. But like Han Solo said, "she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."
Yes, the Millennium Falcon may be smaller and less well-equipped (or maintained) as the Enterprise, but she outclasses the Federation ship in many different ways. Mostly it comes down to her flexibility. The Falcon is a ship for daredevils and improvisers. It's at its best when it's getting into crazy situations and then finding ways out of them. The Falcon just has a lot more options for dealing with unexpected trouble than the larger, slower Enterprise does. Even if most of the time Han, Chewie, and Lando just decide to run away fr𒈔om whatever the trouble is.
So consider this a consumer report, of sorts. Next time you find yourself in the starship dealership having to choose between the shiny Federation ship and the beaten-up Corellian freighter, keep this list in mind. These are 30 Thin♕gs the Millennium Falcon Can Do That The Starship Enterprise Can't.
30 𒅌 Exceed Lightspeed
When Luke Skywalker first saw the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo proudly told him, "It can make .5 past lightspeed." Now all Star Wars ships can go lightspeed, but the Falcon can go even faster. The ship is so fast because Han installed♔ a hyperdrive usually built for Star Destroyers.
That's a lot of horsepower for a tiny ship like the Falcon.
Granted, that's when you can get to the hyperdrive to work. Over in Star Trek though, they've got trouble going past Warp 10. As the Voyager episode "Threshold" showed us, any faster than that and you tr✱ansform into a lizard.
29 𓂃 The Millenium Falcon Can Outrun A Black Hole
For a ship built to explore the unknown, the Enterprise is oddly unprepared for space phenomena. Granted they never get too close to the anomalies they study but they're still in space. Stuff is bound to happen. It happens a lot when you're a devil-may-ca🐭re smuggler like Han Solo. Good thing the Millennium Falcon can escape the gravity well of a black hole. The ship got caught in ♛one during Han's famous Kessel Run. They did need some coaxium hyperfuel to escape, but the Falcon was fast enough to keep from crossing the event horizon. And that was without lightspeed.
28 You Can Find It On Google M👍♈aps
It's not every fictional spaceship you can find in real life. While the Starship Enterprise only exists in models and a series of Southern California soundstages, the Millennium Falcon has a full-scale set. Prop makers constructed one back in the day for the original trilogy and once again for the new sequel trilogy. And some eagle-eyed fans have stumbled upon it. Back during the production of The Last Jedi, the model was moved outside the London studio with cargo containers were put around it to disguise it. But fans searching on Google Maps spotted it from the ai🎐r.
27 🅰 It Actually Has Aღ Bathroom
There's a long-standing joke among Trekkies about the Enterprise's lack of facilities. Either nobody ever has to relieve themselves in Star Trek or they're just really good at holding it in. Even some of the technical manuals don't point out where the bathroom is. The characters in Star Wars may be similarly shy about their, uh, habits but we do have confirmation that the Millennium Falcon does indeed have a bathroom. The Incredible Cross-Sections book shows it's in the captain's quarters. That book doesn't show any shower though, and the Enterprise꧒ does have those. Guess it's a trade-off.
26 The Milleni꧋um Falcon Actually Lands On Other Planets
One of the Enterprise's big drawbacks is the fact that it can't land on the planets it visits. That's why it♛ has to have shuttles and transporters to get people planetside. The Enteꦺrprise itself has to stay up in space. That's just way too complicated.
You know what's easier? Just landing on the Planet.
Like the Millennium Falcon does. Again, this is the👍 va♏lue in having a smaller ship. It actually increases the number of places you can go. Want to stop into a port for a quick nip at the cantina? No problem, and no beaming necessary.
25 ♌ You Can Fly The Falcon Blind
You know that big display on the Enterprise bridge, the one they make phone calls on? You know that's not a window, right? It's a big flatscreen monitor. That starfield they see is just a camera feed. Cool, but it's not going to 🌸be very useful if all your instruments fail and you can't see where you're going. The Millennium Falcon, on the other hand, has an actual windshield in it💟s cockpit. If its instruments go down, you'd still to be able to fly it (somewhat). And in space, being able to tell where you're going is kinda important.
24 ꦓ It Can Jump To Lightspeed ꦅIn Atmosphere
When you're a rugged space hero, being able to get out of a tight jam is imperative. After all, it's not very heroic to get blasted by the henchmen in the middle of your daring escape. Luckily for Han Solo, the Millennium Falcon is always ready to jump to lightspeed no matter the location. It can make the jump from inside a planet's atmosphere, or like in The Force Awakens, from the hangar of another ship. Doing this is incredibly dangerous though. If Han makes the jump at the wrong momꦆent, he'll only escape into a wall smear.
23 𓂃 Land At Lightspeed
Just bꩵecause there are things the Millennium Falcon can do, that doesn't mean they are things it should do. Chief among those things is come out of Lightspeed inside a planet's atmosphere and then try to land. There's a reason you're supposed to enter and exit lightspeed while in space. It's because once you come out of lightspeed, you're still going ridiculously fast. A ship needs time to slow down before entering atmosphere and landing, if only so it doesn't turn into a fireball. In fairness, Han Solo only did this oncཧe, while infiltrating Starkiller Base to avoid detection.
22 The F♌alcon Has A☂ Better Wardrobe Than The Enterprise
Star Trek is known for many things. Fashion sense is not o𝔍ne of them. Living in the Federation, you seem to either have the choice of monocular Starfleet uniform or garishly patterned jumpsuit. Or a sweater.
The two owners of the Millennium Falcon, contrarily, both had amazing personal styles.
Han Solo really pulls off his cowboy gunslinger look with his black vest. And Lando Calrissian would be nothing without his fabulous capes.꧅ He even had an entire closet full of them on the Falcon while he owned it. For the discerning s🗹pace fashionista, the choice of ships is obvious.
21 💖 ♚ It Can Escape From Space Monsters
Why space is full of giant monsters is unclear, but our heroes keep running into them. Good thing the Falcon has made a habit of escaping from their clutches. The moment from Empire Strikes Back is probably the most famous. Han flying the Falcon out of the space slug's mouth before i♚t could eat them.
But he managed it during his Kessel Run in Solo too.
There he evade💯d the tentacles of a massive creature trying to cruꦚsh them, leading it into a black hole. Meanwhile, this is something the Enterprise often has trouble with. Apollo's giant green hand anybody?