Tuesday, January 05, 2010

GCSE Candidate: Dylan Hunt

It's 2010, the Year We Make Contact. That means Scifi needs to get over the Mayan 2012 doomsday "prophecy", post-apocalyptic craze, and embrace space travel. And what better way to celebrate Scifi's outer space roots than by deciding who is the Greatest Starship Captain Ever?
 
Dylan Hunt    (Kevin Sorbo) Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda
 
Captain Skills: 3
Like Kirk and Picard, Dylan Hunt is the premiere officer of his fleet. A noted Captain respected by his peers and beloved by his crew. Well, except for his best friend and first mate, Gaheris Rhade. Wow. That's a pretty poor judge of character, that endangered the ship and crew. Only through sheer luck did Hunt not get destroyed by the black hole the Andromeda Ascendant fell into.
 
Personal Combat Skills: 5
At 6'3" tall and possessing a strength five times that of regular men, Cpt. Hunt didn't need a lot of combat training to kick ass. But as a High Guard officer, he got it, and frequently unleashed some major whoopass, worthy of Kevin Sorbo's previous show, Hercules. If a Gorn had faced against Dylan Hunt, there wouldn't have been any home-made cannon. Hunt would have kicked some lizard ass with his bare hands.
 
Starship Combat Skills: 5
Again, the creme of his fleet, Dylan Hunt's skills in starship combat are repeatedly shown throughout his TV series. And unlike Captains Picard and Kirk, he never had to sacrifice his ship.
 
Ladies Man: 4
While he didn't exactly have a chick in every port, Captain Hunt probably could have. First there was his intelligent ship, Andromeda Ascendantthat was in love with him. Then there was Bekka Valentine, a space pirate that freed him from a black hole. Then there was Trance Gemini, the frickin' avatar of a star, with godlike powers. And the list goes on and on. Basically, the former Hercules could have had nearly any chick he wanted in the galaxy. And unlike Kirk, Hunt didn't suffer temporary dumbfoundedness when he saw a fetching female.
 
Crew: 3
Hunt's original crew abilities weren't really explored in the pilot episode- but we know that his first officer betrayed him. Not so good. His new, adopted crew from the Eureka Maru were a clever band of misfits, but hardly the creme of any organized fleet. Given the traitorous forst officer, and the misfits of the Eureka Maru 3 seems like a fair, middle-of-the-road score.
 
Coolness: 5
Remember that thing about the actor being the character? In Dylan Hunt's case, Kevin Sorbo was already hugely popular, after starring as Hercules for many years. Unlike William Shatner, Harrison Ford or Patrick Stewart who were minor actors when they starred in their shows. Now it's true that long hair is girlified, even if it what many a chick likes. But Cpt. Hunt is a genetically engineered, super-humanly strong, uber Captain, who can out fight, out think and out fly most, if not all of the humans in the 52nd century.
 
Total score: 25 out of 30.
83%. Hunt beats out Han Solo, but still comes in second fiddle to Jim Kirk and Commander Cain.

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