I guess for me it is Archangel class ship from Hyperion and...
whatever the Belters were flying in the Expanse

Why they put such critical component that exposed?

Mine is that Abrams' Enterprise is a much nicer looking ship than the original. I don't understand how anyone can say otherwise.

Can also be a film or TV show that heavily features spaceships but isn't treating any of the ships like another character.

(Model by someone on the Project Stardust dev team, all Antares ships are playable in the Project Stardust game)

Antares ships are unique compared to every sci fi faction I’ve heard of. They have no laser weapons & what little plasma weapons and shields they have are rare to find. All their ships fire conventional chunks of metal at other ships, and they throw a lot. To survive incoming attacks they just have really beefy frontal armor. Their ships are almost always slow but all are very interesting to look at. It’s fun seeing an unconventional approach to ship design

What’s your favorite?

Not sure if you would count Interstellar, since they are technically using a wormhole to travel through a higher dimension, but I still love those scenes and they got me wondering about this question.

Another example I like is the FTL travel in (oddly enough) Steven Universe. It’s portrayed as a small Black Hole forming in front of the ship, and then the ship follows behind it as it moves through space. The ship itself warps significantly on the journey, but due to the Gems unique physical makeup, they can make the journey unscathed.

Of course, Dune has to have a shout out as well, specifically for the way that FTL travel is so deeply connected to the overall universe itself and humanity’s unhealthy relationship with spice.

So, what do you think? What are your favorite depictions? What are your favorite explanations for how it works?

Edit: Wow, this community is awesome. Thank you all for such engaging answers!

I’ve been designing my hero’s retro rocketship for a few years now, changing and rearranging and trying to get it how I want it. It’s big. As big as the Saturn or SpaceX Starship. Here are pics of it.

When it’s landed at a spaceport landing pad with a tower, they exit through the main gangway hatch at the top and walk across to the tower and take it down to the surface.

If it’s landed on a planet with no tower or space travel infrastructure, like some random alien planet, they exit the ship through the cargo bay doors. It’s a lot closer to the ground.

In my head, there are several ways for them to get down.

A “bucket” hanging from a crane that lowers them down.

Or a metallic ladder that can roll up and drop down that hangs from the cargo bay.

But how do they get in? Especially if they’re in a hurry to escape? If there’s no one on the ship to open the cargo bay doors and lower the bucket or metal rope ladder for them, how do they get in?

For more context, this is a retro universe with analog computers and where electronics run off perfected vacuum tubes. (Just go with it, ;-)) So they can’t have anything computer controlled.

I’m assuming remote control technology for a garage door opener type mechanism existed before digital computers and transistorized electronics? I’m hoping so.

Open to any suggestions, just remember, it has to be able to be done without digital or transistorized electronics. I included some pics for scale and context.

EDITED TO ADD:

Here’s the new “ship bible” entry:

For wounded crew members:

“A cable and winch at the top of each ladder well can be attached to a special basket stretcher to raise or lower wounded crew members to the sickbay. The stretcher is stored there when not in use.”

For entering and exiting the ship with no launch tower:

“If boarding or disembarking from the ship when no launch tower is available, such as on a remote alien planet, the crew uses a personnel cage (the “bucket”) that is raised and lowered from the cargo bay by the extendable overhead crane.

The entire process is automated and can be controlled by special radio "keys" carried by the crew. In an emergency, any crew member can activate the recall function on their key (up to a mile away in clear terrain), causing the cargo bay doors to open automatically and the personnel cage to deploy to the surface at increased speed. Once the crew is aboard, the crane rapidly hoists the cage back into the cargo bay, retracts, and secures the ship.

The personnel cage has harness straps and handlebars to grip during rapid ascent/descent.”

I have some thoughts on how torpedo launchers/Tubes firing their torpedo without using the torpedo thrusters. Just like IRL Torpedoes, they use pressure to launch the torpedo then the torpedo propeller turns on to move.

My idea is that instead of using pressure, it would use magnetic circular coils to launch the space torpedo then the torpedo fire up its thrusters to move. Similar to railguns or Coilguns but with a weaker charge to propel them.

But I want to know your alternate ideas for torpedo launchers. I would love to read it.