It sure seems like the Genesis device from Star Trek would be a whole lot cheaper. It can’t destroy a planet, but it does wipe out everything on a planet’s surface, and it is only as big as a photon torpedo.
When I saw Spock buried in a photon torpedo, I laughed my ass off. I mean, wouldn’t a photon torpedo be an energy weapon with no physical structure? I always laughed at how wrong the movie got that tidbit.
I mean, how many ways can you prove they got this wrong.
A physical torpedo would not emit the blindingly bright light that we always see from afar when the Enterprise fires off a photon torpedo. People might say “that is the propulsion signature”. Well, the same light emits when the torpedo is directly oncoming, so that is false.
How about the speed of the torpedo itself. Without going to Warp speed (can’t see how a little lozenge would have a warp drive), it would take a really long tome for that little capsule to cross the vast distances from Enterprise to target. Instead, photon torpedoes hit their target in a few seconds no matter how far the target.
Before Wrath of Kahn, photon torpedos were just energy weapons like the phasers were. Firing Spock off in a photon torpedo casing was just dumb dumb dumb.
Star Trek was big on techno-babble and ignoring common sense.
Kirk is still the best captain.
The whole cloaking device non-use by the Federation was cosmic level stupid.