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a kennedy

(36,350 posts)
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 08:35 PM Apr 3

Question......why do ALL futuristic movies that have weapons, ALL LOOK LIKE THE SAME OL' FIREARMS OF

TODAY, ONLY A TAD MORE STYLISH??? It’s kinda funny that weapons with bullets no matter what time frame always look the same.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Irish_Dem

(82,357 posts)
2. Because gun like objects look menacing and scary.
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 09:28 PM
Apr 3

Replace it with something that looks like a hairbrush or pen and it looses
the ominous feel.

Movies only have an hour and a half to create a story and mood.
They don't have time to retrain on emotive movie symbolism.

hunter

(40,856 posts)
5. I doubt gun-toting humanity has much of a future.
Fri Apr 3, 2026, 10:37 PM
Apr 3

But we can pretend until the curtain comes down.

John1956PA

(5,119 posts)
6. It's a phallic thing. To its credit, "Star Trek, The Next Generation" has tasers which look like hand-held scanners.
Sat Apr 4, 2026, 01:27 AM
Apr 4

ProfessorGAC

(77,290 posts)
7. You Beat Me To It
Sat Apr 4, 2026, 05:54 PM
Apr 4

They even have the light phaser which is about the size of 2 Bic lighters.
The phaser rifle, however, looked kind of like a light machine gun with a phaser attached to the end & the pulse cannon looked like a cross between an RPG & a shotgun .
So, they went back to the gun look fir the heavier weapons.

John1956PA

(5,119 posts)
8. I like the scene in the first TNG movie in which Worf is brandishing one of those monster weapons.
Sat Apr 4, 2026, 06:07 PM
Apr 4

He bids one of the enemy Borg attackers to "Assimilate This!"


ProfessorGAC

(77,290 posts)
9. Technically, The Second Movie
Sat Apr 4, 2026, 07:14 PM
Apr 4

It was, however, the first movie with only the TNG cast.
Generations had that whole cast, but Kirk, McCoy, & Chekov were also in it.
Another thing I liked in that scene was Picard releasing his mag boots to jump all the way to the other side of the deflector dish. Good FX. Obviously a boom harness, but it looked cool.
Also, in Insurrection, Worf used one of those shoulder held pulse cannons to take out the drones. Back to the conventional gun shape.

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