Why no phaser beams?

[Hey Missy]

One thing that's bothered me so far is how phasers in the Kelvin universe are fired in little "pew-pews" from turrets on the saucer section (much like lasers in Star Wars) instead of long, arcing beams.
Hand phasers fire electric pulses, and make me think of a taser or a "stun gun" from other sci-fi franchises.
What do you think of this stylistic change? Better? Unnecessary?

 

[F. King Daniel]

As I recall, they said the change was made because bolts look more visceral than beams. Must say, I agree.

Wrath of Khan did it first, then Next Gen brought the beams back.

 

[Galileo7]

WOK Reliant phaser on the Enterprise still looks impressive.

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[BillJ]

WOK Reliant phaser on the Enterprise still looks impressive.

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To this day, I still giggle when I see the Reliant with its "evil" red bridge lights.

 

[Kor]

One thing that's bothered me so far is how phasers in the Kelvin universe are fired in little "pew-pews" from turrets on the saucer section (much like lasers in Star Wars) instead of long, arcing beams.
Hand phasers fire electric pulses, and make me think of a taser or a "stun gun" from other sci-fi franchises.
What do you think of this stylistic change? Better? Unnecessary?

I agree with the other posts.
It hearkens back to The Wrath of Khan. It seems that Trekkiedom is so used to the TNG ways that the classic ways of Kirk and Co. get lost in the shuffle.

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Kor

 

[Hey Missy]

WOK Reliant phaser on the Enterprise still looks impressive.

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Except the Reliant there is still firing long, single beams just in quick succession. In ST09 especially, phasers are fired like machine gun rounds.

 

[Galileo7]

Maybe J.J. Abrams likes the weapons in Forbidden Planet?
Starting at the 2 minutes 9 seconds mark:

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[Tosk]

The only thing I don't like about "JJ" phasers is the way they all bend and curve in STID. I get it, you can make it seem more dynamic that way, but it's very hard to justify.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

One thing that's bothered me so far is how phasers in the Kelvin universe are fired in little "pew-pews" from turrets on the saucer section (much like lasers in Star Wars) instead of long, arcing beams.

They're not like in Star Wars, though. They're more like recreations of anti-aircraft fire from WWII films. Shorter and more rapid. Star Wars had bolts, not quite the same.

Recall that, in a couple episodes, phaser fire from the Enterprise was actually the photon shown as the torpedo effect. So, it's not as if there isn't a precedent.

WOK Reliant phaser on the Enterprise still looks impressive.

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Those are also pulsed, not continuous.

 

[Vger23]

As I recall, they said the change was made because bolts look more visceral than beams. Must say, I agree.

Wrath of Khan did it first, then Next Gen brought the beams back.

The TWOK phasers were far more effective than the effects used in the JJ movies. TWOK had long, powerful lancing beams of destructive energy accompanied by a great sound effect. The Kelvinverse phasers (both shipboard and hand) are forgettable and generic.

 

[fireproof78]

One thing that's bothered me so far is how phasers in the Kelvin universe are fired in little "pew-pews" from turrets on the saucer section (much like lasers in Star Wars) instead of long, arcing beams.
Hand phasers fire electric pulses, and make me think of a taser or a "stun gun" from other sci-fi franchises.
What do you think of this stylistic change? Better? Unnecessary?

Better, more practical, not new to Star Trek, and love the effect.

The reason, in universe, least for me, is that those turrets were effective against the Narada's missles with the USS Kelvin, and Starfleet decided to make that a feature.

 

[Saul]

One thing that's bothered me so far is how phasers in the Kelvin universe are fired in little "pew-pews" from turrets on the saucer section (much like lasers in Star Wars) instead of long, arcing beams.
Hand phasers fire electric pulses, and make me think of a taser or a "stun gun" from other sci-fi franchises.
What do you think of this stylistic change? Better? Unnecessary?

Like the warp effect and other things it was done because the Director likes Star Wars more than Star Trek. There was no real need to change to Pew-pews. Phaser beams are part of Star Trek's signature and one of the things that differentiated itself from the typical pew-pews.

 

[Hey Missy]

The TWOK phasers were far more effective than the effects used in the JJ movies. TWOK had long, powerful lancing beams of destructive energy accompanied by a great sound effect. The Kelvinverse phasers (both shipboard and hand) are forgettable and generic.

Yeah, I do much prefer psssshhheeeewwwwwww or bzzzzzzzzzzzzzhhhhhh (the awesome TWOK sound) phasers to the tutututututututututututut ones adopted by the Kelvin movies (and Discovery, apparently)

 

[Ithekro]

I still find it odd that they never did TWOK phaser effect again in Star Trek. The closest we got was the BoP in TSFS.

 

[The Lensman]

Meh, the Defiant fired pulse phasers, so the phasers in nuTrek aren't that much of a leap. And Trek beam weapons were dull as shit compared to the beam weapons in Babylon 5. I've got no problem with the phasers in nuTrek, definitely prefer their warp jump over the horribly stale stretchy effect. The warp jumps in nuTrek made warp drive seem like something powerful and I loved it. Last time that happened was TMP, which is the coolest warp jump Trek ever had.

 

[Takeru]

First Contact used pulse phaser rifles instead of beams, the Defiant had pulse phasers, TWOK had pulse phasers, it's been done before and for the same reason JJ did it, they look and sound more powerful than the beams. Star Trek always pulled pulses out when they wanted to give a battle some extra oomph, even on TOS they sometimes fired ohasers as pulses.

 

[fireproof78]

First Contact used pulse phaser rifles instead of beams, the Defiant had pulse phasers, TWOK had pulse phasers, it's been done before and for the same reason JJ did it, they look and sound more powerful than the beams. Star Trek always pulled pulses out when they wanted to give a battle some extra oomph, even on TOS they sometimes fired ohasers as pulses.

Indeed.

But, of course, Abrams did it because "Star Wars!" Oh wait...

 

[CorporalClegg]

Not only does the cyclical weapons fire look better on screen, it would also (likely) be more effective.

 

[Vger23]

I know everyone is saying "TWOK did this a long time ago," but as I mentioned before, the long, lancing pulse beams depicted in TWOK (and in TSFS from the BOP) are far more effective and unique than the pew pew balls of light that have appeared in other more recent iterations of the franchise.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I think they kinda got it right in the Kelvin Timeline. IMO, a long phaser beam is more ideal for drilling or cutting through something. It could be argued that the longer a phaser stays in contact with something, the quicker it might wear it down (especially if it's shielded), but multiple hits from shorter phaser bursts might do the same thing.

Against another person with a phaser or disruptor, it's probably better to have shorter bursts in order to better duck and weave while exchanging fire.