Rationalized New Phaser (Small review)
- Thread starter Johnnymuffintop
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I like it. Phaser One from TOS will always be my favorite with its rotating scope and trigger on the bottom.
Although, I wished Abrams and Co. looked more to my second favorite phaser -- Trek V and VI's. That one had more of a real world gun look to it with its grip and inserted power cells.
Well, this one seems to have a wee bit of a ST V/VI influence, especially in the nose area.
IDK, when I heard the nozzle would rotate, I thought in more of a The Cage laser pistol sorta way.
IDK, when I heard the nozzle would rotate, I thought in more of a The Cage laser pistol sorta way.
Me too. The first image that came to mind was a dense array of little lenses and optical components that would flip through different permutations, a la the thingamajiggers that optometrists use to check people's eyesight.
One wonders if the presence of two heads on this phaser means it has less modes than the three-headed "The Cage" unit... Perhaps the laser function is gone?
One also wonders if this is what technologically preceded the TOS phasers: perhaps the integrating of the stun and vaporize barrels into one concentric unit was a technologically demanding job that Starfleet didn't bother to do in the alternate timeline - possibly because Nero's presence made the timeline a more martial one.
Those who have seen the movie already: does the barrel truly rotate on screen?
Timo Saloniemi
No kidding. First of all, why is there a weapons locker in the kitchen? Incase the microwave breaks? Or that weird fuzzy green stuff in the back of the fridge starts attacking you?
Why did you have to remind me of the most moronic scene in that movie?
Second, shouldn't it have vaporized what was IN the pot? I mean, if it didn't go past the initial layer like that scene suggests, we'd have all sorts of naked people running around.
1) It makes sense to me that phaser storage lockers would be scattered across the ship in small lockers in case they were needed in an emergency. Sometimes, the armory is just too far away. (We might want to pretend that Valeris had to do more than just slide the drawer open. OTOH, perhaps the galley is an already theoretically secure area - what with the danger of food poisoning and all - and therefore phasers wouldn't need to be secured any more than they are.)
Alternatively, perhaps they took Yeoman Rand's improvisations of phaser-heated coffee from TOS and made it standard practice?
2) Perhaps Valeris purposefully set the phaser on the lowest disintegrate setting (that only 'waporized' the pot) so as to show that even the lowest disintegrate setting still sets off the alarm? I seem to recall seeing phaser burns before on people that seared holes in clothing. Perhaps this is more of the same?
Alternatively, perhaps they took Yeoman Rand's improvisations of phaser-heated coffee from TOS and made it standard practice?
2) Perhaps Valeris purposefully set the phaser on the lowest disintegrate setting (that only 'waporized' the pot) so as to show that even the lowest disintegrate setting still sets off the alarm? I seem to recall seeing phaser burns before on people that seared holes in clothing. Perhaps this is more of the same?
Hey, yeah! Also, what prevents it from vaporizing the top of the stove too? For that matter, why does the usual phaser effect stop at someone's boots and not keep eating through the ground every time some poor soul is vaped? Oh well, I guess it is just a show after all. I'm disappointed.
--Alex
Not necessarily. Different materials absorb energy in different fashions, and phaser beams are, after all, energy (or at least mostly so... and I accept them as wholly electromagnetic, without any "particle beam" aspect).
Now, you can test this out with your microwave (kids, don't try this at home unless you don't mind buying a new one!). Put a piece of metal in there, and it is highly excited by the microwaves... it becomes very hot, begins arcing to other metal objects, and so forth. Put a piece of ceramic in there, and it will barely be affected, no matter how long you leave it in... unless it's absorbing heat from its contents, that is.
The fact that Trek, generally, would show a piece of solid rock and a piece of human tissue being affected in exactly the same way always felt "wrong" to me. ST-VI was the first time, however, that they ever acknowledged this little bit of science, and I, for one, LIKED IT.
Obviously, whatever setting Valeris used, it was a setting that had a greater impact on metallic substances than on organic ones.
The TOS phaser had a lot of features and controls. It had a pop-up targeting sight, on top of the Ph-1 unit. It had a set of "iron sights" running along the lateral surfaces for visual aiming. It had a twist knob on the barrel which allowed the unit to be wide-beam or narrow-beam. It had a small dial near the front which would affect the firing mode (off, single-pulse, multiple pulse, or continuous fire). It had a trigger, of course. And it had a "modulation setting" knob at the top rear for changing the "phasing mode" the unit would fire in. There were ten settings, including "off." Three "stun" settings, two heat settings, and three disrupt/disintegrate settings (plus "overload"). Stun settings basically deliver a shock to the nervous system, heat settings do just that, and the other three settings cause material to essentially "shatter" (albeit at different scales - from an explosive effect to a pure disintegration one).
This new phaser has two controls... though one has left-handed/right-handed copies. There's a trigger, and there's a "barrel flip" button pair. Okay, debate the exact definition of the "settings" I mention above if you like, but realize, there are still lots of settings on the old and essentially NONE on the new.
But it sure will make for a great toy.. complete with the barrel being "toy-friendly red" already. (sigh)
Oh, and hey, how about this one. Lets completely over-analyze someone's post and totally trash it. But hey, it is just a forum after all.
Hey, yeah! Also, what prevents it from vaporizing the top of the stove too? For that matter, why does the usual phaser effect stop at someone's boots and not keep eating through the ground every time some poor soul is vaped? Oh well, I guess it is just a show after all. I'm disappointed.
--Alex
Now, all I was trying to say is that if it's going to vaporize your boots, cloths, hair, assorted jewelry (if any) then I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the contents of a pot would not be untouched. Although when I first saw it, I did think it was neat how it perfectly held it's shape after the pot was gone.
Actually, the new phaser has at least three controls. There's a thumb wheel on the top back with an unknown number of settings.
Oh dear. Star trek might be popular with kids again. The horror.
lol, mashed potato armor for the win!
Point taken, of course. But as stated, the effect doesn't jump from the person to the ground he's standing on - so I personally really appreciate showing this feature here in such a dramatic fashion.
Clothes might not be physically all that different from flesh. The effect does spread across some phase borders, such as flesh/bone or flesh/hair. But there might be a limit, and the limit could be flesh/steel, as well as steel/flesh.
Which leaves one wondering how a victim's phaser or dagger ever gets vaporized... Is it simply a matter of sufficiently little steel, combined with a sufficiently high power setting? I seriously doubt there's a specific "hurt metal, don't hurt flesh" setting - it could all be more smoothly explained by the unwillingness of the phasing effect to jump from material to material.
These things could be unlocked with fingerprint codes, or transponders worn by the user, or the like - quick to read in an emergency, but also secure enough, and good for establishing who had last used the lock. Which would explain why Valeris did what she did: she wanted to leave her fingerprints or other code on that lock a second time, so that her earlier pilfering of a gun or two from the location would not be noticed now that our heroes started a thorough search onboard the ship.
I mean, if there's a lock there, Burke and Samno would either have to attempt to break it, or then use their own codes, to get the guns with which to assassinate Gorkon - and they might be smart enough to Just Say No to such a suicidal plan, unless Valeris told them she'd take care of it. She'd be in a position to steal things a lowly rating could not steal, and in a position to erase her tracks.
Of course, firing publicly around would also be a good way to mask any "gunpowder residue" on her hands. But AFAWK, she hadn't done any firing at that point. Perhaps she was "preempting" her hands for the quickly approaching task of killing Burke and Samno?
Timo Saloniemi
How do you say this in English?
Here's a couple of images of the real prop originally posted on the RPF:
So, yeah, it doesn't really look like the toy.
Huh. Looks a lot more like a real tool than a movie prop. That's a first for Star Trek.
The shot from ST:TUC is a nice reminder of why it was way past time to reboot Trek.
Oh dear. Star trek might be popular with kids again. The horror.
A movie about spaceships that kids can't enjoy is pretty much a waste of time.
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Oh, and hey, how about this one. Lets completely over-analyze someone's post and totally trash it. But hey, it is just a forum after all.
Hey, yeah! Also, what prevents it from vaporizing the top of the stove too? For that matter, why does the usual phaser effect stop at someone's boots and not keep eating through the ground every time some poor soul is vaped? Oh well, I guess it is just a show after all. I'm disappointed.
--Alex
Now, all I was trying to say is that if it's going to vaporize your boots, cloths, hair, assorted jewelry (if any) then I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that the contents of a pot would not be untouched. Although when I first saw it, I did think it was neat how it perfectly held it's shape after the pot was gone.
Sorry, buddy. No need to get defensive. I was trying to run with your joke, not tear you apart for it. I hope we can all still be friends after this. I mean, I'd hate to run into you in the hallway and things be all "weird" ya' know? Friends? *extends hand*
--Alex
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