"Shields are down to 32%!"

[WeAreTheBorg]

This line was spoken by Sulu one time in the movie.

And thankfully, we never heard another example of it! This is absolutely one of the worst crutches of Trek especially since TNG... manufacturing drama with arbitrary exclamations about what percentage the shields were at... OMG 50%, noes 41%, oh jesus 28%, will we survive? I wonder! Wow, just 19%, amazing! Cutting it close!

That and the technobabble was seriously toned down. I'm so glad.

 

[urbandk]

we can't withstand another hit like [BOOM]

 

[Kelthaz]

They uttered the line a few times during the opening battle with the Kelvin too.

 

[chi]

sorry, i'm no hardcore trekkie but what made me wonder was that shields were supposedly up but they got scraped by the floating debris that remained after nero blew up the other starfleet ships. or does shields only work for laser fire?

 

[Docbrown777]

Speaking of cutting down on the technobabble I'm glad they never really explained Red Matter. All we needed to know is it is this stuff that creates a black hole like thing if ignited. There, done plot device in place.

No one this time around felt the need of an additional five minute explanation about "quantum neutronic plasma radiation on the subatomic level interacting with the fabric of space time blah blah blah."

 

[WeAreTheBorg]

sorry, i'm no hardcore trekkie but what made me wonder was that shields were supposedly up but they got scraped by the floating debris that remained after nero blew up the other starfleet ships. or does shields only work for laser fire?

It would make sense if you ignore how shields have always worked on Trek previously.

 

[Small White Car]

or does shields only work for laser fire?

I'd say that shields in the Star Trek universe this way about 60% of the time.

The other 40% of the time they act like a perfect bubble that nothing gets through.

In other words, they flip flop back and forth on it. No matter WHICH method this film used I could dig up examples that both support and contradict it.

So as far as I'm concerned, they can do whatever they want to do. Nothing's stopping them.

 

[Amaris]

"Shields are down to 32%!"

And Leon's getting laaaaaarger!


J.

 

[RoJoHen]

I got scared the first time I heard the words "gravimetric distortion."

Also, when Pike ordered them to "divert power from the port nacelle!"

 

[Peter the Younger]

I heard it, but the difference was they flashed by it really quickly, instead of trying to make it this dramatic announcement. It became jsut another thing people were shouting on a very chaotic bridge.

Still, technobabble is to Trek writers what cupcakes are to dieters. It takes a massive act of will not to give in.

 

[Quagmire58]

Actually 32% is a very important number. At 32% the shields won't regenerate enough between blasts to maintain power, and the power drains quicker. It is also the point where shields can no longer withstand a direct hit, they can only survive a glancing blow.

Actually I'm just messing with you...it seemed totally random to me. It probably would have been better as a computer voice warning.

 

[number6]

I liked how they only threw out as much technobabble as absolutely necessary, while still making it dramatic when it did happen. It definitely had more of a TOS feel, even though it looks more "modern."

 

[Brent]

The shields are like skin tight shields, not bubble shields like we often saw in TNG.

 

[RoJoHen]

I imagine they're more like the ENT "shields." Polarized hull plating...or whatever the fuck they had.

 

[Brent]

I imagine they're more like the ENT "shields." Polarized hull plating...or whatever the fuck they had.

The hull was only polarized in Enterprise, increasing the strength of the metal. In the 23rd century though and on they use "real" energy shields. Only that, they are skin tight, matting with the hull, and not in a big bubble like on TNG.

I've done a lot of reading about the shields.

 

[number6]

It would have been cool if they kept having problems with #4 Shield...

 

[RoJoHen]

I imagine they're more like the ENT "shields." Polarized hull plating...or whatever the fuck they had.

The hull was only polarized in Enterprise, increasing the strength of the metal. In the 23rd century though and on they use "real" energy shields. Only that, they are skin tight, matting with the hull, and not in a big bubble like on TNG.

I've done a lot of reading about the shields.

Uh-huh...

Well, I don't particularly care. I always thought the polarized hull plating was weird anyway. I was just coming up with a random theory.

 

[Brent]

I imagine they're more like the ENT "shields." Polarized hull plating...or whatever the fuck they had.

The hull was only polarized in Enterprise, increasing the strength of the metal. In the 23rd century though and on they use "real" energy shields. Only that, they are skin tight, matting with the hull, and not in a big bubble like on TNG.

I've done a lot of reading about the shields.

Uh-huh...

Well, I don't particularly care. I always thought the polarized hull plating was weird anyway. I was just coming up with a random theory.

Polarzing is actually real technology right here in our own time period. Applying an electromagnetic charge to materials to increase its strength is real technology. For Enterprise, that is one thing that actually made good sense.

Energy shields are still SCIFI, though there is work being done with plasma that may one day lead to energy like shielding.

 

[Amaris]

The hull was only polarized in Enterprise, increasing the strength of the metal. In the 23rd century though and on they use "real" energy shields. Only that, they are skin tight, matting with the hull, and not in a big bubble like on TNG.

I've done a lot of reading about the shields.

Uh-huh...

Well, I don't particularly care. I always thought the polarized hull plating was weird anyway. I was just coming up with a random theory.

Polarzing is actually real technology right here in our own time period. Applying an electromagnetic charge to materials to increase its strength is real technology. For Enterprise, that is one thing that actually made good sense.

Really? We have that kind of technology? Awesome.

J.

 

[Brent]

Uh-huh...

Well, I don't particularly care. I always thought the polarized hull plating was weird anyway. I was just coming up with a random theory.

Polarzing is actually real technology right here in our own time period. Applying an electromagnetic charge to materials to increase its strength is real technology. For Enterprise, that is one thing that actually made good sense.

Really? We have that kind of technology? Awesome.

J.

Certain ceramics become harder when electricity is passed through them.