[horatio]

Precisely, they all took their phasers with them but Sulu lost his. So to be on the safe side, he took a sword with him. Pike saw the small size of the platform, anticipated that they might get into a melee and that's why he chose people with combat experience.

It is all in the movie, can't make it simpler. And any complaints à la 'forced brawls for an action movie' ... how often did the ShatKirk shoot a phaser and how often did he or his badly disguised double get into a fistfight in TOS, just to satisfy the studio's demand for Trek as space western?

If one starts to nitpick such things, one has to do it consistently.

[Botany Bay]

Originally Posted by horatio

Precisely, they all took their phasers with them but Sulu lost his. So to be on the safe side, he took a sword with him. Pike saw the small size of the platform, anticipated that they might get into a melee and that's why he chose people with combat experience.

Nothing of what you say was in the movie. Kirk lost his Phaser. Sulu seemingly never had one or never even touched it. Of course your explanation is good, especially when taking into account that Romulans are known to use melee weapons all the time, because they have something going on with tradition and honor and... wait, wrong species.

However, in the movie the fact that Sulus combat training was fencing was actually used as a joke. Sooo... obviously the authors didnt spend all to many thoughts about the why and how. It was in for the laugh, the nod to TOS and the action and it worked. The sword fight looked great.

[horatio]

Originally Posted by Botany Bay

However, in the movie the fact that Sulus combat training was fencing was actually used as a joke. Sooo... obviously the authors didnt spend all to many thoughts about the why and how. It was in for the laugh, the nod to TOS and the action and it worked. The sword fight looked great.

Then we actually agree.
I am not especially fond of the movie, but they definitely tried to recreate the funny and goofy atmosphere TOS often had.

Perhaps this does not work so well on the big screen and they should have tried to remain in the keel water of the TOS movies with a bit more mature and seasoned seriousness? I don't know but I guess that 'young characters => make it feel like TOS' was the idea of the production team.

[Samuel]

Originally Posted by Botany Bay

Nothing of what you say was in the movie. Kirk lost his Phaser. Sulu seemingly never had one or never even touched it. Of course your explanation is good, especially when taking into account that Romulans are known to use melee weapons all the time, because they have something going on with tradition and honor and... wait, wrong species.

Hehehe. If blades are good enough for Klingons then they are good enough for everyone else.

[Botany Bay]

Originally Posted by horatio

Perhaps this does not work so well on the big screen and they should have tried to remain in the keel water of the TOS movies with a bit more mature and seasoned seriousness? I don't know but I guess that 'young characters => make it feel like TOS' was the idea of the production team.

No, they just should have polished the script for a few weeks more, to give certain things a wee bit more believability. The idea to make Sulu use the Katana for cutting away the chute was good. So why not make the sword shorter, so that we could believe it to be part of the equipment, and have Sulu get caught in the chute, so that he needs to cut it away really really bad.

[thanis]

There is a missing scene. Sulu stated a sword was the weapon of a warrior. Not as clumsy or random as a phaser; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

[TJJones]

Some people need to pay attention to the movie.

Sulu had to use his blade to free himself from his chute. By the time he stood, he was already close to the Romulan in front of him. Why tempt fate and try to draw a phaser when the bad guy with a retractable axe comes at you?

[Botany Bay]

Originally Posted by TJJones

Some people need to pay attention to the movie.

Sulu had to use his blade to free himself from his chute. By the time he stood, he was already close to the Romulan in front of him. Why tempt fate and try to draw a phaser when the bad guy with a retractable axe comes at you?

Well, if you would have paid a little more attention, then you would have noticed that Sulu was not freeing himself from the chute. He was cutting it away because it was damaged and useless. Then he had the time to take off his helmet, then the Romulan aproached him. Sulu still had the time to take off his hood and show a dramatical pose, then the Romulan decided to leisurely draw his axe. There was quite a lot of time to draw a phaser. But then, why to make it easy, if you can make it complicated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CccprKl_YcM

[Captain Pike]

Originally Posted by Botany Bay

Well, if you would have paid a little more attention, then you would have noticed that Sulu was not freeing himself from the chute. He was cutting it away because it was damaged and useless. Then he had the time to take off his helmet, then the Romulan aproached him. Sulu still had the time to take off his hood and show a dramatical pose, then the Romulan decided to leisurely draw his axe. There was quite a lot of time to draw a phaser. But then, why to make it easy, if you can make it complicated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CccprKl_YcM

Then why after the romulans were killed did Sulu pick up a Romulan weapon to shut the drill down instead of his phaser? Didnt one of them say what are we going to do now after Sulu said Olsen had the charges?

[Botany Bay]

Originally Posted by Captain Pike

Then why after the romulans were killed did Sulu pick up a Romulan weapon to shut the drill down instead of his phaser? Didnt one of them say what are we going to do now after Sulu said Olsen had the charges?

Good point. He cant have lost his phaser, because he has never drawn it, so he must never had a phaser to begin with.