It has been a while, but I’m pretty sure the bladed weapons are needed because the shields specifically block objects with high kinetic energy. I also recall one of the houses on arakis getting bombed, but only after they were able to turn off the protective barrier. I might be mixing up Sci fi books, though.
You’re not - it’s pretty explicitly the point. The technological arms race has gotten so advanced that everyone has devolved into fighting with knives.
The shields don’t just protect against kinetic weapons, they also tend to cause energy weapons to blow up in a thermonuclear explosions iirc
Sounds like a drone dropping an energy weapon on a shield users head would do the trick then.
iirc computing is pretty gimped in Dune as well because of previous issues with AI, humanity limited development on that front and focused on developing human capabilities instead, which is where spice came into play…it like super charged your cognition in order to navigating ships through space or something like that. Someone familiar with books please correct that I’m sure it’s not perfect.
That’s right. There was a war called the Butlerian Jihad in which humanity wiped out anything close to AI. Since then it has been high-treason-level illegal to “make a machine in the image of the human mind”.
And even then, the training focuses on slow, deliberate moves, as even a fast knife can be deflected.
You are correct. But the movies did indeed make a poor introduction to the shield technology. I think it was just a short mention when Gurney is training Paul and is easily missed. They even have to train for a specific fencing style that involves slow movements as a fast swung blade can still be stopped by the shield. And I don’t remember them talking about the interaction between lasers and shields at all, which creates a huge explosion.
My bigger issue with the movies was the typical hollywood charge. No tactics or strategy involved at all. Just screaming and running.
The shield-based fighting style was also a small note that was missed in the duel between Paul and Jamis in the movie. Paul was missing what they thought were clear cuts and as a result they believed he was cruelly toying with Jamis, but it was because he was slowing his blade at the very last moment due to shield training.
Also a slightly weird moment for me as a book fan was when the thopter Duncan escaped in clearly showed that it had shields with a rock crashing off of it, but then he was being chased by lasguns immediately after.
From what I remember the movie ignores the lasgun and shield interaction completely, which I think is a reasonable tweak to keep things simple and allow them the to use the nice aesthetics of lasers.
Now ask why fighters in Star Wars bank and turn like WW2 fighter planes flying in atmosphere…
Hint: Narrative
convenanceconvenience .Sucks for him - I literally can’t stop jerking myself over the movie. It was soo gooood. Oh. Time to clean up again.
Put your sand worm back where it lives.
The movie had its problems and I’ve never read the books but even I know the answer is because the shields don’t stop slow moving objects otherwise you wouldn’t be able to pick up a cup. It’s even explained in the film, admittedly very briefly.
But then again that’s also how personal shields work in Stargate
Have they considered that poison gas also moves slowly?
And napalm?
They sure as hell don’t mind war crimes.
That’s a plot point in the series, yes
