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Greatest Beams In Movie History

_Laban_ writes "Vue Weekly has summarized the greatest beams in movie history. From the article: 'They slice us, they disintegrate us, they roast us alive, they level our greatest monuments and pinpoint our deepest fears.'"

13 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. The laser from Real Genius by b00m3rang · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not only can it vaporize druglords and pop corn, but it can point the way to a campus party. Now /that's/ utility!

  2. Dalek Beam by aug24 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dalek scary 'turns the whole world negative' for the over 25s and 'turns people into x-rays' for the current kiddy-winks. Plus it's the only beam with a catch-phrase...

    Justin.

    --
    You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
  3. More bitching by ocelotbob · · Score: 2, Insightful

    C'mon, people, how can you forget Cyclops from the X-men and his eye beams. And of course, there what disaster film wouldn't be complete with the similarly named, but completely different I-Beams collapsing at just the right time for dramatic purposes?

    --

    Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses

  4. What about beams in games? by CoolGopher · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Okay, so that's a fair bunch of beams from movies, but what about from computer games?

    I think I'll have to say that my personal favourite would have to be the beam weapons from FreeSpace II.

    It was something grand with piloting your little fighter craft in a dense nebula and all of a sudden have a massive beam cut through just beside you, and then seeing a cruiser come out of the mist just as it's preparing to fire again... The knowing that if you'd been just slightly further in that direction you wouldn't even have had time to blink before you were reduced to space dust... That game had really nice atmosphere (pardon the pun)!

  5. Hellraiser? by EqualHate · · Score: 2, Insightful

    and the Dark Beams that came from the strage rotating evil lighthouse in the middle of hell? I think those were pretty noteworthy. although on a relative level of importance/interest this thread sucks

    --
    Don't take it personally, I 'm like this all the time.
  6. Blade Runner by gwernol · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die."
    - Roy Batty, Blade Runner

    Great speech to go out on. Most spectacular beams in movies and they're not even shown. Sometimes what you don't see is the most compelling of all.

    --
    Sailing over the event horizon
  7. Or the Orgazmotron by jnelson4765 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    from Orgazmo...

    One of the most disturbingly funny movies ever made.

    Ranks right on up there with the Rocky Horror Picture Show for sheer... ummmm.... merry perversion?

    --
    Why can't I mod "-1 Idiot"?
  8. No, *you* are The.... ah, sod it. by Dogtanian · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Actually, the joke was a reference to the penultimate episode of the new 'Doctor Who' series (*), so it was neither particularly unoriginal, nor out of context.

    I'll refrain from explaining how, in the light of this, your post makes you look like a major-league ****- that much is blindingly apparent anyway. I'll also refrain from making the obvious joke because (a) I hate that show and (b) It really *wouldn't* be funny this time.

    (*) Not particularly spoilerish: The penultimate episode of the series (effectively the first of a two part story) featured a futuristic version of 'The Weakest Link' with a killer 'Anne Droid' robot (har har). Rather too silly (and unimaginative) for my tastes, but the final episode was better.

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    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  9. Wave Motion Gun by gaijin99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And what about the Wave Motion Gun? Sure, technically it isn't a movie beam, but its got to be the greatest beam ever, or at least the most influential. Virtually every anime since Space Battleship Yamato has featured a Wave Motion Gun knockoff. Besides, you just can't beat that blister effect...

    --
    "Mission Accomplished" -- George W. Bush May 1, 2003
  10. Forbidden Planet. by Velox_SwiftFox · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "Do you understand the mechanism?" "Yes, Doctor Morbius, a simple blaster".

    The big point defense beams that outlined the Monster From the Doc's Id.

    Hey, even the force-field fence that initially revealed it...

  11. Re:Babylon 5! by Yazeran · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not to mention the Vorlon super-beam on their planetkillers in season 4. They had the same destructive power as the dreaded death star beam in StarWars although they had a much more sinister firing sequence where you could see that the entire Vorlon ship was basically just one big gun as the ship started gathering energy at the back and then energy proceeded along the perimeter of the ship untill it reached the front with the actual gun-mount.

    Yours Yazeran

    Plan: To go to Mars one day with a hammer.

  12. "It's coming back!" by Bigthecat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Come on, I know the first Resident Evil movie wasn't all that good on the whole, but the laser sequence when the soldiers were in the passage to the Red Queen's chamber was the best part! Who could forget the memorable quotes that were uttered there, such as "It's coming back!" and "You're going into shock.. Stay with me.. Stay awake!!"? Or where the team leader is sliced into tiny pieces by the laser when he would have survived if he'd just taken a step back. A classic movie? No, but a great laser sequence, you betcha!

  13. Re:Descent Freespace 2 by whois_drek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    >The Freespace 2 slicer beams were the coolest sounding beams I've ever seen. Just out of curiosity, what does the sound of that beam look like?