Why do laser guns in movies usually have a recoil?

Because the science fiction portrayers think we are dummies. Do laser beams actually make the sound “Deeeewww, Deeeewww” as well?

The same reason that you hear explosions in space. It’s not accurate, but test audiences find it “not realistic.”

(The creator of Babylon 5 tried a cut of the pilot movie where all the space sequences were completely silent except for the music. Audiences hated it.)

firefly, awesome short lived series. Portrayed sci fi right. No sound in space, real characters. Check it out. Money well spent trust

because it looks cooler

To be fair, and terribly geeky, they’re not always described as laser guns, or at least not in the way we define laser. Often they’re energy bolt blasters and so forth, and might fire something, even if it’s just a ball of energy or plasma. We wouldn’t see a laser ‘bolt’ actually travel from the gun to the target either, strictly speaking.

@sharl: yeah, you’re right – In Star Wars (presumably the movie(s) that provoked the question) there’s a clear distinction between “blasters” and “laser cannons.” I remember reading somewhere that blasters used tibanna gas (from Bespin, etc.) as a fuel source, which could mean that the laser blasts were something else entirely. (Also, this is probably true because blaster bolts never traveled anywhere the speed of light).

To take this to the super geek level then: if a “laser gun” was actually shooting some type of plasma or whatever (instead of laser light) would there necessarily be a recoil due to Newton’s 3rd law? or is shooting plasma somehow a different kind of thing than shooting something more “tangible.” Plasma has a mass right—so it should likewise have a force associated with it and therefore be governed by Newton’s 3rd law?

Can I just say I love this thread!

Probably the same reason the old movies used to show people using projectile weapons (revolvers) with a throwing motion. They didn’t aim, they tossed the bullets at their targets. For the ultimate example, see “Plan Nine from Outer Space”, possibly one of the worst movies ever made. The college audience that I watched it with made “bang” noises every time the cop stored his gun in the front of his pants.

Oh, and I agree, Firefly ROCKS!

ok, here it is. the reason why sci fi movies portray recoil and sound effects is because we as a society are used to these effects from the projectile weapons of real life. when we see a movies that does not use these effects our brains automatically classify it as not making any sense. it registers and non-believable. It becomes boring. we are used to noise is a fire fight because it’s what we know and have been conditioned to. Now I remember the old movies where the actors appeared to be throwing the bullets at the targets. that’s hilarious, but I don’t know why they did that. I often wondered why. As far as the gun worn at the front. this is because some people used to wear their guns that way. check out some old cowboy movies, you’ll see from time to time. they considered it to be more efficient because it was right in front. Also it was a Gentleman’s way to wear a gun in the old west.