Paul8.5(9)/10
8.5 because I saw it in German at the movie theater and several jokes got lost in translation and also because Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's British accents are quite fun to listen too.
A lot nice sci-fi/pop-culture/nerd/comic allusions and respective cameos.
It seems as those two guys try make a movie for all major genres and they're definitely doing a great job there (Shaun Of The Dead = zombie movie, Hot Fuzz = cop/buddy movie).
Paul is now my favourite extra terrestrial buddy movie. Beats E.T. and MIB easily.
War Man wrote:
Yes, I know how lasers are and it annoys me that they aren't common use weapons in the future along with plasma weaponry/rayguns and masers, sasers and whatever other sci fi junk is involved. Maybe I will become a video game designer. Hard to decide what I want to be in the future as there are so many things I'd like to do and they don't necessarily mix very well.
The problem is, for all those energy based weapons, the energy density is way too low and will definitely be for a long time into the future.
Any generic gunpowder propelled bullet/flechette/grenade delivered from a hand-held weapon does a lot more damage than any energy weapon of the same size could do.
That is, if you don't want to exchange batteries after every shot.
Also, lasers/masers don't work that well in an atmosphere, as scattering and skin depth respectively would drastically reduce the range and power.
Coil/rail guns are a more promising approach, but still limited to large, vehicle-mounted versions.