Issue with the weapon technology...

I've seen this movie 3 times now (third time was not my choice) and the one thing that really bugs me about this film is how primitive and ineffective the crew's weapons are. The weapons shown in the film are a modern day flame thrower and "future" pistols that don't seem any different than current firearms, except with a silly sploosh sound. I find it hard to believe that humans have mastered intergalactic travel and advanced cybernetics but they basically rely on a flame thrower to protect their trillion dollar space craft and all its crew? A flamethrower? Really? Making things worse is the fact that they have developed lasers that can slice through flesh with surgical accuracy, note that the laser in the medical pod somehow stops itself from going deeper than the skin. Wouldn't that kind of technology make it's way into weaponry immediately after its creation?