The sword fighting is based on that personal energy shields are a thing, but

1) The shields block fast-moving objects, so bullet-guns are useless, but slow moving objects, like a carefully placed blade can penetrate.

2) Lasguns (lasers) react with energy shields with explosions that rival atomic blasts, so you don't want to use those of the enemy carries a shield. 

 Thanks, I liked the movies but didn’t know that, so it makes more sense now.