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In the movie Star Trek: Generations, when the Klingons stole their shield frequencies, why didn't they just modulate their shield frequency, just like against the Borg in "Q Who".
I have been giving this some thought and can't figure it out. Did I miss something?
No, you didn't miss anything.
Out of universe: It's terrible writing.
In universe: I reckon the Enterprise bridge crew panicked.
All of the command crew on the Enterprise bridge had faced the Borg. One of them should have noticed the similarity of the situation and suggested rotating shield frequencies.
It gets worse the more you think about it.
Why isn't rotating shield frequencies on shield penetration standard procedure? Why wait to be penetrated? Why not have the computer change your shield frequencies periodically in battle automatically? I don't recall any discussion of a downside of rotating frequencies. If there's a legit transport in progress through the shields, the computer knows to wait.
Why was one of the most important numbers on a starship being prominently displayed on a screen anyone can walk past and glance at? The Federation are a bunch of trusting dupes who don't put locks on things, but come on!
Why didn't Riker order Worf to disable their weapons? Shields or no shields, the Enterprise-D should have been able to kick the snot out of a second-hand D12 Bird Of Prey that had been retired 20 years before. I don't recall mention of the Enterprise's weapons being offline (and I'm not rewatching it to check).
In the comments people have mentioned maybe shield frequency rotation hadn't become a thing yet. Voyager rotates shield frequencies all the time. USS Voyager left the Alpha Quadrant, and thus contact with the Federation, in 2371 the same year as Generations takes place. The Voyager crew never faced the Borg, but they knew to rotate shield frequencies when their shields were being mysteriously penetrated.
The original Enterprise faced a similar situation in Wrath of Khan, an enemy catches them with their shields down, but even worse because Reliant was an even match for the Enterprise. That turned into a tense, exciting, intelligent space battle where every shot counts. Remembering that just makes the Generations battle even worse.
No reason is given in the script or the novelisations however we can make an in-universe guess; the two people who have ready access to the shield systems (Worf at Tactical and Data at the Science station) are both occupied and while Riker could order them to spend their time sorting out their defenses, he favours tackling the problem head on and destroying the Klingons;
"Deanna!" Riker shouted. "Take the helm. Get us out of orbit!" Troi propelled herself from her chair and raced un- steadily across the rocking deck to the helm. Within seconds, Veridian III disappeared from the viewscreen --but the Klingon vessel was in full pursuit. Not enough, Riker knew, as he squinted his eyes at the dazzling glow of another approaching torpedo. Lursa and B'Etor had found a way to outwit the Enterprise's superior firepower; it was time for Riker to return the favor.
...
"As their cloak begins to engage, their shields will drop." "Right," Riker said. "And they'll be vulnerable for at least two seconds." He glanced at the android. "Data, lock on to that plasma coil." "No problem," Data answered, confident. He hurried over to a bulkhead, removed a panel, and began rerouting circuitry at inhuman speed.
...
"Worf." Riker turned to the Klingon. "Prepare a spread of photon torpedoes. We'll have to hit them the instant they begin to cloak." "Aye, sir." Worf began to work his console.
Star Trek - Generations Official Novelisation
It's also theoretically possible that the Enterprise was rotating frequencies but that since the Klingons still had a live feed to Geordi's VISOR (and since he would certainly have been monitoring the shield during a battle) that they were simply using the same trick to change their torpedo frequencies each time they remodulated the shields.
