"Raiders of the Lost Arc" question
Walter Bright
>A friend of mine noticed a bug in "Raiders of the Lost Arc", and I thought
>I'd post this to the net to generate some discussion.
>Once the ship is stopped, the girl (Marion) and the Arc are captured, and
>Our Hero swims onto the U-Boat, it seems that he stays on that it for several
>hundred miles. How long could Indiana Jones hide on top of a U-boat without
>dying of thirst, hunger, exposure, etc? And if the U-boat submerged at all in
>that period of time, then Indy would have been shark food!
Not only that, but U-boats, while on the surface, had a watch posted
(to look out for enemy ships and airplanes). Also, because it stunk
below decks (they weren't called 'pig boats' for nothing), the crew
would use any excuse to be on deck in good weather.
There aren't many places to hide on the deck of a U-boat.
ste...@haddock.uucp
In Lawrence Kasdan's screenplay, Indy lassoes himself to the periscope
of the U-Boat as it begins to submerge. The scene was never shot,
probably for budgetary and story reasons (the Wurffler, by the way, was
originally built for the German television miniseries and movie
"Das Boot").
set...@siemens.uucp
My main objection besides his ride on the sub (I agree, there was definately
a bug there) is that we see the sub coasting in to a stop and wonder where
Indy is. The next thing we see is him hiding behind some crates. How did
he get there? The place was crawling with guards. However, those were the
only real slip-ups in the movie that I could find.
Ken Settle
Siemens RTL
Princeton, NJ
ihnp4!siemens!settle
A Figura
superhuman superhero! - he just held his breath!!!
While we're on inconsistencies in Raiders...
Another thing I';ve never figured out is how Marion
survives the truck explosion (when she's in that basket)?
You never see her get out of the basket or off the truck
before Indy blows it to smithereens.
And then there's the time....
Oh well, I guess that's why the critics call this a FANTASY adventure movie.
john
A WW-2 Nazi sub would make its best time running on diesels and so
would not submerge on its way to the island. Besides there was one clue
everyone seems to have missed that told Indy the captain was not planning
to dive. Remember the nazi flag that was flying from the Sail? Those things
are always brought in before a sub dives. The only thing that was hard to
believe was that they were running with nobody on watch.
Docking a vessel is always a slow tedious operation. Indy's grandmother
could have jump off the sub and beat it to the dock.
John Eaton
!hplabs!hp-pcd!john
D. Hedden
the Lost Arc) you are all talking about, but I thought you
might like to know there are two other Indiana Jones movies
out; Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom.
"The moving hand writes ..."
Mr. Blore
>Another thing I';ve never figured out is how Marion
>survives the truck explosion (when she's in that basket)?
>You never see her get out of the basket or off the truck
>before Indy blows it to smithereens.
>
Here one that bothered me in IJATTOD: When Indy and the blonde and the little
tyke are in the plane with no fuel, they jump out just before the plane hits a
mountain and blows up. What blew up?
He's hot, he's hip, he's back from the grave . . .
--
Mr. Blore, the DJ who would not die
{hplabs, seismo}!hao!udenva!showard
or {boulder, cires, ucbvax!nbires, cisden}!udenva!showard
Diane Holt
>survives the truck explosion (when she's in that basket)?
>You never see her get out of the basket or off the truck
>before Indy blows it to smithereens.
When Indy finds Marion being held captive in the tent at the dig, he
realizes (and even mumbles) that they must have switched baskets.
Diane Holt
INTERACTIVE Systems Corp.
(east coast:) ihnp4!ima!ism780!dianeh
(west coast:) decvax!vortex!ism780!dianeh
"Bad dates!"
Sean Yoda Rouse
in Egypt. I don't think the British would stand for such a thing, seeing
as they were running Egypt at the time.
As for the sub...
As someone else mentions, it does dive..
ref: You here the klaxxons, and you see someguy opening the ballast
tubes.
BUT, the sub could have only gone down deep enough such that it would still
be able to recycle it's air and move quickly, so all Indy had to do was
lasso the periscope or air recycling tubes. I never considered that inconsistant
However, when we see Indy at the sub base, I believe that he's dry. I can't
remember though.
The other problem: how did Indy & Marion leave the island?
Oh yes, also, the Germans never had a flying wing.
To answer something else..
In article <13...@pyuxa.UUCP> a...@pyuxa.UUCP (A Figura) writes:
>While we're on inconsistencies in Raiders...
>
>Another thing I';ve never figured out is how Marion
>survives the truck explosion (when she's in that basket)?
>You never see her get out of the basket or off the truck
>before Indy blows it to smithereens.
"They must have switched baskets" as Indy said when he saw Marion in the tent.
>Oh well, I guess that's why the critics call this a FANTASY adventure movie.
I agree!!!
-Sean "Yoda" Rouse
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
ARPA: cc...@cory.berkeley.edu
UUCP: ucbvax!cory!cc-30
Ford, there's an infinite number of monkeys here that want to talk to us about
this script for Hamlet they've worked out.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lucasfilm Games Division
In article <10...@udenva.UUCP>, sho...@udenva.UUCP (Mr. Blore) writes:
> >
>
> Here one that bothered me in IJATTOD: When Indy and the blonde and the lit
tle
> tyke are in the plane with no fuel, they jump out just before the plane hits
a
> mountain and blows up. What blew up?
>
> --
> Mr. Blore, the DJ who would not die
Why, the explosive Mongolian chickens, of course. Why else would
Indy risk his life by jumping out of the plane on a raft? Be logical!
Noah Falstein
!ptsfa!well!lflgames
Bruce T. Lowerre
> tyke are in the plane with no fuel, they jump out just before the plane hits a
> mountain and blows up. What blew up?
The mountain of course! :-)
Dave Richards
>In article <10...@udenva.UUCP>, sho...@udenva.UUCP (Mr. Blore) writes:
>
>
> Here one that bothered me in IJATTOD: When Indy and the blonde and the lit
>tle
> tyke are in the plane with no fuel, they jump out just before the plane hits
> a
> mountain and blows up. What blew up?
>
> --
> Mr. Blore, the DJ who would not die
First of all, gasoline does not burn or explode. Gasoline VAPOR, when mixed
with oxygen or air containing oxygen, becomes explosive. So what's an empty
gasoline tank filled with? Air and evaporated gasoline! A perfect bomb
just looking for an excuse to go off!
Oh sure, you may see large areas of ground catch fire when gasoline is
spilled, but there's not likely to be an explosion.
A friend of mine who's dad used to drive a gasoline tanker truck said
that he was only worried when driving with empty tanks...
Here's an interesting experiment: Fill a very small container to the rim
with gasoline (like a baby jar lid). Try to light the gasoline by tossing
matches from several feet away. If the container is filled TO THE RIM,
it is practically impossible to light. But if there is a small amount of
gasoline in the bottom, it will light readily (the container walls allow
vapor to collect).
DISCLAIMER: Don't try this except outdoors in the dirt, with several
fire trucks present, etc, etc.
Dave "Sparky" Richards
Mark Brader
> Indy is. The next thing we see is him hiding behind some crates. How did
> he get there? The place was crawling with guards.
Cleverly.
Mark Brader
"It's ARK! ARK! Get it right, monkey boy!"
Doug Anderson
>
> Here one that bothered me in IJATTOD: When Indy and the blonde and the little
> tyke are in the plane with no fuel, they jump out just before the plane hits a
> mountain and blows up. What blew up?
>
>
> {hplabs, seismo}!hao!udenva!showard
> or {boulder, cires, ucbvax!nbires, cisden}!udenva!showard
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***
This may be far fetched but aircraft do have other
flamable liquids then av-gas. Additionally some,
maybe most aircraft have a portion fo fuel, (200 lbs
in some jets) that is unusable. maybe a combination
of hydrolic fluid, oil, fumes, and unused av-gas caused
the explosion.
Doug Anderson
Any comments are strictly my own.
m.r.leeper
>>Another thing I';ve never figured out is how Marion
>>survives the truck explosion (when she's in that basket)?
>>You never see her get out of the basket or off the truck
>>before Indy blows it to smithereens.
>>
> She was never IN that basket, so she wasn't in the truck.
Doesn't anyone out there have the film on cassette? I got it when it
first came out. The continuity of the film leaves no doubt that
Marion should have died in the truck. We see a scene in which the
arabs are carrying a basket that is callin "I-i-indy-y-y" with Marion.
An instant later there is a scene in which they are carrying it to the
truck and putting it on. The truck drives off and crashes. So what?
Inconsistency is totally within the serial tradition. Most episodes
of FLASH GORDON kill off a major good character at the end of an
episode, only to have a different scene in which the character saves
himself at the beginning of the next chapter. I don't mean there is
just something they didn't show you the first time, I mean that Flash
would be shown actually falling out of the spaceship and beyond the
point where he could save himself, a week later he would be seen to
fall in a very different way and would grab onto the doorway to save
his life. Cliffhangers very often cheated. It was one of their less
endearing habits. RotLA also cheats. Marion had no chance whatsoever
to save herself. It is a good film, but where it is dishonest, it
really is dishonest. I am not going to rationalize for the script
just because I like the film. Lots of places the script does not play
fair with the audience. Anyone of the apologists out there want to
explain to me why sunlight makes a high pitched whistle when it goes
through the crystal in the map room (pointing to where the ark can be
found)? How about why Indy's jacket and then Indy are not ripped
apart when being dragged behind the truck. Or do you really think a
leather jacket and cloth pants are that protective? Wanna try it?
Mark Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
Ed Falk
> just something they didn't show you the first time, I mean that Flash
> would be shown actually falling out of the spaceship and beyond the
> point where he could save himself, a week later he would be seen to
> fall in a very different way and would grab onto the doorway to save
> to save herself.
I think the film has been edited. There was a scene when I first saw it
where the hero is chasing the arabs, and winds up in a marketplace filled
with hundreds of people carrying identical baskets. This meshed with
a later scene where the hero says "They pulled a switch on me!". I
remember seeing the film on cable some years later and that scene was missing.
ed falk
David Levine
>Inconsistency is totally within the serial tradition. Most episodes
>of FLASH GORDON kill off a major good character at the end of an
>episode, only to have a different scene in which the character saves
The classic example, from "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe," I think:
MING: Throw them into the Pit Of Doom, from which there is no escape!
DALE: No, not the Pit of Doom, from which there is no escape!
MING: Yes, the Pit Of Doom, from which there is no escape!
<Flash and Dale are thrown into the Pit Of Doom, from which
there is no escape!>
END OF EPISODE <n>!!
<A week passes...>
BEGINNING OF EPISODE <n+1>
<As you recall, Flash and Dale have been thrown into the Pit Of Doom,
from which there is no escape!>
DALE: How will we ever escape the Pit Of Doom, from which there is no
escape?
FLASH: Why, through this door!
<they leave through a rather ordinary-looking door...>
> Anyone of the apologists out there want to
>explain to me why sunlight makes a high pitched whistle when it goes
>through the crystal in the map room?
What, don't YOU have sound effects in your life? Golly, you mean you've never
heard a system crash? How do you avoid muggers without the ominous music that
lets you know you're being followed?
David D. Levine (...{decvax,ihnp4,hplabs}!tektronix!teklds!davidl) [UUCP]
(davidl%teklds%tekt...@csnet-relay.arpa) [ARPA]
(P.S. :-) )