[net.movies] New "Raiders of the Lost Ark" question

showard@udenva.UUCP (Mr. Blore) (02/10/86)

In article <1347@pyuxa.UUCP> ajf@pyuxa.UUCP (A Figura) writes:
>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.

 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

lflgames@well.UUCP (Lucasfilm Games Division) (02/13/86)

nva.UUCP>

In article <1088@udenva.UUCP>, showard@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

bl@hplabsb.UUCP (Bruce T. Lowerre) (02/14/86)

>  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?

The mountain of course!   :-)

daver@felix.UUCP (Dave Richards) (02/15/86)

>
>In article <1088@udenva.UUCP>, showard@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

dta@nvzg2.UUCP (Doug Anderson) (02/17/86)

> In article <1347@pyuxa.UUCP> ajf@pyuxa.UUCP (A Figura) writes:
> 
>  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?
> 
> 
> Mr. Blore, the DJ who would not die
>                       {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.

leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (02/19/86)

>In article <1347@pyuxa.UUCP> ajf@pyuxa.UUCP (A Figura) writes:
>>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

falk@sun.uucp (Ed Falk) (02/20/86)

> 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
>                                        Marion had no chance whatsoever
> 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

davidl@teklds.UUCP (David Levine) (02/21/86)

In article <1677@mtgzz.UUCP> leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) writes:
>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.

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%tektronix@csnet-relay.arpa)         [ARPA]

(P.S.  :-) )