The sand bag and the idol

[BDK1429]

Okay, I don't know if anyone has ever posted this question on here or not but I've been thinking about it so here goes...

Indy's in the temple, idol in hand, smiling, very pleased with himself...then the pedestal begins to drop...temple implodes...Sapito's "adios senior"...jump across the precipice...saves the whip...Sapito forgets to stay out of the light...idol back in his hand...giant boulder...Belloq and the hovitos...Jock start the engine...Reggie...come on, show a little backbone...

Now, the question...was one handful of sand too much or too little? :confused:

Don't think about it too hard just answer with your first gut instinct.

Me personally, I think he took out too much.


Can't wait to see what y'all think.

[DocWhiskey]

I'm gonna say too little.

[Lonsome_Drifter]

Well, I think the bag had too much sand in it and Indy did not take out enough. The bag must have weighed more than the idol did because when he placed it on the dais, the weight of it pushed it down.

[Dr Bones]

Great question!!! :up:

On impulse I say neither...the moment of transfer was too slow...

But I'll play along...my gut says too much as the bag looked too light...then I think the pedastal went downwards so did that mean the bag was too heavy???


Arrghhh!!!!:confused:

[BDK1429]

Great question!!! :up:

On impulse I say neither...the moment of transfer was too slow...

But I'll play along...my gut says too much as the bag looked too light...then I think the pedastal went downwards so did that mean the bag was too heavy???


Arrghhh!!!!:confused:


Excellent point!!!:up:

[Lance Quazar]

I always wondered how Indy had the foresight to fill up his bag with sand anyway!

[BDK1429]

I always wondered how Indy had the foresight to fill up his bag with sand anyway!


That is a good question. I'd chalk it up to the gobbs of obscure facts about ancient cultures and folklore he has bouncing around in his head. Forrestal might have told him too.

[Lance Quazar]

That is a good question. I'd chalk it up to the gobbs of obscure facts about ancient cultures and folklore he has bouncing around in his head. Forrestal might have told him too.

When I was a kid and first saw the film, I thought the dirt was gold dust and that he was taking it because it was valuable.

When I grew up, I realized this obviously wasn't the case.

But I prefer my 8 year old explanation to none at all.

[Junior Jones]

Okay, I don't know if anyone has ever posted this question on here or not...

Yeah, it's been discussed (http://raven.theraider.net/showthread.php?t=15429).

[avidfilmbuff]

I find it difficult to believe that a sandbag could possibly be heavier than an idol made out of gold.

[Crack that whip]

That depends upon how much sand and how much gold, of course - a sandbag can weigh an ounce or a hundred pounds, and so can an idol. We do have a good idea from simply looking at it just how much the sandbag should weigh, but we don't know how thick the gold in the idol is supposed to be. I do think it's safe to assume it's hollow, which is certainly supported by the fact the eyes are meant to move (!) - presumably there's some mechanism inside the idol to effect this (as indeed there was in the original filming prop), so there must be some empty space in there for the mechanism to move around in.

[mister64]

It always seemed to me that Indy forgot how heavy gold can be so he took too much sand out of the bag. The platform lowered not from being too heavy but from being a different weight than the idol had been. That seems to make sense with Indy not being a perfect hero, but one that forgets things and makes mistakes and has to improvise.

[Peru1936]

Okay, gut instinct: his name is Satipo.

It appears Indy thought the bag was too heavy, so he removed some sand. Personally, I don't think the pedastal sank because the bag was too heavy; the weight was off - too heavy or too light - and the sinking of the pedastal was the mechanism that reacted to this misbalance and activated the destruction of the temple.

[Kevin]

The platform lowered not from being too heavy but from being a different weight than the idol had been.

This. Regardless of whether the sandbag was too heavy or too light, the difference in weight upset the balance and started the chain reaction that brought the temple down.

Also, I think he took out too little. The idol was not solid gold, it may have even been wood covered in gold leaf.

[mister64]

This. Regardless of whether the sandbag was too heavy or too light, the difference in weight upset the balance and started the chain reaction that brought the temple down.

Also, I think he took out too little. The idol was not solid gold, it may have even been wood covered in gold leaf.

I always thought the idol was supposed to be solid gold, kind of as a joke that even Indy (a professor) forgot how heavy gold can be so he took out too much sand. But it probably makes more sense for the idol to have been made in the way you mentioned.

[arkfinder]

I think he thought he would fool it. Then it backfired like most of Indy's thoughts. But, that's what we love.

[BDK1429]

I think he thought he would fool it. Then it backfired like most of Indy's thoughts. But, that's what we love.

Yeah, I love how he's not quite fully up to the challenge in front of him.

[Zealot]

I always thought that the sand Indy sprinkled on the ground activated the trap.

[Dr Bones]

Well if we're all going to really think about it...

I figure a guy like Indy has the intellect to guess the weight fairly accurately and probably had done his research and assessed the weight of the idol pretty accurately accounting for structure etc, so he was probably only very slightly off...but this could still be enough depending on the sensitivity of the trap.

The pedestal went down. Whilst this may support the theory the bag was too heavy, would the pedestal have gone up if it was too light and how would this affect the trap?

I think the transfer itself was too clumsy and impossible even if he'd done the impossible and got the bag's weight right to a single grain of sand. The millisecond where the weight was not on the pedestal may have been enough to...ahem.. start the ball rolling. :rolleyes: The impact of the sand bag dropping increases weight on the pedestal also.

Even an exact weight would be impossible to transfer unnoticed if the trap was sensitive enough...try it on your kitchen scales!:p

It's just another great case of Indy bumbling through by the skin of his teeth.

On a side note...as a kid I thought it was possibly the light shining on it that set off the trap...as with the spears?

[Attila the Professor]

Well, the explanation that the movie doesn't quite allow, but that was intended, is that the idol actually contained some machinery. Its eyes were supposed to watch Indy, or seem to, as he approached and prepared for the switcheroo. But because it would have been partially hollow, the sand would have weighed more than it.

So the theory was, I suspect. But gold is still pretty heavy, so there's still room for doubt, even if we interpret the idol the way they originally intended.

Actually, here's a <I>very</I> relevant website (http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/measurement/faq/indiana-jones.shtml) that sheds some light on the question.

[Indy Scout 117]

Okay, I don't know if anyone has ever posted this question on here or not but I've been thinking about it so here goes...

Indy's in the temple, idol in hand, smiling, very pleased with himself...then the pedestal begins to drop...temple implodes...Sapito's "adios senior"...jump across the precipice...saves the whip...Sapito forgets to stay out of the light...idol back in his hand...giant boulder...Belloq and the hovitos...Jock start the engine...Reggie...come on, show a little backbone...

Now, the question...was one handful of sand too much or too little? :confused:

Don't think about it too hard just answer with your first gut instinct.

Me personally, I think he took out too much.


Can't wait to see what y'all think.
i think he added too much...but thats a great point!!! never thought of that.