LC - Ever Wonder..?

LaoChe

LaoChe

New member
Y'know, I could never figure out why, in Last Crusade, Indy discovers that the catacombs leading to the knights tomb were filled with petrol - then continues to make a flaming bleedin' TORCH!?!? The thing is dripping fire balls into the water yet they don't ignite.

But when one of the brotherhood of the cruciform sword drops a match into the liquid it erupts in a blaze!

Ever wonder...?
 
I

Indy's_main_man

Guest
This has been talked about for a long time. Sure...it's a flaw...but it's just a movie. It could have been digitally fixed during the process of making the DVDs but i think that would have been dumb.
 
grumpus

grumpus

New member
its just a simple flaw, but its better that they didnt edit it out, so we can have the movie how its supposed to be
 
I

Indy's_main_man

Guest
If we really want to disect this logically we could say the embers burnt out before touching the petrolium...


But really...if you have a torch there has to be some sparks falling at some point. it just happens.
 
grumpus

grumpus

New member
hmmmm im going to go with they burned out before touching the flamable stuff, that works for me
 
LaoChe

LaoChe

New member
I'll roll with the burnt out thing too, but it just doesn't strike me as a very 'intelligent' move for DOCTOR Jones.

Lighting a BLAZING fire torch in the middle of a PETROL FIELD.

Since they were pretty much right off the boat, why wouldn't he have brought a flash light? Simple script adjustment.

Ahh, well, don't get me wrong, I love Indy, and I forgive it for all the great things Last Crusade gave me, but as a screenwriter myself (budding, by no means professional) I just can't ignore those things...
 
Finn

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
How many times we do see the drippings actually drop into the petroleum itself anyway?

For the time they make it to the burial chamber, the torch doesn't seem to drip a bit, and it begins just after that. And every time it does, at least a person with a vivid imagination can see a casket or something else being on the way all the time.

But the main point being that Dr. Jones does not think about what he's doing... I agree. Not very wise first... then not very funny.
 
Finn

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Nicely said. It <i>does</i> look more cool on screen when Indy is carrying a torch, not a flashlight.
 
L

Lightning

New member
Actually it is very plausible that the petroleum didn't catch on fire from the torch drippings. In order for petroleum to ignite, it has to be a vapor. The bubbles at the point where the petroleum was coming out of the ground was natural gas (methane). That is what the match set off. The resulting explosion was hot enough to begin to vaporise the liquid petroleum and burn it.
The oil that was floating on top of the water can't be set off by a flame from the torch alone. Oil doesn't evaporate like gasoline, so there was no vapor to set off the petroleum once they got away from the natural gas.
 
LaoChe

LaoChe

New member
YES!!!!

Thank you thank you thank you!

And of course Indy knew that because he's a doctor!

That works. I'm satisfied. Thanks again!!!!
 
grumpus

grumpus

New member
hmmm possibly, or he is just one really samrt dude. besides, who doesnt know all that stuff about petrol and what not, i mean really, i knew that i just didnt want to say anything.
 
indyflys_solo

indyflys_solo

New member
grumpus said:
hmmm possibly, or he is just one really samrt dude. besides, who doesnt know all that stuff about petrol and what not, i mean really, i knew that i just didnt want to say anything.
Click to expand...
Of course he's one smart dude, it's Indiana Jones.
And I agree... any pyro worth their salt knows that stuff about petroleum. Actually, what's always bothered me most was that Indy definitely ruined a skeleton by borrowing its femur for his torch. If anyone has read "Young Indy: Tomb of Terror", there's one point where he doen't even want to use a piece of old cloth to hide his Egyptian ring from Von Trappen (the villain)... perhaps his puritanical views of archaeology mellowed somewhat since meeting Abner Ravenwood? Oops, sorry... that's another thread entirely. ;)
 
The_Raiders

The_Raiders

Well-known member
I always wondered how Indy could swim in the petrolium with his eyes open, wouldn't that burn/sting his eyes? :confused: :dead:
 
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