Who would win in a fight between...

oki9Sedo

New member
I might add that the scene is played to be intense and thrilling, but its played for comedy and irony as well to a fairly large extent.

The way Indy turns around to see the mechanic, you can see he's not sure this is actually happening to him. How can anybody be this unlucky? And the way he sighs with exhaustion when he accepts that it actually is happening, and lazily gets ready to fight, all of thats clearly played for humour.

And thats all made funnier by the fact that the mechanic is only there for the fun of it, rather than a sense of duty.
 

1ord3vil

New member
oki9Sedo said:
I might add that the scene is played to be intense and thrilling, but its played for comedy and irony as well to a fairly large extent.
It's certainly intense and thrilling, though I think it's mostly about suspense and action. Of course there's a sense of humor in there as well, especially with regards to the other things going on at the same time.
And thats all made funnier by the fact that the mechanic is only there for the fun of it, rather than a sense of duty.
The scene is fun to watch, but there's not much in there that makes me laugh. I also think the mechanic's demise is the most grueling scene in the entire series. It's borderline in terms of what I'd like to see in an adventure movie like this. The impaled corpse of Satipo and the melting faces sequence are just cartoony in comparison. The gore in Temple of Doom is just corny.
 
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oki9Sedo

New member
1ord3vil said:
It's certainly intense and thrilling, though I think it's mostly about suspense and action. Of course there's a sense of humor in there as well, especially with regards to the other things going on at the same time.

I think there's an irony pervading the whole scene (how unlucky can a guy BE?).

There's also some physical comedy, such as Indy very convincingly pointing at something on the ground in an alarmed fashion and then kicking him in the knackers, or falling flat on his arse after getting jabbed, or having to resort to biting his arm. Although all of that physical comedy is at the beginning of the fight, it gradually gets less funny and more intense, especially at the climax of the fight where its all about the suspense.


I also think the mechanic's demise is the most grueling scene in the entire series. It's borderline in terms of what I'd like to see in an adventure movie like this. The impaled corpse of Satipo and the melting faces sequence are just cartoony in comparison. The gore in Temple of Doom is just corny

I loved that part when I saw it first as an 8-year old. I thought it was disgusting, but in a really cool, fun kind of way. I really enjoyed it.

You know the part in the Raven bar shootout where Indy shoots that Sherpa who's on fire? That part shocked me. Its so cold, brutal and to the point - the way he stops shouting and pauses as soon as the bullet hits him, the way the blood suddenly erupts all over his face, the way he slowly collapses onto his knees and falls to the ground, the way that whole part is completely silent except for the fire noise.

I'd never seen such coldly executed violence up to that point.
 

ReggieSnake

New member
oki9Sedo said:
You know the part in the Raven bar shootout where Indy shoots that Sherpa who's on fire? That part shocked me. Its so cold, brutal and to the point - the way he stops shouting and pauses as soon as the bullet hits him, the way the blood suddenly erupts all over his face, the way he slowly collapses onto his knees and falls to the ground, the way that whole part is completely silent except for the fire noise.

I'd never seen such coldly executed violence up to that point.
Yeah, same with me. It's the first time you see the somewhat more ruthless side of Indy, later to be proven again when he throws the nazi through the windshield in the Desert Chase scene.
 

oki9Sedo

New member
ReggieSnake said:
Yeah, same with me. It's the first time you see the somewhat more ruthless side of Indy, later to be proven again when he throws the nazi through the windshield in the Desert Chase scene.

It wasn't so much that I was shocked by Indy's actions.....he's being attacked and has to defend himself. It was just that it was a moment of brief, matter-of-fact, brutal violence in a series of films otherwise played for fun.

Not that I have a problem with the scene, I think its very well done, and the violent, gritty edge of Raiders is one of the things that sets it apart from the sequels.

There are gorier deaths obviously, but they're either fantasy and so have less power to shock (Belloq's head exploding) or gory in a fun way (like the mechanic getting chopped up in the propellor....thats one of the most crowd-pleasing moments in the movie).
 

1ord3vil

New member
oki9Sedo said:
It wasn't so much that I was shocked by Indy's actions.....he's being attacked and has to defend himself. It was just that it was a moment of brief, matter-of-fact, brutal violence in a series of films otherwise played for fun.
Yup, this is just yet another example of how different perceptions about such a simple movie can be. To me he's just a cardboard cut-out villain who's sent off without much exposure. I didn't even find this scene very memorable, and the total crash and burn is way too over the top to be disturbing.
There are gorier deaths obviously, but they're either fantasy and so have less power to shock (Belloq's head exploding) or gory in a fun way (like the mechanic getting chopped up in the propellor....thats one of the most crowd-pleasing moments in the movie).
Not really that much of a crowd pleasing moment at all in my experience, but it can certainly get laughs from some people whereas many others will simply find it a bit disturbing. Like I said, it's borderline, though I don't want it out of the movie by any means.

However, I miss the sadistic streak for what it did to provide some extra sense of realism where the other two movies opted for the route of corny gore and childish slapstick instead.
 

oki9Sedo

New member
1ord3vil said:
Yup, this is just yet another example of how different perceptions about such a simple movie can be. To me he's just a cardboard cut-out villain who's sent off without much exposure. I didn't even find this scene very memorable, and the total crash and burn is way too over the top to be disturbing.

Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I certainly was shocked by it when I was 8 years old. It dwells on the detail of his death, which makes it disturbing in my mind.

1ord3vil said:
Not really that much of a crowd pleasing moment at all in my experience, but it can certainly get laughs from some people whereas many others will simply find it a bit disturbing. Like I said, it's borderline, though I don't want it out of the movie by any means.

I would have imagined it was a crowdpleasing moment in the cinema. Everybody groaning in anticipation as the propellor comes up behind him, covering their eyes and screaming when he gets chopped up and then cheering as the Raiders March kicks in and Indy is on his feet and to the rescue.

Its a purely fun moment for me anyway.

1ord3vil said:
However, I miss the sadistic streak for what it did to provide some extra sense of realism where the other two movies opted for the route of corny gore and childish slapstick instead.

Last Crusade held back on the violence too much in my mind. I got the impression that everytime you see somebody get killed, Spielberg and Lucas were going "Okay....this isn't too much, is it? We won't offend anyone will we?" The aftermath of Temple of Doom being so controversial, I suppose.

Its interesting how Raiders feels the like a tense 1970s thriller rather than an action-adventure at times.
 

Raiders90

Well-known member
Indy's utterly panicked reaction when he tries to run away from the Mechanic is somehow really funny to me:
raiders-lost-ark-movie-screencaps.com-9313.jpg
 
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