Why don't the Thuggees use guns at the bridge?

Think about it.


In the mineshaft/minecart chase they we're using rifles.

Then all of a sudden on the bridge they are using bows & arrows.


If they had guns, why we're they not using them on the bridge?
It's just another little thing I just caught last time I watched TOD.

Maybe they ran outta bullets?

They had Indy surrounded on both sides so if they used guns they would shoot at each other.

HenryJunior said:

They had Indy surrounded on both sides so if they used guns they would shoot at each other.

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No they didn't. They were behind him, across the valley. The guys on Indy's side as he climbed up the ladder/bridge were Blumburtt's men.

I meant the two groups that walked out on the bridge with Indy couldn't shoot at each other. But yes it is rather silly no one had a rifle on their side after the bridge fell down. Somebody could have taken Indy out while he was hanging on the remnants of the bridge. Even then, stormtrooper syndrome is the best form of protection

They wanted the stones. They would be found, Jones wouldn't, but why get yourself into trouble anyway?

All the Thugee guards in the mineshaft either got killed or couldn't get thru the various collapsed tunnels to chase Indy with their rifles. So the ones shooting bows and arrows are a different group of guys. And perhaps weapons storage was closer to the mines, so when the alert went out, the only weapons on hand up at the palace were the more traditional bows and arrows. Those would have been kept out in the open, so the visiting British wouldn't realize they were stockpiling rifles.

((Wow, I'm pretty satisfied with that.))

Goodeknight said:

All the Thugee guards in the mineshaft either got killed or couldn't get thru the various collapsed tunnels to chase Indy with their rifles. So the ones shooting bows and arrows are a different group of guys. And perhaps weapons storage was closer to the mines, so when the alert went out, the only weapons on hand up at the palace were the more traditional bows and arrows. Those would have been kept out in the open, so the visiting British wouldn't realize they were stockpiling rifles.

((Wow, I'm pretty satisfied with that.))

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A very feasible explanation as to why they don't use guns at the bridge!


The alternative would have been to employ the 'Stormtroopers can't shoot for toffee' clause, or else Indy would have been riddled with lead and ROTLA rendered non-canon.

Montana Smith said:

A very feasible explanation as to why they don't use guns at the bridge!


The alternative would have been to employ the 'Stormtroopers can't shoot for toffee' clause, or else Indy would have been riddled with lead and ROTLA rendered non-canon.

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Goodie's explanation is definitely a workable one but I think your alternative is the real reason.

My question is: How did their bows & arrows magically appear? None of the men who chase after Indy are carrying these weapons until the moment when Mola Ram calls out for them to fire. Then suddenly out of nowhere, the whole gang is equipped with bows & quivers!

Stoo said:

Goodie's explanation is definitely a workable one but I think your alternative is the real reason.

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The Slip-Up Archive touches on the issue of bullets vs. arrows:

In the very end of the movie, where Indy is hanging on the fallen bridge. A group of bad guys starts firing arrows at him, if you watch carefully you can see an arrow or two bounce off of his back.

Now it's no surprise they wouldn't use real arrows, but there is such thing as a 'take two'. I found it extremely funny that every bad guy on the cliff had a bow and arrow. And why wouldn't they just use guns? They did previously in the movie.

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Which proves that Thuggee are better shots than Stormtroopers, yet Indy is just too macho to allow himself to be penetrated from the rear by their puny weapons.

Stoo said:

My question is: How did their bows & arrows magically appear? None of the men who chase after Indy are carrying these weapons until the moment when Mola Ram calls out for them to fire. Then suddenly out of nowhere, the whole gang is equipped with bows & quivers!

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Bows and quivers airdropped by aliens?

When Willie and the kid are hanging from the bridge and they start climbing up, a small, modern, private plane can be seen flying (briefly) to the right.

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087469/trivia?tab=gf&ref_=tt_trv_gf

They went out onto the bridge to get the Sankara Stones from Indy, primarily. Remember he had them in his bag and was threatening to drop them. The guys who went out there seemed primarily prepared for some kind of hand-to-hand scuffle or brief skirmish with swords over possession of the bag. A hail of gunfire wouldn't availed them in that situation; too much risk of damaging the Stones.

Also, rifles are ranged weapons, and the bridge was unsteady. If they'd taken their rifles out there they'd needed to have dealt with trying to hit a target at close range with long-barreled guns intended for long range use, while on an unsteady, swaying bridge which makes aiming difficult. Swords and/or their bare hands were just better.

As for the bows and arrows issue, I dunno. Maybe what guns they had were somewhere where they couldn't readily get at them, and the bows and arrows were just quicker to grab as they scrambled to head Indy off? Also, the Thuggee clearly being a sect who seemed like they liked things the old-fashioned way, its possible their soldiers were trained more thoroughly in the use of archery instead of marksmanship.

Kooshmeister said:

Also, rifles are ranged weapons, and the bridge was unsteady. If they'd taken their rifles out there they'd needed to have dealt with trying to hit a target at close range with long-barreled guns intended for long range use, while on an unsteady, swaying bridge which makes aiming difficult. Swords and/or their bare hands were just better.

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They could have shot at him with revolvers, though. One of the Thugs during the mine cart chase used one so they did have revolvers in their weaponry.

True, I'd forgotten about that. Maybe guns were expensive and the ones they had were the ones they'd been able to get? They could've utilized the Maharajah's (presumably) very deep pockets to fund a lot of what they did, given they had him and his prime minister under their thumb; but I'm thinking most of it went to revamping the temple and mines and such. I guess they just didn't think they'd need guns and so didn't stockpile anything except castoff British armaments.

This is all Koosh Speak for "I don't know," though.