Mythbusters and Indiana Jones
- Thread starter Billy Ray
- Start date
Dr. Wolfwood
New member
Mythbusters... have they ever done _anything_ right? 
InexorableTash
Active member
They've also done the "fall through the awning" stunt (a la the Club Obi-Wan escape from TOD).
Given that Adam is a huge Indiana Jones fan (he sports a fedora, and at the Maker Faire this year he was showing off his laboriously hand-made bullwhip and grail diary), I'm surprised they didn't do an All Indy episode to celebrate KOTCS. Especially as they could re-use clips from the previously mentioned episodes.
(Rumors of such an episode hit Teh Interwebs back in May, but nothing appeared to come of it.)
Other Indy "movie myths" I'd like to see:
* Can you whip a projection (e.g. branch) and swing across a gap?
* Can you make a weight-triggered and/or light-triggered blowgun booby trap, using natural materials?
Others? (Obviously, you can take pretty much any stunt or SFX scene in the movies and turn it into a myth...)
Given that Adam is a huge Indiana Jones fan (he sports a fedora, and at the Maker Faire this year he was showing off his laboriously hand-made bullwhip and grail diary), I'm surprised they didn't do an All Indy episode to celebrate KOTCS. Especially as they could re-use clips from the previously mentioned episodes.
(Rumors of such an episode hit Teh Interwebs back in May, but nothing appeared to come of it.)
Other Indy "movie myths" I'd like to see:
* Can you whip a projection (e.g. branch) and swing across a gap?
* Can you make a weight-triggered and/or light-triggered blowgun booby trap, using natural materials?
Others? (Obviously, you can take pretty much any stunt or SFX scene in the movies and turn it into a myth...)
I don't follow the show, but I did catch part of the one where they did the raft. IIRC, they busted it on somewhat shaky grounds. They actually demonstrated that it might be possible to survive the fall that way, but concluded that the premise was busted anyway, saying you couldn't inflate the raft fast enough, and maybe some other nonsense.
Lance Quazar
Well-known member
vf wing said:
Yeah, I didn't consider that busted at all.
They did demonstrate, theoretically, that there would be enough drag on an inflated raft to slow you down.
Unfortunately, none of their dummies stayed put enough for it to work properly.
They said that the inflating would be the tricky part - you can't inflate in the plane, since you then can't get out with it and that you can't inflate outside the plane (they were using an escape slide), since the wind would tear the slide away from you.
However, as depicted in the film, if you were holding onto the raft with it beneath you and THEN jumped and inflated it....I dunno, as specifically portrayed in the movie, it still seems possible.
Johnny Jones
New member
Let's see if it's really possible to survive a nuclear blast by hiding in a lead-lined metal fridge!
Just kidding
Just kidding
Bvance
New member
I watched the motorcycle flip episode and as I watched I knew that something just wasn't right about the way they were doing it. Well as some of you know they said the myth was busted. So as I am laying in my bed thinking about it I realize that they screwed up big time and I couldn't believe they didn't even catch themselves.
So, the rig they had set up was the problem. The moment that they released the motorcycle from the trailer rig it began to decelerate and then the pole was thrown into the tire. They didn't have the bike under it's own power, hence, no forward thrust from the rear tire!!! If the front tire stops and the rear tire is still accelerating the bike would topple end over end just like when you apply the front brake hard on your bike while riding it, you will flip.
They screwed it up. I will admit that the motorcycle wouldn't have flown as high as the one in LC, but it would have flipped had they done it correctly.
So, the rig they had set up was the problem. The moment that they released the motorcycle from the trailer rig it began to decelerate and then the pole was thrown into the tire. They didn't have the bike under it's own power, hence, no forward thrust from the rear tire!!! If the front tire stops and the rear tire is still accelerating the bike would topple end over end just like when you apply the front brake hard on your bike while riding it, you will flip.
They screwed it up. I will admit that the motorcycle wouldn't have flown as high as the one in LC, but it would have flipped had they done it correctly.
InexorableTash
Active member
Bvance said:
With a bicycle, the majority of the mass in the system is the rider. If the bike stops suddenly the rider will keep going over the handlebars. (I speak from a related experience, although in my case the bike was stopped dead by a near-ground level wire I couldn't see whilst in the dark.) The bike tumbling (and landing on top of the rider) is due to the grip the rider likely has on the bike - as the rider goes over the handlebars.
Still, it's a somewhat valid criticism - "Buster" was tied firmly in place, and although the bike appeared to decelerate quite slowly even after the front wheel's rotation was arrested by the rod, it would be interesting to see whether the rider would have been thrown free and cause a more dramatic tumble.
Last Crusade on Mythbusters
I was watching Mythbusters earlier and they were testing the myth that Indiana Jones could cause a motorcycle to flip into the air by shoving a pole into the spokes.
It got half-way busted, first they tested to see if it was even possible to get the pole through the spokes while the wheel was spinning at highway speeds. It took the mythbusters about three tries to do what Indy did in one from a moving motorcycle, but they got it. Then they took the motorcycle onto a runway to see if the sudden stoppage of the front wheel would cause the whole thing to flip and they couldn't do it. They had to resort to using a pyro-technician to set a charge under the bike to flip it into the air. They did reproduce the shot from LC with surprising accuracy, but they lacked Indy's finesse. One of the mythbusters must be a pretty big fan because he had the hat, the whip, the bag and the coat.
I was watching Mythbusters earlier and they were testing the myth that Indiana Jones could cause a motorcycle to flip into the air by shoving a pole into the spokes.
It got half-way busted, first they tested to see if it was even possible to get the pole through the spokes while the wheel was spinning at highway speeds. It took the mythbusters about three tries to do what Indy did in one from a moving motorcycle, but they got it. Then they took the motorcycle onto a runway to see if the sudden stoppage of the front wheel would cause the whole thing to flip and they couldn't do it. They had to resort to using a pyro-technician to set a charge under the bike to flip it into the air. They did reproduce the shot from LC with surprising accuracy, but they lacked Indy's finesse. One of the mythbusters must be a pretty big fan because he had the hat, the whip, the bag and the coat.
Violet
Moderator Emeritus
Yeah, alright. I just graduated in December so I'm happy that I finally got out of there. I had a really tough year last year. I got to be the Australian producer and editor on my grad film, which was funded by a Korean TV channel (premiering this March) and produced my first corporate web doco for the Sports College of my uni. So productive but went through a lot of hell to get that final pass.
How things over on your side of the pond? Last time I heard, you were working at a bookshop, right?
How things over on your side of the pond? Last time I heard, you were working at a bookshop, right?
Yeah I'm working at a movie theater now. Still going to school, but it's slow going. I think I'm one of the lucky ones though. I saw a commercial today for a car dealership and they're doing some kind of deal where you can buy a car and if you lose your job you can return the car with no further obligation. There was also a job fair today in Orlando and they had so many people show up that they had to start turning them away. Not that many of the employers were hiring anyway. I hear most of them were actually looking for business. It's bad. I'm doing all right though.
Johnny Nys
Member
Saw that episode as well. It's one of those things you actually wish would work. I never noticed before that in the flip shot in the movie, the motorcycle is actually standing still.
There was another episode (or a later part of the same episode) where they tested the awning stunt from the beginning of Temple of Doom.
Apparently Indy and Willie would have been dead or severely injured. And then Short Round would be like "You okay, Dr. Jones? Dr. Jones? DR. JOOONNNNESSSSS!!!"
And then it would be a movie about Short Round exacting revenge on Lau. He would've grown up to be Jet Li or Jackie Chan and the movie would have been completely different.
Thank God for movie physics.
Apparently Indy and Willie would have been dead or severely injured. And then Short Round would be like "You okay, Dr. Jones? Dr. Jones? DR. JOOONNNNESSSSS!!!"
And then it would be a movie about Short Round exacting revenge on Lau. He would've grown up to be Jet Li or Jackie Chan and the movie would have been completely different.
Thank God for movie physics.