About the whole entire directions for getting past the breath of God trap; I mean, either Indy saw the second blade coming and rolled out of the way, or the original writers of the mystical directions thought that people would have the good sense enough to roll out of the way as soon as they bowed down. Just my two bits.
Maybe as he was busy kneeling being penitent he saw the crack in the floor that the blade would come from. As the first one whizzed over his head he deduced that the crack he was on would produce another and quickly rolled forward as it would be the fastest way to escape from a kneeling position. Indy always did think quickly on his feet (or knees)
Maybe as he was busy kneeling being penitent he saw the crack in the floor that the blade would come from. As the first one whizzed over his head he deduced that the crack he was on would produce another and quickly rolled forward as it would be the fastest way to escape from a kneeling position. Indy always did think quickly on his feet (or knees)
I think that's spot-on and definitely the way that I would interpret what happens in that scene. I suppose that it could be that the clues to the challenges were incomplete; that Henry Sr had recorded, knowingly or otherwise, only partial versions of what was originally written. (Am I right in recalling that the source of the clues isn't given?)
I think it's Raiders for me as well - the opening temple/idol scene, especially the floor triggers and darts.
ToD was a fun trap, but sort of a trash compactor 2.0 feel to it.
LC final challenges had some gravitas to them and there was suspense, but the traps themselves are flawed in their concepts and execution. All three of them are flawed logically. Especially the 'path of God' trial. The way the 'J' rock crumbles like plaster and the fact that Indy holds on to another letter that should have also fallen.
Which Indy movie do you think had the best traps? I'm going to say Last Crusade had the best traps, but the spike pit in Temple of Doom is one of my fav's.
I was always fond of the spike room in Doom. A little cliche, but classic Indy.
Its a tie betwen Crusade and Raiders. I mean, Raiders opening traps are classic, but as you can see I'm REALLY fond of the ones in Crusade. I always love the idea behind the second and third one.
Its a tie betwen Crusade and Raiders. I mean, Raiders opening traps are classic, but as you can see I'm REALLY fond of the ones in Crusade. I always love the idea behind the second and third one.
It's hard to top Radiers' opening sequence, with the light trap, the darts and the weight trap. Temple has only one trap, the spiked room, but it's a helluva doozy of a trap. Everytime I see it I think "Man, the Thuggee were not ****ing around with that trap." But Crusade holds a special place in my heart because those traps had instructions. Cryptic ones, yes, but instructions. And if you pass the test, you're worthy. It's a trap with a purpose: to sift out the worthy from the unworthy, a little more thoughtful than just keeping someone out. So Crusade gets my vote.
I always thought the traps in LC was bad. Saturday Night Live parody bad.
It just didn't seem real.
The stuff in the opening of Raiders felt real. They had credibility. Indy and Marion being left in the Well of Souls. That seemed sooo horrible and miserable.
LC was cartoonish. The invisible bridge. Pick a cup, any cup (even though anyone with a passing knowledge of Jesus would know not to pick one of those gold cups… come on!). Penitent man trap... SUCKED! Why did Indy have to roll? It seemed like a BS inclusion to trick up people.
Spike room was good in ToD. I also like Indy being trapped at the center of the bridge. Horrible, no-way-out situations for Indy is great. Left on a plane without a pilot was fun, too bad the solution was cringe worthy.
Raiders Hovitos Temple. By Far. Besides the light trap and the infamous boulder, many forget about the genius golden idol trap. A weight-focused trap. Awesome. If you read that Complete Indiana Jones (or whatever it's called) book it gives you a diagram of the temple and how it's traps work. The walls and structure of the temple are held in place and when the golden idol trap is tripped it causes these pillars or what-not holding everything in place to fall and make the temple fall apart.
It's really awesome.
But not to be outdone, LC and TOD are pretty awesome. Spike Room and the "Leap of Faith" (which isn't really a trap but it's cool none-the-less). Something KOTCS was missing. A really elaborate and cool temple trap. Yeah yeah, the stairs thing... but that wasn't nowhere near as cool.
But not to be outdone, LC and TOD are pretty awesome. Spike Room and the "Leap of Faith" (which isn't really a trap but it's cool none-the-less). Something KOTCS was missing. A really elaborate and cool temple trap. Yeah yeah, the stairs thing... but that wasn't nowhere near as cool.
I really wish that retracing stairs portion lasted longer, no sooner than it started, it ended. But the idea was a good one.
Raiders Hovitos Temple. By Far. Besides the light trap and the infamous boulder, many forget about the genius golden idol trap. A weight-focused trap. Awesome. If you read that Complete Indiana Jones (or whatever it's called) book it gives you a diagram of the temple and how it's traps work. The walls and structure of the temple are held in place and when the golden idol trap is tripped it causes these pillars or what-not holding everything in place to fall and make the temple fall apart.
It's really awesome.
I'm going to have to pick that up to see the "official" explanations of those traps and see if I came even close when I tried to imagine how they might have worked.
The spike room is my all together favorite scene in Temple of Doom, but best trap movie? I think Raiders, in the teaser, was the best. Darts, spikes (stay out of the light!), Slowly closing stone doors and giant boulder. Great set piece.
Oh yes certainly. It was a multi trap. All the floor buttons, which led to the idol.... stand thing sinking down, which triggered the all the rocks crumbling down. Then the vine in the floor keeping on slipping out as Indy hang on to it, all while to doors are closing, then.... oh yeah the light trap that killed Sapito and the other guy, and then the giant boulder. totally a masterpiece.
Left on a plane without a pilot was fun, too bad the solution was cringe worthy.
Cringe worthy? I guess there are people who feel this way. Tho' what other way out of that situation was there? Certainly less cringe worthy than the refrigerator nuke escape, right?
And wouldn't you try it?
I mean, if you were in that EXACT scenario - jump out and risk it or certain death into the side of a mountain on a plane with no chutes?
I thought it was inventive and not entirely implausible, given the altitude relative to the slope of the mountains, the snow, etc.
It's actually an Indy moment I like.
That said, I still go with Raiders as tops in virtually every category, traps included.
I'm going to have to pick that up to see the "official" explanations of those traps and see if I came even close when I tried to imagine how they might have worked.
Lame I just looked at Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide by DK Publishing because it is supposed to diagram and explain how the Chachapoyan Temple and the Grail Temple traps worked and while it did have some cool things it did not explain very much. For the light trap it shows a crystal magnifying the beam of light and the spikes are spring loaded on what looks like a recurved bow connected to some form of foot lever but it doesn't tell us at all how the light triggers anything.
1. The giant rolling boulder. It's classic and it doubles as both an intruder-crusher and an entrance blocker.
2. The spike room. ("We....are going....TO DIE!")
3. The Breath of God, even though the second blade that comes out of the floor is a big cheat.
totally a masterpiece.
