Splitting the Arrow?


How could Robin Hood win with this shot? He put his arrow in the exact place as the other archer's. You couldn't ask for a closer tie.

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I've always felt that Phillip of Aris should have had a chance to split Robin's arrow.
A silly quibble, but it does nag at me from time to time.

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Agreed.

And to the people downstairs, it is possible to split an arrow.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080925175639AAgvMJw

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besides, it's impossible, Myth Busters tried it...the arrow never splits

The Rule of Two is a hoax to fool the Jedi

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Well . . . you saw it didn't you?

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?!

Well . . . you saw it didn't you?

there is a big diference btween a movie scene and various experiences trying to recreate it in reality.

I also saw Matrix and I know we aren't plugged into a computer.

OP said it should have been a draw because the arrow split and was basically in the same place as the other. I mentioned it wouldn't even be possible, with this i meant that if it would happen then Robin would be declared the winner.

your point?

The Rule of Two is a hoax to fool the Jedi

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My point is -- you saw it. Now, how better to do it (in 1938, remember) than to ask the marksman who did all the high accuracy shots in the film (they did them with real arrows and padded costumes) to try this one? Anyway, that's how they did it, and my understanding is the marksman succeeded on the first take -- ah, what you saw!

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you are actualy saying that you believe that a masksman shot a real arrow and splitted in half...and you say this because we "saw it" in a movie??

are you serious?

sure there was no CGI back then but there were many ways to make it seem real.

it's possible to hit the target, but the arrow would break. furthermore, pls explain to us how would an arrow go through the end point of the previous one?

pls keep in mind that split an arrow from nock to tip is diferent from hitting the arrow

The Rule of Two is a hoax to fool the Jedi

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Yup. I'm actually saying that.

"... there were many ways to make it seem real."

Name one.

I remember reading in two places, but I'm damned if I can remember where, that that was precisely how it was done -- a marksman shot the arrow in two, and everyone on set was aghast that he did it with his first shot.

Ooops! Just checked. One of those places is the trivia section on IMDB about this film. Howard hill made the shot along with all the other shots requiring special accuracy. The performers wore steel breastplates with a balsa wood overlay under their costumes.

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Name one.


easy - have the 1st arrow be a fake or at least with no metal end.

the accuracy shot isn't the impossible part, what is impossible is an iron point breaking through another equally hard metal end. the arrow would break in the junction wood/metal, or just hang there attached to the other. it would hardly rip through the "arrow head". not from a medieval bow with.
The Rule of Two is a hoax to fool the Jedi

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Nice try. It seems you're more incredulous about the act of splitting an arrow in the first place (a necessary part of the legend), and not about how the producers managed the shot. As to the business about the arrow heads: Well, isn't it possible that the second arrow head simply pushed the first further into the target lodging just behind it? Or, if the shaft broke "at the junction" as you suggest it would, the straw in the target held the pieces in place? I'll rest my case with -- Howard Hill made the shot. We saw it. So, it would seem that, in the end, your certainty about the mechanics of the process may be just a little exaggerated.

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Nice try. It seems you're more incredulous about the act of splitting an arrow in the first place (a necessary part of the legend), and not about how the producers managed the shot. As to the business about the arrow heads: Well, isn't it possible that the second arrow head simply pushed the first further into the target lodging just behind it? Or, if the shaft broke "at the junction" as you suggest it would, the straw in the target held the pieces in place? I'll rest my case with -- Howard Hill made the shot. We saw it. So, it would seem that, in the end, your certainty about the mechanics of the process may be just a little exaggerated.


the op had a problem with the fact Robin won despite he "only" equaled the previous shooter with the arrow split.

i tried to state that it shouldnt even be a problem as it is a movie, and for all we know, the rules can be beant for the ranking of the winners since it was based on a shot which wouldn't happen as it is featured in many Robin Hood movies.


so because of this, ofc I have no problem with how the producers did it, i was justifying why it wouldn't even be possible to split.

again he did the shot - Good, the actual shooting the arrow from what you and other poster say, it's real.

now please explain how a medieval iron arrow head, in a medieval arrow "body" could split another arrow head.

again this discussion is useless, since I was using it to point out that even if someone take a hit at the fact Robin wins the tournament instead of being tied, the fact is the actual split arrow shooting (not just the verb)wouldnt even had happen.

yes, the arrow could be split in all of its wooden body
no, I don't believe the tip would have the same fate.
yes, if indeed the 2nd tip would get stuck in the previous (splitting the whole wooden body) it should had been a tie.

wy would I have a problem with HOW the producers made something?


The Rule of Two is a hoax to fool the Jedi

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It seems while Robin and company were splitting arrows, we've been politely splitting hairs.

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The Rule of Two is a hoax to fool the Jedi

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now please explain how a medieval iron arrow head, in a medieval arrow "body" could split another arrow head.

When did the movie ever state or show that the arrow's head had been split?

The shaft got split. The head just got pushed deeper into the target.

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Yeah, but apparently it's so much more fun to nitpick about stuff you make up than actually use common sense and facts... welcome to the internet (and to imdb in particular).

"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."

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How is the fact that it is impossible in reality of any relevance to a movie, especially one that is not realistic?

FYI, Myth Busters may have failed, but others have tried and succeeded.

"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."

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Numerous pro archers have split arrows. It's not impossible.





Hitler! C'mon, I'll buy you a glass of lemonade.

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I read somewhere (not sure just where but it might have been in the trivia section of the IMDb page for this movie) that an actual expert archer really did split the arrow with the shot shown onscreen; if true, than the only real trickery involved here is that it's supposed to look like Errol Flynn as Robin made this shot, when in fact someone else did it for him -- but that's what's called movie stuntwork, I believe.

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!

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The man who actually 'split the arrow' was Buster Wiles, Flynn's stunt double. Howard Hill did all the 'trick' shots in the movie except for splitting the arrow which was an FX shot.

'Howard Hill had a role in the picture, as Captain of the Archers ... But as great as Howard was, the publicity story was off the mark by a long shot. Howard was indeed able to strike another arrow, but the notch deflected a direct split, and it didn't photograph well. A wire was rigged in front of the administration building and I fired the arrow down the wire. Now it can be revealed - Buster Wiles split the arrow!'

Wiles, Buster. 'My Days With Errol Flynn' Santa Monica: Roundtable, 1988 p77.

quoted in:

Nollen, Scott Allen. 'Robin Hood: A Cinematic History of the English Outlaw and His Scottish Counterparts' Jefferson NC: McFarland 1999 p116.

Taking painting to the pictures ...
www.thepicturepalace.co.uk

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I see it's been a while since you posted your query, but I thought I'd put my two cents in. I believe the real reason Robin "won", the tie in hitting the bullseye notwithstanding, was because the tournament wasn't about finding the best marksman. It was about luring Robin out from hiding so he could be arrested. Once he split the arrow, they knew the only man capable of such a shot was Robin, thus with his identity revealed, he was proclaimed the winner.

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Yes, "pixie", that is exactly correct. If the OP had realized that the thread would never have been started, eh?

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Take a risk, Take a chance, Make a change. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway

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