In the first scene of the film, two elephants are shot, falling to the ground. In days before animal rights were recognized, cruel measures were often used to achieve effects.The two elephants appear to be downed by bullets. Were they trained to fall on cue, or were they actally shot?
shareFrom what I've read this was made in the "good old days" before the humane society got involved & ruled that no animal be killed in the name of making a film. Sadly I believe the elephant really was really killed in this film. Thank god we've moved on from those barbaric days. Its just sad to note that elephants in the wild won't be around much longer despite this
shareWatched it today, and it seems a trained elephant was used in the scene where the man was gored and the elephant was shot. However, the elephant lying on the ground in the next shot, when Alan takes off the amulet, looks pretty lifeless. So I'm figuring one animal was killed and, I hope, butchered and eaten afterwards. It is tragic that the world's obsessive, useless desire for ivory will bring about the end of the African elephant in the wild in our lifetime.
shareThe second elephant looked like it was filmed in reverse, or optically printed, to make it look like it fell—but I think it was getting up.
The first elephant, though, that sure looked like a real shooting.
Yep, I turned the movie off right at this beginning scene because of this very reason - I thought that Elephant looked like it really had been shot and said to myself, yep, this was made before the Humane Society days and these idiots probably didn't hesitate to kill a poor elephant to get their scene. Then I chucked this DVD in the recycling bin after that. I can't abide the disgraceful murder of animals.
shareShocking.