I've not seen this movie for years, but that's always bugged me. Dennis Hoppers charactor says it to Sutherland when he reappears at the end of the movie... does anyone know?
JP
I want to know this also
shareI must say, I'm not entirely sure why, but I always figured it was because of the wind coming off of the top and bottom of the train as it's moving. That wind would cause the bullet to fly off in a direction that isn't where the gun was aimed. That's what I always figured, but I could be wrong.
shareI'd guess it is simply because both carriages move erratically, making it nigh impossible for the shooter to properly take aim. Also, a handgun is only good for close distances (I don't know if the distance between the wagons would still be called "close", handgun-wise).
--
"I was born to speak all mirth and no matters."
Clearly none of you have ever shot a gun.
shareLuckily, no. Except an airgun at the fair. But maybe you can help with the question, assuming that you have shot a gun?
--
"I was born to speak all mirth and no matters."
Shooting a gun is not like you can see in the movies. You have to aim, not only "use the power of your mind". I tried once to shoot a barrel, ten feet away, and I was standing, still, alone, no wind, and it took me three or four shots to make a hit. I can´t imagine how hard could be to shoot a man from a moving wagon to another moving wagon, three hundred feet away. I guess it should take like two hundred shots or more. The reason this is so hard to understand it´s that you can´t think a movie in reality terms. That´s why "fast and furious" and things like that may work.
Dang,...I thought 'I' was a Bad shot! Ha! Just jokin'. I used to own a Smith & Wesson .44 Calibur hand-cannon. I could hit (and blow the crap out of) pumpkin's, cantalope's etc. from appx. 50 yds. But that was standing perfectly still. A .44 has a pretty damn good kick, and shoot's flame out of the barrel,
and noisy as all Hell. I had to aim 'high' as my sight's were off just a tad,
but I expect trying to Hit 'anything' from the back of a moving train would be extremely hard if not impossible just because of the incredible motion the train would have.
The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get!
This all makes sense. I thought the answer mite have to do with the fact that you would be moving away from the target potentially at high speed (~60 mph) so you'd have to subtract that speed from the speed of the bullet rendering the bullet feeble. I don't know how fast a bullet travels, but I'm thinking several hundred miles an hour and if that's true than 60 pmh more or less would not make much difference.
You know me. I'm just like you. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody.
A Bullet only travel's as fast as the amount of Gunpowder that explodes when the firing pin makes a good connection on the Planet Yoga, if one is sitting down with a Kaftan on, and pulls the trigger on a .44 Magnum,..the Bulet will travel Faster Than The Speed of Life. However if Curly Howard has the gun in his hand, upon firing the weapon, he'll be spun around on his ass while Pingin' every Poon-June in his Bossoes Harem.
The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get!
a bullet travels around three thousand feet per second
the side to side motion of the train alone would veer the bullet about 1/2 an inch at 50 yards
thats without wind, cross wind, track jumps and the increasing distance.
It's simply about the difficulty of aiming in those circumstances. As I recall the trains were at least 50 metres apart by then, maybe 100. A handgun is not accurate over anything other than short distances, plus both trains would be bumping around. A tenth of a centimetre off in your aim and the bullet would end up many feet away from the target. You might be lucky, but the chances are so overwhelmingly against it that effectively it's impossible.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.
Methinks that this man has been hitting the Sarsaparilla a bit...
$24,000! That's too fuching high!
I know you asked this almost two years ago, but here goes. It's that both things are moving, and there is the clickety-clack of the train on top it. The first part is easy - it's hard enough hitting a moving object while you're stationary; now you have to hit a moving object while you're moving too. The second part, is that it is really, really difficult to maintain your aim when the train is going over uneven railroad ties. Every 1/4 of second, it hits a bump that throws your aim off. It is a very difficult shot. You have to be Annie Oakley to make it.
I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
It is not impossible...perhaps difficult if you aren't competent enough with a gun, but certainly not impossible. As I recall, Huey was even told later that it wasn't true.
shareI agree it's not impossible, but it is probably really, really unlikely that most people (even well trained shooters) would hit what they were aiming for. Especially (obviously) if we are talking about a relatively small target like a man's chest at some distance.
FWIW, I just finished watching the movie and there was nothing about Huey being corrected about his statement in it. At least not in the version I saw.
difficult? competent with a gun? I bet a well trained , certified , olympic champion pistol shooter would make that shot about 1 time in 100 . and that would be just luck cos an untrained 4 year old would probly hit just as often
sounds like a myth for adam & jamie to have a go at :-)
shareThe look on the shooter's face after he apparently makes the hit tells the story - even he was surprised as hell that it (apparently) happened. Too many variables in operation for it to occur; folks have mentioned most of them above.
THE NIGHTTHING THEATRE: Thrillers, Chillers, Shockers & Schlockers
I think you'd have to be a skilled sniper to make that shot for keeps, but then again, one can get lucky. Seemed like a difficult shot to me.
shareweird , i was thinking about this (quote) last night , and i havent watched the film for years, and next day someone posts on a dead 11 year old thread about a 27 year old movie. .. and i ran into it! whats the odds!
Ha- just seen one of my own posts from 3 years ago up there. I'll say it again:
"difficult? competent with a gun? I bet a well trained , certified , olympic champion pistol shooter would make that shot about 1 time in 100 . and that would be just luck cos an untrained 4 year old would probly hit just as often"
The film was on the Laff channel, so I happened to catch it. So happy I did!
I agree with your thought, very smart and funny way of looking at that shot.
No thread is dead on Moviechat though, I feel all words and thoughts survive:-)
it’s random to even know that knowledge
share