MovieChat Forums > Sudden Death (1995) Discussion > Can a helicopter crash in the manner dep...

Can a helicopter crash in the manner depicted?


I think not. But I felt this was worth discussing, being one of the movie's silliest scenes apart from the penguin fight.

The helicopter - a Bell JetRanger - tilts back and goes vertically down into the stadium with its tail straight down, nose up. With the rotors still spinning it shouldn't go down, should it? As I understand it since they provide lift, upon going nose-up the JetRanger should've just spun out of control backwards due to the force of the rotor wash now pushing horizontally instead of vertically.

In addition, the rate of descent is ridiculously slow - a full 58 seconds from when it first starts descending to when its tail first hits the ice. If I accept that a helicopter could crash in the manner depicted, I can't accept it taking nearly a full minute to hit the ground!

"I mean, really, how many times will you look under Jabba's manboobs?"

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[deleted]

No freaking way. That was simply ridiculous how it nosedives...

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did you ever hear of a concept called dramatization? it's a common feature of filmmaking.

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Yeah, I'm sure the crash was slowed down to get a shot of Powers Boothe struggling inside and JCVD watching. You know, make it more dramatic.

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