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RE: What is the flying thing that eats the boneheaded deputy`s face?

posted 17 years ago by inneroscator2
14 replies | jump to latest

I`m never ceased to be amazed by the number of boneheaded people who post on these IMDb boards. The flying thing in Phantoms IS indeed a prehistoric dragonfly. It is obviously an insect but not a moth as some have supposed. Some of you should view this movie in slo-mo sometime like I have. It has a very long tail like a dragonfly and there is a shot where it is coming into the window at the deputy. Looking at individual frames you will see long distended legs as it is flyng at the deputy revealing that it is indeed a giant dragonfly. There are also shots of it as it is flying to and fro around the room after it eats the deputy`s face. One shot where it is close to the ceiling will reveal the long dragonfly tail which actually flails a little bit. Also remember that early on Flyte tells the others that this force is immensely old and has been in the earth since prehistoric times. The largest flying insect that ever lived was meganeura monyi, a prehistoric dragonfly with a 2 foot wingspan that lived 300 million years ago.

[–] tisteldun 17 years ago

The simple reason why people believe it's a giant moth is because characters in the book think so. If it is something prehistoric or not is left to speculations (some of the people in the book indeed guess it is something prehistoric).

[–] guserusa 17 years ago

I viewed it in slow-motion and to me it looked like a cross between a moth and a dragonfly. Wings of moth with a body of a dragonfly. If it was a true dragonfly it's wings would have been a heck of a lot wider than the width of the window. Also dragonflys always seem to hover horizontally, but this creature was hovering vertically. I may be wrong, but this is just my personal opinion.

[–] christian_theringtwo 17 years ago

wasn't is supossed to be something that was once on someone's mind??

[–] Clemicus 16 years ago

It gains memory's from his victims, like for example, it thought it was the Devil/Satan, because of what its victims thought.

Yes, it could manifest creatures, both real, and mythical, as long as a victim had some memory of it, that's one of the reasons it wanted Flyt (someone read his article about the ancient enemy).

[–] forever_dreamer2004 17 years ago

does someone have a picture of it or something i seen this movie long time ago so can someone post pics please? and i think its a mix of diferent creatures:)

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] forever_dreamer2004 17 years ago

no pics? can someone find some pics i been looking like crazy on the web and i can't find nothing on it:(

[–] shane-305 17 years ago

Don't be silly, the flying thing was CLEARLY the monster from the 1-18-08 movie. Back when Phantoms was made he was a wee bit smaller and hadn't developed his career enough to be center-stage. My how our face eater has grown.

[–] Cyco00Vision 17 years ago

Just because it looks like something, doesn't mean that's what it is. The people that made it could have intended it to be something else, which would make it what ever it is.

- The film junkie

[–] MystMoonstruck 16 years ago

It DOES have butterfly/mothlike wings! I just watched that scene, and when it slams him into the wall, you can see the spots and markings on the slowly flapping wings, which definitely are not those of a dragonfly or mosquito. It does have a long, thin body, and the tail looks forked, almost pincher-like.

At the Amazon.com page for this film, one reviewer writes this:
a devilish beastie resembling an angry flying scorpion
In a review at Rochester Goes Out, there is this take:
(I)t flies around the sheriff's office like a giant moth, lands on a deputy's face and sucks out his brain. Yummy.

Unfortunately, I can't find an image of the thing. It likely was clearer on a movie screen, but, on a TV screen, I'd have to go into the controls to alter the contrast for that brief scene.

I've always thought it was a moth creature but with a stinger perhaps. I suppose a prehistoric insect would make sense, but why does it have wings like a moth or butterfly? They are not transparent. It's difficult to interpret the sounds it makes, too; is that the hum of rapidly beating wings? They seem to flap in slow motion while it has the deputy pinned, so the sound could be emanating from the "bug". Next time, I'll try to figure out the source of the sound.

By the way, I think the detective must have been under creature-control from the start. I haven't read the novel, so I don't have that answer, but, after watching it a number of times, it's highly likely. Maybe the creature liked his warped way of thinking. He's a character I did not like at first until that notion came to mind. Blame it on usually watching this late at night with the sound turned down, which sometimes makes me slow to catch on to a film.

[–] dr_brodsky 15 years ago

here's a clip that contains the scene (around 3:12)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTnKkBGdAi8

and yes you can clearly see it has butterfly/moth-type wings.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Distantwords 14 years ago

This kind of crap just pisses me off.

You are bitching and moaning that people are "boneheads" because they think it's a moth, and not a dragonfly, and you can't figure out why...

Go READ THE BOOK.

It's a MOTH in the book. It's clearly stated. WRITTEN.

That scene in the book scared the crap out of me the first time I read it. A giant MOTH.

And in the movie, from what I remember (only saw it once in the theaters), it DID look like a moth. But, I (like anyone else who read the book first) would have just assumed.

[–] josh1116 14 years ago

I was just about to say this...yes, in the book, it's described as a giant moth. In the movie, the wings definately look moth/butterfly-like, but the body was thinner, more like a dragonfly, but definately not dragonfly wings. I always figured it was either a prehistoric cross-breed looking insect that looked like a moth/dragonfly hybrid, or it was something from someone's imagination.

But back to the main point, in the book, it is specifically described as a giant moth, so....maybe stop getting pissed at people for going off what the *author* wrote?

***********EDIT********
I just managed to find a picture of the creature by the guy who sculpted it for the movie.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?s=c79b061459eaa7ad4203 65dce1e0fe2a&attachmentid=594952&d=1234813594

ABOVE: This was a prehistoric butterfly/moth sculpture I created
for the 1998 film "Phantoms". The movie was an adaptation
of a Dean Koontz's book under the same name.

Guy's name seems to be Evan Campbell, link to the site, too
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150464