MovieChat Forums > The Hurt Locker (2009) Discussion > So how did Thompson die, exactly?

So how did Thompson die, exactly?


I don't know much about how bombs can kill you, and unlike most movies he wasn't caught in flames or blown to pieces. Are we to assume the force of the blast slammed him into the ground, breaking his spine or something? Or was the blast radius enough to hurt something vital?

See you in hell, candy boys!

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This was where the movie, well, bombed for me :D Looked so implausible.


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You're an Imbecile

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There are several properties of explosions. The energy produced by the explosion killed him in this case. The slow motion shot of the dirt and the car was the tip off.

An explosion creates a bubble of energy that radiates from its epicenter, ground zero. The chemical reaction of an explosions is a rapid increase in volume and the release of energy. The dispersion of the energy is dictated by the combustion (burn) speed. A high explosive has a very fast burn. The energy is released very quickly as a supersonic wave which travels at 768 miles per hour. The wave would travel 1,000 feet in less than a second.

If nothing else, your heart would rupture inside your chest.

*We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams. -Willy Wonka

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Jesus. Yeah, that's what I was curious about, thank you for the explanation. So the released energy could also do other physical damage underneath the suit like breaking bones?

See you in hell, candy boys!

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What explains the blood in the helmet after the explosion?

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Don't know.

Could have been blood out of the mouth or eyes. Or maybe just SFX department having fun.

*We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams. -Willy Wonka

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Maybe his heart, lungs, brain, and blood vessel was crushed by the shock wave? Ever thought of that?

Damn you people are some seriously dumb asses. How can you not know what bombs can do? It can level concrete buildings, what the hell makes you think it can't kill a human?

Don't get hurt kid. I'm not your daddy, I'll beat you senseless.

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That was a good explanation cstinett. In one of the Lee Child novels, that are works of fiction and don't star Tom Cruise, Reacher punches a guy in the chest so hard it stops his heart.

_____

Books and movies are better than real life most of the time.

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That's called Commotio cordis.

When I played little league a kid in my league was almost killed when he walked into a baseball bat swing.

*We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams. -Willy Wonka

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Quote from last section by Sergeant JT Sanborn: Another two inches, shrapnel zings by, slices my throat, I bleed out like a pig in the sand. Nobody'll give a *beep* I mean my parents - they care - but they don't count, man. Who else? I don't even have a son.

The Stone they move with such velocity that it goes through body like bullets

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That's physical injury of high velocity projectiles (fragments, or "frags"), vs. concussive pressure. The concussive pressure is the "pressure wave" from an explosive. It essentially breaks cells apart and disrupts tissue. Not unlike killing a bunch of fish by dropping a stick of dynamite into a lake. Also a reason for nosebleeds, when shallow capillaries easily rupture. It only takes a dead-stop collision of about 35 MPH (miles per hour) to separate the aorta from the heart. That effect over an entire body is devastating. Hence the "75 meter" perimeter around the suicide vest victim, and previous suggestion, "you can't get far enough away". The amount and type of explosive determines the blast and kill radius. The blast radius may include all injuries (high velocity projectiles, frags), while the kill radius is the distance that will kill a normal person, even if not struck by anything but the explosion pressure itself.





Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid.

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You're stupid. The military has bombs for a reason, to blow things up. It's like getting hit by a car. The explosion causes a shock wave with your internals, destroying it. How did you think his head gear was full of blood? I knew a kid who lost his fingers because of a little fire cracker, a tiny salute and you think a bomb going off about 25 feet away won't kill a man? God damn you're stupid. A *beep* pressure cooker killed and injured a lot of people in Boston, what makes you think a shell that big wouldn't kill a man in a suit?

Don't get hurt kid. I'm not your daddy, I'll beat you senseless.

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You're stupid. The military has bombs for a reason, to blow things up. It's like getting hit by a car. The explosion causes a shock wave with your internals, destroying it. How did you think his head gear was full of blood? I knew a kid who lost his fingers because of a little fire cracker, a tiny salute and you think a bomb going off about 25 feet away won't kill a man? God damn you're stupid. A *beep* pressure cooker killed and injured a lot of people in Boston, what makes you think a shell that big wouldn't kill a man in a suit?


Well, we all know the damage a loaded dick bomb did to your a$$, so you must be right.

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By the way, that 155 is a 100 lbs bomb to be exact.

Don't get hurt kid. I'm not your daddy, I'll beat you senseless.

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bombs create explosions

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The concussion of the blast. It can scramble your insides.

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It's sort of like the opposite of a car accident, where the momentum kills you by detaching one or more major arteries, like your aorta. Except in a car accident the human is the schrapnel traveling at high speed and encountering the object.

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