My own "Mythbusters"

[knibs7]

My favorite part of Temple of Doom would probably be the infamous "sword trick" scene. So, after years of whip practice, putting out candles and cigarettes (no I don't smoke) I finally decided to do a little "myth busting" and try the trick for myself.

Now, we all know that the sword Indy takes from the Thuggee guard was a stunt sword, and therefore wasn't very heavy. You can actually see it "float" as it disappears over the cliff. So I had my wife hold my stunt sword, made out of very light wood. CRACK! My whip latched onto the sword and I pulled it out of her hands, no problem. It actually got airborne. I totally felt like Indy.

So I thought, "I wonder what it would be like to try and whip an ACTUAL metal sword out of someone's hands, the way it was supposed to have been in the movie." So I gave her my steel Temple of Doom sword. After about 5 minutes of trying, I got her to drop the sword a couple of times, but that was it. I couldn't get it to fly out of her hand like you see in the movie because once again, this was the heavy sword and not the light stunt version as in the film.

With all that said, I don't know if it's because she knew it was coming and held on tighter or if the sword was simply too heavy, but I would have to call this "trick" Plausible, but HIGHLY unlikely. I'm not saying you couldn't disarm a swordsman with a whip, but the sword definitely wouldn't go flying... This is about as likely as wrapping a whip on telephone wires and swinging on it to crash into a room, and then retrieving the whip with one wrist flick.

Anyway, just thought some of you might find it interesting to know what is reality vs movie magic.



Kyle

[Bradsburns]

Where's the video footage!!!?

[knibs7]

Where's the video footage!!!?

I'm gonna try to post a video tomorrow when I try again

[BendingOak]

You could just ask Anthony but look forward to seeing your video.

[Gorak]

Long ago, I whipped a heavy BB gun pistol out of my wife's hand for a couple of times.....the best result was when I hit her hand and pulllled at the same time cuz it caused her to almost "toss" the gun in the direction of my pull. The problem was that I had this heavy pistol flying radically thru the air right at me!
I believe there are some videos I've seen on YouTube of some people doing the same thing in a gym... trying to who a pistol out of someone's hand and they get some decent results.

[knibs7]

Well a pistol is a little different. Again, I'm not saying it's impossible to whip a sword out of someone's hand, I'm just saying that I don't think it's very likely that the sword will go FLYING out of their hand. Like I said, I got her to drop it a couple of times, but that was it. Either way, I'm about to go try it again and get it on video.

[knibs7]

Ok here's the video. Keep in mind I'm only going at about 70% bc let's face it, it's a metal sword, and just in the off chance it DOES come flying out of her hands, I don't want it stabbing my face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ1_i2A14Uw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So yes, you CAN disarm someone with a sword, but it's not nearly as cool as it looks in the movie

[ChrisMD]

I get them doing it in the movie, but if it came down to it and Indy had no gun...he shoulda just whipped the stuffing out of them. I guarantee they would either flee or rush him. Most likely flee, those dudes ran as soon as he took their little mini sword.

Cool video knibs, always fun to do things like this!

[baddates1]

Ok here's the video. Keep in mind I'm only going at about 70% bc let's face it, it's a metal sword, and just in the off chance it DOES come flying out of her hands, I don't want it stabbing my face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ1_i2A14Uw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So yes, you CAN disarm someone with a sword, but it's not nearly as cool as it looks in the movie

That still looks pretty awesome.

[Dalexs]

Sorry, I don't really think there is any movie magic here Knibs...

As scene here (at 9:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ds9mfUB7Dg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Indy clearly wraps the sword and pulls it away hard (sort of like you did.)


I'm thinking very plausible if not confirmed is the real answer.
(You just need to pull harder on that whip!)

And Anthony already did the whip the gun out of the hand on MB's Indy special.
I seem to recall plausible, but not confirmed. Hit the guy in the hand, he's gonna drop the gun!

Sorry Charlie...

[knibs7]

Sorry, I don't really think there is any movie magic here Knibs...

As scene here (at 9:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ds9mfUB7Dg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Indy clearly wraps the sword and pulls it away hard (sort of like you did.)


I'm thinking very plausible if not confirmed is the real answer.
(You just need to pull harder on that whip!)

And Anthony already did the whip the gun out of the hand on MB's Indy special.
I seem to recall plausible, but not confirmed. Hit the guy in the hand, he's gonna drop the gun!

Sorry Charlie...

Did you not read the part about using a stunt sword in the movie? Is that not movie magic?

[Dalexs]

Did you not read the part about using a stunt sword in the movie? Is that not movie magic?

Your assuming its a stunt sword...
And you're judging your results based on your skill, your wife holding it up,
and probably not wanting to slice your own head off (or knees from the looks of it)
and NOT wanting to throw the sword into the neighbors side yard...

[knibs7]

No, I'm positive it was a stunt sword. But like I said, you CAN disarm someone with a sword, but to get it to FLY out someone's hands is about as likely as wrapping your whip on telephone wires, swinging on it and retrieving it with one flick of the wrist

[Indiana Jeff]

And your wife's Thugee costume could use some work.



Regards,

Indiana Jeff

[Dalexs]

..., but to get it to FLY out someone's hands is about as likely as wrapping your whip on telephone wires, swinging on it and retrieving it with one flick of the wrist

Hmmm, sounds like we have our next summit activity in the making.

[knibs7]

Actually, come to think of it, Indy doesn't do the wrist flick in LC. He just crashes through the window, but I think you understand what I'm trying to say

[teneas]

Why do you have a temporary power pole in your yard? Sorry, 20 year electrician her, that's all I saw.

[knibs7]

Why do you have a temporary power pole in your yard? Sorry, 20 year electrician her, that's all I saw.

Good question

[indymassilia]

Very nice knibs,do you use your Bernardo Del Carpio's whip?
The whip cracks very easily.

[lantzn]

OK I've seen all kinds of talk about why to be cautious when doing this trick but not one mentioning your wife being hurt!
Try not to cut off her arm please. She is a good sport though.

[knibs7]

Very nice knibs,do you use your Bernardo Del Carpio's whip?
The whip cracks very easily.

Yessir!! A WONDERFUL whip

[knibs7]

OK I've seen all kinds of talk about why to be cautious when doing this trick but not one mentioning your wife being hurt!
Try not to cut off her arm please. She is a good sport though.

Haha yes, she's pretty cool for putting up with my shenanigans

[bearbeast]

Just stumbled upon this thread while researching the ToD machete. Great grab and mythbusting, knibs7! Or should I say myth confirming?

Cheers,
Bear

[Thunderspy]

That's superb! Really enjoyable thread.

I was watching that scene again recently and it's quite funny to watch it on slo-mo, shot-by-shot: it was clearly shot quite differently and they've had to edit it very heavily. At one point there's a guy on the ground who we never even saw get involved, and they've edited it to make it look like Indy whips the guy's sword and then starts using it, but watching carefully you can see it goes over the cliff and clearly Indy was supposed to take the guy on the ground's sword, but they've condensed the fight to make him deal with one fewer opponent. There's even a couple of shots in there which make no sense at all, but it all flies by so quickly that you don't notice. It's very clever!

[Parttimeteacher]

That's superb! Really enjoyable thread.

I was watching that scene again recently and it's quite funny to watch it on slo-mo, shot-by-shot: it was clearly shot quite differently and they've had to edit it very heavily. At one point there's a guy on the ground who we never even saw get involved, and they've edited it to make it look like Indy whips the guy's sword and then starts using it, but watching carefully you can see it goes over the cliff and clearly Indy was supposed to take the guy on the ground's sword, but they've condensed the fight to make him deal with one fewer opponent. There's even a couple of shots in there which make no sense at all, but it all flies by so quickly that you don't notice. It's very clever!

You may want to try a re-watch. Just before the whip scene, Indy reaches for his gun, but it's not there. He then starts fighting with the two guys. He uses guy one as a human shield and his sword to parry a sword attack from guy two, pushing them both away. At this point, guy one falls to the ground with his sword and Indy whips guy two's sword out of his hand and over the cliff. Guy two runs. Another guy (three) approaches with his sword and we see Indy standing half-crouched over guy one, who is crumpled on the ground, and holding his sword. He starts to chase guy three, who runs, but then ALL the Thuggee Buddies show up and chase our conquering hero to the bridge.

Edited to add: If anything, guy one received some ### whoopin' off camera.

[Thunderspy]

That's superb! Really enjoyable thread.

I was watching that scene again recently and it's quite funny to watch it on slo-mo, shot-by-shot: it was clearly shot quite differently and they've had to edit it very heavily. At one point there's a guy on the ground who we never even saw get involved, and they've edited it to make it look like Indy whips the guy's sword and then starts using it, but watching carefully you can see it goes over the cliff and clearly Indy was supposed to take the guy on the ground's sword, but they've condensed the fight to make him deal with one fewer opponent. There's even a couple of shots in there which make no sense at all, but it all flies by so quickly that you don't notice. It's very clever!

You may want to try a re-watch. Just before the whip scene, Indy reaches for his gun, but it's not there. He then starts fighting with the two guys. He uses guy one as a human shield and his sword to parry a sword attack from guy two, pushing them both away. At this point, guy one falls to the ground with his sword and Indy whips guy two's sword out of his hand and over the cliff. Guy two runs. Another guy (three) approaches with his sword and we see Indy standing half-crouched over guy one, who is crumpled on the ground, and holding his sword. He starts to chase guy three, who runs, but then ALL the Thuggee Buddies show up and chase our conquering hero to the bridge.

Edited to add: If anything, guy one received some ### whoopin' off camera.

Why rewatch it? Yes, exactly as I said: he deals with a guy off camera i.e. they condensed the fight to make it shorter and we don't see Indy deal with the guy who is lying on the ground whose sword he takes; nor do we see him take the sword. 'Guy three' as you call him, has a sword in the cutaway where we see him approach, and then no longer has one when Indy chases him off. It's all been assembled in the edit.
You may want to try a re-watch

[Parttimeteacher]

That's superb! Really enjoyable thread.

I was watching that scene again recently and it's quite funny to watch it on slo-mo, shot-by-shot: it was clearly shot quite differently and they've had to edit it very heavily. At one point there's a guy on the ground who we never even saw get involved, and they've edited it to make it look like Indy whips the guy's sword and then starts using it, but watching carefully you can see it goes over the cliff and clearly Indy was supposed to take the guy on the ground's sword, but they've condensed the fight to make him deal with one fewer opponent. There's even a couple of shots in there which make no sense at all, but it all flies by so quickly that you don't notice. It's very clever!

You may want to try a re-watch. Just before the whip scene, Indy reaches for his gun, but it's not there. He then starts fighting with the two guys. He uses guy one as a human shield and his sword to parry a sword attack from guy two, pushing them both away. At this point, guy one falls to the ground with his sword and Indy whips guy two's sword out of his hand and over the cliff. Guy two runs. Another guy (three) approaches with his sword and we see Indy standing half-crouched over guy one, who is crumpled on the ground, and holding his sword. He starts to chase guy three, who runs, but then ALL the Thuggee Buddies show up and chase our conquering hero to the bridge.

Edited to add: If anything, guy one received some ### whoopin' off camera.

Why rewatch it? Yes, exactly as I said: he deals with a guy off camera i.e. they condensed the fight to make it shorter and we don't see Indy deal with the guy who is lying on the ground whose sword he takes; nor do we see him take the sword. 'Guy three' as you call him, has a sword in the cutaway where we see him approach, and then no longer has one when Indy chases him off. It's all been assembled in the edit.
You may want to try a re-watch

I did, just before I posted the first time. Guy one was there from the get-go, so we did see him "get involved" when Indy used him as a human shield. The edit wasn't designed to make it look like Indy used guy two's sword. It's clearly gone. The only gap in the editing is that we don't see what Indy does to guy one to get the sword, but, presumably, he took him out of the fight.

As far as guy three's sword disappearing, idk.

[Thunderspy]

That's superb! Really enjoyable thread.

I was watching that scene again recently and it's quite funny to watch it on slo-mo, shot-by-shot: it was clearly shot quite differently and they've had to edit it very heavily. At one point there's a guy on the ground who we never even saw get involved, and they've edited it to make it look like Indy whips the guy's sword and then starts using it, but watching carefully you can see it goes over the cliff and clearly Indy was supposed to take the guy on the ground's sword, but they've condensed the fight to make him deal with one fewer opponent. There's even a couple of shots in there which make no sense at all, but it all flies by so quickly that you don't notice. It's very clever!

You may want to try a re-watch. Just before the whip scene, Indy reaches for his gun, but it's not there. He then starts fighting with the two guys. He uses guy one as a human shield and his sword to parry a sword attack from guy two, pushing them both away. At this point, guy one falls to the ground with his sword and Indy whips guy two's sword out of his hand and over the cliff. Guy two runs. Another guy (three) approaches with his sword and we see Indy standing half-crouched over guy one, who is crumpled on the ground, and holding his sword. He starts to chase guy three, who runs, but then ALL the Thuggee Buddies show up and chase our conquering hero to the bridge.

Edited to add: If anything, guy one received some ### whoopin' off camera.

Why rewatch it? Yes, exactly as I said: he deals with a guy off camera i.e. they condensed the fight to make it shorter and we don't see Indy deal with the guy who is lying on the ground whose sword he takes; nor do we see him take the sword. 'Guy three' as you call him, has a sword in the cutaway where we see him approach, and then no longer has one when Indy chases him off. It's all been assembled in the edit.
You may want to try a re-watch

I did, just before I posted the first time. Guy one was there from the get-go, so we did see him "get involved" when Indy used him as a human shield. The edit wasn't designed to make it look like Indy used guy two's sword. It's clearly gone.

How can you know that, though? I would say that the impression most folk get is that Indy whips the guy's sword out of his hand and starts using it, it's all too quick to get any other impression. The cutaway of the guy creeping up is just there to mask that we never see the sword get into Indy's hand, but I suspect if you asked most people what they had seen it would be that Indy had caught it, and they wouldn't even remember the cutaway. It's an editing trick, and a very nifty one.

The only gap in the editing is that we don't see what Indy does to guy one to get the sword, but, presumably, he took him out of the fight.

As far as guy three's sword disappearing, idk.

So at least two gaps, including the one where his sword disappears, then
Obviously Indy disposed of the third guy on the floor- or most likely he's the first one who had come back for another go but we never saw him dealt with- but that was my point: the fight is heavily edited. I'm not sure what you're saying I need to rewatch about it.

[Parttimeteacher]

That's superb! Really enjoyable thread.

I was watching that scene again recently and it's quite funny to watch it on slo-mo, shot-by-shot: it was clearly shot quite differently and they've had to edit it very heavily. At one point there's a guy on the ground who we never even saw get involved, and they've edited it to make it look like Indy whips the guy's sword and then starts using it, but watching carefully you can see it goes over the cliff and clearly Indy was supposed to take the guy on the ground's sword, but they've condensed the fight to make him deal with one fewer opponent. There's even a couple of shots in there which make no sense at all, but it all flies by so quickly that you don't notice. It's very clever!

You may want to try a re-watch. Just before the whip scene, Indy reaches for his gun, but it's not there. He then starts fighting with the two guys. He uses guy one as a human shield and his sword to parry a sword attack from guy two, pushing them both away. At this point, guy one falls to the ground with his sword and Indy whips guy two's sword out of his hand and over the cliff. Guy two runs. Another guy (three) approaches with his sword and we see Indy standing half-crouched over guy one, who is crumpled on the ground, and holding his sword. He starts to chase guy three, who runs, but then ALL the Thuggee Buddies show up and chase our conquering hero to the bridge.

Edited to add: If anything, guy one received some ### whoopin' off camera.

Why rewatch it? Yes, exactly as I said: he deals with a guy off camera i.e. they condensed the fight to make it shorter and we don't see Indy deal with the guy who is lying on the ground whose sword he takes; nor do we see him take the sword. 'Guy three' as you call him, has a sword in the cutaway where we see him approach, and then no longer has one when Indy chases him off. It's all been assembled in the edit.
You may want to try a re-watch

I did, just before I posted the first time. Guy one was there from the get-go, so we did see him "get involved" when Indy used him as a human shield. The edit wasn't designed to make it look like Indy used guy two's sword. It's clearly gone.

How can you know that, though? I would say that the impression most folk get is that Indy whips the guy's sword out of his hand and starts using it, it's all too quick to get any other impression. The cutaway of the guy creeping up is just there to mask that we never see the sword get into Indy's hand, but I suspect if you asked most people what they had seen it would be that Indy had caught it, and they wouldn't even remember the cutaway. It's an editing trick, and a very nifty one.

The only gap in the editing is that we don't see what Indy does to guy one to get the sword, but, presumably, he took him out of the fight.

As far as guy three's sword disappearing, idk.

So at least two gaps, including the one where his sword disappears, then
Obviously Indy disposed of the third guy on the floor- or most likely he's the first one who had come back for another go but we never saw him dealt with- but that was my point: the fight is heavily edited. I'm not sure what you're saying I need to rewatch about it.

I guess we're just seeing things differently, then, because I always saw the sword go past Indy and it never occured to me that anyone would think he was supposed to have caught it and used it. In all of my times watching, and studying over, that scene (pre-internet trying to learn the whip trick) there has always been a clear progression of events. -Reach for gun, not there. Human shield, parry with guy one's sword. Push both, guy one falls. Whip sword out of guy two's hand, sword gone, guy two runs. Shot of guy three, Indy crouched over guy one with guy one's sword. Charge guy three, run from all the thuggees.

With the exception of guy three's sword possibly disappearing, which isn't clear because the shot changes to be behind him and he's on the edge of the screen, I don't see the hokey editing here.

Edit to add: The guy in the ground that you keep saying came out of nowhere, was on the ground the whole time, since Indy used him as a shield.

Edit 2: I think I may see part of what you mean. The guy disappears from a shot and then is back by the rock. It's weird that I didn't catch that before.