The part I don't understand(spoiler)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Flight of the Phoenix
TonyAtRest — 12 years ago(January 02, 2014 07:17 AM)
When the officer and the other guy leave trying to walk to the oasis 106 miles away, suddenly, a few days later, the officer is back. No mention is made of what happened to the other guy, and why or how he is back.
Doesn't it seem obvious that he would either have made it, or died trying to get there, not take all that time to double back?
And shouldn't they have had him tell the others what happened? I mean, obviously, the other guy is dead, but no details are provided at all. -
Adam60z — 12 years ago(January 04, 2014 05:35 PM)
Tony said
When the officer and the other guy leave trying to walk to the oasis 106 miles away, suddenly, a few days later, the officer is back. No mention is made of what happened to the other guy, and why or how he is back.
Doesn't it seem obvious that he would either have made it, or died trying to get there, not take all that time to double back?
And shouldn't they have had him tell the others what happened? I mean, obviously, the other guy is dead, but no details are provided at all.
I think it's taken for granted that Carlos died, but yes, we are never told exactly what happened to Captain Harris. I always assumed that even though he said he marches "with absolute precision", he actually DID end up going in a big circle unintentionally. It seems unlikely he would have decided to give up and intentionally walk all the way back. But yes, it is a plot hole of sorts.
The other factor is Sergeant Watson, whom I wished had defied the suicidal captain sooner.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Hollywood (;-p) -
prettyboy2000 — 11 years ago(April 05, 2014 11:01 PM)
Even if he walked in a large circle, who would be the odds that he would come back exactly to the point that he started from. I assumed he followed his tracks back after days of walking and finding nothing.
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movies789 — 11 years ago(July 29, 2014 07:34 PM)
I can't see how the Captain could or would have accidently walked in a circle. Even if his compass was off, or he'd lost it altogether, or he'd gotten disoriented, there are three basic navigational facts, known to any Boy Scout, that would have kept him northbound toward Benghazi (or the sea coast, at least): in the morning, the sun is to your right; in the afternoon, the sun is at your back; in the late afternoon, the sun is on your left. And throughout, you pick points on the distant horizon (when visible, even if they're obscured by dunes intermittently) or the stars, and keep yourself corrected. You might zigzag a bit, but you certainly wouldn't walk in a circle. And certainly not the Captain, who was schooled in land navigation.
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Florida2 — 11 years ago(October 11, 2014 05:17 PM)
Very good point - as someone who used to go on bicycle rides in wilderness areas long before GPS or cell phones, what you said often kept me oriented (of course if it was a cloudy day that would be problematic, as Dorfman would say : )
It was a very good film, and recall seeing it for the first time when it reached the small screen in the late 1960s or early-early 70s (I forget).
P.S. In 1851, Henson and Stringfellow built a rubber-powered model that flew 600 meters before encountering an obstruction : ) -
DeepFriedJello — 11 years ago(January 24, 2015 05:59 PM)
I'm sure the captain walked for several days, and was not close to halfway to his destination, determined his only chance was to go back. The man with him could have died at any time, even on the way back.