Stupidest fkn ending possible
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ralph_2ndedition — 9 years ago(June 04, 2016 05:24 AM)
True true. But then again, while Spielberg has said that he never intended it to be anything but a "cat & mouse story" (his own words), he also said - in the same interview - that the many interpretations people all over the world had on this film took him by surprise and taught him to never take his own interpretations for granted, because different people will see different things, and neither is wrong.
Film is art and art is interpretable. -
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Gary-and-Ellie — 9 years ago(November 06, 2016 08:41 AM)
I thought it was interesting that one of the radio stations Weaver's character was listening to had a conversation about a man calling with a census question regarding whether he was the head of household because he didn't work.
That conversation struck me as strange. I'm not sure whether it was on the radio or in Mann's imagination. I think it was meant to say something about the character.
I was left with the impression that Mann felt like the world was against him. He had an unhappy marriage and an unfulfilling job. Even people driving on the road left him with a feeling of emasculation. He was powerless (as in not the head of household).
The movie has a 7.7 rating on IMDB. I gave it two stars. It would have been a good short film. -
ralph_2ndedition — 9 years ago(December 06, 2016 10:38 AM)
YES!
You are 100% correct!
The census-prank-call radio show probably was a real thing, but right about where the radio host making the prank call talks about not being the head of the family anymore - THAT'S when the truck shows up for the very first time!
He then stops to get gas and calls his wife, only to have her scald him over the phone for not standing up to his boss/co-worker as they made passes at her at a recent party (during this phone conversation the truck waits patiently for him outside). As soon as he drives off the trucks comes at him even more frenetically.
After he slams into the fence the truck disappears and Mann stumbles into the diner bathroom. While in there his mind wanders back to "the jungle" (Vietnam war or Korean war, I'm guessing) and as soon as he gets out, the truck is back.
When he confronts the prerson he thinks is the owner of the truck (he's wrong and gets his ass kicked) it drives away, because he DID choose to confront someone (confrontation/conflict being his biggest fear).
As soon as he gets back into his car, drives away and slowly slips back into his regular pattern - it's there again!
I LOVE this film, just because of this simple symbolical pattern that follows throughout the movie. All the way to the very end! -
urgeking — 9 years ago(June 08, 2016 09:45 PM)
Are you all stupid? I'm talking about the truck driver basically driving over a cliff when he had no need too. He had a commanding view from up high, he would've see the cliff, would've seen the guy jump out of the car and he would've simply been able to just NOT drop down a gear and push harder, but instead push the brakes, stop, and then run the guy over
No, we are not all "stupid". And not nearly as many people, or movies, are as "stupid" as you think but that's another issue.
Number one, there's a lot of smoke and steam coming up out of the Valiant's engine compartment, and we see it through the truck's windshield.
Number two, IF the trucker did see Mann jumping out of the car amidst all of that smoke, steam, and late-afternoon sun, it might have been too late for him to react in time. In 'real life' the time elapsed between Mann jumping and the truck hitting his car would probably have been much shorter. As with the telephone-booth crash, the movie has artificially slowed things down, perhaps too much (with shots from different angles) to make sure WE can keep track of what's happening.
Number three, the trucker was a psychopath who was bent on achieving his final 'victory' over Mann, plus he was probably flying high on adrenalin (and amphetamines?), so when he saw that car in front of him like a sitting duck, he probably just
lost
it: "(beep) it, I'm DOING this, come hell or high water! You're MINE now, you little (beep)! CHA-A-A-R-R-GE!" -
DontDisturbMyParadise — 9 years ago(September 15, 2016 12:19 AM)
The OP is right. I've been saying it for years. It's a great movie, but the ending was sloppy. The truck driver would've seen the cliff, and would've known the road was at an end. He would've seen Mann bail out too.
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ralph_2ndedition — 9 years ago(December 08, 2016 11:06 AM)
If viewed from one single angle only, without looking at anything hidden (and not so hidden), sure, the ending is disappointing. But then again, I cannot see how the movie itself would be at all entertaining if only seen from the easiest accessible viewpoint. It would be boring as hell!
But if every scrap of information given throughout the story is taken into account, it becomes so much more than just a strange, pointless chase, with a "sloppy ending".
It all depends on how one choses to see it. -
chuckyhacks2 — 9 years ago(November 05, 2016 09:29 PM)
All movies are ambiguous to some degree(which the director will never lay out for anyone), but If you're not willing to see elements or symbolism of the events then..
It's prolly just a mistake on the driver's part. Maybe he did see Mann bail out but wanted to smash his car over the edge but misjudged the speed.
Also, the truck driver prolly never expected Mann to ram his car into his rig(Mann bails out at the last second). The flames do obscure his view to some degree. The driver finally made a mistake in the heat of the chase. -
miramar5019 — 9 years ago(November 05, 2016 09:41 PM)
Stupid it was. Weaver instantaneously,figured out,that he could use his brief case to jam the gas pedal to the floor? Then jump out and have the car steer into the truck? That he could trick the trucker,into ramming into his now driverless car,and going over the cliff? As soon as the car was hit by the truck,it burst into flames. But as soon as it went off the cliff,the flames went out. But the truck with it's big fuel tanks,never caught fire. The last Indiana Jones movie,was beyond stupid!
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ralph_2ndedition — 9 years ago(December 08, 2016 11:44 AM)
I know I'm probably writing this in vain
But try to watch the movie again - but keep these possible things in mind:- David Mann's biggest fear is the fear of confrontation/conflict. You can hear it in the phone conversation he has with his wife early on in the movie, plus at the diner he has a very hard time confronting the person he thinks is responsible. He also equates the chase with painful war memories (voice over, while in the bathroom at the diner).
- The truck represents this fear of confrontation/conflict.
Yes, it is a real truck, and yes anybody can see it, touch it, smell it. But it is David Manns personal terror, it poses no threat to anyone but him. It is his demon to face - alone! - The truck shows up the first time just as Mann is listening to a prank call on a radio show, where the host claims to not be in charge of the household anymore because his wife decides everything Something which probably rings a bit too close to home for Mann.
On his way to a business meeting, working for a company he doesn't like and married to a woman who treats him like crap, wants to confront everybody, but never does. The radio show instantly turns his life into a very poignant joke - and there's the truck! - If he tries to flag down other motorists, it chases them away. He must stand up to it himself. (Happens both when he tries to swerve off the road to get the attention of "the police" (turns out to be a pest control vehicle) and nearer the end when he flags down an old couple to get them to call the police for him).
He has to deal with his own issues by himself, otherwise it won't do any good! - If he tries to get someone else to deal with his problems, aka calling the police himself, the truck forces him to deal with the situation This would be the scene at the snake-farm/gas station. The truck could easily have mowed him down right there and then, but it let it's horn blare out a few seconds before reaching the telephone booth, to give Mann enough time to get out.
Now why would it do that if not to make him deal with his own problems. - At one point (just after Mann has tried to get the old couple to call the police for him) he decides that he has had enough, and walks towards the truck. The truck then avoids him - and just moments before it purposfully spared his little red car, as he ran away from it, when it could have easily crushed it. At this moment Manns red car becomes a representation of his old life and his old self. The truck needs for him to face his fears AS his old self, as the person who actually HAS the fears.
- As Mann straps himself down in his car, puts on his driving glasses and slowly nears the truck, a beefy arm sticks out of the truck window and waves for him to drive on. This is my favourite moment. It is a small gesture in a quiet scene, but the truck is telling him that this is it! You want to face your demons? You want to face your fears? Are you really ready to do that? GO!
- Had Mann stayed on course - meaning had he continued to be the chased, or had he continued to try to run away from conflict - he would most likely have been consumed by it Gotten killed. But, and try to stay with me here; He turns his old life around, sticks his old self (represented by his briefcase) behind the wheel and lets his old self and his old life face his demon.
The demon kills his old self, releases him from his old life and with that the demon is destroyed. Elation follows.
I skipped a whole bunch of things about the truck, just for time. Like how it taunts him by doing things he cannot to (school bus), how it ignores other motorists and focuses just on him, and how it drives away and leaves him alone when he makes small attempts at facing his fears (confronting customer at diner) but comes back as he returns to his old pattern.
There's more, both regarding Mann himself, his car and the truck.
This movie is fantastic, if one so choses to see the brilliance in it.