UnderwoodsNipple t1_j6nhfsy wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:12 PM

Reply to comment by Dottsterisk in The Flaw in Dutch’s Predator (1987) Trap by [deleted]

I mean, the way it's shot makes the spikes super obvious to the point I always wondered how the giant Predator was ever supposed to not notice them. Add to that the way Dutch yells and tries to goad it into continuing down, telegraphing to the Predator a suspicious desire to use that path.

Maybe it's Schwarzenegger's acting but what you call 'crestfallen' also just looks like him dropping the act and realizing that the Predator is going for it. When it approaches, he's completely calm and you actually see him giving it a confident sideways look before he checks if the Predator is in the right spot, the shot of the counterweight as much for him as it is for the audience to understand what's happening.

Dottsterisk t1_j6nkxdm wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:34 PM

But that’s just not at all how the scene is shot. This is seriously the first I’ve heard of this interpretation.

Here’s the scene: https://youtu.be/lOoOP2l_ahQ

Dutch has clearly made an effort to disguise the spikes by camouflaging them with leaves. And he’s actively goading the predator to follow him through the kill box.

The movie makes a big show of the predator almost doing it too, but accidentally bumping into the spikes and thus noticing the trap. Then we have a sequence where we, as the audience, are watching the alien internally debate the best path forward. That tension only works if we, and Dutch, actually want the alien to move into the kill box.

And then, when the predator decides to just go around, the film is clearly showing Dutch’s reaction as first a sort of “you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me” defeated look and then a realization that his counterweight is perfectly placed to drop on the alien’s head.

UnderwoodsNipple t1_j6nrlzh wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:15 PM

Yes I've seen the scene, I literally just described it. You're also just repeating what I said. I know he disguised the spikes, I know he's trying to get it to move down the path in a very obvious manner. That doesn't negate what I said, it really just supports it. The way the Predator notices the spikes, it would have had to seriously crouch down to be unaware of this trap. And it gives Dutch a cocky 'I know what you're doing' look before it walks around.

Point being, the original trap is extremely obvious and Dutch is being extremely obvious in wanting the Predator to move down that path.

Dutch doesn't move, he doesn't panic, he seems to know exactly what's gonna happen and he waits for the Predator to get into place, making sure it's underneath and then kicks off the trap. Your counter suggestion seems to be that he just got extremely lucky that he placed his counterweight exactly in the spot the Predator ended up moving to by circumventing the original trap.

I'll concede that there's an original trap he would have sprung if the Predator had kept going but I'm sorry I'm not buying this idea that Dutch is surprised and caught off guard when it doesn't fall for the original trap. The whole idea here is 'You thought you were the top hunter, but I outsmarted you!'.

You might be confusing the scene being shot to heighten tension for the audience with Dutch just getting lucky because at the end of the day, we the audience are meant to think "oh shit, what is he gonna do now?".

Dottsterisk t1_j6ns1di wrote on January 31, 2023 at 5:17 PM

All of the direction and the acting support what I’m saying, and it’s been the understood meaning of the scene for decades.

Dutch is no less of a hero just because his hastily jerry-rigged trap doesn’t work as planned. It’s to his credit that he thinks quickly and still comes out on top.