Poll of the Day > how does the spear trap at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark work?

(+) Yeah! (+)

The light shafts trigger the trap, but I doubt there was any sort of photoreactive component to the trap

could it be trip wires hidden in the light beams?

Inca magic.

it got hot n burned a thingy

ConfusedTorchic posted...

it got hot n burned a thingy

but it's activated by blocking the thingy

edit: Also, I mean in-universe since obviously the actual mechanism was just some guy pushing it (or whatever)

None of that shit makes sense

There was a photoreactive component to the trap.

By definition, if light triggered it, it has a photoreactive component. It may not be photoreactive in the sense that we usually use the term (namely, a photoelectric component), but in the strict sense of "it reacts to light," that is true.

Maybe something like colonies of insects living in the triggering mechanism, they'd get scared and scatter if they see any shadows talking weight off a pressure plate.

weird I just thought of that scene last night since the golden claw quest in skyrim seems to reference it (arvel runs off with the claw only to get killed by traps and/or draugr) (and meanwhile the one dungeon music track also seems heavily inspired by the movie too)

looking it up two plausible theories are:

1. magic. magic exists in that universe to some degree, so it can just be magic.
2. indy was bsing the guy and the trap really has a more mundane trigger that he didn't show him, which is why he gets caught by it later.

Sahuagin posted...

weird I just thought of that scene last night since the golden claw quest in skyrim seems to reference it (arvel runs off with the claw only to get killed by traps and/or draugr) (and meanwhile the one dungeon music track also seems heavily inspired by the movie too)

looking it up two plausible theories are:
1. magic. magic exists in that universe to some degree, so it can just be magic.
2. indy was bsing the guy and the trap really has a more mundane trigger that he didn't show him, which is why he gets caught by it later.

nailed it. I want to believe it's 2 because I want the universe to be less magical. But they break that wall in every movie, so who am I kidding. That being said, it's positioned--to start the franchise-- as scientifically plausible and genius.

atomicfear posted...

nailed it. I want to believe it's 2 because I want the universe to be less magical. But they break that wall in every movie, so who am I kidding. That being said, it's positioned--to start the franchise-- as scientifically plausible and genius.

To be fair, even though magic blatantly exists in that universe, Indy is skeptical as fuck about it for most of Raiders (which is even stupider when you realize Raiders takes place after Temple of Doom, so by this point he's already seen a man who can pull people's hearts out of their chest and magic god rocks).

In other words, Indy probably wouldn't be so blase about a trap using an inherently illogical and supernatural trigger, so there'd have to be some physical mechanism that he understands for him to be so chill about it.

he saw aliens too

so you could also say it's some sort of alien technology

ConfusedTorchic posted...

he saw aliens too

so you could also say it's some sort of alien technology

Aliens didn't exist until the fourth movie.

Revelation34 posted...

Aliens didn't exist until the fourth movie.

There was a forth movie?

OHJOY90 posted...

There was a forth movie?

Should I watch the 5th movie?

Revelation34 posted...

Should I watch the 5th movie?

i liked it