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I always took that opening scene as establishing how tough and capable the 3 waiting gunmen are. How hard would it be to catch a fly inside a gun barrel?? But t

I always took that opening scene as establishing how tough and capable the 3 waiting gunmen are. How hard would it be to catch a fly inside a gun barrel?? But this guy does it first try. Seems to imply incredible reflexes.

more_corn 2y ago
Yeah, reducing it to a story about sound misses the development of the character. Why did he do it, how did he do it? What does it say about him that he chose to and that he could?
lazide 2y ago
For anyone familiar with guns (as most Americans in the audience would be, anyway), it also illustrated how unhinged, dangerous, and reckless the gunman was. You’re really going to point a loaded gun at yourself, including looking down the barrel (and potentially shoot your self in the face), to appreciate the fly you just caught? The fly you still haven’t killed? Which can now escape while you appreciate it? And which, it turns out, ends up escaping when the gunman gets distracted. And which you could have killed at any point along the way in about 10 easier ways if you didn’t want to try to be fancy? Well, it turns out that does indeed fit their character haha. And is good foreshadowing for most of the ‘bad guys’ in the movie, and to some extent the ending. A really amazing classic, if you’re not stuck in ‘TikTok attention span’ mode anyway. Also, a really funny parody of the spaghetti western (which includes some of the same folks - ‘Support your local sheriff’).
- dnh44 2y ago
  Oddly I remembered it as the fly escaping too but I've rewatched the scene now and he clearly lets the fly go.
  - lazide 2y ago
    Even better, considering how often Harmonica gets let go/ignored throughout the movie, despite clearly not being who he says he is.
- pjbeam 2y ago
  One _possible_ out for Snakey here is that in old percussion cap revolvers (like Colt Dragoon), the safe thing to do was keep an empty chamber in front of the hammer when not engaged in active shooting. It's been a while though, and my fuzzy memory leans more toward the guns supposed to be Single Action Army-esque and not cap/ball era so maybe no excuse for Snakey after all.
- dreamcompiler 2y ago
  > Also, a really funny parody of the spaghetti western (which includes some of the same folks - ‘Support your local sheriff’). "Why, if I'd pulled that trigger while your finger was in the barrel, that gun woulda blowed up in ma face! Wouldn't have done my finger a helluva lot of good either." I loved this movie when I was a kid.

more_corn 2y ago

Yeah, reducing it to a story about sound misses the development of the character. Why did he do it, how did he do it? What does it say about him that he chose to and that he could?

lazide 2y ago

For anyone familiar with guns (as most Americans in the audience would be, anyway), it also illustrated how unhinged, dangerous, and reckless the gunman was. You’re really going to point a loaded gun at yourself, including looking down the barrel (and potentially shoot your self in the face), to appreciate the fly you just caught? The fly you still haven’t killed? Which can now escape while you appreciate it? And which, it turns out, ends up escaping when the gunman gets distracted. And which you could have killed at any point along the way in about 10 easier ways if you didn’t want to try to be fancy? Well, it turns out that does indeed fit their character haha. And is good foreshadowing for most of the ‘bad guys’ in the movie, and to some extent the ending. A really amazing classic, if you’re not stuck in ‘TikTok attention span’ mode anyway. Also, a really funny parody of the spaghetti western (which includes some of the same folks - ‘Support your local sheriff’).

dnh44 2y ago
Oddly I remembered it as the fly escaping too but I've rewatched the scene now and he clearly lets the fly go.
- lazide 2y ago
  Even better, considering how often Harmonica gets let go/ignored throughout the movie, despite clearly not being who he says he is.
pjbeam 2y ago
One _possible_ out for Snakey here is that in old percussion cap revolvers (like Colt Dragoon), the safe thing to do was keep an empty chamber in front of the hammer when not engaged in active shooting. It's been a while though, and my fuzzy memory leans more toward the guns supposed to be Single Action Army-esque and not cap/ball era so maybe no excuse for Snakey after all.
dreamcompiler 2y ago
> Also, a really funny parody of the spaghetti western (which includes some of the same folks - ‘Support your local sheriff’). "Why, if I'd pulled that trigger while your finger was in the barrel, that gun woulda blowed up in ma face! Wouldn't have done my finger a helluva lot of good either." I loved this movie when I was a kid.