I thought Doc thought Rudy was dead in the beginning of the film because Rudy had told Doc that he never wears a vest. But the experts' commentary on the DVD attributed Rudy's survival to Doc's "humanity": that at several points in the film he refrains from finishing somebody off if he feels he doesn't have to.
Any thoughts?
aftering seeing this tonight, yeah, i'm pretty sure he thought he was dead.
shareThere may be some confusion in the commentary. There is no doubt that Doc makes every effort to kill Rudy at the deserted farm after the robbery. He even stands on the car door sill to shoot him again in the neck, suggesting he suspected he had on a vest and was making sure he was dead.
Later in the El Paso hotel he goes to execute Rudy and shield his face from the effects his close range shot will have but then decides to allow Rudy to live. This is a crucial moment in the film at which Doc tries to recover some humanity. When Rudy recovers and tries to kill Doc he kills him in a fair exchange of gunfire. Its a significant moment in Doc's development.
Hope this is interesting!!
After multiple viewings of this film, I must agree. Doc really wanted a fair showdown with Rudy.
sharegaryingrey45:
I think you misinterpreted that scene, or at least you interpreted it differently than i did. Doc did not stand up to shoot Rudy again. I thought he was shooting around him to see if he would move. When the guy did not move, Doc figured he was dead and left. Which is why the scene shows Rudy reaching for his gun afterward. Everyone watching was like, "you could have finished him off, but chose not to!!"
If you have already shot someone 4 or 5 times and you want o finish them off, you go up to them and shoot them from close range, you dont shoot from fifty feet away.
As far as the scene in the hotel is concerned, it just reaffirms everything else. At no point in the movie did Doc shoot anyone he did not have to. Look at the scene where he holds up the guy for the shotgun. He shot up the police officers car instead of shooting them. he is the antithesis of Rudy's character.
I agree he wanted a fair showdown or he was showing some humanity but if c'mon if someone doesn't die the first time you should light them up the next time. but it just goes to show how things were done back then, those script choices were made for a reason and this movie will be a classic for many more decades. BTW it's fantastic on blu ray!
shareAt the hotel when Doc is ready to shoot Rudy, I always thought that the reason Doc hesitated and didn't shoot was because he was worried someone else might hear the shot. After all it may not have been a large town, but they were still in the middle of town. Also at the farm house while Doc had shot Rudy in the chest, not knowing Rudy had on a vest, Doc did try to finish off Rudy with what I took to be an attempted head shot. Doc saw Rudy's hair moved and may have presumed he had hit his target.
shareYeah, I think he thought Rudy was dead. In the hotel scene it seems like he's actually surprised to see Rudy is still alive, because he takes a moment to check Rudy's chest (probably checking for bullet holes), and then checks the wound on his neck as if to say "ah, that explains it, must've missed".
shareThat's weird. I always thought Doc thought Rudy was dead. He certainly didn't aim like he was meaning to "only wound him" or anything like that; he pumped multiple shots into the guy's chest. There's no way one can watch that scene & then say Doc wasn't aiming to kill! And his shots weren't rapid-fire, either; he stood firmly and one after the other deliberately filled the guy full of lead, with a little pause in between each shot, like a real pro. Not like someone panicking and pulling the trigger faster than they had to because they're being shot at. It just doesn't make sense that he was being "humane." Unless they're talking about how he walked away from Rudy, just leaving him either dead or alive, since he was incapacitated either way.
But still, if it had been me, i would've double-checked and made damn sure Rudy was dead, knowing if he lived he would be PISSED and come after me!
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