MovieChat Forums > Lethal Weapon (1987) Discussion > The electric shock torture scene.

The electric shock torture scene.

posted 4 years ago by TheMan18 (13130)
8 replies | jump to latest

Judging by how much Mel Gibson's "Martin Riggs" character was screaming, how PAINFUL do you think it was?

And also, in real life, if this happened that way, after being shocked by Endo a couple of times, would he really have the strength to beat up Endo like that and then survive and rescue Murtaugh and his daughter?

Speaking of Murtaugh, how painful was the salt in the wound scene? Cause he was ALSO screaming like hell as a result?

Much as I hope never to find out I wonder...

[–] Obifuntoknowme (1144) 3 years ago

Riggs was a tough son of a bitch! Don’t forget he was a hardened Vietnam vet, tough as they come. He’d been through an awful lot so imo it’s not surprising that he was able to get himself out of the electric shock torture. He was also on the edge of suicide, he had nothing to lose so I think that being captured and tortured was enough to tip him over.

As for the Murtaugh salt scene I can’t speak from personal experience but I bet that hurt like hell! When you have a cut it’s bad enough sticking your finger into a packet of salted crisps let alone having salt rubbed into an open wound. Ouch!

[–] TheMan18 (13130) 3 years ago

True.

But the question is, how PAINFUL WAS that electric shock treatment procedure? Could it have killed him? Could it have left severe burns or broken bones etc?

Is it as painful as say (yikes) a hot iron on someone's skin?

[–] Obifuntoknowme (1144) 3 years ago

If it had gone on long enough then it no doubt would’ve killed him. Before it killed him though it could’ve crippled him to the point of him not being able to fight back.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

The problem is the device used to shock Riggs looks like nothing more than some jumper cables connected to a car battery. It would shock you, but not nearly to the degree he was acting like it was in the movie. So the first problem is what was used wouldn't feel good, but it wouldn't be as overly painful as the movie made it out to be. So given he was only shocked by a 12 volt batter he would be little worse for the wear afterwards.

Electric shock torture when done by people that know what they are doing could be as painful as what Riggs was acting like it was, but it would leave the person pretty much as weak as a kitten for hours after you stopped. So the problem is what they were suing wasn't sufficient to do the damage he was supposed to be feeling, but if he was only shocked with the car battery he could have been strong enough to fight after the shocking stopped.

[–] moviechatterer (16049) 3 years ago

I was just pondering that too .
I guess more circuitry than just the car battery and some jump leads.
An inverter to make the current AC , then the voltage could be upped with a transformer.
and theres certainly enough amp-hours in a car battery to sustain that for some time.

[–] TheMan18 (13130) a year ago

So was it really that painful or was Riggs exaggerating?

[–] [deleted] a year ago

[deleted]

[–] Magicdave (916) 6 months ago

Don't forget that Riggs was being doused with water also. Water is a good conductor of electricity, so a simple 12-volt battery's power would probably be amplified.