Private Reich
Love the film. Wondering if anyone knows why Reich tried to strangle Boyd after the fall?
shareHe resented Boyd's cowardice and half-blamed him for what went wrong at the cave.
share
MovieChat Forums > Ravenous (1999) Discussion > Private Reich
I think he was either confused thinking it was calhoune or because he potentially thought boyd was in on it...
shareI don’t think there was any rationale for it. Reich may have resented Boyd’s cowardice, but not to the point of wanting to kill him. Felt like the director just wanted to throw in a quick jump scare. That whole sequence was pretty far-fetched, with both characters somehow surviving a hundred foot drop off the cliff.
shareIt’s understood a bit more if you’ve seen the deleted scenes, specifically the one detailing how exactly Reich ended up at Fort Spencer—he was a Major (note Boyd calls him “Major” rather than “Private” when he talks to his corpse in the hole) who shot his commanding officer who wanted to retreat in battle; he was subsequently demoted and sent out west. So he does seem to have a much bigger disdain for cowardice than we’ve seen in the film, and probably couldn’t think of a better way to go out than taking this coward “hero” with him.
shareAh, that's interesting. While I do still believe the director mostly just wanted to take advantage of an opportunity for a jump scare, that little backstory does theoretically make the scene a bit more logical. Unfortunately, I can only fairly judge a film based on the content actually included in the final cut. Still, I appreciate the info.
shareYeah, I would kill for a director’s cut with all the deleted scenes restored and included, especially since all but one scene were only cut for time and nothing else.
share