MovieChat Forums > Mindhunters (2005) Discussion > how could such smart people...

how could such smart people...

posted 18 years ago by calikidd2k
53 replies | jump to latest

Be so dumb?

**spoilers**

From the second the dominos started falling I was pratically yelling at my screen "stop them or get out!" I mean, even if it was still just a scenario, did they really think that the dominos just happened to be there?
Then the idea of one of them going on the boat for the radio... I thought the 12 stood for noon and that one of them was gonna die then, cause of course the killer would expect them to try to get off/find a radio...
Then all of them realizing the killer was setting traps based on where they would likely be and then not even considering that they were right where they were likely to be and not being wary of a trap...
THEN they finally start to get cautious, but when they think that the trap is set to kill two people they all split up into groups of twos...

Of course the list goes on, but I think most of them would have survived if, once they figured out the traps were based on what they would do, they all just did completely random stuff... Just grab some food and blankets and go camping on the beach or sleep in a random one of the fake houses or shops
But I guess that wouldn't make much of a movie... I just wish there was a slasher movie where people acted intelligently and still managed to get killed, you know?

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill

[–] Dufresne-3 18 years ago

While I wouldn't have known what to do (which is why I'm not going into the FBI anyway), the fact that these guys mostly sit around and point guns at each other kind of bothered me. They didn't seem too smart, but especially with the dominoes. "Duh, lookit 'em go!" "Ooo, purty." I know it was still a simulation at that time, but they are supposed to carry themselves as if it's real, and when you're dealing with a serial who calls himself the Puppeteer, you might expect complicated contraptions, so why just sit there watching it go? Jeebus, guys.

[–] calikidd2k 18 years ago

Exactly!

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill

[–] mr_white13 18 years ago

"but I think most of them would have survived if, once they figured out the traps were based on what they would do, they all just did completely random stuff..." calikidd2k, your an idiot. this is a movie! you think they would of survived, they were supposed to die! it's in the fu*king script. lol they could of survived, your a moron.

[–] calikidd2k 18 years ago

No duh it's a movie, but were talking about the characters within their environment, not the reality of it all being fictitious, in which case you would be a moron for not acknowledging that none of them really died they're just actors playing parts.

My point is that they could at least have "died" more intelligently. I think it would have been a much more interesting movie if there was more of a mental back and forth; where they would be trying to do the opposite of what would be expected, but the killer had them profiled well enough to expect them to do the opposite, so then they have to try to figure out whether to do what's expected to avoid the trap or do the opposite, and so forth...

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill

[–] lorddeseiz 11 years ago

No duh it's a movie, but were talking about the characters within their environment, not the reality of it all being fictitious, in which case you would be a moron for not acknowledging that none of them really died they're just actors playing parts.

Bahahaaha, love it when a troll gets trolled.
So watching the movie wasnt all that big of a loss, otherwise i wouldnt have laughed reading that.
_____________________
Any last words ?
Shut the *beep* up
-Mutant Chronicles-

[–] humppatarzan 17 years ago

It's "you're", so before calling someone else a moron, you should learn to write properly. I mean, English is not really that hard to learn, is it? You are such a *beep* *beep* yourself.

[–] moviewizguy 17 years ago

Yes, the fact that they're supposedly intelligent people yet they make the same stupid mistakes a average person in a horror movie when they are about to get killed would make is a flaw in the film. And another flaw was that this film tries to be clever for its own good. It tries to be something different. It tries to be new and origina. Well, it tries too hard. The twists and turns need you to suspend your disbelief.

[–] jabberttp 11 years ago

What is all this "would of", "could of" crap? It's "would have" and "could have". You've no right calling anyone else an idiot. Ever.

---
"Into every life a little coffee must spill."

[–] sunezno (269) 2 years ago

Fucking a, thank you!

[–] xanhopwood 10 years ago

your an idiot

[–] JamesDeBall 18 years ago

the scene with the dominos falling wasnt that dumb; they thought it was a simulation and maybe the elaborate setup was the fake serial killer's calling card and was going to reveal a clue... that said, christian slater was stupid for not atleast trying to move

[–] calikidd2k 18 years ago

Well, I'll give them that scene. I knew something was up, but then again I knew they were going to be facing a serial killer too. So, I accept that, the domino scene wasn't that dumb, but once they realized someone was really trying to kill them they acted pretty dumb in my opinion.

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill

[–] daniel_bruland 18 years ago

Yes. Of course. When you are on a training mission for the FBI you would, ofcourse expect a psycho murderer to start killing each and everyone on that _TRAINING_ mission. How stupid are they...

Pardon my rudeness.

[–] calikidd2k 18 years ago

Well, like I said, I'll give them a break on that first trap, cause they didn't know someone would be trying to actually kill them, but even still as another poster said "when you're dealing with a serial who calls himself the Puppeteer, you might expect complicated contraptions, so why just sit there watching it go?"

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill

[–] groundlessnfree 18 years ago

Yeah, I can't give them a pass on the first trap. I love the movie, but even if it was a simulation, it was a simulation in training to prove yourself for real situations. They shouldn't have stood there watching the dominoes fall. I never envisioned anyone getting killed this early in the movie, but the whole time I was thinking that they should all move away slowly or at least be looking ahead of the trap. My mind works faster than dominoes and I could have figured out where the path was heading instead of following each one fall.

Even in a simulation, you should be expecting blanks like the simulation at the beginning of the movie or paintballs or something. And then Val Kilmers character would have come over the loud speaker and told him he was dead and out of the game. I've also used liquid nitrogen in compressed containers like that and it wouldn't have frozen him that fast. He would have been able to move his feet and get out of the way. He'd face possible severe nerve damage and frostbite, but it wouldn't freeze im in place.

Love the movie, but this scene was weird. I'm not gonna be one of those people who says I would have done better on the island, because I probably would have been knocked off quickly over some stupid weakness like the coffee guy, but this scene only exploited the weakness of stupidity.

[–] trestlerogue 18 years ago

Yea the only difference I would have made in this trap would have been a knife or somthing like it that came out from below that shelf system he was by that sliced the back of his ankels. Like the kid cutting the older guy in pet semetarty or the scene from House of Wax. Let him fall face first into the liquid gas and he dies from inhaling the gas as well as it freezing him. Even if it was a simulation why would they allow it to just complete.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Schro 18 years ago

I still don't understand the helium freezing thing. I know it's liquefied gas but honestly I can't see it doing much to him unless he was standing like an inch from it, and then it would probably be like bad frost bite, not "the lower half of my entire body is frozen solid". Then I think the ending seemed thrown together, and I dont think it ever explained why he had so much time to set up so many elaborate traps... and then on top of that it's just so incredibly far fetched that every piece would fall into place at the exact time. I know I'm supposed to suspend disbelief and I don't usually question movie logic, but god as cool as the idea was this movie is really full of holes.

[–] calikidd2k 18 years ago

I looked around a bit and usually only found "bad frostbite burns" mentioned as a risk of exposure (except for one "Extensive tissue damage")... However liquid helium is said to be the coldest liquified gas, with a boiling point of -452.1 degrees, compared with -320 degrees for liquid nitrogen and for nitrogen I found this; "The extremely low temperature of liquid nitrogen can freeze human flesh very rapidly" however another site mentioned that one should bathe or shower in warm water if exposed, so I assume one could still move.

So... all that is to say, getting spray in liquid helium may severely damage a person, but I doubt it would do so to the point of being frozen solid.

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill

[–] rage6839 18 years ago

It wasn't helium but liquid nitrogen with helium painted on it.

[–] ForeignFear 18 years ago

Now I know not to stare at falling dominoes once I'm in the FBI..

[–] njlucas00 18 years ago

They absolutely get a free pass from me for the domino stunt.
It's all well and good to sit in your living room and go "Damn, I'd get out of the way if I was them! Someone's going to die!"

In their mindset though, they are on a training excercise for a boss with an admittedly sick sense of humour. If I was in their situation, I would be sitting there with a wry smile on my face and a "Oh, here we go, what kind of sick prank is this" mentality. If everytime something unexpected happens, and you react like somebody is about to die, you might need professional help.

Of course, they SHOULD have been treating it like it was real, but come on. NOBODY does that. If you have ever been to a training camp you KNOW it doesn't have the feel of reality. It makes more sense (from a profiling perspective) that it was either a coincidence, or a calling card. Very few killers set elaborate traps for the police (outside of Hollywood at least.)
Given the information that they were told, it looks like the "Puppet master" was taunting them, getting off on being one up on them and being better than them. The LAST thing they expected was to be killed.

Lastly, yeah, liquid nitrogen probably wouldn't do that to you, but it would have made for a far less exciting trap if Christian Slater had just stepped out of the stream and gone "Ooooh! That's cold! I'm just going to nip back to base for a hot shower"
Sometimes you have to suspend disbelief :)

[–] zamise 18 years ago

I half expected this movie to be one big hole... Its near perfect though, as far as adding it to the status of the type of cheesy movie that I enjoy that don't have a huge cult following. If it was any better or worse, stupider or smarter I might just not have liked it as much.

[–] mondieu21 17 years ago

@njlucas00

They all should have acted as REAL profilers and act like this was a REAL situation with keeping in mind, this trap could REALLY kill them (since this is a simulation of reality).

At the moment of the dominos falling (for watching the movie the first time) i thought: "This must be a trap". Then further: "Who will be killed by this trap ?".

The creator of the trap can only be sure that the one who is turning off the radio (and activates the trap) is the one in the only known position. So this will be the victim.

So, instead of following the show (like dumb sheeps), they should have forsee what happens next by quickly analyzing the trap, so Christian Slater would have noticed the helium tank as a dangerous threat.

As a team of super intelligent profilers (as they claim they are) they should have realized that in a second.

Just my 2 cents...

[–] fireyhope 17 years ago

thats what i said when i first saw the movie, all the charachters are pretty dumb and there FBI profilers??? Top Notch Trainee's and fail miserably in everything they do?

and in fact they ARE HORRIBLE WORKING AS A TEAM?! i mean geeze the least they can do is work as a team...

this movie is what i would like to call a Dumb Movie trying to be Smart...

[–] Miora 17 years ago

Actually there was a big huge warning sign before the first trap went off.
The dead cat.
How sick is it to kill an animal right on the spot just to make a graphic hint with it....for just a training?
That was where my alarm bells went off that there was a sick mind going on that was willing to go WAY too far!
Also, note that the dead cat wasn't just dead but mangled.
A deadringer...no pun intended.

And then when it was superclear that there was an actual psychokiller. How far do you have to go to figure out what he/she wants?
The main thing that the killer wanted was uberclear: he wanted to play games with his prey!
So what would be the stupidest thing to do?
Play along!

I would have ran to the boat indeed, and when it exploded I would have stayed on the beach or find something floatable nearby but NOT go back in town where obviously more "games" would be played.
And a pissed off killer would have tried to convince me to go back to town and shoot me in the head but at least I'd have a quick death and the killer would have had no fun at all.

---http://spacehamster.com----------------------->;

[–] kevin_kampen 17 years ago

About the dead cat: Nothing they havent seen before. In the first test you see with Slater and the chick theres a room FULL of dead cats, remember?

[–] jamasian_man 17 years ago

There's also the fact that he was the first victim of that trap. No one knows its real until a person dies.

[–] knighthunterps3 14 years ago

I agree, but at the same time I don't give them a pass on the first trap. But at the same time they were in a state of complacency and were to soft on the situation. No the Liquid Nitro spot didn't make a bit of sense and I will give that up to movie magic crap. However the rest I can actually see. Each person died due to their "safe zone" or the area they felt safest.

Rafe died because he was the one who made the coffee, his safe/weak point was his undoing. Bobby died because Lucas said for some one to turn off the water and who better to do it that the one who knows where to shut it off, that and the "trap" had already triggered and they probably thought it was already done and over. Nicole had a panic attack and what better to do when you are going nuts and jonesing for a cig than...smoke when you find a pack that drops. Lucas' fake death was done by gun though be it a bit badly. Vince with his always trusty gun felt like he could handle anything as long as it was there and in switching the clips condemned himself. As I stated in another thread Sara was probably supposed to kill Gabe off thinking he was the killer. Then Lucas would come back in and use her "fault" and kill her himself because he said it himself, her only weakness wasn't water, he thought it was also him too.

As it was once said, "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it." and the fact they lacked true teamwork was what got the most of them killed. Gotta love MIB for a good quote on what we are in a "sane and civilized community".

To me the one that didn't make sense most was the first death. Though the leader did what he was supposed to. The way it was done was cheesy. Then again they all had a sense of bad movie flare but what better for a killer to go off of than bad movie cliches.

[–] sunezno (269) 2 years ago

Those ones in the beginning were all fake, I thought. I could see them making the place smell like decomp, but I highly doubt he'd have killed tons of cats just for that.
Plus they had a casette tape that was just the sound of flies buzzing.

[–] Dauphni 16 years ago

Yeah, that would be my first instinct. Obviously, I know it's a movie, and bad stuff is going to happen, but come on! It's clear there's someone trying to kill you, and he's doing it with traps, and in two days you're already set to be picked up. So form that it's really obvious what you should do, isn't it? Just stay out of any built up area, and wait for the ride home.
Okay, so they're profilers and solving crimes is what they do, but is indulging in your professional deformation really that important?

[–] feliciano2040 17 years ago

It is indeed one of the problems with the movie, they reacted like normal people, unlike trained professionals.

I yelled a big and loud WTF when Bobby says "It's just *beep* numbers", i think that if someone writes with someone else's blood a bunch of numbers in a glass, i believe there actually is a *beep* reason for it.

[–] Mirage4 17 years ago

This was nothing but a slasher film disguised as a thriller--nothing subtle here.