S&W Model 10 Action in "The Road"

[amprecon]

Saw "The Road" last night with Viggo Mortensen where he plays the protective father of his son in a post-apocalyptic world. Viggo carries amongst his other meager belongings a S&W Model 10 revolver with only two rounds in the cylinder and uses it effectively in at least one scene. It's a rather dark movie with little inclination for any good to come about in the end, but it does make you think about how one may react during cataclysmic times.
One thing stood out for me in this movie, ammo would be an invaluable commodity and worth much more than it's weight in gold. As society has ceased to exist due to starvation and everyone you meet is suspected as a cannibal, it's difficult to trust any one as all wild game is gone aside from the few remaining humans preying on each other for food.

 

[Patriotme]

I plan on seeing the movie this weekend. My wife and I read the book last year. It was depressing as hell but very thought provoking. I can't understand why the studios are even advertising this movie. Hopefully it won't disappear before a few more people get to see it.

 

[DFW1911]

I really did not like the book. The author's writing style just didn't work for me and the storyline is depressing as h***.

I'm probably going to see the movie in the hopes that I'll finally be able to say "The movie was better than the book!"

Then again, I may be in for a rude awakening.

Oh, it struck me as odd that the only firearm the father had was a S&W revolver. It seems to me that at some point in his travels he would have stumbled across a rifle somewhere.

Just my $.02; YMMV

 

[Erik M]

In a world where the majority of mankind is dead, shouldnt that statisticly leave a large amount of weapons hordes just collecting dust? I would also think that you woulc eventually stumble across another weapon. The book was dark, I didn't even know they had made a move, let alone with an A-list cast.

 

[cornman]

I am not one to buy into the idea that mankind would become automatically become savages and that people are going to need to arm themselves against our fellow humans. If the had a massive disaster I feel violence will become obsolete rather than a paranoid fantacy.

 

[highorder]

If the had a massive disaster I feel violence will become obsolete rather than a paranoid fantacy.

After civilized society, humans will return to our animal instincts. Animals are violent.

 

[TCB in TN]

I am not one to buy into the idea that mankind would become automatically become savages and that people are going to need to arm themselves against our fellow humans. If the had a massive disaster I feel violence will become obsolete rather than a paranoid fantacy.

We do see disaster bring out the best in man kind, but more often we see people revert to a savage state. During Katrina you saw some examples of heroism but you saw more riot, rob, murder, etc.

 

[LibShooter]

I really did not like the book. The author's writing style just didn't work for me and the storyline is depressing as h***.

I'll agree the book was hard to get through. The first edition I started reading read had no paragraph indentions. However, the audio book was great.

The Man's attempt to reload his .38 ammo from .45 shells was very entertaining. And since the author lived in my part of the country I thought I recognized a couple of locations.

 

[stolivar]

The book sucked and poorly written

Plus the guy would or should have been dead from the beginning. He had no survival skills and he was stupid.


steve

 

[highorder]

Plus the guy would or should have been dead from the beginning.

That's a short book then?

The book sucked and poorly written

The guy that wrote it has a bit of a following, and people like to make movies from his work. It can't suck too bad. Perhaps it's just not your type of literature.

 

[Vonderek]

The book sucked and poorly written

I agree. I loved "Blood Meridien" but after that, "No Country", and now "The Road" I have found McCarthy's writing style tiresome and the lack of any conclusion to his stories leaves me feeling cheated for having invested so much time. To keep this thread gun-related, there is an interesting chapter in "Blood Meridien" where the so-called protagonists employ a field-expedient solution to making gunpowder out in the wilderness.

 

[Isher]

Loved it - the book. Don't intend to see the film.

Essentially a novel written in something close to free verse.

Perfect for the post-apocalyptic threads as they develop and die.

isher

 

[chieftain]

It seems to me that at some point in his travels he would have stumbled across a rifle somewhere.

Think Ammunition. Finding a rifle without ammo is useless. Unless you need a club. (That rules out any use at all for an AR-15/M16 family of weapons.)

I am not one to buy into the idea that mankind would become automatically become savages and that people are going to need to arm themselves against our fellow humans. If the had a massive disaster I feel violence will become obsolete rather than a paranoid fantasy.

I don't think it would happen automatically either. It happens gradually. Think putting the frog in the water then turning the heat on.

With out civil authority that is capable, almost all societies revert to much more primal levels. Look at so many of the Worlds poorest nations that are corrupt. The civil authority is itself corrupt and ineffective.

Look at the various cities in our own nation. You will find that those with the worst societal and criminal problems are most often those with the most corrupt Governments. One goes hand in hand.

In this movie there is in essence no authority at all. It is exactly what anarchists wish for. Total anarchy.

Go figure.

Fred

 

[toivo]

I read the book. I haven't seen the movie yet.

One key factor to consider in the "what if" discussions is that in the scenario presented by the author, the earth has become barren. There is no animal or plant life. The only ways to eat are scavenging and cannibalism. That has hastened the breakdown of civilization by removing any incentive for cooperation among people for hunting, agriculture, etc. That's why it is such a huge commitment for the man to say to his son, "We don't eat people." He is doing his best to hold on to civilized moral values when there is no civilization anymore.

As for his ammo supply, it has been some years since the unnamed disaster happened. Scavenging is becoming harder--most places have been picked clean. I would imagine this would apply to ammo as well as food.

It was certainly not a happy book, but I found it extremely thought-provoking. What does it mean to be human? How fragile is civilization? Why keep going when (almost) everything you love and believe in is gone? I will probably see the movie.

 

[Grassman]

Preface by saying I have not read the book nor seen the movie, but why the cannibalism? Seems to me there would be a lot more cows and deer roaming the earth with less humans around, easy pickins if you ask me.

 

[LibShooter]

Seems to me there would be a lot more cows and deer roaming the earth with less humans around.

Nope, the disaster that ended civilization killed every other living thing on Earth. No explanation, that's just what happened. The few people left are surviving by stumbling over canned goods or eating each other. As for the rarity of ammo, I imagine a lot of it was used up in the weeks and months following the disaster.

 

[Bailey Boat]

I am not one to buy into the idea that mankind would become automatically become savages and that people are going to need to arm themselves against our fellow humans. If the had a massive disaster I feel violence will become obsolete rather than a paranoid fantacy.

We're already doing it in todays society, even with all of our laws and enforcement, what makes you think it would be any different in a post type society with NO law enforcement available????? I see it as being the worse any of us could even imagine!!!!!!

 

[hso]

If we can't stay focused on the firearms aspects, this thread will end up closed like all other movie or TEOTWAWKI threads.

What are the important firearms aspects in the film?

The weak can become prey to predators and must both avoid conflict and be capable of defending themselves when conflict arises. The only solution to every conflict isn't a gun, but in rare extreme circumstances it is.

The mindset to use violence if forced to is more important than the skills or tools to carry it out.

Any gun is better than no gun when your immediate need is to defend your life.

Courage isn't the same as action hero antics.

 

[toivo]

OK--on firearm aspects: I don't know if this made it into the movie, but at one point in the book, he carves dummy rounds to put in his revolver so that no one can see from the front that he only has two rounds left.

BTW, I don't think the model of the revolver is specified in the book. So they went with a Model 10 in the movie?

 

[Leper Khan]

OK--on firearm aspects: I don't know if this made it into the movie, but at one point in the book, he carves dummy rounds to put in his revolver so that no one can see from the front that he only has two rounds left.

Unfortunately not, nor do they cover the part where he wishes he had kept his brass to try to reload after he finds some out of caliber ammo. I loved the book and I think the movie did as best it could with adapting the novel, but there's so much inner turmoil and subtlety that it just doesn't quite capture it.

Like others have said, it takes place several years after the disaster, and I inferred most of the ammunition had been used up in the conflicts immediately after things fell apart. It could also be that The Man just hadn't found any in his scavenging. It seemed like the cannibals had some, but neither the book nor the movie explore that facet very deeply.

 

[Vonderek]

It could also be that The Man just hadn't found any in his scavenging.

In the book he stumbles upon a survivalist's underground bunker fully stocked with food and Kruggerrands. Strange the long-gone prepper hadn't thought to stockpile ammunition and a few firearms as well (I guess he never read any THR "Best Guns for SHTF" threads!). Seriously, I don't recall an actual locale mentioned in the novel. Perhaps the story took place in a country that banned firearms ownership. Or maybe not given that The Man had a revolver.

 

[Cosmoline]

After civilized society, humans will return to our animal instincts. Animals are violent.

Civilization is a very recent innovation in the history of humanity. For over 100,000 years before the first crops were planted along the Nile and Euphrates humans existed in tribal groups living off the land. The tribe is the natural state of man, and in the absence of civilization it's what we revert to naturally. A small group that shares resources, protects against incursions and provides some form of religion and justice to its members. It's never been natural or even possible for humans to survive very long in the wild by themselves. Tribes, being a number of extended families, are extremely durable and can last indefinitely even in the worst environments such as the arctic. They are far more durable than the complex legal and political creations we call nation states.

As far as firearms, the problem with tribes is that they are a very, very poor vehicle for maintaining or using advanced technology. You cannot turn to a small tribe to manufacture something as complicated as centerfire priming systems, or even to remember how.

That said, most authors and directors also underestimate the sheer number of firearms around or their durability. Arms would be easy to find, and would last for centuries. But ammunition would run out fast and be difficult to replace without some industrial and chemical technology for the primers. One might see retro-engineering of smokeless arms into flintlocks, since black powder can be made with more primitive tools. A particular tribe could specialize in making the magic powder, and could profit as a result.

 

[akodo]

Quote:
If the had a massive disaster I feel violence will become obsolete rather than a paranoid fantacy.

After civilized society, humans will return to our animal instincts. Animals are violent.

Humans are a social animal. In an extreme situation, they are going to see another fellow human as a potential pack-mate first, overlooking MANY shortcomings in said individual simply because there are no other options for the pack/tribe/trope.

You see this same behavior in apes, monkeys, lions, dogs, and pretty much all the social animals. Heck, you see a version if it pretty frequently in modern mankind whenever you have a large group that contains a very small number of a single minority (it could be a bus full of people and only 2 of them are black, or meeting of the neighborhood watch, where only 2 of them are women, etc. This behavior has been highly documented)


I personally see too many holes in his world for the book to seem real to me. I reject the idea that there would be a disaster that would allow thousands if not millions of humans to initially live through it, but somehow manage to wipe out cockroaches and other insects.

I also reject the idea of mass cannibalism. Now, I have actually done a fair bit of reading on cannibalism in extreme circumstances. For starters, there is the standard food consumption pyramid. For a steer to produce enough meat to feed a human for a year, that steer must eat enough grain to feed 10 humans for a year. I imagine to keep 1 human fed on human flesh, the cannibal would have to consume probably 2-3 people per month. Hence, the whole system begins to collapse on itself, especially if you have a group of cannibals working together. How likely is a gang of 10 cannibals going to be able to supply itself with 30 people per month? If there is a lean month, any group gathering food together (be it hunting or scavaging) is likely to fall apart, but a group that is cannibalizing, you'd think that after a few lean weeks all but the strongest member would leave and try to go it alone rather than risk ending up in the cookpot.

Oh, you may have opportunistic cannibalism where people scavage most of their food but if a dead body is encountered that is eaten with glee....but that's not what was described.


Further, in situations of extreme food shortage, that kind of body doesn't yeild much calories. I am talking 10 guys in a lifeboat who have enough water but so short on food they are at their wit's end, so they draw straws and kill and eat whoever gets the short straw...it basically accomplishes nothing because the starving man's body is so devoid of fat that even a healthy person would have a hard time getting any calories from the meal.

so again, a situation where a group of people (or even a single person) resorts to cannibalizing the starving survivors of an EOTWAWKI event, he might as well fill his belly by eating woodchips because he isn't getting hardly any calories.

Sidenote: If you are in a lifeboat with enough water but no food don't bother eating the body of the first guy who died of starvation (or don't bother doing the 'draw a straw, short straw gets eaten) instead use his blood/body for shark bait, and kill and eat the shark)


Knowing this, reading The Road is like a gunperson watching a movie where the hero has a 1000 shot handgun that can make cars explode, it detracts for him but a gun ignorant person probably doesn't even notice