MovieChat Forums > The Day of the Triffids (1963) Discussion > The Airplane scene in Day of the Trifids

The Airplane scene in Day of the Trifids

posted 18 years ago by thorsail
14 replies | jump to latest

Hello : I just saw this on PBS last night , and since I hadn't seen it since
I was a kid it was kinda like a first viewing - It is pretty easy to pick apart
this film and some of the good/bad points have been covered in other posts but
as the story was unfolding early on , and they got to the bit about the people
up in the airplane ........I was horrified . think about that , pilots blind
and no one on the ground to help them ? I realized that all over the
planet planes must be spiraling into the earth .
So my point is I was reading that lighthouse scenes were added to lenghten
the films running time , and yet the story line had all these built in ideas
that these days would make it a 2hour movie . I understand budget really
confines these B movies , but a couple more scenes about/with planes would
really drive home the horror and helplessness of that situation .
Also , did anyone else get the sense that that train was really going WAY
too fast when it crashed ? why wouldn't the engineer just stop the train
where ever he was when he went blind ? It would be more likely that trains
would crash into each other or derail out on the tracks somewhere..... I guess
what I am really getting at is the initial effects of the meteor shower were
almost everyone is blind is an amazing story line - THEN you get man eating
plants just to keep things interesting......
Well , just wanted to talk about the planes falling out of the sky ( where's
your inflatable co-pilot Otto when you need him ! )

Imagine an entire crowd at a soccor game going blind , or a baseball park ,
or a football stadium , masses of humanity suddenly terrified .
Imagine an operating theater in a hospital . someone working with dangerous
chemicals . Cruise ships out at sea . Your Nana taking her little dog out
for his business before going to bed . pretty scary .

[–] prbronx5 18 years ago

I agree with your post 100%. Although this is one of my favorite sci fi movies from my childhood, it is pretty easy to pick apart today. Yes they really didn't go too into the whole blind thing. The blind people were basically just used as triffid food. The only blind person you got a sense of sympathy for was Tina and then they killed her.

Yes the train was going way to fast, and the whole derailment was done very cheaply as was the plane crash. The panic on the plane was very disturbing, you really felt it.

The lighthouse scenes and the scene at the beginning in the greenhouse are my favorite scenes in the movie. They were creepy and the triffid puppet they used in those scenes was really scary and animated, unlike the ones used in other parts of the movie.

[–] conortyrrell 17 years ago

Yeah, it's a pretty terrifying concept all right, and that's partially why the movie (and indeed the book) works so well, the sheer horror of it all. Everyone has, at some stage or another, wondered what it would be like to be blind all of a sudden and it;s scary. Now imagining that everyone capable of helping you is blind as well, that's truely scary!

I think they should re-make this film, as, with modern budgets and special effects they could make a great 28 Days Later style film. The only thing is, I think surgeries are totally enclosed, so the light from the meteor showers wouldn't get in ;)

But it's a great idea and a great plot and everything comes together so well.

[–] H Lime-2 17 years ago

The airplane scene has always been one of my favorites (that & Bill Masen leading the triffids away with the circus truck). But it really was overly melodramatic to have it crash land about 100 yards away from where he was standing!!

[–] clearbluepeace 17 years ago

I was browsing a site that sells movie posters (allposters dot com, FYI) and tripped across this movie and got intrigued so I came here to read about it.

I've been aware of the existence of this movie for decades (it's sung about in Rocky Horror's "Science Fiction Double Feature, after all) but I've never seen it.

Now I plan to, as soon as possible. The concept of nearly everyone around the world going blind is mind-blowing. I don't see how it would amount to 99%, since lots of people would be indoors, and many of them where no outside light would be, but yes, monumental numbers of people would be affected.

Someone mentioned being in a sports stadium, and the idea of 70,000 people cooped up together and all suddenly struck blind is, simply, too much to fathom. With NO ONE COMING TO HELP, we have to imagine that those people will stumble around--or stampede, causing each other's deaths for quite a while. Some might try to venture out and find help, especially not knowing that all the world was affected. In fact, wouldn't it be a while before everyone even figured out that the entire stadium was blinded? Think about it. YOU go blind, and call out for your friend, wife, whoever, and that person is also screaming for you that they are blind, and you hear everyone else screaming but you are sort of shut in inside your mind when you are unable to see, so you might be blocking out conscious recognition of the sounds and voices around you.

But imagine the scene after five minutes... fifteen minutes... one hour... six hours... twelve hours... TWO DAYS... What would be becoming of those people? Would they go insane? Remember, they don't know why the cops and paramedics are not coming for them. They can't even GET TO a place where they can get information feeds from other states or countries -- as if any information would be forthcoming. Would they just lie around the stadium until they died? <shudder!>

Any movie that would have a worldwide blindness event and not make THAT the pivotal plot-line of the movie is pretty damned stupid. Why add the plants at all?!?

Well, I still plan to see it, because the concept is both disturbing and fascinating.

[–] bing-57 16 years ago

> I don't see how it would amount to 99%, since lots of people would be indoors

I am unsure what to think about that. The way it was presented was that the asteroids lit up the sky for an evening and the news described the show as amazing to watch. So, I would assume that if you were working in your basement at the time or had some other reason for not being outside, that you'd make an effort to go out and watch it briefly. It was said to be a once-in-a-lifetime show. So, having 99% of people blinded might not be too far off.

Yet, it was not explained whether or not the blinding was instantaneous. If it was, then I would think only 15% of the population would be blind. The first few people who got struck blind would warn the others not to look.

> Any movie that would have a worldwide blindness event and not make THAT the pivotal plot-line of the movie is pretty damned stupid. Why add the plants at all?!?

I think they added the blindness problem because otherwise it would be pretty easy for the world's population to defeat a bunch of man-eating plants. Plants are slow, have no brains, and can be damaged a lot of different ways.

But if 90% of the population was blind, the plants can have their way with the humans.

Now, I'll grant you that it would make a good horror movie to just strike 90% of the population blind and then film the terror that follows. Man-eating plants would not be needed.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] ronaldt49 15 years ago

"Plants are slow and have no brains" sounds familiar. Don't we have a bunch of Triffids serving in Washington, now? If not, perhaps we should elect Triffids to Congress. They couldn't do much worse. I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE!!!

[–] Herowithgreeneyesandblue 17 years ago

Oh yeah, I didn't think of the train thing. In fact trains have a failsafe in case the engineer gets a coronary or something. The fuel feed has to be attended too constantly or the trains coasts to a stop.

I like waking up in the morning not knowing who I'll meet or where I'll end up: The Titanic

[–] Bilwick1 15 years ago

Watching the airplane scene in "Triffids," I couldn't help thinking of AIRPLANE!

[–] clore_2 15 years ago

Two magazines - "Famous Monsters" and "Castle of Frankenstein" both had pre-release stills printed that showed triffids attacking passengers on the airplane. It's not likely they would hire 50 extras just for a photo shoot, so I suspect the film was edited as perhaps they thought the crash was horrific enough.

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

[–] bakabox 15 years ago

But how would plants get up into an airplane..?

[–] clore_2 15 years ago

I'm sure that the scriptwriters could come up with a way. If they were spores that came with the meteor shower, then maybe they came through the vent. After all, if we're going to accept plants walking around and listening to an amusement truck...

Then again, security was a lot more lax back then at airports...

I find it more questionable that authorities would let a plane go up during a meteor shower in the first place.

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

[–] Herowithgreeneyesandblue 15 years ago

I'd rather imagine plants trying to eat me. Just way more fun.

I like waking up in the morning not knowing who I'll meet or where I'll end up: The Titanic

[–] Strazdamonas 13 years ago

Yes the plane scene was frightening. However you should be happy now. planes are so computerized now that they could land on autopilot. it would be a bumpy landing but they would survive. the navicating would find the airport. the only trouble is it doesnt account for other planes.

i agree about the train, it sohuld have just stopped whereever it was. however trains do slow down very slowly. if its a big train and its left with engine offline it can roll for many kilometers till it stops.

I think the premise was pretty bad for a simple reasons you mentioned. people in hospital or so would not go blind because they wouldn't be seeing the sky. it seems that everyone across the world was looking at the meteors. the peopel who didnt go blind were those that actually decided to do their work over the spectacle. many people wouldnt go blind simply because they wouldnt be looking.

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[–] ronaldt49 12 years ago

I worked in processing facilities where you were in buildings with no windows and places located below ground where you couldn't just walk away from your equipment. However there were some who could get out and it would be frightening when you realize your coworkers had not come back after having gone outside for a "Smoke-break" and never returning. When your shift ended and you had no shift relief and things were still running, then what do you do?