First of all, the major had all of what, 2555 silver dollars? For this booty, which he'll have to share with 4 or 5 accomplices, the ringleader of this robbery is willing to murder a family and risk life in jail, the death penalty, or (even worse) the wrath of Major Charles Rane? Talk about high risk and low reward.
shareYep, criminals ain't too bright. I guess that's why they become criminals.
"I've always tried to teach you two things. First: Never let them see you bleed. Second: Always have an escape plan." - Q
Eric-1226 wrote:
"Yep, criminals ain't too bright. I guess that's why they become criminals."
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Well, let me just say that I have a certain respect for criminals that are a bit more ambitious.
Well to be fair, the booty was much more valuable back in that time frame. But if they were going after that amount today, well then they are really putting too much effort in the wrong place.
Dalton and Craig! Accept NO substitutes!
...the booty was much more valuable back in that time frame.
Point well taken Eric-1226.
Just my two cents worth (which, adjusted for inflation, isn't even worth a dime).Quoted for hilarity.
But still...5 or 6 guys for this job, and a murder rap of women and children to boot? Seems to me an insanely high risk/reward ratio.
shareGreat point, except that general circulation silver dollar coins from the 70s do not contain any actual silver. They contain the same copper-nickel alloy as other silver colored U.S. coins such as quarters.
shareI've never really given it much thought (being a movie and all), but you wonder if they were in the crowd when Rane made his speech and they were like "Bingo!".
Another option would be that they heard the info from a mutual thief who heard that he just got a pile of change. Then you'd have to break into the guy's house, gambling that nobody is home and wait for him to show up. It would be funny if random people kept showing up that door (repairman, pizza guy religious groups) while they lay in wait. I also figured they'd just steal the silver dollars and move them through the black market, otherwise you'd have a stash of guys buying stuff with non-bills.
The other minor thing is that we know most garbage disposals shut off at any minor jam, such as a chicken bones, tin foil or someone's hand. At least mine does!
Still, though, I do love this flick from my early VHS rental days of 1983.
The head criminal played by James Best was stupid enough to do all that for less than 3000 dollars, I think, but the way he got the real evil badass played by Luke Askew to go along with it was because Askew's character hated officers so much. It may even have gone the other way; Askew may have seen Devane on TV and played on Best's greed just to get him to hurt Devane the major out of pure meanness. Kind of like, look at the Cadillac and hero's welcome this guy is getting, I'm gonna eff him up.
shareUhh guys it's based in the early or mid 70's, that kind of money could have bought a nice house. It's also loooong before dna and whatever else, when especially in yeehaw Texas you could shoot someone and then drive away and nobody would have a clue.
share"Uhh guys it's based in the early or mid 70's, that kind of money could have bought a nice house."
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2555 silver dollars split 5 ways equals 511 silver dollars apiece. That would've bought a guy about two month's worth of whores in Mexico. The kind that blow smoke rings with their vagina.