MovieChat Forums > E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Discussion > Why do the kids keep pedaling when their...

Why do the kids keep pedaling when their bikes fly?

posted 9 years ago by NJtoTX
8 replies | jump to latest

Doesn't seem very useful and probably would feel weird with no friction.

Science doesn't care what you believe.

[–] Fluke_Skywalker 9 years ago

I'm guessing it was more of an artistic choice than a logical one. Spielberg likely just felt it looked more dynamic with the kids pedaling (especially in that silhouette against the setting sun shot near the end), and I'd agree.

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A journey into the realm of the obscure: http://saturdayshowcase.blogspot.com/

[–] DarthSil 9 years ago

A natural reflex perhaps. I'd still keep peddling too based on the fact that I might fall back to Earth. Not that this would have happened, but I don't have much experience flying on a bicycle.

"A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference." Eeyore

[–] guccipix 8 years ago

I came to post the same 2 reasons you did. It feels natural, and it looks cool.

http://letterboxd.com/guccipix/list/my-top-100-favorite-films/

[–] fiatlux-1 8 years ago

A natural reflex perhaps. I'd still keep peddling too based on the fact that I might fall back to Earth. Not that this would have happened, but I don't have much experience flying on a bicycle.

That's exactly what I thought too. That it was likely a reflex, that one would be afraid NOT to pedal....since none of us know the 'rules' about flying with an alien. 

I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

[–] mkohary 8 years ago

This. It seems like The Rule Of Cool has fallen out of favor these days, but when done well it's a perfectly great tool - the bike scene is a great example.

[–] SuperBobster 8 years ago

This question has made me think about the first time I rode a bike without stabiliser wheels: I was told to pedal forward and not think about falling, even though everything in my 4 year old brain told me that I would fall. My limited understand of physics and the stability of objects told me that there was no way this bike should stay upright without a third point of contact with the ground. I tried it and eventually my mind accepted that pedalling the bike forward somehow makes it stable, I didn't know exactly how but it seemed to work.

So I think of this scene as as kind of re-learning of how to ride a bike. When the bike takes off from the ground it is doing something you thought wasn't possible, and yet it works. So like when you are learning to ride in the first place, you are thinking: "I have to keep pedalling otherwise I'll fall". So maybe that's why they pedal in the flying scenes, purely psychological reasons!

[–] NJtoTX 8 years ago

Ok, but whenever I jumped on a bike, I'd have one pedal up and one down and balance on them without pedaling.

Couldn't not pedal on the old style bikes or it would lock the brake. The pedals would keep turning but slow down.

[–] coutterhill 8 years ago

WE are watching this with our kids who are seeing it for the first time. We said the same thing, they probably don't know what else to do with their feet!

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I just want to eat in a quiet corner away from these bozos.