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How Stupid Julian Sand's (Dr. Atherton) character was in this movie

posted 17 years ago by iain-anglin
45 replies | jump to latest

The so-called spider expert pulls off the typical horror movie cliche when he enters the dark barn and jiggles the web sealing his impending doom. What an idiot, this guy is supposed to know everything about spiders, yet his actions make him come across as a complete buffoon. Maybe it's just me, but if I saw a dark bar with webbing inside, I'm getting the *beep* out of dodge, spider expert or not. Julian Sand's character should go down in horror movie history as being one of the many stupidest scientist ever to grace the screen. *beep* idiot!!!! Sheesh!!!!

[–] CaptainSparrow78 17 years ago

I would'nt go as far as stupid, the problem is he has no idea how big the general is and what the general is capable of, my tarantulas ofen spin a thin film of web along the side of a plant pot or the side of the tank, and I usually do give the webbing a little tingle. Theres no harm in doing it if you know what your doing, in the scientists case I would just put it down to bad luck rather than stupidity.

Black Label Society SDMF'ER!!

[–] uberzombie 17 years ago

Jiggling the web is like ringing the dinner bell. They think they got some food on the line. Sands character should have known that. Any web that big has got to be made by a hungry big fella or alot of little hungry ones.

[–] nvasapper 16 years ago

I have to respectfully disagree. Dr. Atherton, being a world renowned expert on the subject, had to have some idea of the General's size just by seeing how big the web was. A web that size would clearly provide an indication to any intelligent person that the spider responsible for spinning it would have to be a big mother- a really big mother. He knew this species was highly aggressive and deadly and the General would have to be the deadliest and most aggressive of all. Yet he walks right into danger with nary a thought of self-protection and strums the trap line of the biggest, baddest spider on the planet, which promptly launches itself at him and sinks its fangs into his neck. Way to go, Atherton.

[–] Robby_net 17 years ago

Exactly what I thought, almost word for word.

!No IMDB idiot may respond to this.!

[–] pjhnice-1 17 years ago

Also what I thought was stupid is when they are running up stairs near the end and Jeff Daniels who is scared of spiders just standing there watching the spiders like you said get of of dodge.

[–] resistance_8 17 years ago

Well damn, I'm sure he didn't expect the spider to do a banzai jump right into his neck. I didn't. =/

[–] CaptainSparrow78 17 years ago

"Well damn, I'm sure he didn't expect the spider to do a banzai jump right into his neck. I didn't. =/ "

Exactly!!

Brian:Excuse me.Are you the Judean Peoples Front?
*beep* off! We're the Peoples Front of Judea

[–] Rabbit_with_a_Gun12 16 years ago

I alwayes thought the same thing. That was very stupid of him to do that and he had no weapon on him.

[–] boondock_saint_la 16 years ago

I think atherton was more amazed than anything. I mean imagine being a snake expert and getting a chance to see the biggest most baddest snake ever. You would be in kinda a trance. Atherton was in a trance. He really wanted to see this spider and was anxious to get a look. He had a good idea of what he was getting into, but He wasn't expecting it to be what it was.

Work hard. Play Harder!

[–] Rabbit_with_a_Gun12 16 years ago

That's what got himself killed!

[–] ergomane 16 years ago

Atherton study the place carefully and the "ring the bell" to bring the spider out. I think he never thought that spider could JUMP on to him, thus killing him.

[–] stevenackerman69 16 years ago

I think he probably figured, since he was an expert in the field, he knew how to handle the spider. He wasn't a very nice guy in my opinion, and he got what he deserved.

[–] B2-Spirit 16 years ago

watching the film again it looks like Atherton throught that the spider would be lurking above a hole in the ceiling where the web thread leads (the camera pan's here initially), however the spider jumps from the side which is what he wasn't expecting. Although quite what he intended to do when the spider came to investigate the web tingling is beyond me, maybe he fancied a fist fight or thought he could talk it down!

[–] Ted_Baptiste 16 years ago

Definitely liking the 'talk it down' idea.

"Now come on, enough's enough. No I won't bugger off, this has to stop! You can't just take over a town no matter how many hands your legs span. Yes I know this town is inhibited by a community with the collective IQ of a teapot, but you can't just go around eating them. What do you mean 'why not'? Look I'm serious, time to go back to Venezuela. Excuse me? I can stick Venezuela up my WHAT? Right I've had just about enough of this. Put those fangs away this instant. No, get off my neck you little...oh for f..."

Yes but Rimmer Directive 271 states just as clearly "No chance you metal bastard".

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] harrison_tru_davies 13 years ago

Ted-Baptiste you are a legend :)

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 12 years ago

BEST POST EVER LOL! I imagined hearing that in Atherton's voice haha!

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

[–] herbstzeitlose 9 years ago



[–] MrZoolook 13 years ago

Getting into a fist fight with a spider is stupid... they have 8 fists to his 2, he's bound to lose.

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[–] zaraath 11 years ago

He probably planned to cut its legs off and keep it in a box!

[–] RipRip 10 years ago

Helena 2? Not a bad idea.

Sometimes evil is just applied stupidity-Ronar

[–] Isnam777 13 years ago

I'm curious as I really like Atherton, but your post isn't the first time I've seen him labeled "not a nice guy". Back when Dinner and a Movie was a regular fixture on the TBS tv schedule, the hosts went so far as to call him a bad guy/villain. I liked his character, he may have been a little insensitive and pompous to others, and had his priorities out of whack in the fact that he values his work over his own safety, but he's far from being a bad guy/villain. So what's your reason for not liking him?

Peace is not the absence of affliction, but the presence of God. ~Author Unknown

[–] stevenackerman69 13 years ago

He acts stuck up and thinks he knows all the answers. That's what is wrong with him.

[–] Isnam777 13 years ago

Yeah, but for that matter, most of the main characters in the movie acted like they were better than each other. Dr. Jennings acted superior to alot of the town's people, even the ones that liked him like Margaret. The sheriff, of course, acted better than Ross until his ego was cut down to size. Delbert acted like the coach was an idiot for thinking a spider might have killed his football player. Even Collins thought Ross had no idea what he was talking about, so why pick on Atherton? I guess I just like Julian Sands too much.

Peace is not the absence of affliction, but the presence of God. ~Author Unknown

[–] MrZoolook 13 years ago

Well, he did have a British accent... that's normally a good indicator of a bad guy *rolls eyes*

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[–] Wild_T 16 years ago

...You're a spider expert.

Te liberes ratione.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DemonDawn 14 years ago

I agree with you. As was shown earlier in the film when Atherton was called about the spiders, he was feeding one he had brought back from Venezuela, doing the exact same thing as in the barn. He knew how his spider reacted, not that this one would be so aggressive and go straight for his neck.

Knowing that he had studied the spider for a while, the fact that this one was in a different area tends to change things too. That could have made it more aggressive because it was in a place where it had to be in order to survive. That alone changed it from what he was used to.

[–] FT13TomDinardiJV 13 years ago

Technically, since the spider wasn't even on the web, the "dinner bell ringing" idea wouldn't apply. The spider was lurking and waiting to attack in the rafters of the barn, it wouldn't have felt any "pull" from Atherton touching the web if it was hanging out on the woodboards. So if anything, Atherton had the right idea but it was never going to work; the point was to show how the spiders evolved and were now out-smarting the humans. This point was driven home when the spiders swarmed the house in every unexpected way as well.

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 12 years ago

I don't think he expected it to leap on his face like that. But his idea was never gonna work either way. But in movies like this, you'll always have someone doing something stupid. Just recently in Ridley Scott's Prometheus, these two guys did something so stupid that it was laughable and of course they were killed right after it.

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

[–] DreTam2000 9 years ago

Technically, since the spider wasn't even on the web, the "dinner bell ringing" idea wouldn't apply. The spider was lurking and waiting to attack in the rafters of the barn, it wouldn't have felt any "pull" from Atherton touching the web if it was hanging out on the woodboards. So if anything, Atherton had the right idea but it was never going to work; the point was to show how the spiders evolved and were now out-smarting the humans. This point was driven home when the spiders swarmed the house in every unexpected way as well.

I think this post hits it on the head.

As I was reading this thread, the thought was in my head that the spider in the film had assumed a human level of intelligence. That was the point of the scene in the barn. The spider did something unpredictable and out of character for a spider, because it was smarter than the average arachnid.

The above-post states that the spiders swarming the house also drives home the point. However, I think it was indefinitely confirmed in the climactic scene when the general itself was taunting the protagonist and taking the matter personal with him in the cellar, almost as if it took the moment as sort of an official standoff between itself and human. It was specifically coming for him, on more than one occasion. This spider definitely was smarter than the average; really fascinating and well done. Spiders have a sort of swagger that makes one wonder if such a level of intelligence is possible.

I'm not a control freak, I just like things my way