MovieChat Forums > Rob Roy (1995) Discussion > Cunningham vs McDonald

Cunningham vs McDonald

posted 4 years ago by [deleted]
2 replies | jump to latest

Why was Alan McDonald so afraid of Cunningham when the latter was following him? After Alan’s gun misfires he doesn’t stand and fight Archibald...but makes a run for it with his horse; obviously he got ambushed with the rope later.

He had a sword, why didn’t he fight Archibald right there. It didn’t look like Archie had any back up. After getting knocked off his horse he probably had a collapsed lung and Cunningham had the upper hand. But had he fought when he wasn’t wounded he may have made it past Archibald.

[–] Bootselectric (165) 3 years ago

It’s easy to arrive at this conclusion watching the scene from the safety and comfort of your living room but put yourself in McDonald's boots, the man was carrying a small fortune in coin as well as the livelihood of his entire clan, while simultaneously being forced to navigate a legitimate fight or flight response. Point being, no one knows how they’ll react in a situation when their life is in imminent danger until they’re in it tits deep. You don’t have the luxury of armchair quarterbacking your way out of life and death situations when you’re experiencing them firsthand.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Perhaps. The clan should have sent him with some back up, but they were expecting a note, not coins.

My guess is McDonald knew of Cunningham’s skills and decided it was not worth the risk to stand and fight.