Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist

Posted by: Anonymous

Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 11:03 AM

Burt Gummer <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.
Though he's a little paranoid and militaristic (overkill) thats what makes him so endearing to all his fans. Also, when he is unprepared for some situation (usually over prepared for one but not for others) he has the resourcefulness to pull anything off. [color:"red"] Burt Gummer, The epitome of the survivalist [/color] . <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Polak187

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 12:21 PM

WEAK! WEAK! WEAK!

We all know no doubt that McGuyver is the man! Who else can stop a nuclear leak with duct tape, SAK and snickers candy bar? That's right... NOBODY!

Matt
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 01:31 PM

I seconf that. I'm surprized that they never made a McGuyver model SAK!

Chris
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 02:05 PM

I missed Macgyver when it was first on but I have caught several episodes on TVLand. That channel is home to almost all the great survivalists. In no particular order you have:

Macgyver - the guy's obviously a genius but his politics seem pretty liberal, esp. concerning guns & the environment

The Professor (Gilligan's Island) - another genius, could build anything out of bamboo except a raft to get off the island.

B A Baraccus (A Team) - given 20 minutes notice and a torch he can convert any vehicle into an armored monster that can repel an invading horde

Gomer Pyle - when he went on a survival test with Sgt Carter he demonstrated the difference between experience and book smarts

Personally I'm a Burt Gummer fan. He drives a cool rig, he knows his stuff in the bush, he's not politically correct and genuinely cares about those around him.

Ed

P.S. - No I don't really watch that much TV. I just have gift for trivia

Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 02:25 PM

Another vote for Burt.

Sorry to say, I've caught parts of the SciFi Channel series twice, and it sort of looks like they've lost the sense of humor that made the movies. There's no way to take this stuff very seriously, folks- that's what made it fun, that they realized (and showed that they realized) that it was an inherently absurd situation.

On a broader issue, note that there just aren't that many candidates to choose from. Rambo went to absurdity without a sense of humor, proving (yet again) that that doesn't work, and Tom Hanks in "Cast Away" spent 4 years on an island apparently accomplishing nothing much (after the first week or so) beyond pining for Helen Hunt (fruitlessly, as it turns out) and attempting suicide... didn't even bother to improve his digs in a wet cave in all that time. Not exactly a heroic model.

You really have to dig for examples of resourceful protagonists in TV and the movies. Most plots are stupidity-driven, and most intelligent characters are villains- or at least "mad" scientists. That's so much the case that when someone intelligent does show up on screen that's not the villain, they almost always turn out to be evil in the end, and are invariably defeated by the dumbed-down hero (they may SAY the protagonist is intelligent, but they invariably behave stupidly). What does that say about our culture?
Posted by: frenchy

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 03:32 PM

Last week, I saw that Australian movie : "Rabbit-proof fence".
Without any PSK (except a matches box), those abo. kids walked over 1900km ...

That's a quite a big stroll, isn't it ??


Alain
Posted by: dBu24

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 04:37 PM

Hmmm.. hey, and what about Indiana Jones??!!! Saw all three on a row last week: the fellow is a master survivalist and a genius with the whip and revolver, but NO KNIFE IN HIS BELT!!
Go believe!
Posted by: Polak187

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 05:21 PM

Yes he is good <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm still trying to figure out how he survived the submarine ride in "Raiders of the Ark".

Matt
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 05:47 PM

My favorites would be:

Burt Gummer
Indiana Jones
BA Barracus

McGuyver does not make my list. He was anti-gun. (Please, no flames.)

Posted by: Tjin

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 06:02 PM

well mine favorite is proberbly McGuyver, the fact that he does not have guns, doesnt borther me, i don't have one either ! But i wouldn't mind having one, though.....
Posted by: gear_freak

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 08:17 PM

How about Scwartzenegger's character in Predator? Remember the improvised woodland weaponry? The infrared-defeating mud paint? That flick rocked.
Posted by: YBZ

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/28/03 11:46 PM

McGyver - The Movie. It's coming!
Posted by: johnbaker

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 12:55 AM

Burt Gummer rules! He has it all: gear, savvy, aplomb in handling any monster, PI attitude, humor. Even had a well-appointed bunker. Who'd have ever thought the worms would dare to come onto his turf. Fortunately mankind is still safe as long as we have people like Burt.

MacGyver was great to start. Then came his politics, especially re guns. He destroyed his own appeal.

John
Posted by: Chris Kavanaugh

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 01:08 AM

Death Hunt starring Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin. Loosely based on the true episode of The Mad Trapper of Rat River. Albert Johnson was accused of tampering with traplines and killed a Mountie and gravely injured another in a shootout. He then took flight in one of the first manhunts to be covered by radio and the use of an aircraft. Johnson evaded a small army of pursuers, even scaling a sheer cliff in the dead of night. After an additional gunbattle in which he shot yet another trooper, Johnson was killed. He is buried in Yellowknife, still a man of unknown origin or intent. The movie is a wealth of real northern forest skills mixed in between the usual Hollywood bodycount and Angie Dickenson. You will also briefly see a modern highway with cars in one scene's background. Good practice for field observation skills <img src="images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: johnbaker

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 04:04 AM

As I think about it, one of my favorite survival movies is the old 1960ish cold-war, post-nuke, survival thriller: Panic In The Year Zero. As Ray Milland drove his vacationing family homeward towards Los Angeles, they saw the telltale mushroom cloud overhanging what used to be LA. The movie explored the classic themes of evacuation (with a camping trailer in tow behind the family sedan), emergency acquisition of tools & supplies, relocating in the boondocks, dealing with various hostiles and neo-savages, survival medicine, and surviving in TEOTWAWKI.

An Honorable Mention also goes to the newly educated character played by Linda Hamilton at the end of The Terminator as she gassed up her Jeep fleeing into Mexico. Her newly acquired Ruger Security Six nestled in her console. The former nightclub waitress was on the road to save mankind from the future war of annihilation by the cyborgs.

John
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 04:28 AM

I'm kicking myself for not thinking of Panic In Year Zero. I recorded it off Cinemax a year or so back. You're right, it covers a bunch of survival relevant topics. All you need to do is replace the somewhat dated premise (Soviet attack) with something a bit more contemporary and you'd still have a topical movie.

I also liked William Holden in The Earthling. Ricky Shroeder's parents get killed when their camper goes off a cliff in the Australian rain forest. Holden's character, on his way to die alone in the forest, finds the boy and teaches him how to survive the wilderness.

Ed
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 10:41 AM

Hay hay, ever hear of Red Green, king of duct tape?
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 10:50 AM

Well, yes all those guys can survive. But, I ask you, can they thrive, and always sum up the feeling of the the moment in the always humorous way Burt does? Do they go about their daily survival lives with such style, and over the top antics? <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> BURT GUMMER FOR PRESIDENT! (Disregard paranoia for government) Ted Nugent for Vice President! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 03:04 PM

>An Honorable Mention also goes to the newly educated character played by Linda Hamilton at the end of The Terminator as she gassed up her Jeep fleeing into Mexico. Her newly acquired Ruger Security Six nestled in her console. The former nightclub waitress was on the road to save mankind from the future war of annihilation by the cyborgs.<

Newly educated, and pregnant.

Interesting thought... but her determination in that scene became something a little scary in the next movie... and it wasn't a night club, just a thinly disguised Bob's Big Boy, typical fast-food burger joint. If it had been a night club, her uniform might have been... more interesting.
Posted by: WOFT

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/29/03 08:23 PM

Well, I only know of McGuyver and Indiana Jones, and McGyver takes the cake!
Posted by: Anonymous

Burt Rules - The Ballad of Burt Gumnmer - 04/29/03 09:50 PM

Burt Gummer is THE survival man.
Okay, maybe I'm crazy after all. Wrote this in response to all the hoopla in Los Angeles over their attempts to outlaw the 50 caliber BMG rifle, bullets, and such:

The Ballad of Burt Gummer (Tremors) Sung to Kodachrome

When I think back on all the rounds I've fired since high school
It's a wonder I can hear at all
And if you think there's such a thing as too much firepower
You should see the Graboid on my wall

BMG it shoots those big brass bullets
I use it for concealed carry
It makes me feel safe when driving through L.A. (oh yeah)
I've got a Grizzley Big Bore
It weighs about thirty pounds
Oh L.A. don't take my BMG away

If you took all the girls who've been through weapons training
And brought them to my camp for just one night
You know they'd never match my sweet lil Heather Gummer
Cause she's the best girl in a firefight

BMG it shoots those big brass bullets
I use it for concealed carry
It makes me feel safe when driving through L.A. (oh yeah)
I've got a Grizzley Big Bore
I love to take it everywhere
Oh L.A. don't take my BMG away

L.A. don't take my BMG
I hear those Shriekers after me
L.A. don't take my BMG away
L.A. don't take my BMG, oh, no
L.A. don't take my BMG away

Regards, Keys
P.S. Does outer space survival count? Ripley is way cool in the Alien movies, though it's hardly wilderness stuff.

Posted by: aardwolfe

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 04/29/03 11:52 PM

An interesting historical footnote to the hunt for Albert Johnson - one of the bush pilots involved in the hunt was a guy called Wilfred May. May's other claim to fame was that he came within a hair's breadth of becoming the 81st victim of The Red Baron, Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen. On his first combat patrol, Lt. May had the misfortune to find the deadliest fighter pilot of the war on his tail. As he flew close to the ground in a desperate attempt to escape, Australian gunners on the ground, including Gunner Robert Buie and Gunner Sgt Cedric Popkin, opened fire on the red triplane, and May's Commanding Officer, Capt. A. Roy Brown, gave chase. One of them struck the Red Baron, killing him.
After the war, “Wop” May (there was no “Political Correctness” in those days) became one of Canada’s pioneer bush pilots.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/30/03 02:35 AM

All SAK's are McGuyver models...
Try watching 'Hell in the Pacific" starring Lee Marvin. That's survival...
Posted by: Chris Kavanaugh

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 04/30/03 02:41 AM

Oh Wow! I never made the connection between the "two" pilots. A recent DISCOVERY program featured research conducted at the site of the dogfight.The conclusion was a very lucky single .303 round from the Aussie machinegunner downed the baron. Captain Barker was my favourite. Anybody who would pick a fight with 60 odd fokker D V11s, shoot down 4 and send 3 home heavily shot up,crash and survive in front of several hundred cheering tommies is definitely "Equipped to Survive", or nuts! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Chris Kavanaugh

Re: Burt Rules - The Ballad of Burt Gumnmer - 04/30/03 02:50 AM

The irony of the .50 frenzy is our own snipers have benefited directly from matchloading research conducted by the civilian shooters of the round. Accuracy never before dreamed of enabled two Canadian marksmen to shoot two opponents at record distances in Afghanistan. The only recorded use of a .50 in a crime was by a Makah whaler shooting a grey whale under 'traditional' hunt treaty rights promulgated by Japanese whaling interests under the protective eyes of my old service <img src="images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> Said act later ruled to be in violation of several federal laws that took precedence.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Tremors TV series smelled big time - 04/30/03 03:41 AM

The whole endangered species thing ruined the Tremors concept. I watched the first two shows and they were so bad they made The Dukes of Hazzard look like Masterpiece Theatre in comparison. What a waste of Christopher Lloyd. Regards, Keys
Posted by: aardwolfe

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 04/30/03 06:16 AM

"...definitely "Equipped to Survive", or nuts!"

Are they mutually exclusive? <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Most of those WWI fighter pilots were crazy. They had to be. I believe that Barker was actually supposed to be returning home and his aircraft had been stripped of most of its armament; he convinced them to let him keep one machine-gun for self-defense, then decided to "detour" over enemy territory - for old times sake, presumably - when he stumbled into a German squadron on that flight.

And Frank Luke, "the Balloon Buster of Arizona", was reputedly the only man ever to win the Medal of Honor while he was under arrest. Don't know if that's true, but it wouldn't surprise me.

"I couldn't believe I was considering doing this single-handed. I mean, Ball said you needed two people. And Ball was a lunatic!" (John Gray, "Billy Bishop Goes To War")
Posted by: Saunterer

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 04/30/03 12:30 PM

Dang it. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I was going to post Hell in the Pacific. Thought about it last night. Ya beat me to it.

Posted by: Zip06

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 04/30/03 05:14 PM

How about Jeremiah Johnson?
Posted by: Chris Kavanaugh

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 05/01/03 01:51 AM

A french pilot was frustrated over the laxative effect of CASTROL Oil fumes used as his rotary engine lubricant. A custom trapdoor was sewn into his jumpsuit and a matching hole in the wicker seat and doped fabric of the Nieuport 17. When he felt the fumes overpowering a quick dive on german trenches followed. He was awarded a medal for this initiative <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> A british pilot jumped a zeppelin over London, only to have his gun jam. He hammered repeatedly on the receiver with the provided hammer for such malfunctions. When that failed he angrily threw the hammer at the zeppelin . Seconds ( and a few thousand feet higher) later he regained control of his camel pup and observed a massive fireball where the zeppelin had been. My vote goes to the russian pilot who towed a small SEA ANCHOR behind his Moraine Saunier monoplane and snagged the wing of an Aviatik. it worked- both crashed <img src="images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Chris Kavanaugh

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 05/02/03 01:01 AM

Jeremiah ' liver eating ' Johnson is actually buried right here in the L.A. Veteran's cemetary <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> I read everything I could about the man,inspired by the cult movie of my generation. I lost all interest reading a two volume set about Hawken rifles. It seems an early conversion was the Spenser rifle with a Hawken octagonal barrel. A young indian boy killed a man trying to rape his sister. He was rewarded with the man's rifle ( this conversion) for his bravery. Johnson saw the rifle and murdered the boy for possession. When he realized it did not have the repeating ability of the Spensor AND the Hawken's power it was discarded <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />. A true story of mountainman survival is "The Ordeal of Hugh Glass."
Posted by: aardwolfe

Re: The Mad Trapper of Rat River - 05/02/03 06:43 PM

You reminded me of another story of an early RFC pilot. Before Anton Fokker developed the interrupter gear, pilots couldn't fire through the propellor so machine guns were mounted on top of the upper wing. When the ammunition drum was empty, the pilot had to reach up, remove it, and replace it with a spare drum. This pilot, having expended all his ammunition, reached up to remove the empty drum only to find that it was jammed. In order to remove it, he had to stand up, holding the stick between his knees and grab the drum with both hands. The stick slipped out from between his knees, the airplane went inverted, and the pilot was thrown clear - now holding on desperately to the still-jammed ammunition drum! Of course, there were no parachutes in those days (at least, not for fighter pilots) - you either rode the plane down or you jumped to your death.

Somehow, he managed to swing his legs back up into the cockpit and kick the stick to bring the airplane back rightside up. Clambering back into the cockpit, he sat down on the metal seat (having lost his cushion, and anything else that wasn't bolted in) and flew back to base with his empty magazine still jammed firmly in the machine gun above his head. <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Those were desperate times. <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Tremors TV series smelled big time - 05/02/03 08:12 PM

Are you kidding! <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Tremors the greatest cult classic of all time! Whats not to like, it's original, witty, and theres a few good survival ideas to be picked up, and it explores survialism's biggest question, preparation or resourcefulness. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I think the endangered species act is a good, if bulky, idea. It adds irony, the individual or the whole question, and dozens of other literary elements. (Darn high scholl for instilling such insights into me). Plus the creators and actors keep it real, you dont see t-shirts, posters, coffea mugs and other knick knacks with the tremors stuff all over. The advantage to that is, when you and your friend are talking about it somewhere, you dont get some 'expert' barging in. Burt Gummer rules (the desert, I rule the north east!) <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Plus the dukes of hazard wernt that bad.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Tremors TV series smelled big time - 05/02/03 08:48 PM

**Plus the dukes of hazard wernt that bad.**

If Burt starts taping dynamite to arrows when he goes Graboid hunting I may be forced to convert to Keys' point of view <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Plus Gladise Jimenez beats the daisy dukes off of Catherine Bach in the looks dept <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Ed
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 05/03/03 02:23 PM

John Mills in "Swiss Family Robinson" has to be the best. I loved that tree house and tried (unsuccessfully) to duplicate it when I was a kid. Burt is pretty cool but didn't have the creativity of Mills or even McGuyver. <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: Craig

Re: Burt Rules - The Ballad of Burt Gumnmer - 05/03/03 03:43 PM

Even my wife likes Burt Gummer. He's the main reason we watch "Tremors: The Series." He's a friendly survivalist, albeit a somewhat grumpy one. And hilariously so.

He's knows what he's doing and shares what he knows willingly, to the rather comical point of "dumbing down" what he says so the others understand him.

He might say "flexible heat shield," but when Rosalita (another great reason to watch the show) doesn't understand, he then pauses and says something like, "the big silvery thing that looks like a blanket."

Burt Gummer is definitely The Man.
Posted by: Anonymous

Ash from Army of Darkness - 05/12/03 02:10 AM

I just saw Army of Darkness for the fourth or fifth time and I've got to put in a plug for Ash. He's an embicile, but a clever one. Thumbs up.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Burt Rules - The Ballad of Burt Gumnmer - 05/14/03 10:59 AM

Here here! I second that. And yes (cat whistle) Rosilita is a great reason to wqatch the show. So far my favorite line is in the second one when he says something to the extent 'were dealing with a large governmental conspiracy spawning a water sucking bacterial menace, let's be reasonable here.'. Cant waight till it starts back up again June 20.

I did a english report on Tremors and got an 92 on it.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: Favorite Tv / Movie Survivalist - 08/17/03 07:26 AM

RED DAWN w/ Patrick Swayze
Robinson Crusoe on Mars w/ Adam west
Damnation Alley w/ George Peppard
The Naked Prey w/ Cornel Wilde