No Country For Old Men

August 26, 2007 2:37 PM

In this new red band trailer for No Country For Old Men, what is Javier Bardem using to kill people?
posted by andywolf to Media & Arts (22 answers total)

cattle gun attached to an air tank.
posted by brain cloud at 2:41 PM on August 26, 2007

A a pneumatic, sawn-off cattle prod.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:43 PM on August 26, 2007

Response by poster: is that what's used to stun the cattle before being slaughtered?
posted by andywolf at 2:44 PM on August 26, 2007

No, not for stunning - for killing. Compressed air shoots a bolt out about six inches directly into the brain, and then it retracts back into the gun.
posted by iconomy at 2:48 PM on August 26, 2007

yup.
posted by brain cloud at 2:48 PM on August 26, 2007

Response by poster: oh, thanks. when i read about cattle slaughterhouses awhile back they mentioned a stunbolt gun, then the cows being slaughtered by slitting the throat.
posted by andywolf at 2:55 PM on August 26, 2007

That seems like an awfully inefficient way to kill someone.
posted by bshort at 3:46 PM on August 26, 2007

bshort: I dunno how true it is, but in the book, his victims die after being hit with the bolt; no throat-slitting required.
posted by heeeraldo at 3:58 PM on August 26, 2007

No, I'm saying even just killing with the bolt is inefficient. He has to cart around the tank, and as long as you stay the length of his arm reach plus the length of the handle plus the 6 inch length of the bolt away from him, you're fine.

Also, in at least one of the shots the killer looks like he has a limp.
posted by bshort at 4:08 PM on August 26, 2007

bshort: based on reading the book, the character does spend part of the film injured, thus the limp.

I think the bolt-killer has an element of surprise, that you can see in the trailer -- no one knows what the bloody thing is, so they don't get away.

(Also, later in the story, he obtains a gun.)

Bardem's character is, um, not your usual serial killer, by the way. (I don't mean he's secretly a vampire or anything just...there's something not very human about him. It's hard to explain.)
posted by kalimac at 4:18 PM on August 26, 2007

Response by poster: i was thinking it was pretty silly at first too, but agree with the element of surprise. maybe that awful haircut is part of the surprise also. pretty versatile too, for breaking locks, etc. thing i don't get is if the bolt is only about six inches, why does he have a mist of blood out the back of his head? also, near the end is that just a rifle with a silencer, when he breaks into that room? my monitor sucks and is a little dark.
posted by andywolf at 4:44 PM on August 26, 2007

Not just the element of surprise - there are no bullets, so therefore no forensic evidence left behind (behind the wound, of course). Just a dead body lying on the ground with a hole in its head.

Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty creepy (as Larry David might say).
posted by billysumday at 5:10 PM on August 26, 2007

no forensic evidence left behind (behind the wound, of course)

meant to say "besides the wound, of course"
posted by billysumday at 5:12 PM on August 26, 2007

it looks like they are following the book pretty well. i wonder if they will keep with it all the way to the end.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:38 PM on August 26, 2007

I'm psyched to see the movie, but the red band trailer gives too much away. I like how the scene with the guy at the counter is like a similar scene in Raising Arizona, and the fight in the office reminds me of Blood Simple.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:40 PM on August 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

it looks like they are following the book pretty well. i wonder if they will keep with it all the way to the end.

Looks good based on the trailer. Every scene in it is straight from the book, AFAICT. I wonder if the ending will have the same twist/surprise/sudden character shift that the book has. That was the creepiest part of the book, really. And I can't say more without spoiling things, so...
posted by zardoz at 6:19 PM on August 26, 2007

thing i don't get is if the bolt is only about six inches, why does he have a mist of blood out the back of his head?

The bolt's longer than six inches then. They come in different sizes for different size heads. I guess it's just long enough to shatter the back of the head.
posted by iconomy at 6:26 PM on August 26, 2007

Thanks for the link, I did not know this was coming out. It is a ferocious book.
posted by LarryC at 8:06 PM on August 26, 2007

Response by poster: larryc, the movie is getting extremely good reviews, everywhere it's mentioned it's followed by the statement that it's probably the coen brothers best. every mention of cannes pointed out how amazing the movie is.
posted by andywolf at 9:50 PM on August 26, 2007

(Also, later in the story, he obtains a gun.)

Dude, spoilers.
posted by dhammond at 9:40 PM on August 28, 2007

is that just a rifle with a silencer

Shotgun.
posted by sparkletone at 9:44 AM on February 5, 2008

He has to cart around the tank, and as long as you stay the length of his arm reach plus the length of the handle plus the 6 inch length of the bolt away from him, you're fine.

Remember, it's a different time, early '70s and the internet and people were more isolated, so he was able to get pretty close to people, 'cause no one could fathom what the hell he was or what he would do. If he had a gun, people would have instantly been wary.

And actually, as seen in the movie he was able to use it to go beyond his reach.



Spoilers:

At one point, he uses the compressed air to shoot the lock or doorknob off the door, causing it to strike another person, causing substantial injury.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:49 AM on August 14, 2008