THE REVENANT... I'm really looking forward to this one!

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally Posted by Eric 951

Wasn't this already made sometime in the 70s with Richard Harris in the Leo part? There was a captain in a beaver top hat and they were towing a large boat overland to get to some lake/river. I know I saw this--he eats a crayfish raw and steals fresh buffalo meat from some wolves.

Yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Wilderness

I too have never seen DiCaprio in a movie. Hell, I've even managed to avoid seeing Titanic--though I have twice (by dumb luck) walked in while the nude Kate Winslet scene was on the TV.

[MBAtarga]

I've read during early screenings many walked out. Film has some very bloody/gross scenes, not for those with a weak stomach.

[sc_rufctr]

Just out of curiosity... Does anyone know what gun Hugh Glass would have carried at the time?

I do love these old Flintlock guns. (Assuming they have no rifling in the barrel)

[Jeff Higgins]

The Saga of Hugh Glass by John Meyers Meyers (that's not a typo) is a fantastic historical account of this man's life. Required reading for those of us into the old fur trade era and life in the Rocky Mountains from around 1800-1840 or so. Very well researched, with an extensive bibliography, Mr. Glass's is a very real story. How closely the movie follows it may very well be another matter. It usually is...

Jim Bridger himself was along on that fateful trip whereupon Glass was left for dead. Bridger recounts the details in his own biography. Osborn Russell's A Journal of a Trapper provides a firsthand account as well. Russell's work is particularly fascinating, as it is left written in his semi-literate hand, warts and all.

We hear much about the "Wild West". Cowboys and Indians, cattle drives, gunslingers with their Colts and Winchesters... pffft... the really wild times were long over before the first travelers plied Oregon trail. "Winchester, the gun that won the West" and all of that, right? Sorry, but the Hawken brothers and many other St. Louis rifle makers "made the West safe for Winchester"...

[sc_rufctr]

Thanks Jeff, I was hoping you would chime in.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Just out of curiosity... Does anyone know what gun Hugh Glass would have carried at the time?

I do love these old Flintlock guns. (Assuming they have no rifling in the barrel)

He would most likely have been carrying some form of half stocked, rifled, .50-.54 caliber muzzle loader firing a patched round ball. Sam and Jake Hawken made the ubiquitous "Plains Rifle" as the style was known. They averaged around .52 caliber. Up until the 1830's, most were flintlocks, but the percussion rifles made it out west for the end of the show.

The other ubiquitous gun of the time and place was the old "Indian Trade Gun", a short smoothbore flintlock of about .69 caliber. These were made by just about everyone who was making guns. Cheap, effective, versatile (doubled as a shotgun for small game foraging), many clung to these long after "better" firearms emerged. This is the gun shown in the picture. They usually were all "gussied up", most with the serpent on the left side (you can kinda make it out in the picture).

Glass could have had either. He was a "company" trapper, being employed by either the Rocky Mountain Fur Company or one of their competitors. As such, he was likely given the "company issue" firearm, which was most often the trade gun.

The most glorious position in the mountains was known as the "free trapper". Beholden to no company, he traded his pelts at Rendezvous with the highest bidder. Most of these guys went "full native", taking Indian wives and shunning "civilization" once and for all. "Company" men, like Glass, would typically spend a winter or two in the mountains, return home, and head out again - or not.

After his mauling and subsequent thirst for revenge, Glass pretty much went "full native" too, as I recall. I could be wrong - it's been decades since I read his story. Or maybe he turned Army scout, or Oregon Trail guide (Bridger did both). Can't remember for sure...

[cashflyer]

This article implies that it is a Kentucky Flintlock:
On Michael Punke’s “The Revenant” | litbeetle

Here are a couple other articles:
Hugh Glass: Legendary Trapper in America’s Western Frontier | History Net: Where History Comes Alive – World & US History Online | From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher
Montana's Mountain Men: Hugh Glass - Big Sky Words

[sc_rufctr]

Thanks Gents.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

This article implies that it is a Kentucky Flintlock:
On Michael Punke’s “The Revenant” | litbeetle

Punke mixes his rifle types. The German made rifles of the day were the precursors to the uniquely American "plains rifle" - they were of large caliber, short, half stocked, and silver or brass trimmed. They were a huge influence on the beautiful "Pennsylvania Long Rifle", but the two grew quickly apart.

The Pennsylvania (and for that matter, "Kentucky", the far less ornate "frontier" version) rifles grew into long, slender, small caliber rifles, running from around .36 to .45 caliber. Powder and lead were tough to come by, and Eastern woods game did not require a great deal of power, just good accuracy.

The German "Jaeger" (literally "hunter") rifles remained stout and powerful, and did not really display their merit again until the Rocky Mountain fur trade took off. Here we needed some serious punch - critters were bigger and ranges were longer. Not many true German made Jaegers made it out west, though, with American (St. Louis) made, far less ornate copies filling that niche. It would have been very, very unlikely for a guy like Glass to have one - they were kind of for the well-to-do.

Originally Posted by cashflyer

Here are a couple other articles:
Hugh Glass: Legendary Trapper in America’s Western Frontier | History Net: Where History Comes Alive – World & US History Online | From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher
Montana's Mountain Men: Hugh Glass - Big Sky Words

That's some great stuff...

[Jeff Higgins]

Here are a couple of modern renditions of two distinctly different rifle types.

First, the Kentucky "Poor Boy". Flint ignition, 43" barrel in .50 caliber, which is big for the type. All iron "furniture", no frills. The Pennsylvania Rifle was simply a far more ornate version of this:





Here is a Thompson/Center "Hawken" as they call it, although it is far closer to the German Jaeger than the later Hawken. 28" barrel in .54 caliber, percussion ignition:

[speeder]

My good childhood friend's daughter plays his wife in the film, huge break for her. Grace Dove Syme.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by speeder

My good childhood friend's daughter plays his wife in the film, huge break for her. Grace Dove Syme.

Very cool, Denis. Good for her.

So, again (without looking it up), I can't remember if Glass was married before or after the bear mauling (or both?). I think he spent some time at sea prior to his mountain man days, but I don't remember if he was married then. Would she be playing a wife from those days, or after the mauling? Is Ms. Syme Native American?

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Just WOW... And apparently no CGI in the making of this movie. Old school stunts only.

Bull crap. Lots of CGI. and he also said he used only natural lighting as well, or some such Hollywood spin. I've worked on many movies and the Director always spins and stretches his yarn.

Check out the CGI, stunts and lighting crew here. BTW, about 100 people named in Visual Effects=CGI. Another 25 in SPFX, and another 50 or so in Camera and Electrical (lighting).

The Revenant (2015) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by berettafan

flip you're missing out!

gangs of new York is epic.

the departed is absolutely fantastic.

Even What's Eating Gilbert Grape is superb.

"I can go at any time"

Upstaged Johnny Depp.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Bull crap. Lots of CGI. and he also said he used only natural lighting as well, or some such Hollywood spin. I've worked on many movies and the Director always spins and stretches his yarn.

Check out the CGI, stunts and lighting crew here. BTW, about 100 people named in Visual Effects=CGI. Another 25 in SPFX, and another 50 or so in Camera and Electrical (lighting).

The Revenant (2015) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb

Thanks for clearing that up Hugh but they have also claimed that it was shot on location with no use of green screens etc.
Apparently they had to move the entire production team to Argentina because of lack of snow. It certainly looks brilliant in the trailer.

Do you know if it was shot on film or digital?

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Punke mixes his rifle types. The German made rifles of the day were the precursors to the uniquely American "plains rifle" - they were of large caliber, short, half stocked, and silver or brass trimmed. They were a huge influence on the beautiful "Pennsylvania Long Rifle", but the two grew quickly apart.

The Pennsylvania (and for that matter, "Kentucky", the far less ornate "frontier" version) rifles grew into long, slender, small caliber rifles, running from around .36 to .45 caliber. Powder and lead were tough to come by, and Eastern woods game did not require a great deal of power, just good accuracy.

The German "Jaeger" (literally "hunter") rifles remained stout and powerful, and did not really display their merit again until the Rocky Mountain fur trade took off. Here we needed some serious punch - critters were bigger and ranges were longer. Not many true German made Jaegers made it out west, though, with American (St. Louis) made, far less ornate copies filling that niche. It would have been very, very unlikely for a guy like Glass to have one - they were kind of for the well-to-do.

Thanks Jeff!

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Even What's Eating Gilbert Grape is superb.

"I can go at any time"

Upstaged Johnny Depp.

I haven't seen any Johnny Depp movies either. I could sit through one of his I think but not one with Leo in it.

[berettafan]

depp couldn't carry dicaprios water.


for reference i'm a certified Disney junky, Pirates is my all time favorite ride at the park (and i'll be on it in just over a week!) and I think Depp is very entertaining.

but dicaprio is just that good. could, I suppose, be related to the parts he gets but he's great.

[Hugh R]

Film is pretty rare to use these days. You can do so much more with digital.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by berettafan

depp couldn't carry dicaprios water.


for reference i'm a certified Disney junky, Pirates is my all time favorite ride at the park (and i'll be on it in just over a week!) and I think Depp is very entertaining.

but dicaprio is just that good. could, I suppose, be related to the parts he gets but he's great.

I agree, Leo is one of the best actors out there. I just looked at IMDb and some of his quotes on his life are very interesting...I have a lot of respect for him.