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The Skydivers

 The Skydivers
type
TVTItem
 The Skydivers
label
The Skydivers
 The Skydivers
page
TheSkydivers
 The Skydivers
comment
Described by Mystery Science Theater 3000 as "like Manos without the lucid plot," The Skydivers (1963) is less a horror or thriller movie and more a very dull soap opera about the employees of a small parachuting club.The "plot" involves the eponymous skydivers getting away from their bland, loveless marriages with bland, loveless affairs, watching Coleman Francis's extended family go-go dancing, and either killing, dying, or suffering total mental breakdown as a result of all the deaths. They even skydive, occasionally.Apparently to make up for the almost dialogue-free The Beast of Yucca Flats, the film consists almost entirely of stilted dialogue punctuated by midair footage of parachutists. That would be fine, if the dialogue wasn't all like this:Still, Skydivers is merely "poor" by comparison with the final film in Coleman Francis' trilogy... Red Zone Cuba.For tropes and specifics relating to the MST3K version, please see the episode recap.
 The Skydivers
fetched
2023-03-25T06:58:05Z
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2023-03-25T06:58:05Z
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DBTropes
 The Skydivers / int_1c398324
type
Death from Above
 The Skydivers / int_1c398324
comment
Death from Above: Suzy and Frank are shot at from the air.
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The Skydivers / int_1c398324
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type
Statuesque Stunner
 The Skydivers / int_2fb61faa
comment
Statuesque Stunner: The large blonde woman at the night party; she's easily twice the size of the man she's dancing with and throws him around like a Raggedy Andy doll.
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The Skydivers / int_2fb61faa
 The Skydivers / int_4523420b
type
Love Dodecahedron
 The Skydivers / int_4523420b
comment
Love Dodecahedron: Harry is married to Beth but having an affair with Suzy, whom Frankie is in love with; meanwhile Beth flirts with Harry's war buddy Joe but remains loyal to Harry.
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The Skydivers / int_4523420b
 The Skydivers / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 The Skydivers / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Harry is killed, leaving Beth alone and jobless as their parachuting business goes under.
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The Skydivers / int_4e3d253b
 The Skydivers / int_50b9b3d0
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Crazy Jealous Guy
 The Skydivers / int_50b9b3d0
comment
Crazy Jealous Guy: When Harry sees how "close" Joe and Beth have been getting lately, he gets mighty jealous, convincing Beth that he does still love her. Their relationship actually improves from that point forward... until Harry gets killed.
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The Skydivers / int_50b9b3d0
 The Skydivers / int_55ad6787
type
Extreme Sports Plot
 The Skydivers / int_55ad6787
comment
Extreme Sports Plot: The skydiving sequences are the high point of a plot that is otherwise random and dull.
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The Skydivers / int_55ad6787
 The Skydivers / int_59938d30
type
Better than Sex
 The Skydivers / int_59938d30
comment
Better than Sex: Pete describes skydiving that way. Many skydivers in Real Life actually do think the same.
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The Skydivers / int_59938d30
 The Skydivers / int_606244c2
type
Parental Incest
 The Skydivers / int_606244c2
comment
Some of her wording ("He gave me too much. [....] We were always alone together...") implies that her father did something awful to her, but given that this is a Coleman Francis movie, there's really no way to be sure if that implication was intentional.
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Chute Sabotage
 The Skydivers / int_607ee22
comment
Chute Sabotage: Suzy's plan to kill Harry: damaging his chute with acid just before a drop.
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The Skydivers / int_607ee22
 The Skydivers / int_6366f900
type
Old Soldier
 The Skydivers / int_6366f900
comment
Old Soldier: Both Harry and Joe have served in the 11th Airborne Division in Korean War. The 11th Airborne was important in determining the viability of large-scale air formations during the Knollwood Maneuver.
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The Skydivers / int_6366f900
 The Skydivers / int_644eca71
type
Rich Bitch
 The Skydivers / int_644eca71
comment
Rich Bitch: Downplayed with Suzy. In her own words, she's "so mean" because her "paw gave [her] everything." Her money isn't really an important plot element, though. If not for that one scene we'd never even know she's rich. Some of her wording ("He gave me too much. [....] We were always alone together...") implies that her father did something awful to her, but given that this is a Coleman Francis movie, there's really no way to be sure if that implication was intentional.
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The Skydivers / int_644eca71
 The Skydivers / int_77552932
type
Character Shilling
 The Skydivers / int_77552932
comment
Character Shilling: All of the men think Beth is hot, and Suzy is jealous of her. She's realistically the Only Sane Woman and doesn't think of herself as anything special.
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The Skydivers / int_77552932
 The Skydivers / int_8f0dc93c
type
Dangerous Forbidden Technique
 The Skydivers / int_8f0dc93c
comment
Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Subverted. The skydivers of 1963 take risks which would not be tolerated today. To be fair, Pete keeps asking to do wildly dangerous stunts, and ends up dying from target fixation, so the film probably foresaw the need for tighter safety precautions.
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The Skydivers / int_8f0dc93c
 The Skydivers / int_90b66e22
type
Femme Fatale
 The Skydivers / int_90b66e22
comment
Femme Fatale: Suzy, who manipulates love-struck Frankie into helping her murder Harry.
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The Skydivers / int_90b66e22
 The Skydivers / int_97d97c28
type
Revenge Before Reason
 The Skydivers / int_97d97c28
comment
Revenge Before Reason: Suzy invents a stupid plot to kill Harry because she's angry at being jilted, pretty much. Despite the fact she's apparently wealthy and she has another man who's willing to do anything for her, while Harry has a declining marriage and a failing three-man sport parachuting business. She has nothing to gain from his death, but she does it anyway. It gets better. Her plan to kill Harry involves pouring acid in his parachute right before a jump... acid which she procures personally from the local apothecary (and we do mean "personally"). Given that, after the deed is done, absolutely everyone recognizes that acid was used, it becomes hard to believe that the inevitable investigation wouldn't lead directly back to Suzy even if she hadn't been seen skulking around the hangar.
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The Skydivers / int_97d97c28
 The Skydivers / int_a07afea2
type
Random Events Plot
 The Skydivers / int_a07afea2
comment
Random Events Plot: It's not exactly clear what the movie's plot actually is until Suzy decides to come up with her scheme...
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The Skydivers / int_a07afea2
 The Skydivers / int_aaa48538
type
Hollywood Skydiving
 The Skydivers / int_aaa48538
comment
Hollywood Skydiving: In spades. Saves an otherwise almost unwatchable film. It's actually averted at one part where one schmoe suffers from target fixation that he forgets to pull his chute and smashes into the ground.
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 The Skydivers / int_b5ba2c2b
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It's Raining Men
 The Skydivers / int_b5ba2c2b
comment
It's Raining Men: The night formation jump off the C-45.
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The Skydivers / int_b5ba2c2b
 The Skydivers / int_bddb820f
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Must Have Caffeine
 The Skydivers / int_bddb820f
comment
Must Have Caffeine: It wouldn't be a Coleman Francis movie without lots of coffee.
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The Skydivers / int_bddb820f
 The Skydivers / int_c1b2c63f
type
Dull Surprise
 The Skydivers / int_c1b2c63f
comment
Dull Surprise: Tony Cardoza as Harry, who doesn't seem to be all that shocked by... well, anything.
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The Skydivers / int_c1b2c63f
 The Skydivers / int_d80e9526
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Sex for Services
 The Skydivers / int_d80e9526
comment
Sex for Services: It's implied that Suzy acquires acid from the local druggist in this manner.
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The Skydivers / int_d80e9526
 The Skydivers / int_dfb71617
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Male Gaze
 The Skydivers / int_dfb71617
comment
Male Gaze: Many shots of the black girl's nice butt wiggling back and forth in front of the camera.
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 The Skydivers / int_ebbf48c0
type
Silent Credits
 The Skydivers / int_ebbf48c0
comment
Silent Credits: The film's closing credits consist of clips of the main cast, which play out with no sound or music.
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The Skydivers / int_ebbf48c0
 The Skydivers / int_f05444a4
type
Once per Episode
 The Skydivers / int_f05444a4
comment
Once per Episode: A vigilante gunning down someone from a plane? It must be a Coleman Francis film!
 The Skydivers / int_f05444a4
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The Skydivers / int_f05444a4
 The Skydivers / int_f511ea9b
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Product Placement
 The Skydivers / int_f511ea9b
comment
Product Placement: One scene has a very obvious van in the background advertising a local restaurant. The camera actually seems more focused on the van than the characters. The fact this is done during what's supposed to be a tense and emotional scene makes it extremely jarring.
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The Skydivers / int_f511ea9b
 The Skydivers / int_f6c3d469
type
Fanservice Extra
 The Skydivers / int_f6c3d469
comment
Fanservice Extra: Two of them even, who only appear during the party happening near the end of the film (and disappear right after Harry ends up dead in the following skydiving event). There's a tall, buxom blonde woman who pretty much steals the show when she joins the dance (especially with the amusing way the dance between her and a skinnier guy plays out) and a curvy black woman in a polka-dotted bikini who gets a lot of rear shots during the second song of the party.
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The Skydivers / int_f6c3d469
 The Skydivers / int_faf4a043
type
Good Adultery, Bad Adultery
 The Skydivers / int_faf4a043
comment
Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Harry cheated on Beth with Suzy. Beth cheats (sort of) on Harry with Joe. While the film paints neither affair as justified, it's worth noting that we don't know exactly what drove Harry to cheat with Suzy, since Beth is totally dedicated to him and works to maintain her marriage even in the face of Harry's borderline indifference; meanwhile, Beth's own affair with Joe (what we see of it; consists mainly of one Big Damn Kiss and some flirting) was pretty much all Joe's doing.
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 The Skydivers / int_fd94c4ac
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Theme Naming
 The Skydivers / int_fd94c4ac
comment
Theme Naming: The local joint is named The Skydiver.
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 The Skydivers / int_ffad4e9f
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Shown Their Work
 The Skydivers / int_ffad4e9f
comment
Shown Their Work: One point in the movie's favor: the skydiving is 100% accurate (if a bit outdated compared to today's techniques), including the target fixation scene, which is a real danger to skydivers. (Considering the film was shot around a real skydiving school, it should be.)
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The Skydivers

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Skydivers
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Camera Fiend / int_8dd29f
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Chute Sabotage / int_8dd29f
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Definite Article Title / int_8dd29f
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Extreme Sports Plot / int_8dd29f
 The Skydivers
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Hollywood Skydiving / int_8dd29f
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Silent Credits / int_8dd29f
 The Skydivers
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The Skydivers
 TheSlimePeople
seeAlso
The Skydivers