# Rope Bridges in the Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775 "2016-11-23T00:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/21 "2016-11-23T18:27:49Z")
A camp my scout troop used to go to had a rope bridge that was re-built every summer. It wasn’t the only way across the river, but it was a lot more convenient than the permanent bridge. And also, of course, a lot more fun. It just had three main cables, with smaller cords connecting them in a V shape. I don’t think they made their own rope out of grass for it, though. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/22 "2016-11-23T21:11:36Z")
In the small town we lived in when I was little there was a rope bridge. Well, a cable foot bridge. Spanned a small canyon on the other side of town from us. It was mainly used by kids to get to the school next to it. The usual planks and 2 hand cables type. I only crossed it a few times. Mainly when going with a sib to visit a friend of theirs. It was high and scary. At least to a little one. This canyon indeed had flash floods. One took out the road bridge next to our place downstream outside the canyon and it was never replaced. Of course the idea today of children regularly using such a thing would elicit the usual cries of “Won’t somebody think of the children!” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/23 "2016-11-23T21:17:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > About the only cases I recall where the bridge _didn’t_ collapse were > > \*\*The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly > > Monty Python and the Holy Grail\*\* > and, arguably, > > **Sorceror** > > It was a more substantial bridge, but, then again, they were driving a _truck_ over it. > > Any others? (either collapsing or non-collapsing) > > About the only films where the The successful navigation of the trucks over the rope bridge in **Sorceror** has to be the scene against which all other rope bridge scenes are measured … particularly when one reads up on just how much trouble they went through to film it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/24 "2016-11-23T22:23:03Z")
I’m here – I’m just incommunicado during the day. Don’t know why the OP stopped abruptly like that. And the example from _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ has been properly identified. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/25 "2016-11-24T02:47:01Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > When you see [the amount of work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dql-D6JQ1Bc) that goes into one,you get why it’s not more lines than needed. Also, they rebuild them regularly. I do notice they use four thick cables as the walking surface, which is a hell of a lot better than two cables spanned by planks. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/26 "2016-11-24T07:34:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I do notice they use four thick cables as the walking surface, which is a hell of a lot better than two cables spanned by planks. I suspect it’s also because they have a lot of grass but not a lot of timber. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/27 "2016-11-26T19:09:00Z")
There’s a rope bridge in “Romancing the Stone” that Kathleen Turner’s character crosses. I don’t think that the bridge collapsed, but she did finish the crossing using a vine hanging down. It’s been a while, so I’m kind of fuzzy on how the scene plays out. Edit: on further research, the bridge is steel not rope. The entire bridge is falling apart though. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/28 "2016-11-26T19:26:30Z")
I seem to recall that at the end of **The Man Who Would Be King** , there’s a rope bridge that gets gets cut and sends one of the protagonists to his death. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/29 "2016-11-26T19:29:05Z")
I think the OP recalled that as well. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/30 "2016-11-26T22:50:13Z")
By far the most terrifying rope bridge scene in cinema is in [Swiss Miss](http://laurelandhardycentral.com/swissm.html), in which Laurel and Hardy cross a rope bridge WITH A PIANO. (Okay, it isn’t really that terrifying, but hey, there’s also a gorilla.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/31 "2016-11-27T05:09:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I seem to recall that at the end of **The Man Who Would Be King** , there’s a rope bridge that gets gets cut and sends one of the protagonists to his death. :smack: When I went back to look at it, I had **Seven Years in Tibet** in my mind, so thought I was good to go. Then realized it was **Man** and changed my post. In other words, brain fart. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/32 "2016-12-02T13:49:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > :smack: When I went back to look at it, I had **Seven Years in Tibet** in my mind, so thought I was good to go. Then realized it was **Man** and changed my post. In other words, brain fart. Right, off you go! :eek: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/50u1kJ0v7TE/hqdefault.jpg "Monty python a svatý grál - Most smrti - Tři otázky") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50u1kJ0v7TE) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/33 "2016-12-04T04:54:40Z")
Season of the Witch The Huntsman Then there are non-rope bridges that are dangerous: The Colony The Librarian Pandorum Mothman Prophecies ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/34 "2016-12-04T05:52:23Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Then there are non-rope bridges that are dangerous: > > The Colony > The Librarian > Pandorum > Mothman Prophecies The Cassandra Crossing ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/35 "2016-12-04T10:39:00Z")
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, aka “Galloping Gerdie”: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFzu6CNtqec) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/36 "2016-12-04T18:41:34Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Of course there’s a[TVTropes page](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RopeBridge) for this. > > Oh, and _White Water Summer_ features a rope bridge crossing with no collapse. Dammit, there’s another morning wasted surfing TVtropes. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775/37 "2016-12-04T20:25:52Z")
A rope bridge was a key part of a [chase scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQeR4e_QfRk) in _Zootopia._ Judy and Nick were noticeably nervous about crossing it to reach their destination. When they had to run back across it, the person chasing them leaped high into the air behind them, causing Judy and Nick to bounce on the rope bridge, and then they both deliberately jumped off it to try and escape. The bridge was not destroyed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rope-bridges-in-the-movies/772775.md?page=1)