Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Flamethrower Scene Explained
In Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the flamethrower scene delivers a wild twist in the final act. It shows fading actor Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, using a flamethrower to fight off intruders at his home. This moment caps off the movie’s alternate history take on the Manson Family murders.https://www.imdb.com/it/news/ni62573915/https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-punches-straight-dow
The scene builds from earlier parts of the story. Rick keeps the flamethrower as a prop from his role in the fictional World War II movie The 14 Fists of McCluskey. Viewers see a clip of that film at the start, where Rick’s character uses it in battle. He stores it in his pool shed, setting up the payoff later.https://www.imdb.com/it/news/ni62573915/
As the night unfolds, three Manson followers—Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel—show up at Rick’s house by mistake. They plan violence but run into Rick’s stuntman friend Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt. Cliff fights them with his hands and his pit bull dog, taking down two. Susan Atkins ends up trapped near the pool house. Rick steps out with the flamethrower and unleashes flames on her in a brutal, fiery end.https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-punches-straight-dowhttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/9vy_nN6XCuM
DiCaprio has shared that filming this scared him. The realistic prop flames made the set feel dangerous, adding to the scene’s raw energy. It fits Tarantino’s style of mixing dark humor with over-the-top violence, much like his rewrite of history in Inglourious Basterds.https://www.imdb.com/it/news/ni62573915/https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-punches-straight-dow
This alternate ending spares Sharon Tate, who lives next door in the real 1969 events. Instead, the intruders meet a gruesome fate at Rick and Cliff’s hands. The flamethrower ties back to Rick’s career struggles, turning his old prop into a tool of triumph.https://entertainment.ie/movies/movie-news/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-ending-414792/
Sources
https://www.imdb.com/it/news/ni62573915/
https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-punches-straight-dow
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9vy_nN6XCuM
https://entertainment.ie/movies/movie-news/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-ending-414792/
