Sgt Watson the coward

I have watched this movie many times over the years. I agree that one of the reasons it is such a great movie is that the characters are extremely complex and the usual action movie cliches are avoided. I have always detested the character of Captain Harris. He is arrogant and not entirely sane. I also agree with a previous poster who observed that the sergeant knows this very well and has probably observed his craziness in the past. If Sgt Watson had followed this nut case's commands, he would have likely died in the desert like the Captain's first companion did. If he had somehow made it back to camp, on the second hair-brained excursion he would have gotten his throat slit. You go, Sgt. Watson! Hope the flight of the Phoenix was also a flight to a better life for him.

I think some of the posters here are being a little too hard on Captain Harris. Sure, he was a bossy know-it-all, but that's what most militaries back then trained their officers to be. At least he did what he thought was best to get them all out of there (not just himself.) Remember, at that point neither he, Towns, Lou, or the Doctor really thought that the Phoenix was actually going to get off the ground. (Only Dorfmann knew that for sure.) Harris knew how dangerous it was to leave the plane, yet he did it twice, because in his mind there was no realistic alternative. A pretty brave man if you ask me.

On the other hand, Watson comes across as a bit of a slimeball. It's not that he refused to go on Harris' suicide missions. ( Hell, I don't blame him; I wouldn't have gone either.) But he first fakes an injury to get out of going, then leaves the Captain outside all night to die, and finally, when the Bedouins kill Harris (and the Doctor), he gloats about it. What a douche. No wonder Towns punched him.

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