Okay, the former XRM crew marches out, bazooks the "mutates", Borden knifes Naga and becomes chief -- until, I suppose, someone in the cave decides to ambush him -- and the next scene shows everyone together, working in the bright sunshine, overdressed tunnel people and animal-skin-clad mutates building civilization anew, and in English -- none of the late Naga's proto-Spanish *beep*
Good. But all of the ex-"Beasts" shown at the end are the normal ones -- the non-mutates. Where are the real mutates? Back in the cave? Left to prowl about the expanses of the former Colorado as long as they don't attempt to move next door to the guys with hot and cold running water? What did Galbraith and company plan to do with them? They'd still be a threat on some level, right? I mean, they're deranged one-eyed cavemen, aren't they? So what happened to them?
Sounds like the crew may have mortgaged their merry little future to a violent revolt germinating in the caves among the newly oppressed mutate majority.
I have the impression from what Deena and Borden said, that the mutates were in the minority. "They may not be as numerous as we think." If the objective of our heroes was to keep the mutates out of the way until the new civilization could be established on the outside, that would not be all that hard to do. The mutates still would be a threat on some level but the electric fence would keep them out until more sophisticated means could be brought into play. After the initial phase of construction, I think the wisest policy would have been to win the hearts and minds of the mutates by offering them assistance in such things as medical matters, help in rasing food,etc. Continuous warfare would ultimately destroy the mutates, and be extremely expensive for the modern people as well, so it was in no one's interest.
I thought about that comment that they might not be as numerous as we think, but I never inferred from that that the mutates were actually in the minority, just not perhaps so great a majority. But given their violent nature I doubt anything could ever have been done to tame them -- humanitarian aid might have made them less prone to attack but they weren't going to be brought into the normal community, which they couldn't cope with in any case, nor was it likely they'd die off anytime soon (offering medical and other aid would serve to insure that!). I suspect you'd end up with two sets of competing humans on the planet, for centuries to come. If warfare didn't become the norm (remember all those other mutates across the world, vs. not knowing how many normal humans might also survive), then something close to it -- a cold war with occasional flare-ups -- would surely have resulted. Humanitarian impulses would likely have precluded a campaign of extermination -- they are our cousins, after all -- so I think there'd remain this simmering, dangerous, genetically unstable and very large population coexisting very uneasily (at best) with the normal humans -- and unable, intellectually, to even grasp the concept of "coexistence", "humanitarian", or anything else. Far from the bright future contemplated at the end of the movie.
How one culture deals with a lower tech culture is a product of -- you guessed it -- culture !! Religion and politics are key ideologies. So is the concept of how young and hungry is that group. What pressures are they under ???? Many of the 'savage barbarians' who terrorized the Romans were peaceful until the legions could no longer protect them in say 450ish AD. Then other tribes in turn, displaced and raped them. The underground folks had not had to develop a warlike culture as their technology protected them.
Another concept is cultural evolution. The US may invade the odd oil producing country; but we are generally more benificent than harmful. What would Caesar have done to nations who burned down a major portion of Rome -- ask the ghosts of Carthage.........
If you are curious to see what it probably eventually looked like -- there is an after hours bar on 10th Ave in Birmingham called Fromaggio's -- try it around 3am Friday.
Being a retired military officer, the first thing I would do is send a scouting party -well armed with comm. Rules of engagement-- fire only if under threat. General orders-gain intell re population, locations, disposition, et al, ala Lewis and Clark. Hopefully intell would be gleaned to plan the next steps with some rough knowledge....
Oh, Alabama. There's no such address in the original Birmingham, which I'm nevertheless sure has plenty of similar establishments and depraved patrons, all speaking their own form of unintelligible English.