MovieChat Forums > Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) Discussion > Severely flawed... but still interesting

Severely flawed... but still interesting

posted 20 years ago by TheHypnotron
1 reply | jump to latest

SPOILER

1) the General could have ordered all the tanks back to beyond the tree line to remove the sniper positions... which they were in fact suspicious of.

2) Overall, for such a well executed plan to capture the silo, he had an extremely lousy plan for getting away. Unlikely that he wouldn't have thought this through more carefully.

3) He could have had the President give the speach first and then provide proof that it was in fact live and received by the press.

4) Only the President knew that there were only 2 of the 3 convicts left alive. Why did they shoot the 2 survivors knowing that a 3rd could be left inside to launch the missiles in the event of foul play? And YES i'm going to assume that the General would have rigged a device to let one man control both key positions at once.

On the other hand, the government would most likely have dropped several nuclear bombs on top of that silo and wiped them all out within 15 minutes of the silo having been captured and confirmed free to launch.

Also, i doubt that they would ever have got the combination to the safe. Those guys are screened for that type of mission and well trained.

Still I enjoyed this movie because there's probably some truth in the general reactions of the people with power.
a) They will resist honest and open government (i.e. resits a reduction in their own power) and will kick and scream all the way to their graves defending that power.
b) The President was manipulated by all of them to serve them and not the people.
c) The President had to die. One could assume that McKenzie had agents in place to make sure the President didnt escape the assault. The Vice President now takes over and will be ignorant of the "credibility" document. That document would never see the light of day.

[–] chrismovieman 17 years ago

Like yourself, I thought this was a very interesting and well made film. You make alot of good points about the flaws of this film but I would argue that a few of your points might not be flaws at all.

"2) Overall, for such a well executed plan to capture the silo, he had an extremely lousy plan for getting away. Unlikely that he wouldn't have thought this through more carefully."

True, logically, it might make more sense for General Dell to have a more realistic plan for getting away. However, when you look at his character, it's highly possible that he simply didn't want to compromise or be realistic. Keep in mind that his character was very angry, was probably psychologically damaged by the years he spent in a Vietnamese prison camp, and had just been framed and put in jail for murder. A rigid, militaristic, angry, and perhaps even semi-suicidal man like that might feel very reluctant to compromise. In the film, General Dell says "Either we're all coming out winners or we're not coming out at all" For me, this says it all. He was going all the way and would rather be dead than unable to do things on his own terms and be able to impose his own ultimatum.

"On the other hand, the government would most likely have dropped several nuclear bombs on top of that silo and wiped them all out within 15 minutes of the silo having been captured and confirmed free to launch."

But thats just it. They didn't know that the men had the capability to launch. One of the Generals in the film tells the President that he believes General Dell is bluffing. Because such a senario is so outrageous and unlikley, the government would likley behave arrogantly and, initially at least, assume that the men would not have the capability to launch.