MovieChat Forums > The Langoliers (1995) Discussion > Explanation for them needing Mr Toomy di...

Explanation for them needing Mr Toomy didn't hold water. 'spoilers'

posted 9 years ago by star_in_the_zenith_79
8 replies | jump to latest

'SPOILER ALERT'

Apparently, the other passengers needed Mr Toomy to distract the Langoliers from the airplane long enough to get away.

But really, they did a poor job of showing this. There were thousands of Langoliers, and only two of them went after Mr Toomy, that's all it took to take him out. They could have easily gotten all of them and still gotten Mr Toomy.

It looked more like that the Langoliers allowed the others to escape for whatever reason. Maybe they sensed they didn't belong in the past and wanted to give them a chance to get away.

I think Captain Engle at one point yelled at one of them to get away, but why would they listen to him unless it was some sort of forbearance. Mr Toomy was long dead by that time and the Langoliers were right next to the plane.

I know that was the explanation for it, the characters even said had it not been for MR Toomy the Langoliers would have gotten them all, it just wasn't well shown. It looked more like the Langoliers let them get away.

Also, I didn't think the movie really explained why the Langoliers went after Toomy in the first place and not the others. Just because his dad told him stories about them? How would they know that?

Otherwise good movie don't get me wrong, but the whole needing Toomy business was slightly lame IMO.

[–] florige 9 years ago

Yeah I never understood that either. It was probably something like you mentioned that the Langoliers were not used to seeing things moving around in the past. I am also with you on why the were drawn to Mr Toomey. They made it seem like he had some sort of a connection with the Langoliers that wasn't really well explained.

[–] blazegarrett91 9 years ago

I will give you credit on the fact that there were a bunch of Langoliers and only two went after Craig. that was poorly explained. the plane had the present time still inside of it. I think the langoliers were incapable of attacking the plane and the survivors inside the plane because of that temporal difference.

[–] BigRich 9 years ago

I think the langoliers were incapable of attacking the plane and the survivors inside the plane because of that temporal difference.

That doesn't make sense, either. Craig Toomey was one of those survivors and they ate him. Regardless of how much o a douche he was, he was still on the plane like the rest of them.

_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

[–] Ushers_Passing 9 years ago

I think he meant that they couldn't attack the survivors that were still in the plane. Mr. Toomey was outside running around, he wasn't protected by the "present time" in the plane.

[–] Dinalfos 9 years ago

Maybe I'm remembering this wrong, but weren't there only 12 or so Langoliers in the book? That made things a bit more plausible. I guess when they decided to increase the number of Langoliers, they neglected to make the necessary adjustments to the script.

[–] obsidianproductions 9 years ago

No, there were just as many langoliers in the book. Thousands upon thousands of them.

[–] sundance7490 9 years ago

I can give you guys a good explanation. Why they needed Toomey was because he was the only one of the remaining passengers that stayed outside the plane long enough to become part of the past. Remember how Bethany's matches she brought with her worked at first but then stopped working later on and Mr. Warwick said, "Whatever's happening seems to be catching"? Though inside the plane they were part of the present, once they were on the ground (the ground being the past), everyone and everything they carried with them slowly became part of the past. Thus would be accountable to be eaten by the Langoliers.

Upon setting up the plane for takeoff, everyone excluding Mr. Toomey got back on board. This "renewed" them back to the present time. Mr. Toomey, still being stuck in the terminal, was still part of the past. Never once did he get back on board. Notice the Langoliers never even stop to look at Mr. Jenkins or Albert. They stare straight at Mr. Toomey and zoom after him.

This is the same reason why they never once touch the plane. If they tried to take a bite from it, maybe it would vaporize them and not destroy the plane at all. But they definitely tried to stop it. The two that Captain Engle told to go away jumped ahead of the plane and made two huge crevices in the tarmac which the aircraft smashes over. So even they knew the plane could become part of the past if they kept it from taking off but they couldn't.

I don't speak whatever.

[–] Ushers_Passing 9 years ago

That was very insightful. Thank you.