MovieChat Forums > The Jackal (1997) Discussion > Poison sprayed on the Minivan's Door Lat...

Poison sprayed on the Minivan's Door Latch

posted 16 years ago by Xclibur2001
41 replies | jump to latest

The Jackal sprayed something very highly toxic on his Minivan's door latch because he knew there were some vandals persuing him, but What kind of poison would cause someone to foam from the mouth and then die instantly just by simply touching it on a vehicle's door latch??????????

I don't believe this to be true...................But does a poison that lethal exist???????

BTW...............Why were those Car Jackers persuing the Jackal??????? Or was it just a coincidence that some bad guys wanted to jack our main villain's minivan or his belongings inside the minivan.

[–] FiletMignonMediumRare 13 years ago

Old thread I know, but no one seemed to acknowledge your second question regarding the Hi-Jackers.

They weren't Car Jackers. I believe they were trying to jack his recently acquired mounted gun. Remember the scene where he asks to use the "cyber-cafe" to get online? He, the Jackal, was touching base with his intel to inquire about the men following him. His intel source let him know that his plans had been compromised. I recall the message suggesting that internet hackers penetrated the Jackal's security measures.

In summary, he made a mistake in the process somewhere. This is further supported when the Russian Major (can't remember her name right now; the one who collaborated with Declen and the FBI) comments on the airplane that he probably made a mistake. She then comments to Declen (Richard Gere), "Isn't that how you got caught?"

The Jackal's job was for 70 million. However, his gun was worth around $100,000 - $200,000 when he purchased it earlier in the movie. The Hi-Jackers intentions were likely to get the gun and sell it to another client. Think of them as small-time crooks compared to the Jackal. Hope this helps you and/or anyone who was confused about this. This was my interpretation anyways, but please correct me if you think I'm wrong.

[–] thelastfaceyouwillsee 12 years ago

The director's commentary gives it as a shellfish toxin in an aerosol spray. Pretty cool and effective in the movie.

I gotta find out what makes a man decide not to run, why, all of a sudden, he'd rather die

[–] SpiltPersonality 12 years ago

Most movies are over the top with their "toxins" and "virus'".

No virus can act as quickly as they do in all the zombie movies for example... and for me it makes it a little eyeroll worthy.

That said, yes, there are probably toxins available that would be as lethal as those shown in this movie... it WOULDN'T have been deployed as a aerosol can though... as holding your breath wouldn't help you if you oversprayed... and isn't the kind of thing you'd want to carry around in your jacket pocket.

Neurotoxins can be extremely rapid, but most of them stop pathways needed to sustain life (stop you breathing for example), and so you may be 'out of action' but not dead.

A muscle relaxant for example (the type used in anaesthesia) will stop you being able to use voluntary muscles (including breathing and moving) but your heart keeps on beating... until such time as your lack of breathing kills you. These drugs are the 'horror story' drugs that supposedly everyone knows someone who has 'been awake during an operation'. Because they are unable to move they can't say to anyone they can feel what's going on.

SpiltPersonality

[–] Arthur_Desmond 12 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylmercury
Tiny doses of this shít are already fatal even if you're wearing latex gloves or even PVC protection, and the guy literally emptied half a spray can on the car handle.

[–] Mrpinkeye 12 years ago

thing is, even if a toxin like that was real you wouldn't even want to be in a car with it. let alone spray it without a full protective suit on! all he does is hold his breath!! lol

[–] uvl 12 years ago

Besides being unrealistic, it was a completely useless and unnecessary scene. And how effing stupid was it for him to have access to a power washer in a random underground garage, AND have the time to use it before the pursuers caught up.

[–] fillshertease 11 years ago

It don't think it was a completely useless scene...

Throughout the movie we see how incredibly careful The Jackal is about everything. He goes to great lengths to keep changing his identity for example. The purpose of the scene with the minivan is to show that he has back-out and escape plans organised. In that case he painted the van white and he obviously pre-organised at least one place - i.e. the parking garage, though he probably had others too - where he could quickly and easily change the 'identity' of the van if he was being followed.

As for whether or not he had enough time, he made sure that the pursuers didn't suspect that he knew they were following him. Once he was out of sight on the top level he raced to the bottom level and changed the van. The perusers thought he was just some guy who didn't know they were following him, plus they didn't care about him, they only cared about the gun in the boot. As such he could have been anywhere in the garage and they were in no hurry. They were just casually walking through the garage looking for the minivan and that meant the Jackal had plenty of time to do what he needed to do.

Sew what I mean?

[–] joebloggz 11 years ago

Exactly...and also they'd featured a scene earlier when the Jackal went to the trouble of timing himself stripping the minivan of a layer of paint (obviously in case he needed to quickly change the vehicle's appearance) as per this scene with the weapons jackers.

I'm not sure how people don't understand who these 'jackers' are...he is an elite assassin for hire, the weapons he uses are likely always very specialized & VERY hard to get through any normal black market channels, so in this instance they're quite plainly attempting to roll him for his delivery.

Think some ppl need to watch a movie a little more closely...for what's it's worth - this movie yes is probably quite unlikely...but it's good entertainment with a great cast even if it's just a damn good updated chase-the-elite-bad-guy take on 'Day Of The Jackal'.

[–] iosipescu 12 years ago

If I had to guess I would say it was cone snail venom in DMSO. The DMSO would carry it right through the skin into the blood stream.

[–] MOOVYZ 11 years ago

Very good! I read all these responses and no one had addressed the issue of how the toxin entered the body. You are correct in the identification of DMSO. It was once hailed as a "super-drug", able to cure cancer and a million other things. In truth, it hasn't been proven to do anything except for this one trick... it transmits transdermally in an instant. Years ago I took part in a college experiment where flavors were added to DMSO and then people would touch paper where they were applied. You could touch a piece of paper and within 5 seconds taste cinnamon, lemon, etc. The DMSO altered the flavor a bit and people complained of side effects (real or imagined). It was then deemed unsafe to use in this way. I haven't heard much more about this stuff of late but using DMSO with ANY poison, say Cianide, could theoretically work.

"I think that boy's cheese slid off his cracker" The Green Mile

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[–] 11 years ago

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