Why change the colour of the vehicle?

indeed he is

Oops turns out it ws a valid question which none of u answered correctly. Now I'm pretty sure, u correct me if I'm wrong, but I think then,
ummm yep that makes YOU the MORON! NUFF SAID! ;-p

Hello,

"I am amazed. I ask an innocent question, go away on holiday, and come back to find three abusive responses to my question! Is this really the way that these message boards work?"

Yes. The IMDB board is infested with stupid children of all ages.

As for your questions, you're right : the painting thing *is* pointless and totally artificial, just like the whole movie, IMO.

Olrik

well I didn't like the movie at all and can't answer your question and of course it is almost a year to the day since you wrote your question which seemed valid to me. but you have to remember that most of the idiots that chose to insult you have nothing better to do with themselves other than insult people, mainly because they are of limited intelligence, that is why they insult you because they don't have the intellect or capability to an answer you in a polite and decent manner, just because they got it they expect everyone else to.

[deleted]

Hi. I'm from the future (or the past... I forget how it works... anyway, I'm responding to you from February 2013, 5.5 years after your question, so it's quite likely you'll never see this even if you ARE still around and have the same login name, etc.)

I came here because The Jackal is on and they just played the spray-off-paint-in-the-parking-garage scene and I had a related question.

I too was dismayed by the "you're a moron" responses (especially the one which used "your" LOL). And the one guy who did make SOME effort to respond acted like you had no idea why you'd want to change the color of a van... even though you obviously do know why (as do we all).

So, all I can do now is state my question as succinctly as possible, hoping that some (more polite) people are lurking about and can answer us both. (Not that you probably care after 5+ years)

As you noted, he is very concerned with how much time it takes to spray the white paint off the blue van. OK, fine. It MUST therefore be part of his plan. But when he gets chased by the terrorist bad guys, he implements that "plan". OK, I guess...maybe the white-to-blue plan was just in case he needed a quick change and wasn't a major part of his primary plan. Maybe. BUT (and here's the crux): If he had that kills-you-on-contact poison, why not just use THAT and leave the van white? The bad guys would obviously notice the still-white van and try to open it and die. In other words: What was the point of doing the white-to-blue thing if he as going to use the poison?

Unfortunately, the reason the response to your question was so negative is the same reason Obama got elected president, not once, but twice. We have become a Nation predominantly made up of jerks. Sad, but true.

[deleted]

he timed the process of removing the paint in case he ever had to do it in a hurry he would know exactly where to go and what time he needed to remove it, thus down three levels of a garage.

So is the lack of civility, vicariousjambi.

[deleted]

I took it that he already knew how long it took for the paint to dry. The timing was to see when it was ready for him to test the speed with which he could remove it again.

OK...this doesn't need to be this difficult. This is an average-at-best reiteration of a really well thought out and executed movie.

The car-wash scene is flawed...period. There's absolutely no defending it on any logical basis. The Jackal is being "chased" by the hijackers who've discovered either his purpose or his cargo. Whichever it is, it's irrelevant to the scene. The Jackal pulls into a garage, washes the temporary paint off his van in an effort to "disguise" it from the hijackers, and from there, the whole scene goes to hell in a handbasket.

What was the reason for washing the van and changing the license plate?? The jackal could have already been long gone without this distraction!! It's clearly a scene added for some sort of "dramatic effect"...but not effective at all. So he kills one of the hijackers with the toxic spray...what about the other hijackers?...we're never told. Where did the Jackal go?...we're never told. Why didn't the other hijackers (when they found their buddy frothing at the mouth) think to look for the van?...we're never told. We're left to assume that the Jackal waits...the hijackers disperse eventually...and the Jackal goes on to pursue his ultimate goal. OK...with a couple of beers, this makes complete sense to me, too!

Watch the original!!...at least the whole paint scheme makes SOME sense there.
Here, it's just a not-too-well-thought-out plot distraction. One of the *beep* scenes in the movie, I think...

No, it was just a thin coat of not very durable paint, peeling right off under a high-pressure hose.