MovieChat Forums > The Signal (2014) Discussion > Why did they let them *******? [spoilers...

Why did they let them *******? [spoilers]

posted 10 years ago by BadCash
21 replies | jump to latest

Ok, as much as I hated this bleeping sorry excuse of a movie, I still need to know what the writer was thinking when he thought it plausible for three teenagers to escape from Area 51 or wherever the hell they're supposed to be?! At that point I just stopped hoping this was gonna turn into something.

Next time I'm in an alien high security facility I'll be sure to remember that I just need to take the elevator up, walk through some tunnels and take a stroll right across a desert... without even seeing any security guards.

So why did they let the kids escape from the underground facility? (Call it what you will, it's designed to look like an underground facility, so that's how I'll refer to it).

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[–] princessnbd 10 years ago

Did you watch the end?

At all?

[–] BadCash 10 years ago

Yes, yes I did.

Did you read the second part of my question? At all?

Ok, so perhaps I didn't make myself clear enough for just anybody, let's try again. Why did they let them escape from the underground compound?

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[–] dlmiley 10 years ago

They weren't "underground". They were on a spaceship!

[–] BadCash 10 years ago

They took an elevator up from below the surface (under ground, inside the spaceship, below the surface, whatever you wanna call it) right?

[–] howard_w13 10 years ago

Ultimately; where could they escape/run to? 
At that point; it's not like revealing the big secret would have made any difference plot-wise.

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The movie has a plot hole?!?
EVERY FRIGGIN' MOVIE HAS A FRIGGIN' PLOT HOLE!!!!!

[–] BadCash 10 years ago

That's true, they really didn't have anywhere to run to.

However, I guess the problem I had with this entire "plot" is that they first let them just walk out of that underground facility, cross the desert on foot and hitch hike into town, all without being stopped by the bad guys.

But THEN, long after they had escaped, the bad guys seemed to decide that it was a huge problem that they escaped. In fact, it was a huge enough problem that they had to interrogate the "old lady", shoot the truck driver and blow up/shoot a lot of stuff.

One would think it would've just been easier to have a guard at the top of the elevator. But maybe that's just me.

Now you might be thinking - "yeah, but then there wouldn't have been anything to make a movie about". Exactly - there was no point in making a movie with a stupid ass plot like this one. Just my opinion.

[–] shane_landry 10 years ago

Perhaps they thought that, by giving Nic his cybernetic legs and Jonah his cybernetic hands, they would have been grateful towards them and thus help them achieve their goal of creating a perfect Cyborg.

During the story, Nic is always reminiscing about the times he was able to run. And Jonah seemed like the Nerd type who lacked confidence. So the each got something from Aliens respectively.

I don't think they expected them to react the way they did, which is why they decided to exterminate them when things started getting "out of hand".

[–] unodosblantos 9 years ago

The whole thing was part of the simulation. They were meant to escape underground complex and the hunt was a way to agitate them, push them to the limits to test their new abilities. IMO the girl's purpose was limited to be the part of simulation like the old lady and the truck driver. She had some kind of port in her spine to upload memories. That is why she didn't seem to remember new things - in the truck she asked the guy what happened with his legs after he already told her about them.

[–] christian-royle 10 years ago

To learn more about how humans react in adversity.

Even the warning; "I can only protect you down here", was nothing more than an input into the experiment.

The whole landscape is an experimental facility.

[–] jeffturner1988 9 years ago

The entire movie is a video narration of an experiment that grafts extremely powerful alien technology onto a human body. There is almost no instance in the movie that is not part of the experiment for on reason or another. Keep in mind the experiment also had to allow the person to accept the technology without going crazy, without becoming homicidal, and without suffering "God" complexes of supremacy at such new power. The escape itself is just one of a string of events created intentionally from previous trial and error all of which allow Nic to proceed. Love is the emotion they find that perfectly motivates his acceptance of his legs, keeps his sanity in tact as he must hold it together for his GF's sake, and has the intelligence to accept the reasoning of alien life being factual and non threatening.

Opinion Overload

[–] Teriek-Williams 9 years ago

First, they were lured there for an alien experiment of fusing their technology with human willpower (as Dr. Damon said at the end). Why them? They're young and intelligent, and therefore perfect test subjects. The other people in the desert were likely previous experiments that failed because they were unsuitable (old & dumb). Nic & Jonah were the final evolution of the alien's learning curve about getting the "right" subjects.

The whole situation is a "rat in a maze" situation. Nic's escape was allowed in order to test his willpower and resilience aided by his new legs. The flashbacks seem to establish Nic's athletic past, contrasting it with his disability in the present. What happens after the ship docks with the alien homeworld is irrelevant. Thematically, the film is about overcoming obstacles despite your limitations with a match of head and heart.

Nic's a disabled ex-athlete who chooses to put walls up to deal with life. But to survive this situation with Haley (a symbol of the things he cares about), he must use his inner strength, which is anchored by the emotions he tried burying (anger, fear, love). Essentially, you have to read between the lines. Some things make more sense than you think, and other things aren't as relevant as you think.

What goes around (), Comes around ()

[–] antidepresiv 9 years ago

Excellent explanation. Thank you.

[–] Teriek-Williams 9 years ago

You're welcome

[–] little_joost 9 years ago

OP is hating on the movie because he didn't understand the movie, then he acts like he does when it is explained to him xD

[–] Henry750 9 years ago

ty for the spoiler at the title

[–] georgegates 9 years ago

It is a pretty straight forward movie. Here for the slow and disabled:

a) three guys get abducted to a spaceship (It's up to you if you interpret point 'a' as such or go right to point 'b'
b) simulated reality (the closest thing of alien-human imagination)
c) nic breaks through the boundaries
d) movie conclusion: aliens trying to find the perfect human will with their

There you have it. In the movie's own words. I am not interpreting anything here

Are there plotholes. sure. more than enough. But the story isn't hard to grasp

[–] Blackace 9 years ago

Are you sure you actually watched this whole movie?
First of all their should be a SPOILERS added to your title. So if you didn't see this movie, don't read any further.

Ok. They weren't escaping at all. They were on an alien space fortress out in space. The aliens who caught them knew this. They let them escape to the surface after they found out they had super prosthetic attached to them. They didn't want them to know immediately, but once they found out, they allowed them to escape so they could see them in action. This was why Jonah was already outside. The aliens were doing research on the humans. They were never escaping anywhere.

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[–] BadCash 9 years ago

Yes I'm very sure I watched the entire movie. I wish I hadn't, but I did.

...they allowed them to escape so they could see them in action.

So you agree that they did escape from the underground complex?

They were never escaping anywhere.

Oh wait, didn't you just say that they did escape? ROTFLOL.

[–] ten-often 9 years ago

Dude, you've had this movie plot explained to you every which way but loose and you refuse to understand. People reading this thread are laughing at you. For your own sake, just stop. Stop telling people they are wrong about the movie you don't (by your won admission) understand.

Yes, they escaped (they thought) from what they perceived to be an underground facility. It was all smoke and mirrors. Now, attack me, too.

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Backseat Producers can't simply enjoy movies. They nitpick & complain about every imperfection.

[–] BadCash 9 years ago

Look, it's not that I don't understand that they're on an alien spaceship made to look like earth, with aliens who look human and with prosthetic limbs attached to them. That part was pretty damn obvious if you didn't skip the end. I didn't ask for 10 posts all stating the obvious.

I guess what I have a problem with is the way the movie was told. For me it didn't make any sense that the aliens would build an underground complex, pretend to be scientists, have the kids locked up in a high security bunker, and then let them escape into the outdoors, just so they could "study them" or whatever was supposed to be happening out there.

I agree it was all smoke and mirrors, but not for the reason you think. Unless the aliens had already tried any other means to get their prosthetics (which they for some reason couldn't test on themselves?) to work, I can think of a million ways to make the kids test drive their prosthetics without going to all the trouble of creating a fake earth-looking spaceship with diners, trucks and high security underground facility-illusions. As far as I'm concerned, the smoke and mirrors were put up by the writers of the script, hoping to create a "wooow, they're on a spaceship" feeling. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for me. By the time they let loose the special effects in the end, any suspense was already long gone, and it was just a "Oh, it's a spaceship. Cute. Yawn.".

There, I just gave "people reading this thread" (by which I guess you mean "people who don't have a different opinion than yourself") more to laugh at. Great way to keep this post at the top of the forum, where it can hopefully make people think twice before having to high expectations of this movie before watching it.

[–] fsp798 9 years ago

THEY. WERE. NOT. UNDERGROUND. figure it out lol. Judging what is worth it and not worth it for an alien species is also ridiculous.

Plus as multiple people on this thread have said, which you haven't acknowledged

DON'T PUT SPOILERS IN THE TITLE OF YOUR THREAD! It makes you a jerk.

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They just want to see what happens when they tear the world apart. They want to change things.