Okay, so just how did they get the lunking big safe out?
It's not as hard as you think. I worked at JSC about 6 years ago. Yes, it's hard to get through the front gate, but once you get badged (3 different badges in my case) you can get a pretty broad access to the facility. Different areas of JSC had different access requirements (mission control, computer simulation facility, geologic samples). From his bio, he said he worked in the astromaterials department, so obviously he had access to these rocks.
As far as lugging a 600 lb safe/container out of the building, it's not that difficult. First of all, security protocol is not that tight. I remember going to a secured library one day and the door was propped open with a box marked TOP SECRET (old DOD era mission info). People are a little more focused on the job at hand. Security was never really pushed very hard on us (although I assume that will change now). People were always lugging heavy equipment back and forth, and there are pallet jacks and loading docks at most of the buildings. Getting the safe out would have been no major effort.
What I wonder is why they needed 4 people to do this? If Roberts had access, then that's all he needed. I could see having his college buddy help him with the heavy lifting, but why involve the two girls? Maybe trying to impress them? Maybe the girls were the brains of the operation? Of course, I use the term "brains" loosely.
I did enjoy this movie for the suspension of reality and lack of thought needed as mentioned in earlier posts. However, I do agree that the CGI effects of today's movies take away the suspense and emotional attachment that viewers put into the older style of horror and action movies. What made those movies so scary was the fact that you could not see the monster or alien that was about to kill the characters. The directors of those movies were technologically limited as to what they could put on the screen. This forced them to be creative in how they presented the danger. Jaws and Alien scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, yet you only saw the creatures at the very end of the movie.
High quality CGI allows the director to put the monsters directly into the scene. Human nature is such that you usually don't fear what you can see (especially in the movies since you know the good guy is going to win). The only modern movie that I have seen that trilled me with CGI was Jurassic Park. I think it worked for that movie because CGI was still new and a limited resource that could not be utilized throughout the movie. Also, I think Steven Spielberg learned his lesson in Jaws that when the mechanical shark did not work 100%, it made for a more interesting movie.
The Mummy Returns was one of those movies where you can forget yourself for a few hours and enjoy a lighthearted adventure. It wasn't a great movie. It wasn't a bad movie. But as always, the only real scary monsters are the ones you face in real life.
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Okay, so just how did they get the lunking big safe out?
It's not as hard as you think. I worked at JSC about 6 years ago. Yes, it's hard to get through the front gate, but once you get badged (3 different badges in my case) you can get a pretty broad access to the facility. Different areas of JSC had different access requirements (mission control, computer simulation facility, geologic samples). From his bio, he said he worked in the astromaterials department, so obviously he had access to these rocks.
As far as lugging a 600 lb safe/container out of the building, it's not that difficult. First of all, security protocol is not that tight. I remember going to a secured library one day and the door was propped open with a box marked TOP SECRET (old DOD era mission info). People are a little more focused on the job at hand. Security was never really pushed very hard on us (although I assume that will change now). People were always lugging heavy equipment back and forth, and there are pallet jacks and loading docks at most of the buildings. Getting the safe out would have been no major effort.
What I wonder is why they needed 4 people to do this? If Roberts had access, then that's all he needed. I could see having his college buddy help him with the heavy lifting, but why involve the two girls? Maybe trying to impress them? Maybe the girls were the brains of the operation? Of course, I use the term "brains" loosely.
You still got it wrong. The ESB crash was a B-25 and it occurred in 1945.
I did enjoy this movie for the suspension of reality and lack of thought needed as mentioned in earlier posts. However, I do agree that the CGI effects of today's movies take away the suspense and emotional attachment that viewers put into the older style of horror and action movies. What made those movies so scary was the fact that you could not see the monster or alien that was about to kill the characters. The directors of those movies were technologically limited as to what they could put on the screen. This forced them to be creative in how they presented the danger. Jaws and Alien scared the hell out of me when I was a kid, yet you only saw the creatures at the very end of the movie.
High quality CGI allows the director to put the monsters directly into the scene. Human nature is such that you usually don't fear what you can see (especially in the movies since you know the good guy is going to win). The only modern movie that I have seen that trilled me with CGI was Jurassic Park. I think it worked for that movie because CGI was still new and a limited resource that could not be utilized throughout the movie. Also, I think Steven Spielberg learned his lesson in Jaws that when the mechanical shark did not work 100%, it made for a more interesting movie.
The Mummy Returns was one of those movies where you can forget yourself for a few hours and enjoy a lighthearted adventure. It wasn't a great movie. It wasn't a bad movie. But as always, the only real scary monsters are the ones you face in real life.