MovieChat Forums > Amazing Stories (1985) Discussion > 'The Mission' easy solution

'The Mission' easy solution

posted 15 years ago by DarkRealityX
13 replies | jump to latest

Spoilers herein for those who haven't seen it.

I've seen this one a couple times, far apart enough that I forget the cheesy ending.

If you forget the premise, it's the WWII fighter with the gunner trapped in the belly turret.

OK, they're flying out of the UK, bombing Germany, and coming back. They're low on fuel, but not so bad that they can't make it home.

Their solution, ultimately, is to give up (after the parachute idea fails, of course).

My solution? Have the nearest naval vessel in the English Channel head for the Strait of Dover, that narrow area between England and France. Then have the plane come in low, corkscrew 180 degrees, and land belly up. The plane is a bomber, they can open hatches on the bottom. English Navy comes in, gets the men off to safety, and they open the damaged belly turret from there.

Second solution: If there isn't a ship in range (which would result in them likely freezing to death) either they could cleverly hit a beach upside down, or a forest. Either way, they're all going to be OK, and in both situations plus the one they used, the plane is a total loss. Oh well.

- Dark Reality

[–] psicosismark 15 years ago

If anthology series used such strict logic when dealing with fantasy it would defeat the purpose of the genre.

[–] swusterb 15 years ago

The problem with your solution is the fact that they were also concerned with their fuel running out. Veering off somewhere else would require fuel usage that may have drained them more quickly and killed everyone, not just the gunner.

Also, it was the 1940's. Radar equipment wasn't great, so locating the downed plane would have been very tricky. Look at the current Air France tragedy. With all of our modern technology, we simply didn't know where the plane went.

Plus, this was a military operation. Orders and operating procedures must be followed, regardless of consequences; that's what people learn after signing up and getting trained.

Add to that the mental stress of it being the 24th mission, it was wartime, they had been attacked, fuel was low, there was a lot on everybody's mind. Landing in the ocean could mean capture by German forces.

For the episode being a one hour television showing, I think they covered all the possibilities rather well.

[–] kluivertfan2 15 years ago

I'm thinking that trying to land a bomber upside down in water is going to be more dangerous than landing without gear. Airplanes aren't made to land on water (except seaplanes), and they sure as hell aren't made to do it upside down. Even if they did manage to survive the impact, with bomb doors open the plane is going to sink like a rock. How would a warship have time to not only get to the plane, but also secure it from sinking and pry open the belly turret? A small fast PT boat won't have the ability to stop it from sinking, and a larger destroyer or cruiser won't have the speed or maneuverability to get to it.

[–] rickamortis 14 years ago

Or they could you know... fly it over some trees, cut the engines and hope that the wings get lodged in the treeline, saving everyone.

Except that part about the momentum of the plane, and the wings being ripped right off... ok so never mind. LOL

"IMDB... where 14 year old's can pretend to be jaded 40 year old movie critics"

[–] sirtj228 11 years ago

the guy would have to kick out the plexi and jump out as low as he can....Or take one of the side guns and plug a few into the thing jammed, maybe it will break something off...

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Doc80 8 years ago

There wasn't enough time, that's why. They were falling too fast. By the time they got him the other chute they would have been too low for it to work.

[–] bozo_500 8 years ago

I keep coming back to getting him out of the compartment ..What about using some shells or the powder from some of the shells to make like a minibomb to try blow through the compartment/loosen the bit of jammed plane?

Other than that a last resort would be him kicking out the windows (as he was going to do with the parachute) and somehow climbing on to the wing as it comes into land? Or jumping out just as the plane came to land? Maybe hed survive with a load of broken bones..better than just sitting there 

[–] Dirty-Barry 8 years ago

Could have landed in a farmers field with a long straight drainage ditch for the belly gunner's pod slot into. Wouldn't work at night however 👎

[–] Doc80 7 years ago

That would also require some pinpoint piloting.

[–] Dirty-Barry 7 years ago

Yep, Sully style 👍

[–] 7 years ago

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