The Rock (1996) - 5 questions

Question: In the opening scene, when Hummel passes the four soldiers in the graveyard he salutes them but they pay him no attention, even though he is a general. I was thinking it could have been because they are taking part in the funeral procession, even though Hummel probably couldn't tell that, as they weren't carrying the coffin anymore at that point. Also, it seems a bit strange for a funeral as they're not victims' family or any other participants. Is there any explanation for this?

Answer: I'm no expert on military protocol, but those soldiers (marines?) are marching with their rifles as part of some tradition or honour guard, and so are probably not required to salute.

Question: What is the purpose of the special gear given to Mason? He uses them to kill the bad guy later in the movie but he was just there to lead the way and wasn't meant to take part in any action, so is there any other reason why he was given them?

Answer: He wasn't meant to be involved in any action, but being SAS-trained he could defend himself if needed. He was given the equipment just in case.

Question: I never really understood the point of injecting the needle into your heart if you come into contact with the chemical. Doesn't the chemical eat away at your skin? If so, does the injection somehow instantly stop the gas from eating away at your skin? Or did I just imagine the whole thing about it eating your skin?

Answer: The whole inject-it-into-your-heart thing is crap. Atropine is like super-adrenalin. It sends you into overdrive, forcing your body to stay alive despite the nerve gas. It is normally injected into the buttock. Injecting it directly into your heart would probably kill you faster than the nerve gas, assuming you could even get it into your own heart.

Question: During the SEAL team raid on the rock, they are using two "decoy choppers" which fly towards Alcatraz. What is the point of this? Wouldn't it be easier to just have the transport chopper fly all the way to drop zone under radar coverage?

Answer: Alcatraz is small enough and out in the middle of the bay that any lookout in a high point could see and hear a chopper, no matter where it approached from. The idea of the decoys was to split any enemy fire received. The whole insertion of SEALS was absurd, in a real situation like that, the SEALS would have been inserted by submarine or used dive motors to pull themselves to the island.

Question: Why is there a "string holder", for lack of a better term, next to the shower, is it there for a plot device to get Connery out of the building or is there a hopefully better reason?

Answer: These are sometimes present in hotels and are used as a makeshift clothesline. This way travelers can handwash clothes and hang them to dry.