Question: Since Snake knew that X-rays would neutralize the pellets in his neck, couldn't he have asked brain about medical facilities within New York so he can neutralize them himself?
Chosen answer: Yes, but A. finding a working one is very unlikely, B. it would need a power source, also very difficult, C. Snake had no way of knowing if x-rays of a different frequency would work or set them off, and D. if he does disarm them, it's already been proven that New York is escape proof, so where would he go?
Answer: To be honest, why not extend this question further? The doctor explains to Snake that X-rays will neutralise the cores 15 minutes before they go off. Snake could fly the Gullfire to Canada and he would have about 20 hours to find a place (such as a hospital) that would have an X-ray machine. The frequency range of X-rays is so small that you could easily change frequencies within the 15 minutes. Additionally, we all believe what Halk says. Perhaps it was all a con to get Snake to help him (like the Plutoxin virus).
Question: Near the beginning, before Air Force One is even an issue, Hauk stops Snake's march along the orange line when he arrives, then it fades out. Later he's let into Hauk's office after Air Force One crashes. Was that previous scene meant to be later and flow into the office scene? As it is, it confuses me as to why it's at that point in the movie.
Answer: Exactly, this was John Carpenter's first big film after "Halloween", and he was still used to doing his own work on a movie: writing, producing, directing and editing. As a matter of fact, Snake's arrival at Liberty Island was supposed to be longer but was cut for time; most were never filmed.
Question: Does Air Force One crash into the twin towers?
Answer: The plane does in fact hit one of the towers. It strikes the tower, then crashes to the ground.
Answer: The plane does not hit one of the twin towers. Start video at 1:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkU1LFgKS9Y. The towers are on the far left, and then when it strikes the building, that is not what the external view of the twin towers look like. Then, when it shows the video of the escape pod, the building that it hit was the same height as a lot of the buildings surrounding it.
Answer: Whilst not explicitly shown onscreen, at least in the dvd I own, the plane is shown heading straight for the twins. The crash also is never seen, due to budgetary reasons.
Question: What's the big deal about the place Chock Full O' Nuts in this movie? In both commentaries, they make a big deal about it, but never actually go into detail. (00:40:10)
Chosen answer: It's a chain of coffee shops in the New York area that were around decades before Starbucks. (Their initial business was roasted nuts before they switched to coffee and kept the name.) They would have been as common a sight to 80s New Yorkers as Starbucks is today to everyone.
Question: Could someone please explain to me what I consider two of the biggest plot holes in this film. Firstly, how was Snake going to get his glider back in the air? If it had jets or thrusters on it, that would make sense, but when it first took off, it was being towed by a plane which means it is just a standard glider (Plissken does admit to Hauk that it will be an issue, but that explains little). Also given that it is a one-seat glider, how was he going to bring back the president on it? In fact, how were Brain, Maggie and the President (in their attempted double-cross) all going to squeeze onboard?
Answer: When Snake is told how he getting in the other guys said he can take off from a free fall.
Chosen answer: You are correct in citing these problems as plot holes. Writer-director John Carpenter is notorious for glaring plot holes in his films over the decades, inasmuch as Carpenter crafts his films for shock effect, rather than continuity. Other examples of Carpenter's plot holes can be found in the original "Halloween" (for instance, how did the killer Michael Myers, who had been confined in a mental institution since he was a child, learn to drive an automobile like a stunt driver his first time behind the wheel?), and in "The Thing" (why is the Thing discovered frozen in ice only about 4 feet below the modern surface while its spaceship is buried ten yards deep in 100,000-year-old ice?), as well as in "Prince of Darkness," "Vampires" and other Carpenter films. One explanation is that Carpenter tends to edit-out slower, extraneous scenes that more fully explain the plot, in order to maintain a fast-paced storyline.
I would assume he would push free fall and build up enough speed to fly, and then pull up, the WTC was the largest building in NY at the time anyway.
Question: When Snake and the others run away from the WTC, is the building an accurate representation of the real building(s)? I can find lots of images online of WTC 1& 2, and they appear to have the columns all the way to the ground, where in the movie, the ground level is about 20 feet high with no columns. (01:21:55)
Answer: The original World Trade Centers did't have columns as such. The floors were supported by the outside "skin" to make more useable space inside. The entrance (lobby) to the WTC has an open look from the outside the floor doesn't have to supported because it's the ground floor.
Chosen answer: During a mission known as the "Leningrad Ruse." He and his flight squadron were sent unknowingly on a suicide mission. During it, his goggles cracked and let in a poisonous gas, paralyzing his iris. He has to wear the patch because his eye can't focus against bright light, causing pain. This is mentioned in the novelization.
LorgSkyegon