Grumpy Scot

4th Jun 2005

Resident Evil (2002)

Corrected entry: Why does Umbrella know that Red Queen killed everyone, but not that the virus is loose? Is there no way to see into or receive data from the Hive other than Red Queen? Does every communication in or out have to be approved through her? And even if she is the sole conduit for information into and out of the Hive, her primary purpose for existing is to keep the T-virus from escaping. Umbrella THINKS that Red Queen has malfunctioned. BUT, she is working perfectly! So suppressing info that the T-virus is loose in the Hive would contradict her core programming. So why doesn't Umbrella know?

Grumpy Scot

Correction: Umbrella knows the T-virus is loose, they wanted that to happen. They send the team in there to fight their creations, to test their creations. Not to shut the hive down, that was just a ruse. Also, it's possible the Hive Queen was never meant to keep the T-virus from escaping, Umbrella was the one to program her and Umbrella wants a whole lot of things to happen except containing the T-virus as we learn from the future movies. The hive Queen was just a controlling unit for the experiment of the hive, to help the experiment succeed.

lionhead

Umbrella staging this experiment, is that why the Red Queen didn't just have all staff come to a security room to obtain the cure? Because we know there is a cure, and we find out later from the Red Queen herself that if you administer the cure soon after the virus, the individuals might survive. Yes, I realise my question is based on a movie based on a game.

It's unclear why the Hive Queen acted as it did, either as part of the experiment or because the security measures just happened to help the experiment along. The original staff were never safe with the type of security it activated, the compound was already deemed lost, just containing it within was all the Hive Queen did. The rest is just a ruse.

lionhead

I don't believe that is true either. It is canon now that Paul W S Anderson changed it but that is a plot hole within another plot hole because Spence didn't work for Umbrella and his motivations were not to spread the virus to start an apocalypse but to cover his tracks and steal the T Virus to sell on the black market. So in reality that is a plot hole even if the writer tried to change it.

It's not about spreading the virus, it's not about saving the people working at the hive. The Red Queen deemed the compound lost instead of trying to contain the virus and save the employees. Spence's actions were just convenient for Umbrella because it gave them the opportunity to test the virus.

lionhead

I still don't get this. This makes sense for the most part concerning the reason why the Sanitation team was sent down there as a result of the story playing out like RE1, but... It doesn't add up on account of Spence himself, the guy who started all this. That means, somehow Umbrella knew of his plan to sell the T-Virus to black markets? And his backup plan to use it to cover his escape? If this is true why does the Red Queen prevent him from escaping? He gave them exactly what they wanted.

28th May 2003

Resident Evil (2002)

Corrected entry: Why didn't Umbrella's higher ups just ask Red Queen what happened before sending in an assault team? She could have told them the T-virus was released and the hive would have stayed sealed. Instead, they just assumed she was nuts and sent in people to shut her down! Had even one of them said, "What happened?", the zombies would have never been released - it's a plot hammer that contradicts the whole point of having an AI run the hive. There should have been a line that said something like "All attempts to communicate with Red Queen so far have failed. The whole point of an AI that has the capability to seal the Hive is to keep the virus from escaping! Her refusal to communcate guarantees that the hive will be breached by a team that is investigating.

Grumpy Scot

Correction: She wasn't meant to keep the hive shut as the virus was meant to get out. Via the final movie.

11th Jul 2005

Resident Evil (2002)

Corrected entry: Red Queen is extremely conveniently programmed for the plot of the movie. 1. Rather than seal off rooms in a place she has TOTAL control of, (that by the way is designed to be isolated in sections for this very reason), she lets the infection spread to everybody in the Hive. She could have easily contained it in a small section of the facility. This is standard procedure in ANY biowarfare lab, there is no way she wouldn't be programmed to do it. 2. Rather than let everyone know the virus is loose, she just starts killing everyone. She had counter-virus available, why not let everyone know that they are locked in with the virus, but help is coming? The infected personnel would be hit with it only minutes after infection. If it didn't work and they died, they are still locked in. 3. Instead of calling Umbrella and telling them the virus is loose, she clams up and just slaughters everyone. This guarantees that Umbrella will ignore anything she has to say, and breach the Hive with a response team and release the virus, the very thing she is programmed to prevent. 4. When Kaplan is disabling her, she keeps telling him that it's a bad idea, but doesn't bother to let him know that shutting her down will release hordes of flesh-eating killers. 5. She just assumes that Spence, no matter how he got in to the T-virus storage has clearance to stuff it all in a duffel bag and walk out with it. She could have locked him in and double-checked with Umbrella. 6. The entire reason for her existence is to prevent the virus from escaping, while almost every decision she makes greatly increases the chances it will get out of the Hive. This is way beyond bad programming - this is highly advanced AI doing the exact opposite of what she's designed for.

Grumpy Scot

Correction: She isn't allowed to help them since the viral outbreak was on purpose. Via the final movie.

9th May 2005

Resident Evil (2002)

Corrected entry: Spence and Alice are charged with making sure no one without proper clearance gets into the Hive. Why then does Spence have the clearance to get into the Hive's most secret and secure area, the T-virus storage? Does a bank guard at the door have the combination to the vault? Can the guard in the entrance of a missile silo launch a missile? Of course not. There is no reason for him to have access that deep into the Hive. And while he may have bought the codes to get in, why does no one in the most secure facility in the world give him a second glance? Did he buy off every security guard and Red Queen as well?

Grumpy Scot

Correction: It is never mentioned that they don't have access to the hive. Comparing them to bank guards or silo guards is a moot point. This is a highly classified government facility. There is no law that says they cannot give them access to the inside of the hive.

lartaker1975

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