Ownership of the ATAC, why did Bond destroy it?

Danjaq

Was watching FYEO and at the end when Bond threw the ATAC of the mountaintop when General Gogol arrived, I was a bit confused. Doesn't the ATAC legally belong to the British Government? Why would Bond have to destroy it rather than give it to General Gogol?

It's not like the General could order his bodyguard to shoot Bond if he doesn't comply since not only does Bond have armed backup on the mountain with him but the General said earlier there would not be any direct involvement in obtaining the transmitter. Shooting an MI6 agent and stealing it from him would be pretty direct. And if Bond's goal was to maintain detente as he said, he had already made a favorable impression on Gogol in his mission in TSWLM. So refusing to surrender the ATAC (which again legally belongs to the UK) wouldn't really be necessary to maintain detente.

So why did Bond have to destroy the ATAC? Wasn't his mission to retrieve it before it could fall into the wrong hands? And what's to stop the Russians from retrieving the remains of the machine and trying to pull somtheing off of it if they can?

GordoLeiter

It made him look more dashing

Danjaq

GordoLeiter wrote:

It made him look more dashing

Heh, well if he wanted to look more dashing he should have said "Sorry General, consider this a repossession on behalf of Her Majesty."

chrisisall

Danjaq wrote:

Doesn't the ATAC legally belong to the British Government? Why would Bond have to destroy it rather than give it to General Gogol?

Dashingness, nothing else.

vanguard

They needed to have the slow mo shot of the ATAC smashing into pieces, that's why!

minigeff

i think it's probably got more to do with bond's situation.

he's on top of a remote rock, no cover, no weapon out and in front of him is a russian goon with an ak. there's no escape, no way of getting rid of said goon, or gen gogol stood next to him, so the easiest solution is to destroy the ATAC and then neither side has it.

i would have thought Q would have the blueprints back in blighty anyways, so no issues with making another.

bond's mission wasn't to beat the russians to taking it off someone, it was to stop it falling into enemy hands.

BIG TAM

Perhaps he thought it was a rubbish MacGuffin & not worthy of keeping. )

minigeff

BIG TAM wrote:

Perhaps he thought it was a rubbish MacGuffin & not worthy of keeping. )

well i would have thought that in the event of something so sensitive being lost, all the launch codes and procedures would be changed straight away anyhow, rendering the ATAC useless.

but it makes a good centrepiece for the film, and FYEO isn't a bad flick IMO.

Thunderbird 2

Someone in Q branch must have got out the dustpan and brush, cause it looked in great condition at The Barbican!

minigeff

Thunderbird 2 wrote:

Someone in Q branch must have got out the dustpan and brush, cause it looked in great condition at The Barbican!

1 of 6 made

Blackleiter

I think it was done to spare us from having to watch Ole Rog pretend to "fight" that Russian goon. Not a pretty sight! )

minigeff wrote:

i think it's probably got more to do with bond's situation.

he's on top of a remote rock, no cover, no weapon out and in front of him is a russian goon with an ak. there's no escape, no way of getting rid of said goon, or gen gogol stood next to him, so the easiest solution is to destroy the ATAC and then neither side has it.

i would have thought Q would have the blueprints back in blighty anyways, so no issues with making another.

bond's mission wasn't to beat the russians to taking it off someone, it was to stop it falling into enemy hands.

Napoleon Plural

minigeff wrote:

i think it's probably got more to do with bond's situation.

he's on top of a remote rock, no cover, no weapon out and in front of him is a russian goon with an ak. there's no escape, no way of getting rid of said goon, or gen gogol stood next to him, so the easiest solution is to destroy the ATAC and then neither side has it.

i would have thought Q would have the blueprints back in blighty anyways, so no issues with making another.

bond's mission wasn't to beat the russians to taking it off someone, it was to stop it falling into enemy hands.

Yeah, that's it imo.

Blood_Stone

Basically, it was a "Fu** you!" gesture to Gogol.

minigeff

Blood_Stone wrote:

Basically, it was a "Fu** you!" gesture to Gogol.

8-)