How does Gupta know the actual position of the Devonshire (TND) ?
SeanIsTheOnlyOne
Posts: 503MI6 Agent
In TND, Gupta fakes the encoder and uses Carver's satellite to send a signal containing the wrong coordinates.
The thing I don't get is how Carver's stealth ship succeeds in intercepting the Devonshire. To accomplish that, Gupta needs to know its actual position at that specific time, something the GPS can't determine considering the users don't emit when they use the system, they just receive the signal. The other possibility is using the route, the schedule and the speed, but nobody within Carver's team seems to know about these elements. The crew and the British Government surely keep it secret from the rest of the world...
Does anyone here see my point ?
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Also, the fact Gupta seems to know the orbital position of the closest American GPS satellite is quite unlikely. This is not supposed to be public information. The system became fully operational only two years before the release of the movie, and I can hardly imagine the US Defense Department not keeping an eye on it very seriously.
Gupta may be a wonderful hacker, it mainly seems to be a convenient excuse to make him accomplish everything he intends to. Same issue with Silva in SF, but the topics the movie deals with make the plot much less important than its mythological dimension (tolerate it becomes easier).
Furthermore, if Gupta is a genius indeed, then he should be able not to use one of Carver's satellites and then operate in shadow (hacking another satellite for instance).
And I'm suprised the two Chinese pilots don't seem to notice the sinking of the Devonshire. It's something the remaining one should have mentioned in his report, despite the death of his colleague. Then a dialogue between China and England would have been possible, and the actual position of the ship could have been given eventually, not forgetting the Chinese could have sent operatives to explore the wreck immediately after the sinking (only for security matters). Then they would have discovered a missile is missing, another intriguing element of this case...
The plot is full of holes and I just can't believe in the final result at all.
I know some people are going to boo and hiss at me for saying this but I did have a thread on hereabout a theory that Silva from SF was the one behind the events of TND.
Silva mentions that he worked for MI6 in Hong Kong from 86 - 97. IF you assume that the Craig films are a continuation of the Brosnan era, it could be that Silva is the one behind the scenes hacking the respective agencies and passing on information to Gupta. Silva is able to hack the ship's route, schedule and speed.
You say that "I can hardly imagine the US Defense Department not keeping an eye on it very seriously." Have you ever seen the film Enemy of the State? Also look at what Henry Snowden found out in real life. Any system can theoretically be hacked.
It is implied in the film that General Chang is a corrupt official in league with Carver. It is possible that he covered up all the real details of the sinking of the Devonshire. He would be the one to lie about the Devonshire's real location and could have possibly edited the report of the surviving air force pilot.
Interesting theory, but if Gupta is so skilled indeed, why using Carver's own satellite and then taking the risk of being spotted, like it actually happens?
He should have found a way to hack one of the american satellites. Do you see my point ?
Well, your Chang theory doesn't match with Benson's novelization of the film. Chang had already left the country during the sinking of the Devonshire, and his own government's suspicions started long before those events, when military supplies were stolen.
As I have mentioned in previous threads, I don't personally think it is such a great way to interpret a film if you rely on the novelisation for supporting evidence.
Often authors make subtle changes that contradict events and depictions of characters in the films and so I have always seen novelisations as an "alternative take" on the films they are based on. The description of Drax in the Moonraker novelisation is a perfect example of what I mean.
But for the sack of discussion I'll go along with the novelisation explanation here. Even if Chang had left the country, what is there to stop him from interfering with what goes on in the Chinese government's operations? He probably still had a number of loyal followers in the government who were willing to back him.
Concerning Chang and inside moles working for him, a specific part about it would have been interesting. Benson's main criticism of the script was the total lack of backstory, and I think he did a remarkable job to make the plot much more consistent. To be honest, I find his three novelizations far better plotwise than the movies, which is a real issue. About TND, the writing process was litterally chaotic, and one can see the second half clearly is wobbly, not to say weak.
I think the description of Drax in MR is a tribute to Fleming's version of the character, nothing more. It doesn't affect the plot. Wood decided to change some details of his own script, but the storyline is exactly the same, so is it really a problem ?