Original subtitles

Attention please, this is Major E .W. Foster speaking.

This tower is under siege.

All of its occupants have been taken hostage by 20 armed, highly trained,

disciplined personnel under my command.

You newspaper people really lead glamorous, exciting lives.

Huh?

Well, you get to cover world -shaking events, like the opening of a brand -new

glass -and -steel beehive.

Oh, come on, Rita. This is one of the most modern, fully -equipped, computer

-controlled, and button -down buildings in the whole world. That's fascinating,

Pete. Yeah, you're right.

It's a beautiful building, and it can do everything but fly.

But who cares?

But if Mr. Jameson wasn't one of the honored guests of this shindig, the

wouldn't even be covering it. On him.

Oh, pretty.

That's, uh, Julie Masters.

The competition.

She sure is. She spoiled four of my best pictures last night.

Well, the way I hear you talk about her, she may be the competition, but she's

definitely not the enemy.

Not personally.

Well, no, not personally.

But I'd better be catching up with her. She'll be giving me nothing but trouble.

Here, I'll see you.

Oh, please be back by 4 .30. Will do.

Now, don't forget, the handbrake on the car doesn't work. Trust me.

Rita, this was the cheapest car I could find, so you better keep your eye on the

temperature gauge. Peter, if you don't get inside pretty quick, you're going to

miss what's happening.

Yeah, that had occurred to me.

And, of course, we also sought to incorporate in our design the ultimate

technology available in the areas of security, public conveyance, and safety

systems. And I think we succeeded.

They are all computer -controlled, automated and monitored by a computer

so sophisticated it even monitors itself and therefore operates, for the most

part, unattended. We are especially proud.

of how it integrates with the system of 452 solid steel fire doors which we

developed for this tower.

Furthermore, the 958 computer can sense and detect fire, precisely determine

its location in the building, and signal sets of fire doors to close

automatically. Now this serves to seal off the affected area and isolate the

source.

And there are other unique features of the C .I .V .A. building.

fully occupied, this magnificent tower will provide a working space for 16 ,000

new employees.

Now that's 16 ,000 jobs that could have gone to the citizens of any other major

city in the world. But Cross, Invermess, Vermeer, and Amato chose New York City

to build their new headquarters.

And credit for that choice goes to the people seated before you.

And I'd like you all to join me in thanking them.

First, is Deputy Mayor Nugent.

So far, so good.

Duke.

Are you sure you got it all together?

Equipment's ready, sir. No, that's not what I meant, and you know it.

And you know I like keeping my feet on the ground.

Look, Major, I don't want anything to do with that scaffold. Oh, come on now,

Duke. It has a safety harness. Nothing can happen to you.

Now, who's going to set up the explosives on that roof if you don't,

You have a job to do, Duke.

Listen, nobody can do it better than you can. Nobody.

And I'm depending on you.

Okay.

Next, the distinguished editor and publisher of one of New York's finest

newspapers, Mr. J. Jonah Jameson.

Julie. What are you doing?

Call Striking Back. Look, he's my boss. If I don't get a good picture of him,

I'm finished.

Now we're even.

And lastly, the vice president in charge of corporate affairs.

Wouldn't want to waste this on a couple of crash landing pigeons.

Operator, this is an emergency.

Get me fire rescue right away.

Right. The CIVA tower.

There's a man right over the side of the scaffolding. He's hanging underneath

it.

Check that out.

Now, listen, mister.

Wait, a man just like you in my outfit in Vietnam, a real hot dog hero type,

he's still over there. We couldn't find enough of him to ship back home.

Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?

Good.

Mr. Farnham, how does it look?

It's okay.

Good.

All right, let's go.

Take it easy. You're gonna be all right.

Take it easy.

What did you just do, Mr. Farnham?

Mr. Farnham.

I told her we didn't just break in here.

You see?

Listen.

No alarm.

She hasn't made a sound.

I asked her not to.

We can do whatever we want now and she won't make any protest ever.

Yes.

She's one of a kind.

Beautiful, isn't she? Fully cooperative, I hope.

You can revise the program.

Of course I can.

She doesn't know how to say no to me.

You see, the more sophisticated the lady, the more vulnerable she is to

who knows her well.

And we've spent a lot of time together, haven't we?

Some exciting things have been going on here.

The register's going to have pictures of Spider -Man on the front page tomorrow.

Will the bugle? Absolutely. I was with him every step of the way. In fact, I

him from a high, kind of dramatic angle.

You know, any pictures taken from here will look like they were taken from the

second floor.

Good. Now, are you ready to take some pictures of that computer that Mr. Rio

telling us about? Well, sure, just as soon as I reload. Good. Let's go. Sure,

follow me.

Look, you faced it and you beat it. How do you feel?

No more.

Never again.

Well,

Mr. Farnham?

When, Mr. Farnham?

When she's ready.

Remember, I'm convincing her to do something.

Something normally she would not do.

Now look at the monitor.

You see?

He thinks there's a fire in the garage.

But not one sound of alarm.

Soon she'll think there's a fire on every floor in the tower.

Elevator. What about the elevators?

She's put them in maintenance mode at garage level.

Of course.

I asked her to.

Mind if I tag along?

Well, you'll have to tag us an elevator first. They're playing hard to get.

Yeah, well, you know how it is with a new building.

People take elevators just for the fun of it. They take tours of the place and

tie them up. Just where is this computer room you're telling us about?

Just a couple levels down.

Why don't we walk it?

What's going on here?

It looks like we're trapped on this floor.

Everybody quiet, please.

There's no cause for alarm.

If you just give your attention to Mr. Rio here, I think that he can explain

what has probably happened.

Okay.

Now, I know you all heard me say that those steel doors were designed to seal

off zones of the tower endangered by fire.

But if there really were a fire, we'd be hearing an alarm by now.

Now, I believe this condition is the result of a computer malfunction of some

kind. And I'm sure it will correct itself shortly.

Now, in the meantime, I suggest... Attention, please.

Your attention, please.

This is Major E .W. Foster speaking.

This tower is under siege.

All of its occupants have been taken hostage by 20 armed, highly trained,

disciplined personnel under my command.

They have been given strict orders to harm no one who cooperates with us.

Only those who oppose us or act against us.

need fear for their safety.

The remainder of this message is directed to Deputy Mayor Edward Nugent.

Mr. Deputy Mayor, responsibility for these people's lives is in your hands.

You can protect them and buy their freedom by arranging a ransom of $10

A million?

Money is to be put in an armored vehicle and is to be driven to this building.

Time is now exactly 2 .20.

Considering traffic conditions at this hour and the time necessary to assemble,

count, and package that much currency, the armored vehicle has to be to this

building no later than 3 .47.

The telephone on the tower level is still operative.

You may use it to make your necessary arrangements.

If you do not adhere precisely to my instructions...

Or if you inform the police and they decide to mount a counter -offensive,

of your lives will be terminated.

Thank you very much.

You really think they'd kill us all?

Listen, we've had a lot of dealings with terrorists lately.

It's a mistake not to take them seriously.

I think it sounds impossible.

No, no, not really, sir. I mean, well, just imagine what would happen if

somebody were to pump toxic gas into that air conditioning system.

For that matter, excuse me, the structural integrity of this tower is

by six strategic perimeter supports.

Now, enough explosive force applied to any two of them, and it would topple

a house of cards.

Let's get to the phone, Ed.

Mr. Rio, I'm a scientist myself, and I understand something about computer

operations.

I know that some of them can work on a remote access capability, a telephone

line. Now, this one only responds to direct input terminal commands.

Well, what floor is the computer on?

The 18th.

What if we were to shut down all the power in the building? How about getting

Con Air to just pull the plug on the place? They can't. The building has its

power generator.

Nothing would change anyway.

The computer would continue to operate in its present mode of control.

So, in other words, the only way that we're going to open the fire doors and

release everybody...

is to somehow get to the computer and return it to its original program.

it. But considering the fire doors on intervening levels, it'd be like trying

crack a bank vault with a set of drafting tools.

All right.

Keep the boys cool and find out who we're dealing with, will you?

Yeah.

Yeah, I got it.

Anything else?

Good.

We can use everything you can tell us about.

Well, you certainly have. Thanks again, Colonel.

Appreciate the cooperation.

What'd you get?

Foster, EW, Major U .S. Army.

Bronze Star, Three Purple Hearts, DSC, et cetera, et cetera.

Dishonorary discharge, May 15th of last year. Putting in 18 years.

Got caught with his hand in a black market cookie jar.

Angry, bitter, and persecuted.

And brilliant.

High marks in commandability, tactical know -how, and composed run to fire.

We're up against a battle -hardened pro.

Well, I'll say.

Operator, let me have the computer room.

1802.

He's doing just fine.

Hello? This is Lieutenant Ramirez. I'm with the New York Police Department.

I'd like to speak with a Major Foster, please.

You got him. State your business, Lieutenant.

Major, I've been authorized to tell you that the city is already working to

comply fully with your request.

Oh, that's very good. Then there's nothing further for us to discuss.

I'm begging your pardon, sir.

There are a few points I'd like us to go over.

Oh, yes. Nice try, Ramirez, but I know the routine, so forget it. There's

nothing for us to negotiate.

Yeah, but Major, we... As you were, Lieutenant.

We can forget talking about it.

What status do those tech boys have in Mobileye?

Shopper's on its way now.

Chopper. Probably a tech chopper. Just off the roof.

Enough plastic explosive up there to blow that roof off.

Spider -Man. What? He's the one that saved me.

He could have disarmed the explosives.

They might be moving in right now. Oh, they are. We would have heard it if they

opened that door. No one is going to disarm that.

Upon him.

Attack. Counterattack. Ready?

She's ready.

Maximum air velocity.

Sergeant Walker, I'm in charge here.

Although I don't know what I did to pull this duty.

Hey, I appreciate what you did.

Thanks. Hey, Schechter, go down below and take a look at that door down there,

will you? Wait just a minute.

The other side of that thing is packed with flashing explosions.

You lift the top off of that and you'll blow the top five floors of this

building clear to Jersey.

Yeah, and they come down pretty hard on littering over there, don't they, huh?

Well, that's why I keep a bomb boy on the squad. It helps hold the whole group

together. Hey, Schechter, go down there and give me a second opinion on that

door. No!

All right, Mr. Farnham.

Out the sleeping glass to the floors above.

All right, it's a real

hard one.

The door access to the detonator.

Opening it would be like hitting a blitz.

Isn't there anything you can do?

It'll take a couple hours.

The building ought to be empty first.

Well, then back off. I'd better check with Ramirez first.

Now what's happening?

Now I'm afraid of the air conditioning acting up.

A couple of hours?

All we got is about 14 minutes.

Well, I don't know what to tell you, Lieutenant, because we don't have any

options up here.

Let me have the microphone.

Lieutenant, this is Spider -Man.

I could get into the computer room through the window.

Forget it. We've run out of time.

They've won the skirmish. I'm having the money brought in.

They could have planted explosives all over the building.

You pop through that window and maybe all we get is a big bang and a lot of

hostages. No.

I say we pay and try to nail them when they leave.

I might be able to try another way.

I don't think you have a chance.

Anyway, I got a pretty tight psych pro on the leader.

Says he was raised on the honest... Keeps his word.

Walter, listen up.

Get your team into that chopper.

I want you ready to track that armored car in case it leaves with Foster and

group. All right, Lieutenant.

Please.

Seems that the police department has foolishly decided to mount a

I am forced, therefore, to take countermeasures to ensure that no

interference occurs.

Some of you are already feeling a little drowsy.

In a few moments, you'll all be asleep because of the sleeping gas that we are

pumping through the air conditioning vents.

Mr. Deputy Mayor, please tell the police department to have that ransom

delivered exactly on time.

Ten million dollars just pulled up in front of the building.

Tactics, tactics.

Major Foster for Lieutenant Ramirez.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know a tech team on the roof wasn't part of our deal.

Yeah, but listen, the money's here.

But I want your word on the safety of those hostages.

You have it.

Now, no more chit -chat, Lieutenant. I want that ten million loaded onto the

window washer's gondola.

You've got it.

It's been a pleasure doing business with you, Lieutenant.

Shut down the air conditioning.

Lower the gondola.

Money is loaded.

Now, here's the elevator that's going to take us to the basement level in

working order.

She didn't like it, but she'll do it.

And all we need is for you to time the destruction of the computer to occur a

few moments after we get to the basement level.

You're not serious.

Destroy this beauty?

That's not funny.

Yes, Ramirez?

Thank you very much, Lieutenant.

Have the gondola brought up to this level.

You were kidding about... about what you said, weren't you, Mr. Forster?

Have the gondola brought up to this level.

Yes, sir.

Have you finished setting it up?

It's all ready, Mr. Forster.

Are you positive?

I don't want your feelings for this hunk of electronics to get in the way of

this operation, Mr. Farnham.

It's done, Mr. Forster.

Duke attached the explosive device.

A few moments after we're in the tower basement, it'll detonate and she's gone.

I hated to do it. Very well. Now hurry up with those backpacks.

Come on, Mr. Farnham.

Allie, you all right?

Peter. Julie, are you okay?

Yes. Where were you?

Oh, I got zapped by the gas out in the hallway.

Stay here, okay?

Mr. Jameson.

Mr. Jameson, are you okay?

Yes, I think so.

You'd probably be a lot more comfortable in this chair. Can you make it?

If you'll help me.

With pleasure, Mr. James.

Baker Forster.

I gotta hand it to you.

Well, we're not out of it yet, but thank you.

Where's Farnham?

Mr. Farnham, we're waiting for you.

Go ahead.

I'm adjusting my back.

It's so heavy.

It sure is. Two and a half million dollars heavy.

Baker, what about Farnham?

Go and look.

Now, could he get back to the computer in time enough to prevent it from

up? No way.

Good.

He's gone.

We don't need him. He can't hurt us. Come on. Yeah, but the money... Come on.

We took a class together at the university.

This wasn't necessary.

She could have been disconnected.

She might have had a few components removed, that's all.

We would have accomplished the same thing.

But no.

He had to cripple her. Who?

Who crippled her?

Mr. Forster. He didn't understand her.

He didn't like her. He didn't care.

Then he should be punished for what he did to her.

Yes. He should be caught and punished.

It would be fair if he were punished for doing this.

If you tell me where he is, I'll see to it that he's caught and punished.

Now, you think he can make it?

Yeah. Come on, come on. Hold

it. Hold

it one minute.

We don't have time for this turkey to rest. Let's not get excited. We're

finished here. Let's not get overrun.

Are you all right?

Yeah, let's go. Come on.

You better go and see what happened to him.

Go on, Hammer.

Let's leave him.

It sounded like somebody attacked him. Go on. Come on, we're almost out of here

now. Hammer, go on.

Give me your pack. I'll hold it.

Go on, Hammer.