Original subtitles

Jesus.

- Where's the nearest good restaurant? - Depends.

If you're a human, it's back in Washington.

But if you're a gator, it could be right where we land.

Thank your lucky stars you're coming in at the end of this.

Holland insisted on building it all out here.

He said this is where the life is.

One of those life forms nailed the guy you're replacing.

What? They sent a woman out here?

Where the hell are you going?

- Couldn't take it any more. - Well, he lasted longer than most.

Boo!

I'll get him! Cut him off.

Harold, get him!

Don't shoot.

- Watch your step. - Okay.

No!

Weird, isn't it? The local fishermen say this place is haunted.

I don't know where we are, Toto, but it sure isn't Kansas.

- What? - Nothing.

Used to be a church until about 50 years ago. Then a levee broke.

It's just been us and the deer flies the last ten weeks.

Welcome back, sir. What'd Washington say?

That's confidential, Teddy.

That's okay, miss, I got it.

- You can start packing your toothbrush. - All right.

Where does this thing go?

- Give me a hand over here with this thing. - I gotcha, man.

What does Holland think about being yanked from the swamp to Washington?

I doubt he's even been told.

Ritter couldn't believe me when I gave him the news this morning.

- Do you think Washington's paranoid? - Do you think the Pope is Catholic?

This is your place.

You probably haven't seen half this stuff. It's all new.

- Take this for instance, it's a laser... - Laser-induced subsonic field generator.

Gives double readings in the 3200-band, right?

I got a trick for fixing that.

Just my luck, they send me someone who knows what she's doing

the week they pull us out.

What's he working on, anyway?

- Who? - Holland.

This thing is so hush-hush no one asks.

Something to do with plants.

Where the hell's my bonnet? Nobody puts back! Hey, Charlie!

The emperor calls. Come on.

Hey, you know, there's a...

What's going on here? Get those things into the church.

You men in the boat, what the hell do you think you're doing?

Get that damn thing out of sight! Lame brains!

Charlie, welcome back. And this is Hank's replacement?

Cable, Harry Ritter, Project Field Supervisor.

You know one of your sensors is reading malfunction?

It's not surprising. They rot in a week in these damn swamps.

Charlie, did you get them to change their minds?

No. They want him and the substance back in Washington

where they can keep their eyes on him.

- Anything wrong that you know of? - A rumor.

Somebody's heard Arcane's gotten wind of the project.

- I thought Arcane was dead. - He is. Who said that?

- Who said Arcane's onto this? - Nobody's taking credit for it.

You know Washington.

All it takes is one loudmouth to spill this to Holland...

and the whole project goes to hell in a hand-basket. You know that?

Yes, sir.

That goes for you, too.

Come on. Come on.

I keep the number of people near to him at a minimum.

This admits the three of us. And the Hollands.

It was programmed to your prints this morning. Try it.

The stuff I have to put up with. Alligators, bugs, poisonous snakes,

and now the rumors begin. Charlie!

I want to hear everything about the Arcane business, now.

What about that sensor out in Sector Three?

Right. Get somebody to take you out there and take a look.

Me? In the swamps?

- Any luck there? - Wiggle your fingers.

Lose a contact lens?

Funny.

Don't just stand there, give us a hand. Right about the middle.

Please?

I dropped a Cooper's digger.

Would you look under the rocks, please?

Go ahead.

What's a Cooper's digger anyway? Some kind of shovel?

No. Just Alessandro.

He's got a little one-celled animal living in his fur that makes a terrific host.

Terrific.

I'll remember that the next time I throw a party.

Oh, not bad. Not bad.

You don't have to be crazy to be around him...

- But it helps? - Yeah.

Alice Cable, new kid on the block. You guys part of Holland's crew?

I'm Linda Holland.

- You're Dr. Holland. - I'm a Dr. Holland,

but not the Dr. Holland, boy genius and oddball.

That's Alec. He's the brains in the family. I just cook up what he invents.

Oh, no. Don't you believe her. She's got an IQ like a phone number.

Which reminds me, I want you to run up a new variation on the formula

with that little host on Alessandro's fur.

Okay.

Hello. I understand you have a sensor out?

You want to go out and take a look?

Well, I guess I could ask Charlie to give us an escort.

Maybe we could ask your mother to come along, too.

Come on. The only dangerous thing out there

are those government agents with their pop guns.

It's your first day on the job. I'll take you on a cook's tour.

Ritter's always after me to get some fresh air.

He'll be tickled pink.

What do you say?

Oh, man.

You look like a tree.

Sometimes I feel like a tree. You like the swamps?

Hate the swamps. Hate bugs, hate things without legs.

A neatness freak, huh?

- You could eat off my kitchen floor. - You could eat off the swamp.

Maybe half the world could eat off the swamps.

More than likely, the swamps will eat off us.

What happened to the guy I'm replacing, for instance?

The gator was only following his natural way.

You can't blame a guy for that.

I paid a fortune for these boots.

You better keep moving. There's a fair amount of quicksand around here.

- You better keep your eyes open, too. - For what?

One of these just might jump out and do you in.

There's over a hundred species of genus Orchis here.

So much beauty in the swamps if you just open up your eyes to it.

I mean, take a look into your own body,

one of God's most magnificent creations, and what do you see?

Straight lines and deodorant and chrome and Formica? No, no, no.

You see blood and bone, pump and flow, and a million messy miracles.

I mean, just look at the most creative thing a man and a woman can do together

and you'll see something growing, unpredictable...

magical, hot.

Just save the malarkey for your wife, Holland.

Now, if you don't mind, where the hell's the sensor?

Oh. It's right over there.

Looks okay to me. Here, let me help.

Well, it doesn't look okay to me.

- Let's get back. - All right.

Charlie?

Charlie!

Cable? What the hell is your story?

Charlie, did anything suspicious happen when we were gone?

You're damn right! Something suspicious did happen.

A stupid broad of an agent, first day on the job,

takes a scientist we're all supposed to be guarding

for an unguarded romp in the bush!

Hold it! Just cool it, all right?

You think you're on a cute picnic or something?

Wait a minute, Ritter. It was my idea to take her out there.

She was just doing her job.

What do you have to be so worried all the time for?

Because it's my job to worry. And if I had my way,

and by God I will, you'll be on the next chopper back to Washington!

A woman has no place around a guy like you.

There's a cut sensor out there, what about that?

- Which Sector? - Sector Three.

Hank was working on that one when he was bitten by the gator.

Needless to say, he didn't put it all back together again

before we took him to the hospital.

Tickled pink, huh?

I'm really sorry, Cable.

Well, I guess you can't be blamed for following your natural way.

Did either of you see one of our guys out there? Ronnie?

No, why?

We seem to have lost contact.

Hey, what's that?

- Linda? Are you all right? - It's okay. It's okay.

Thank God.

The damnedest thing.

You know this new batch you had me cook up with the host from Alessandro's fur?

Uh-huh.

I knew we were up to something revolutionary,

but this is literally dynamite.

Watch.

- Incredible. - Weird, huh?

Congratulations. You've managed to reinvent nitro.

Let's hope this project doesn't end with a bang.

Come on, Charlie, please. I got to write this down.

I thought you were working on some sort of weapons system.

I knew it wasn't just plants.

Plants, plants.

The only way I ever thought my work would be explosive

was socially, if you believe me.

The stuff we've been working with has never been this volatile before.

Linda, prep a sample of that for the electron microscope, please.

Right.

And be exceptionally careful with it, all right?

Don't worry.

What is it you've been doing here, Holland?

Come over here, I'll show you.

Well, now, you see those little guys?

DNA chromosomes from the common lab bacilli E. coli.

Now, you see that one? Another simple bacilli. Plant matrix called D-complex.

Now, each of these organisms have existed in the labs for years.

But always separately, which isn't too surprising,

since one is animal, the other is vegetable.

But now this is what we've developed over the last couple of months.

You see that little guy?

Never existed on face of the Earth before. That's my baby.

A simple vegetable cell with an unmistakable animal nucleus.

- Recombinant DNA? - That's very good.

I am very close to developing a plant

with an animal's aggressive power for survival.

A plant for the 21st century.

What do you want, watermelons as big as weather balloons?

Or tomatoes that'll fetch a stick?

I wouldn't mind a tomato that could grow in the desert.

Or soybeans that could thrive in Biafra

or corn that could grow in the good ol' US-of-A, say in the year 2001

when there'll be six-and-a-half billion people on this planet, all them hungry.

- How you doing here, Linda? - It's all set.

- Vector 3379. - Okay.

- It's replicating like mad. - It certainly is.

Come on, let's try it on something.

Cable, would you bring that flask of water here, please?

Thank you.

If it would work on plants the way you want it to...

what will it do to people?

And what if it falls into the wrong hands?

Arcane, boogieman mentality, huh? Okay, now we begin.

All right, 2,000 water...

one-part formula.

"2,000 water, 6:30, March 20th."

- How long before you'll know? - What?

What do you want it to do? Jump out of the beaker

and dance the fandango?

I don't know. A week maybe. Maybe longer.

This has all the thrills of watching grass grow.

Aren't there some sensors out there you could be working on?

Oops.

Forget it. He's just ridiculously sensitive. Our dad was the same.

Your dad?

You've never heard of Walter Holland, the biophysicist? Nobel Prize.

He used to throw a mean Bunsen burner, I can tell you.

Alec and I spent half our childhood cleaning up after his tantrums.

Perfectionist to the day he died. Alec's the same.

- Oh, my God. - What is that?

Cable, I don't believe this.

All the places that Linda dropped the formula, the boards grew!

- Are you kidding? - No, I'm not kidding.

Alec!

- Linda! - What?

Get in here quick! This is fantastic!

- Alec! - This is incredible!

Oh.

Alec, the formula?

Ritter, he's got to be told right away.

I want to see that bastard's face when he realizes we've done it.

Ritter!

Ritter!

Have you guys seen Ritter?

- He's in the command shed. - Thanks.

Ritter.

Charlie.

Help!

Get up!

- Hold it! - I'm holding. I'm holding.

It's over, lady.

- Arcane, right? - Shut up.

Alec, watch out!

Very interesting, Dr. Holland!

On your feet.

Who are you?

Interesting.

Let go of me!

I know I haven't seen anything like this before.

Have you?

What the hell do you want?

I represent a certain party that's interested in your formula.

He'd give an arm and a leg for it. Your arm and leg if necessary.

- Get out of my lab! Get out! - Alec!

What's the holdup?

He's being difficult.

No, Ritter, not you.

No, Dr. Holland, not Ritter.

Ritter, poor fellow, is long dead.

You have heard of but never seen me, so I will introduce myself.

My name is Arcane.

Linda, come here. Here.

Leave her alone.

Thank you.

All materials pertaining to the substance now...

or she dies.

What sort of rejuvenation will you be able to perform on her then?

- Don't, Alec. - It's all right.

The actual solution as well.

Linda!

Linda!

Linda!

Linda!

What is best for you is not to be born. Not to be.

To be nothing!

But the second best for you is to die soon.

Nietzsche.

- Get back. - The notebooks.

- I've never seen anything like that. - What the hell was that?

The notebooks. Good.

Strip it. No bodies.

No witnesses.

You!

No survivors, no traces of any of them.

- You, come here. Burn the papers. - Yes, sir.

Burn everything. Come on. Get a move on.

Hey, somebody help Bruno with the bodies. He's doing it by himself.

I want this place cleaned by dawn.

- Is that the last of them? - That's it!

Then get the lead out!

A final check, then let's vacate the premises.

Right. Take that to the boat.

Hurry it up.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'm finding lots of good stuff down here.

What kind of stuff?

A little of this, a little of that. Come on down and take a look.

What you got?

Found some money, a watch, and a couple of notes.

- This. - Oh, that.

I took it off the girl. You can have it.

Ain't worth nothing compared to the watches anyway.

Get out in front, we're getting out of here.

Curt!

Gotcha!

Planning on going somewhere?

Come on, let's take a little walk.

Bastard.

My, have you gotten dirty. My goodness!

- Tyrone, Willie. Come here. - Yeah.

I think this lady needs a bath.

Let's take her down to the dock.

- Hey, where'd she come from? - Help!

Help!

Help!

Get the boat ready.

Now move it!

We don't have all day and I wanna teach this lady how to swim.

Do you know what the first lesson is? It's called the dead man's...

You want to play rough?

There she is! There!

Say hello to your boyfriend, baby.

What the hell was that?

Willie, Tyrone, shoot the damn thing!

Get it! Kill it and her! You, too!

Back in the swamp.

Willie, go that way. Tyrone, cover that area.

So long, baby.

Willie?

Flank right.

No, no, no! What are you doing?

What the hell are you doing, Danny?

Spread out. Keep your head.

- Where's Danny? - Where's Willie?

Maybe Willie's with Tyrone.

- Danny shot Tyrone. - Oh, yeah.

- Maybe we should, uh, maybe we should... - Get the hell out of here!

The work with DNA, I expected...

but the combining of plant and animal is astonishing.

Astonishing.

- You should sleep, sir. - I can't.

It was all so near, right there in the palm of my hand and...

But it's lovely not to sleep...

knowing that I'll soon make the substance for myself.

Have some coffee, sir.

Thank you.

Holland had great talent.

But talent does only what it can.

Genius does what it must.

It is master of man, power, absolute.

And in your hands, sir, how magnificent.

- How beautiful. - Yes.

- The world will bow or starve. - Yes.

Yes.

Four, five, six.

- How many notebooks were there? - Six, I think.

But six ends with notes two weeks old.

It's unfinished.

There must be another.

A seventh notebook.

Ferret has just radioed, sir.

- Something's happened. - What?

Something about a... Well, you better speak to him yourself, sir.

What?

- You're not gonna believe this. - Something incredible

- came out of the swamps. - Bruno.

- What came out of the swamps? - Some kind of animal or something.

It got the men.

We wouldn't even be here if it hadn't gotten after the girl first.

Girl? You mean you let her get away?

Uh-huh. Here comes trouble.

Hi.

You in a plane crash?

Just been out walking.

Uh-huh.

You got a phone that works?

Operations.

This is 5-17. Operation Mount Pisba.

Get me my next immediate superior, please, and hurry.

Hold on. I'm putting you through to Ritter.

I think he's been neutra...

- Yes? - This is the mobile operator 3-4.

I have an emergency call for you.

Put the call through.

Ritter, this is Cable. We've had a catastrophe out here.

What happened?

There was a hit on the compound. Holland's dead, the lab's gone.

- I thought they got you, too. - No, I was called away.

Well, I think you were wrong about Arcane.

These guys knew what they were looking for. There's only one...

Hold on, we'll get to you. You can explain later. Where are you?

A gas station a mile south of the road to the landing.

Right. Oh.

- Did you manage to save anything? - Damn right.

I got the last notebook.

Very good. I'll be there before you know it.

Turn around.

- Doesn't anything work around here? - Just me.

Kicking it don't help nothing. You got to punch it.

- Thanks. - Nothing. Name's Jude.

Cable.

Nice station. Your dad own it?

Looks like your ride's got here.

Come on, let's go.

Don't be afraid, Jude.

You better say that to someone whose desk you ain't hiding behind.

Is there a gun here?

What kind of place you think this is? Of course there is.

This gun's a museum piece. Stay here.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

- Hey, greaseball! - She's mine.

She's got a gun!

Some gun. It blew up on the first shot.

Let's go!

Jam it! Jam it to the floor!

Wait a minute. There she is.

Go! Go! Go get her. Go on! Go on!

Watch the tree!

Go! Go! Come on. She's gaining ground on you.

Hey, there she is!

Faster!

Got her in your sights.

It's back. Stop the jeep!

Run her down. Don't stop!

Help!

No!

Shoo!

Go!

It's okay, it's okay. It's just me.

Jude, what are you doing here?

Think I'm gonna stay at that station when they're pumping it full of holes?

You're mistaken.

What happened to that thing?

It hit a tree.

Uh-huh.

Must have been one of those hit-and-run kind of trees.

It don't seem to be there now.

Some tree, all right.

There's a trapper's cabin nearby.

Maybe we can get you a fresh change of clothes.

Swamp's no place to be at night. Come on.

The last patrol is in.

Whatever it is, it disappeared for the night.

Some of the men say it's one of those abdominal snowman or something.

I tell you, it was like hitting a tree.

Bullets hurt it, but they don't seem to stop it.

I say we forget this notebook.

It's not worth it. What are we killing ourselves for?

Just to find a formula to some ordinary plant fertilizer?

Ordinary?

Something extraordinary came out of the experiments already.

Something that Holland or myself had absolutely no notion of.

None.

Would you recognize immortality if it knocked on your door, gentlemen?

Obviously, you wouldn't, but that's beside the point.

I want this swamp thing and I want the notebook.

Now.

- Don't worry. I'll get rid of him. - You will not get rid of him.

You will simply get him.

Pure elements of the formula that determines him are there...

in his veins.

But how can we find it?

It's gone into the swamps.

Every time you've seen the girl, you've seen the beast, right?

That's right.

Then we'll find the girl. The beast will follow.

It doesn't exactly maintain a low profile.

He was right. It is beautiful.

Who was right?

A guy I knew.

He loved these swamps.

Can't you call him? Maybe he could come and get you.

You ain't got nobody you can call, huh?

Thought I had, but when I did, those goons showed up back there

and started making Swiss cheese out of your gas station.

Didn't pay your bookie or something?

Something. Much farther?

Little ways.

- Stay here. - Don't worry.

- If you hear anyone, you give a yell. - Don't worry.

And if I don't come, just go on and get yourself out.

I can handle myself. Don't worry.

I'm not worried.

Well, I am.

- What happened? - Just go! Go!

We're going to do our job and get this notebook back to Washington.

The rest isn't my business.

The local people say this place is full of ghosts.

Well, there's gonna be one more before this day is through.

There she is.

Who's that?

Who's that?

That was that thing. Let's go. Come on.

What the heck's going on here?

Cut the engine.

- Units one and two. - Roger.

Sector Four. On the double.

We got him cornered.

Where is he?

What is he?

Shh.

I think I see him.

Hit it!

Units one and two, where the hell are you? Get over here. On the double!

Split up. Go the back way. We'll come in straight.

Quickly. Come now.

There he is. Over there.

Open up on him.

Hang on. I'm going to knock him out of there.

Oh, shit!

Jesus! Unit two. Use the grenades if you have to.

Maybe we can stun him.

One hit! I think you got him.

He's still going. Give him everything you got. Come on.

We've got him now!

- Where'd he go? - I don't know.

- Do you see him? - Yeah, I see him everywhere.

- Any sign of him over there? - Nothing.

We think maybe he bought the farm, or the vegetable patch.

Who the hell is that?

He's smart. That thing is smart.

Very smart, Bruno. Very smart.

This thing has considerable intelligence.

He's like a brilliant chess player.

He anticipates every move.

A strong adversary is like a beautiful, dangerous woman.

I've never been able to resist either.

- Tell the captain to weigh anchor. - We're going home.

No, we are not.

Captured our knight.

Exposed his queen.

Our move.

Awfully quiet now. We better get out of here.

I've got to go back and help.

You just take the notebook and get yourself to safety.

I'll come back for you later. Go on, do as I say.

- Cable! - Shh!

Jude, go and do what I told you. It's not safe here anymore.

You hear?

Jude?

No!

Oh, shit! There goes the neighborhood.

Wait a minute. You're the dude who saved us back there. Right?

You a friend of Cable?

I got something for you.

She said I oughta put it some place safe.

- Where's Arcane? - Below.

Tell him I've captured his queen.

Walked right into our hands, didn't you? Real smart.

Thanks. I knew we couldn't rely on your intelligence.

What I couldn't do for you.

Tell you what.

Tell me where the notebook is and I'll get you out of the swamps.

Deal?

I don't mind the swamps.

It's the slime that crawls out from under the rocks that turns my stomach.

Nasty mouth, but a pretty one.

- What do you say to that? - Not much.

Cable!

Cable.

Ferret!

Ferret!

Ferret!

- Maybe we should go in and check. - No, we go home now.

- Sir, but... - Home!

That's very kind.

Nice orchid.

Family Orchidaceae.

Genus Orchis.

Over a hundred species here.

Much beauty in the swamp

if you only look.

Alec?

Oh, I'm sorry.

- It must... - Hurt?

Does it?

Only when I laugh.

Have I gone crazy? Isn't this a dream?

That's what I keep asking myself.

Everything's a dream...

when you're alone.

Alec...

- Now. - No!

Go on, get him.

Get him, yeah.

Grab a hold of him!

A man who loves gives hostages to fortune.

- Alec. - Alec Holland.

You knew, didn't you? You knew we'd be caught.

The only way out, is through.

The occasion for this celebration is, of course, known to you all.

We have captured the dragon...

rescued the damsel in distress.

Of course, we regret the loss of our friend Ferret.

His frayed and volatile temper has destroyed him.

Nonetheless, we regret his loss, regret it deeply. But, to speak the truth...

which is essential, regrets are trifles...

when one considers the grand design.

We are here tonight in celebration of an event of profound significance.

The duplication of the Holland formula.

For this, we must thank the excellence of one man.

Dear, dear Bruno,

who won the notebook from which we extracted the final secret

and topped it by capturing the beast.

So I propose a toast to the keystone of our success...

to our conquest of the world. To Bruno.

To Bruno.

Sir...

have you tried it out on a plant yet?

I mean, when are we going to see the results?

Tonight.

Tonight, dear Bruno, immediately, but not on a plant.

- Have you taken it? - No.

I have given the privilege of taking the first dose of our formula...

to our guest of honor...

who deserves the privilege thoroughly.

It is you, dear Bruno, who will tell us

whether or not the formula works.

Bruno, what's the matter with you?

Oh, my God.

Calm.

Calm.

You...

You...

What have you done with Cable?

Holland.

Holland.

You're there, brain intact.

All your abilities, everything. Plus the power.

The physical strength.

Bring him in.

Some friend you are.

Sorry, Bruno. It's every man for himself and God against all.

Why doesn't Bruno have your strength?

We followed the notebooks religiously. There can be no margin for error.

Why doesn't Bruno there have your strength?

Because he never had it.

No riddles, please.

You will tell me or you'll pay.

And through a very dear agent.

Bring her in.

- The explanation or her! - Alec, don't!

Which?

You don't understand.

There's nothing hidden.

No secrets.

The formula works in so simple a way.

What Bruno took was what changed me.

It only amplifies your essence.

It simply makes you more...

of what you already are.

Bruno's essence was stupidity and timidity.

The formula simply extended...

amplified this to ridiculous forms and proportions.

He shrank.

He shrank to what he actually was.

But if the essence is, let us say, genius,

then this genius shall be monumental,

in body as well as in spirit, is that what you're saying?

Cable.

Alec.

Not to be the phenomenon. But the thing, in itself.

Eternal, absolute beauty.

Absolute strength and power.

Physical and spiritual.

To be the world and own it.

- Yes? - Darling...

tell Karen to bring me a glass of brandy.

Reach for it.

You thrive on the light, reach for it.

Alec.

Come. Come.

What's the matter with you? Go. Go, leave me.

Your arm.

Listen.

He's taken the formula.

Please. There is a way.

I can't reach it. But you twist it to the right and then to the left.

Put it there in case a guard ever got shut in by mistake.

Come on, follow me. Come on, follow me!

You'll have to trust me here if you want to survive. If you don't...

- Tell us. - This is the well of the estate,

fed by a spring from the bottom of the great swamp.

If you follow it, you'll come out in the swamp.

Go!

Watch your step!

Have a nice trip.

See you in the fall!

Alec.

Alec!

Behind you.

I don't understand. It's healed.

What is it?

It's over.

Alec, let me go with you.

You can start your work again.

With these?

I'll be your hands.

Please?

You need to heal. You need to tell our story.

I'll see you soon.

Until then...

I'll always be with you.

Alec!

Cable!

Jude.

You okay?

Mm-hm.

He told me to come and get you.

He'll be back, though. Right?