SOUTH OF 57TH STREET - NIGHT
11:30 P.M. The area is deserted except for a few STROLLERS window-shopping the department stores. And way down near 55th Street, TWO roaring drunk middle-aged men, Howard Beale and MAX SCHUMACHER, reeling along and hooting it up. NARRATION continues OVER -
NARRATOR
- who was president of the News Division at UBS and an old friend. The two men got properly pissed -
area)
...The pilots radioed from the
ground that they were all
alive. Their position was
fixed by the transponder
beacon onboard the chopper.
(points)
Here.
Schaefer studies the map. He looks up at Philips.
SCHAEFER
Thats over the border,
General.
PHILIPS
(dead serious)
Thats the problem. Apparently
they strayed off course.
(pause)
Were certain theyve been
captured by the guerrillas.
Schaefer loo
AREA - DAY
The swat vans pull into position, one to the side of the
building across from the fish market, the other around back.
As the battered van pulls to the curb in front, a mint low-
rider Impala convertible, stereo thumping, cruises past.
INT. PANEL VAN - DAY
The thumping fades, leaving the Macarena filtering in.
Starling pulls the cover off the eyepiece of a periscope
bolted to the ceilin
area of the building, and the main
center of activity, is the Rec Room. Of the many entrance
ways to this room can be seen the small work chambers with
their sophisticated computers and other scientific
equipment.
The below quarter houses the generator and still other
compartments for storage.
A long underground tunnel connects the main compound to
the dog kennel.
FADE IN:
A STARRY BLACKNESS
From
Note: Hows this for a change from the finished product?!? ... and NO mention of the powerful Opening Vistas! This is how the script begins ...
[FADE IN]
The screen is a microcosm of leaf, crystal drops of precipitation, a stone, emerald green moss. Its a landscape in miniature. We HEAR the forest. Some distant birds. Their sound seems to reverberate as if in a cavern. A piece of sunlight refracts
area)
...The pilots radioed from the
ground that they were all
alive. Their position was
fixed by the transponder
beacon onboard the chopper.
(points)
Here.
Schaefer studies the map. He looks up at Philips.
SCHAEFER
Thats over the border,
General.
PHILIPS
(dead serious)
Thats the problem. Apparently
they strayed off course.
(pause)
Were certain theyve been
captured by the guerrillas.
Schaefer loo
leaf, and garlic.
- Thats all?
- Oui. Yes.
- What is that?
- A caper.
No.
Do you presume to tell us
what is in this stock?
- Its a rat turd.
- A what?
A rat turd.
- A caper!
- A rat turd.
A caper!
If its a caper,
eat it.
Im gonna bring you up
for permit revocation, Henri.
Youre charging way too much
to be serving crap like that in here.
But, Monsieur, it is an accident.
You know how careful we ar
area makes it accessible to the highway
running past it, otherwise, this Mom & Pop store seems almost
like a vision of times gone by.
??
The bushes and overgrown grass, unrestrained by any human
care, strengthen the sense of isolation. The dying sun
shoots its last rays through the trees behind the market.
??
The market has a battered second-story: the living quarters
of the people running it. A
The sun shines brightly on the classic facade of the main library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. In the adjacent park area, pretty hustlers and drug peddlers go about their business.
FRONT STEPS
A few people lounge on the steps flanked by the familiar stone lions.
INT. MAIN READING ROOM - DAY
People are dotted throughout the room sitting at the long oak tables polished by decades of use. Readin
leaf. Isnt it perfect?
And this one? Look.
Oh, yeah. I definitely think that
this is the best of all possible worlds.
- Its certainly the most expensive.
- Isnt nature incredible?
To me, nature is... I dunno,
spiders and bugs and,
big fish eating little fish.
And plants eating plants
and animals eating...
Its like an enormous restaurant.
Yes, but if God created it,
it has to be beautiful,
even if