Dr. Harrison Blackwood quotes from War of the Worlds

Harrison

What would you say if I told you that Earth was being invaded by aliens from another planet?

Harrison

We've been painting a pretty negative picture about our battle with the aliens, but there is a bright side: they can be killed and we're getting pretty efficient at it. One particular incident comes to mind. The aliens had broken into a secure army facility in search of war machines and weapons left over from their earlier invasion. Our intelligence discovered this plan and we wiped them out. What they turn into after they die is the only real indication we have that these were once human beings who are now possessed by aliens. But we can be fooled. As a result of an exothermic reaction, their cells become a horrible broiling mass of decomposing alien and human tissue. They are vulnerable, and so are we. We have already lost a member of our team. We have lost many soldiers in combat, and, of course, all the innocent people. The aliens are deadly and they promise – as their numbers increase and they become more sophisticated – they promise to become even deadlier.

Harrison

In 1953, we experienced what can only be described as a war of the worlds. If it wasn't for common everyday bacteria attacking the aliens' immune systems, they would've won this war, and you and I would not be having this conversation!

Suzanne

But we are having this conversation, which I don't want! So I fail to see your point!

Harrison

My point is that although the bacteria stopped the aliens, I don't think it killed them!

Suzanne

Excuse me, but I think you have been sitting too close to your television set.

Harrison

Really? How do you explain the radio signals? How do you account for the barrels? The barrels that entombed what were supposed to be dead aliens forced open from the inside?! What the hell happened to the hundreds of other barrels that used to be stored in that location?!

Suzanne

Just because I don't have an answer doesn't mean there isn't a logical explanation for your... paranoia!!

Harrison

I am attempting to offer you a logical explanation. In 1953, bacteria forced the aliens into a state of hibernation, or suspended animation or estivation or anabiosis. I don't know the terms; that's your field, not mine. But now, something has happened to wake the aliens up. That nuclear disposal site was hot with radioactivity, right? Maybe that's it. Maybe the bacteria which infected the aliens is now being wiped out by exposure to radiation.

Suzanne

So now, the aliens, hundreds of them...

Harrison

At least!

Suzanne

...are loose?

Harrison

Yes!

Suzanne

You're nuttier than I thought.

Harrison

That doesn't make me wrong! At least listen to my proof!

Harrison

The alien attack wasn't three days old before my parents were killed. They were colleagues of Dr. Forrester's. Anyway... Dr. Forrester, who was practically my second father as he was, ended up taking me in. I grew up steeped in this research, listening to his theories... seeing how broken he was when nobody took him seriously. He said that if the aliens invaded once, they could do it again. Nobody wanted to hear that. He said that until we get adequate research, we couldn't even be sure the aliens were really dead. Apparently, their bodies weren't decaying as might be expected. Well, that really drove people crazy. Instead of expanding its research, the U.S. Government collected the alien remains and sealed them in steel drums... out of sight, out of mind. You still think I'm a nutcase?

Suzanne

Have you ever heard of the African lungfish? The lungfish can survive for... at least four years, maybe as many as ten, without water. It goes into such a profound state of anabiosis that the average person would think the fish was long dead. However, pour water over it, and... it's like a resurrection. The fish is alive and swimming again.

Harrison

So you don't think I'm a nutcase?

Suzanne

Definitely a nutcase. However... like you said, that doesn't make you wrong. [tears up her letter of resignation] And I can always write another resignation.

Suzanne

I am not uptight! I am a professional!

Harrison

Who does not know how to follow orders. Now you were supposed to stay out of sight in the woods!

Suzanne

You neglected to tell me that those things, aliens or whatever they are, would be crawling all over! By the time I worked my way down here, you and the Colonel were doing your off-road routine, so I figured this would be the best place to wait things out! Where are they?

Ironhorse

Long gone.

Ironhorse

This is weird stuff we're dealing with here, Blackwood! Bolas! Terrorists that don't... act like terrorists! Terrorists that don't die like terrorists! I actually saw a body dissolve after I shot it!

Harrison

We all saw some fairly extraordinary phenomenon, Colonel!

Ironhorse

Well, when in God's name is somebody gonna start explaining things to me?!

Harrison

I've already explained as much of it as I understand myself!

Ironhorse

You've explained nothing, mister! I don't believe in ghosts, and I sure as hell don't believe in aliens from another planet!

Too many variables. Strength unknown, resources unknown, purposes, goals, locations... unknown, unknown, unknown.

Harrison

I can only tell you what I saw.

Suzanne

What we all saw, Uncle Hank. It was horrible; those things were not people anymore. But I do have a theory about cell-phase matching.

Suzanne, whatever you and Dr. Blackwood saw, no matter how extraordinary, cannot be considered as evidence.

Suzanne

Well, talk to your Colonel. He was there!

The Colonel and I talked at length. Admittedly, something incredible did take place. However, Colonel Ironhorse is not yet ready to attribute those events to aliens from another world.

Harrison

He's more comfortable believing the Russians have some secret weapon that makes us all see things that aren't really there.

Colonel Ironhorse is a highly effective warrior, Doctor. He's been trained to deal in absolutes.

Harrison

In this case, General, he is absolutely wrong!

I agree. And so do a few of my superiors. However, they want this entire matter kept hush-hush.

Harrison

Hold it, General. Nobody's gonna silence me the same way they silenced Dr. Forrester 35 years ago.

What happened to your adopted father, Doctor, was unfortunate for all of us. However, the President and my superiors would rather not let this become a political issue. They don't want to ignore this. They want it kept quiet. And I'm here to offer you a job. Find the aliens, Doctor, and stop them before they do more harm.

Harrison

And I can do things my way?

Completely. Your own people, your own methods, anything you want. Naturally, we'll have to establish certain...security procedures.

Harrison

What kind of procedures?

To protect you and your colleagues. To protect the secrecy of the project. Nothing I assure you, Doctor, you wouldn't do yourself. Aside from that, you have a blank check. But you'll need a co-signer. [Colonel Ironhorse enters the room and stands in front of General Wilson and Harrison] I believe you all know one another.

Harrison

Norton, does the number three mean anything special to you? [Norton shakes his head] It sure meant something special to the aliens. Think about it. Their ships flew in groups of three; their optics were divided into three units. They attack their targets in three different directions. Even their weapons, the bolas, had three weighted ends. Three, Norton. Think three. I know the answer is there.

Norton

Number three. I'll think on it. What have we got to lose, huh?

Harrison

You find something interesting?

Suzanne

Hmm. Have a look.

Harrison

What is it?

Suzanne

You tell me.

Harrison

This is the tissue sample you took from the dissolved body?

Suzanne

Mm-hm. But it's not exactly human anymore.

Harrison

Then what is it?

Suzanne

Half-human, half-alien. It's as if the cells from both species have merged to create something new, unique.

Harrison

And this sustains your cell-phase matching theory?

Suzanne

Oh, no, Doctor Blackwood, you're not gonna peg me to a conclusion that I haven't had time to prove yet.

Harrison

Fair enough, Dr. McCullough. Suzanne?

Suzanne

Yeah?

Harrison

Good work.

Suzanne

Thanks, Harrison. Thanks a lot.

Ironhorse

You expect me to climb into the heads of these, these creatures; you've got to give me more to go on.

Harrison

Okay, they're soldiers... the same as you. Now you tell me. How do soldiers think?

Ironhorse

I spent four years at the point, fifteen more active duty. Hell, Doctor, I'm not sure I do think anymore. I... I react.

Harrison

Okay, start there. You're their leader. React to their situation.

Ironhorse

Okay, I... need good intelligence. Know your enemy. Communications. They already seem to have that. Supplies. They gotta keep the troops fed. Weapons.

Harrison

Definitely weapons.

Ironhorse

They don't have it. Or at least none that amount to anything. That's their primary weakness.

Harrison

Which makes it our strength. Have you ever heard of Hangar 15?

Ironhorse

No.

Harrison

The place where the Air Force stores all its UFO evidence.

Ironhorse

You mean Hangar 18. The... building 18 at Wright-Patterson? Forget it, Doctor. That's all a myth.

Harrison

No. Hangar 18 is the myth, Colonel. That's disinformation created by the military. Hangar 15... that's the real mccoy.

Ironhorse

I don't believe it.

Harrison

Dr. Forrester did; it's in his papers. I think now might be the time to call General Wilson. Ask him if it's a myth.

Ironhorse

According to General Wilson, the U.S. Government has had three of the alien ships mothballed in Hangar 15 since 1953. You want to guess as to the location of Hangar 15?

Harrison

Kellogue Air Force Base.

Ironhorse

Right smack dab in the middle.

Harrison

You've read the material, Colonel. You know what happens if the aliens get their hands on those ships!

Suzanne

[hearing a noise outside the hangar] What is it?

Ironhorse

Helicopter.

Harrison

Bad guys or good guys?

Ironhorse

Considering what we're doing, Doctor, even the good guys are bad guys.

Harrison

Bad, bad guys!

Ironhorse

General Wilson is taking care of the joint military forces board of inquiry. I'm told that, unofficially, of course, the board is predisposed to lay the blame on an unnamed terrorist organization.

Norton

A whole lot closer to the truth than they'll ever realize.

Suzanne

I'm just glad all of this is behind us.

Harrison

Is it? Is it really?

Suzanne

Without tissue samples, most of this is just educated guessing, but I think I understand how an alien blends with whoever happens to be unfortunate enough to get in its way. It's a combination of osmosis and cell-phase matching. Watch. Through osmosis, alien cells invade the human body. These cells then spread out, seeking human cells that they can bond to. This bonding allows all the genetic information from the individual human cells to communicate to the alien cells.

Harrison

Killing the human cells in the process?

Suzanne

Yes, but apparently not before it absorbs all of the intelligence of the human victim.

Norton

We're talking Night of the Living Dead here, folks. Not only do these guys get to pick our brains; they also get to use our bodies as a perfect disguise.

Ironhorse

I don't call open sores and radiation sickness a perfect disguise. I mean, it's not exactly difficult to spot these things in a crowd.

Harrison

For now, maybe. But it's only a matter of time until they figure out a better way to protect themselves, and conceal themselves.

Ironhorse

If any more of them are still around.

Mrs. Pennyworth sets a wonderful table, don't you think?

Suzanne

Yes. She and Mr. Kensington have made us all very comfortable.

You never know it, but Mrs. Pennyworth was a very valuable asset in the American section of Berlin during the last war. Her husband did the same thing with the Brits! [chuckles] Rumor has it they met one night when they were both trying to infiltrate the Russian sector. Oh, that woman has seen a lot of history. Even helped brighten some of the two. And this house has had its own share of history as well. A few nuclear physicists lived here in the early days of the Manhattan Project. And just before you, we kept a KGB defector here. I wonder who the next occupants will be.

Norton

[laughs] Harrison, does that sound suspiciously like an eviction notice to you?

I wouldn't look at it that way, Mr. Drake. All missions eventually come to an end, and that's why I'm here...to thank you all, personally, for a job well done.

Harrison

I'm sorry, General, but the job isn't done!

Well, I'm completely satisfied with everything you've accomplished.

Harrison

We've hardly accomplished a thing.

Suzanne

Uncle Hank, I can't believe you're cutting us off!

Suzanne, your own research suggests the aliens were susceptible to radiation poisoning.

Suzanne

How do you know that? I haven't released that data yet!

Ironhorse

I don't think it takes a scientist to realize that any of those creatures that weren't blown up with their ships have died from radiation poisoning.

Harrison

General, if you shut us down now, you're going to be repeating the same mistake that was made 35 years ago!

On the contrary, the aliens are finished! And now, I suggest you all get on with the rest of your lives.

Harrison

How much of this is your doing, Colonel?

Ironhorse

The General asks me to make reports; I make reports. I'm just doing my job, Doctor.

Harrison

I wish to God you would let me do mine!