Lance Quazar said:
Well.....but that's not a buried story point. That's just a nice bit of extra window dressing, really.
Not the same as if there was a secret meaning to the motivations of one of the characters and a hidden conspiracy we were meant to suss out on the basis of a few fleeing glimpses of tertiary characters in one frantic action scene.
In terms of plot and story - nothing hidden, nothing obscured, nothing we're not meant to understand or are supposed to puzzle out on our own.
Sure, there are probably subtleties related to character and theme, but they're not Chris Nolan movies with hidden clues, double meanings and multiple interpretations.
Hmm, I beg to differ, Lance. We're talking today's Spielberg and Lucas. They're not exactly making masterpieces anymore. As much as I liked Kingdom, even I have to admit there's big holes in it, partially from script, partially from editing, almost on par with the Star Wars prequels. The question is, really, were these guys intended to be Reds, or does the final cut of the movie make it what it is, regardless of creator's intent?
If it's the former, then the screenplay is all that matters, and in various drafts, these guys were indeed Reds. Other drafts are silent on their alliance, so one could presume they're the Feds they claimed, I suppose.
If it's the latter, I still want to know why they left when the police sirens are heard.
But this is getting off topic. The real question is about the Area 51 incident creating war, and to that I say "no". Further proof of that is that these two FBI guys, when interrogating Indy, didn't seem to have the full picture. They were probably lied to like Indy and the rest of the world was. They didn't even know what was stolen, so their assessment of the gravity of the Soviet infiltration was limited.
The larger issue, though, is of course if the military itself would take a Soviet raid as cause for war. Back to what I just said, that they'd cover-up the incident even to the Feds sure proves they aren't going to go telling the world about it, and you can't go to war without telling the public why. Hmm, maybe they could make up a reason (like weapons of mass destruction), thus going to war and keeping Area 51 secret.
But I just don't think the government cares enough about its people. Some people care, yes. But the government, and especially the military, is a large, unwieldy engine. There's too much compartmentalization and red tape for there to be genuine concern about individuals. They get lost as cogs in the machine. Unfortunately, that's the reality of it.
Whew! That went a lot longer than I expected.