MovieChat Forums > V for Vendetta (2006) Discussion > How did V survive??

How did V survive??

posted 9 years ago by dudey_mccool
13 replies | jump to latest

I really enjoyed this movie but there is one thing that really bugged me about it, and that is: How did V survive about 10 full clips of machine gun fire at the end?

Had a look through the forum and was surprised to see noone else has mentioned this so maybe I've just missed something, but this scene kinda spoiled the movie for me.

As far as I can tell, V didn't have any "super powers" other than the increased agility etc. he gained from the experiment on him. So how is it he's able to take 200 odd (estimate) bullets at 20 foot with just a sheet of metal to protect him and then continue to fight at the level he does directly afterwards? It wasn't even body armour. It was a (presumably) several-hundred-years-old piece of metal.

The movie actually showed some bullets hit V's legs, arms, etc. and presumably at least one of the soldiers would have thought to have aimed for the head so I just can't understand how he survived (I appreciate he did die eventually) - it never seems to be explained?

Are we expected to believe such a meticulous planner as V risked the fate of the country and the lives of thousands of innocent civilians (Creedy would presumably have had every single protester mowed down had he been alive at midnight) on the minuscule chance that he would survive being gunned down like that?

When he got up I thought there was going to be some twist - the experiment had given him some powers the Norsefire party hadn't realised, or perhaps he was in fact the original Guy Fawkes and couldn't die, only coming out of the shadows whenever the people needed him to free them from an oppressive government or something?

Did I miss something in the film? Was there a better explanation in the novel? Any help would be appreciated!

[–] Matthewkay 9 years ago

In the graphic novel (which the film bares little resemblance to) V is killed by a single shot after Eric Finch tracks him to his hide out. No firefight or Matrix ripoff action sequence. A single shot kills him.

[–] flo_rin108 9 years ago

Actually there's four of them, not just one.

[–] Austrian_Movie_Maniac 9 years ago

I always put it down to some Hollywood-magic, and that special kind of stuff that lets people go on after sustaining horrendous body trauma, like Hugh Glass crawling that 150 miles through the wilderness or Elias in "Platoon" getting up after receiving multiple shots to the torso.

But it stands to reason that... something... was definitely altered in his body during his stay at Larkhill.

Kung-Fu movies are like porn. 1-on-1 first, then 2-on-1, and then a group scene...

[–] gollumsmeagolrocks 8 years ago

Actually, the Revenant was based off actual events. So "Hollywood-Magic" is really just trying to simulate reality.

And besides, you're focusing too much on universals here. There are many documented cases of people doing incredible things even while experiencing huge body trauma. It really comes down to willpower, with science to support it. Adrenaline can be linked to emotion parts of the brain, and in intense situations a sudden burst of it beyond normal fluctuation can suddenly be released in situations like this.

~NW~

[–] Gum_Bercules 9 years ago

After the fight he dropped the chest plate from the armor suit he was dueling with earlier in the film. He was wearing it it as a bullet proof vest and it was riddled in bullet dents.

Peace be your pie.

[–] Krisko1974 9 years ago

The bulletproof vest was already mentioned.

About "bullet to the head": There are several scratches in the paint of the mask afterwards, so you can savely assume that he got hit in the face several times but the mask seems to be bulletproof, too.
It IS pretty solid - the fingerman who tried to punch him in face in the beginning learned that the hard way.

And the hits to arms and legs, well, I'm sure someone who walked through fire is oblivious to the pain of bullet wounds.

[–] theisrosenberg 8 years ago

He's not wearing anything like a bulletproof west. He's wearing centimetres thick armor of steel - or imho properly titanium in various places. He also do indeed take serious damage in the fight. But add to this, that this is still a movie.

But with this added, why don't doesn't these wounds affect him in combat? He has experienced so much pain, that it doesn't affect him in the same way.

The more pain you receive, the more your pain threshold increases; Believe me!! I'm no soldier and have never been shot, but I've broken my collarbone (this operation goes as the same pain as a spinal cord operation), my jaw in 2 places and overall I have stitches (both regular and those clipper things, that goes on either side of the stitches), in 8 different places.

Most pistols can't even carry armor piercing rounds, but no one is gonna use those against civilians; Regular bullets are much more effective. AP isn't affective if you're not wearing a west.

[–] brunodutch 8 years ago

Never mind that, who did the dusting? Who did the shopping? Who helped deliver the piano that was in his subterranean vault? The idea is a rip-off from the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera and just as ridiculously silly.

[–] paul-2219 8 years ago

He has disguises. We see him operating outside among people in one of them when he talks to the detectives.

[–] David_Lynch 8 years ago

Anesthesia as well as agility are mentioned, I would guess he doesn't feel any bullets which do hit him and it's only the trauma which eventually kills him.

[–] mountaindewslave 8 years ago

V is some sort anamoly physically obviously. He is the only test subject to survive the government experiments and he appears to have quicker reflexes, more strength, survived the fire/explosion at the hospital.

I think it was plainly obvious that he is more resistent to harm. He was an experimental project

she fell through a hole, and was never seen again