Rogue One The Murder Door: What is the function of the deadly looking constantly opening / closing aperture?

So, in the computer core, when Cassian takes a dive and Jyn has to climb up the core to the rooftop to transmit the plans, there's that slice-looking hole / aperture that is going FWOMP! that Jyn has to jump through, timing it just right lest she get cut in half. Why is that there? Why is it constantly looking to lop people in half? Is it a security measure? Is it trying to expose the core to air to cool it down? Why would sensitive Imperial documents be stored in a core that one could jump into with a nicely timed drop through the slicey hole? Is it just freaking out because the base is under attack? Did Krennic put it there? What?!

Plot wise, it's a last second timing death defying escape for our heroine to jump through (kinda like Indy running from the boulder), I get that. Maybe a tad unnecessary but I get it. But why is that thing there?

 

It's there to stop those who are climbing to steal the plans. If someone who was authorized to take the plans wanted to leave with them, they could just exit the vault doors.

A security measure that seems way more random and weird are the shields in TPM in the Theed Power Generator, but that's a discussion for another thread.

 

You got to give that stunt double credit for pulling that off, as even in filming that could have probably hurt had she not done it right and gotten hit by it, quite possibly in the head too.

That said, good question. I never really thought about it. I mean, even if you were to think about our own industrial military structures and think about why such an opening like that with an automatic door that could cut someone in half, but if perfectly timed someone could get through, would exist, I can't really come up with a reason right off the bat. Other than the air cooling, but then if that was the case, why not just have smaller little holes that could bring a continuous air flow? Maybe somebody with that particular expertise can chime in.

Also, now that I think about it, wouldn't Cassian have had to jump through it too?

 

Letting in air to cool the data core?

 

I suspect that the highly-dangerous opening and shutting metal doorway was CGI, and that the stunt double was never in danger of being hurt by it.

 

Still a hellova bit of stuntwork pulling their body up there.

So I can buy that it's a security door, but why is it opening and closing? Maybe if they simply locked it, the hypothetical thief would be stuck in the data core and could wreck all sorts of sensitive Imperial data. But if it's opening and closing, they have HOPE of escaping and, those who are less agile than Jyn, would be snipped in half by the tantalizing prospect of sweet, sweet freedom. Which is actually incredibly sadistic if you think about it. Like a Jigsaw torture trap outta Saw. But that also leads to another question, if the opening and closing mechanism is designed to take out people who are inside the core, what's to prevent someone from parachuting in? Maybe it only does the opening / closing bit when the core has been compromised to try to draw in prey.

Also, this is completely unrelated to complex torture traps or cooling systems, maybe K2-SO set the aperture to open up (one of his last words is "CLIMB!" so he obviously knew they had to get out upwards) but was in the process of being shot to pieces so he never set it to fully open so it started opening and closing.

 

I assumed it was just a normal door that went haywire after K-2SO smashed the control panel.

 

If only they had that in between Vader and the Rebels.

 

Well Vader woulda been like "Malfunctioning door, eh? I can fix that real quick!" *Force crush* "Now where are those plans, ah, there they are, fidgety guy at the back!"

 

Don't forget. The aperture would have the high ground.

EDIT: Honestly. I love everything about this thread.

Cassian taking a dive. Wonderful.
The hole is "looking" to slice people in half.
Using it as the much easier entrance.

When I first watched that scene, I thought to myself "the obligatory slicey door to jump through". It didn't upset me. Not by a long shot. But I had to giggle to myself a bit, even though the movie itself was blowing me away.

So taking this tongue in cheek look at this puts a smile on my face.

 

I got the impression it was just a regular maintenance access or emergency escape hatch and it was going haywire from battle damage. No other explanation seems believable to me, even in GFFA where lots of things don't make much sense if you examine them too closely. (Bottomless pits with no safety rails, I'm looking at you.)

 

The Murder Door (tm) might be the reason why Cassian took so damn long to make it to the roof. Like, he's obviously injured and presumed dead, so he wakes up, clambers ALLLL the way to the top of the data core, sees the friggin murder door that could slice and dice him, decides "aw, t'hell with this!" and climbs all the way back down, goes to the door that Krennic and the Death Troopers opened up, gets in the elevator Krennic went up, and THEN gets out there and shoots Krennic. No wonder he looks angry and winded by the time he gets up there, it's all that freakin' door's fault!

 

Actually, Cassian was infamous for taking dives. He wasn't trying to save Jyn. He was just trying to escape, but the fall/dive left him disoriented. He was just as surprised as anybody when he walked out to find Krennic.

The deleted scene

 

The Murder Door needs its own spinoff.

 

That's what I figured. It's pretty much the same kind of door as the top hatch on the Falcon, but the entire base had pretty much been severely damaged, making the wiring go bad.

 

Thread title updated.

 

It is likely it's simply a malfunctioning access hatch although it would have been neat if the VFX crew had added some sparks to the aperture opening and closing to get that across (apparently, Jango Fett's jetpack sparking was added to AOTC for the video release to get across that Jango was trying to fly away from Mace but couldn't). Although, it is quite fun to think it's a really awkward and needlessly sadistic security measure.

"So, you see, we add this opening, right? At the top of the data vault! And it'll just SNAP! shut every few seconds so the thieving scum who THINK they have a chance of escaping and then, WHAMO!, they're totally bifurcated! So they have to suffer in their final, painful moments the indignity of having all chance at escape snipped away, quite literally! Muha-ha-ha-ha!"
".... geez, are you also the guy who suggested no handrails on anything?"
"The very same!"
"Right..."

 

Lucasfilm just approved a prequel trilogy that explores the rise and fall of the Murder Door, from a perfectly-functioning, nice door that opened and closed when you wanted it to, to the insane, violent, frantically opening and closing monstrosity we saw in Rogue One.

 

I don't know, with that whole practical effects thing and all. Is there any behind the scenes info that would confirm it either way?

 

Is that the long-lost father of the nice doors on board the Heart of Gold?

 

The Murder Door's force ghost is super calm, though. Opens and closes slowly and all that.

 

Yea, clearly. Guess I don't see new movies often enough.

Thought they could have just used lighter material for it or something.

 

On a related note, I had never seen this video until a few minutes ago.