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Mistakes

Hellboy tosses Dr. Manning through the quickly-closing door to escape the pendulum on the bridge - he barely makes it under. Hellboy then spends thirty seconds dodging the pendulum, but when he dives for the door it's still closing at the same point and speed - just enough for him to pass. See more...

Trivia

When they stop at the display area with the Spear of Longinus, look behind the spear; there's a golden box with two angels on top of it, fitting the classic image of the ark of the covenant. See more...

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Movie Mistakes blog

Hellboy (2004) - 8 questions

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Jeffrey Tambor, John Hurt, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair (add more)

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!

Questions

Question: In the trivia section, there is this entry: At the beginning of the film, the Nazi who gets thrown into the portal lets out a Wilhelm scream as he disintegrates. Can someone please tell me what a Wilhelm scream is?

Answer: The Wilhelm scream is a distinctive scream with relatively high pitch that was originally used in a film called Distant Drums back in 1951. Since then, it has become a frequently used stock sound effect used in movies and TV shows.The Wilhelm scream was popularised in modern film by Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt, who has made a point of using it frequently in the films that he works on - he dubbed it the "Wilhelm scream" after a character called "Pvt Wilhelm", who emits one of the screams in a 1953 film called The Charge At Feather River. Other sound designers have also started to use it as well, leading to the scream now being one of the most recognised stock sound effects in cinema. A more detailed history of the scream can be found here.

Edit Answered by Tailkinker

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Question: Can someone please tell me the order in which the Hellboy graphic novels take place? I want to start collecting, but they don't have numbers or anything on the spine, so I don't know where to begin.

Answer: They run as follows; Seed Of Destruction, Wake The Devil, The Chained Coffin, The Right Hand Of Doom and Conqueror Worm. There are several other books which collect various stories about the character (often by different authors) - these generally take place in different eras and can be read in any order.

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Question: Why didn't Professor Broom want Hellboy to know that he was dying of cancer?

Answer: Most normal fathers would hardly be jumping with joy at the prospect of telling their son such a fact, and Hellboy and the Professor have a slightly more unique relationship than most fathers have with their sons. The Professor is the only family he's ever had.

Edit Answered by Gary O'Reilly

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Question: Does the line uttered by one the soldiers at the start 'look at the size of that whammer.' come from the comic? It just seems a bit camp.

Answer: Just the type of lingo used in those days, that seen is supposed to be from the time when Hitler controlled Nazi Germany. Just like "oh boy", "hot dog", "jeepers" and so on.

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Question: Rasputin and Hellboy each say Hellboy's real name towards the end. I didn't catch it properly, what exactly do they say, and what (if anything) does the phrase/name mean in English?

Answer: According to the comic books, his name is Anung Un Rama, or 'World Destroyer, The Great Beast.'

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Question: When Myers is meeting the "family", was the mistake that Hellboy's "dad" made about Hitler's death deliberate, or was he just testing Myers?

Answer: It was the truth (in that movie). Hitler died much later and the BPRD kept it secret from the rest of the world. It's a part of the "secret organization that keeps things from the world for it's own good" subplot.

Edit Answered by Grumpy Scot

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Question: How does Sammael get across the world? If whenever you kill Sammael, two shall arise, it would be impossible to kill them?

Answer: Not if you collect all the eggs and destroy them, as was done in the movie. That way no more Sammaels can hatch. As for transportation, the freaky bald dude probably took care of that.

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Question: Can anyone explain the origin and function of the spectral compass and pendant that Hellboy uses in the graveyard scene? They obviously didn't come through with him, but they're never shown before that in the movie - I figure they must be from the comics.

Answer: Just like the artifact that Abe gives Hellboy, the compass is one of the many magical/supernatural items that the BPRD have aquired over the years. As to function, I would assume that it's used to find bodies that they can talk to (bodies with spirits attached, or who can be contacted on the other side.

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