Gavin Jackson

28th Nov 2017

The Warriors (1979)

Question: Instead of trying to murder them, why didn't the Lizzies simply contact the Riffs and tell them they had 3 of the warriors and to come get them? They had plenty of time.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The Riffs had put out a hit on the Warriors via the radio DJ, meaning that it didn't matter if the Warriors were taken alive or not; the Lizzies probably figured it would be easier simply to kill the Warriors and collect the reward.

zendaddy621

19th Nov 2017

Detroit (2017)

Question: Why didn't the guys being interrogated in the hotel just tell the cops about the toy gun that was used? 4 of them knew that it was that gun that was shot out the window and another 4 knew that the gun existed, but they all choose not to mention it. Any reason?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: I think at 1st they didn't want to answer as they don't talk to police, but as it went on their lie just got bigger and the hole they were digging got so big they could not get out. They also figured the police would not believe it was fake and they would be in loads of trouble if they admitted there was any kind of gun. They call it a toy gun, but it is not really a toy as it's a starter gun.

Adam Busuttil

14th Nov 2017

Wall Street (1987)

Question: During the meeting, what made Carl Fox realise that Gordon Gecko was dishonest about his intentions? And after Bud threw Darien out of the apartment, chances are she would have told Gordon and said why. What with this and the confrontation he had with Bud earlier, wouldn't Gordon have suspected that Bud would turn against him?

Gavin Jackson

Question: Could someone please explain to me what I consider two of the biggest plot holes in this film. Firstly, how was Snake going to get his glider back in the air? If it had jets or thrusters on it, that would make sense, but when it first took off, it was being towed by a plane which means it is just a standard glider (Plissken does admit to Hauk that it will be an issue, but that explains little). Also given that it is a one-seat glider, how was he going to bring back the president on it? In fact, how were Brain, Maggie and the President (in their attempted double-cross) all going to squeeze onboard?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: When Snake is told how he getting in the other guys said he can take off from a free fall.

Chosen answer: You are correct in citing these problems as plot holes. Writer-director John Carpenter is notorious for glaring plot holes in his films over the decades, inasmuch as Carpenter crafts his films for shock effect, rather than continuity. Other examples of Carpenter's plot holes can be found in the original "Halloween" (for instance, how did the killer Michael Myers, who had been confined in a mental institution since he was a child, learn to drive an automobile like a stunt driver his first time behind the wheel?), and in "The Thing" (why is the Thing discovered frozen in ice only about 4 feet below the modern surface while its spaceship is buried ten yards deep in 100,000-year-old ice?), as well as in "Prince of Darkness," "Vampires" and other Carpenter films. One explanation is that Carpenter tends to edit-out slower, extraneous scenes that more fully explain the plot, in order to maintain a fast-paced storyline.

Charles Austin Miller

I would assume he would push free fall and build up enough speed to fly, and then pull up, the WTC was the largest building in NY at the time anyway.

22nd Sep 2017

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Chosen answer: Much of Axel Foley's lines were improvised, including this scene, according to the commentary. But many other actors improvised their lines too, most notably Bronson Pinchot. The script was originally written with the intent of Sylvester Stallone playing Axel and as such, the issue of his race wasn't scripted and the director tried to avoid mentioning race in the film. It was Eddie Murphy that would bring it up in improvised lines.

Bishop73

13th Aug 2017

Snowden (2016)

Question: When Edward Snowden obtains the MicroSD card after downloading all the data, he and Patrick Haynes (who's fully aware what he's up to) start communicating via sign language before he leaves to avoid their conversation being recorded. Does anyone know what they are saying to each other?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: The scene is captioned as follows - Snowden: "I might not see you again." Haynes: "You 'gonna leave me here...with Captain America? Thanks a lot." Snowden: "NSA may come after you." Haynes: "I don't know what you're talking about. [walks away.]" I should note that my profession is that of an American Sign Language interpreter. From my observation, they are signing pretty much correctly, if not artfully. The only difference is that what the movie translates as "I don't know what you're talking about" would probably be more accurately stated as, "I don't understand your comment." And there really isn't a sign used for "gonna'." Hayes just says, "you're leaving me here with him? Captain America!"

Michael Albert

Thank you!

Question: If John Connor and the resistance are so good at reprogramming Terminators (They have done it 3 times during the series), why don't they just use them to help fight the war? Continuously sending them back in time may have kept Connor alive, but has achieved little else.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: As long as Skynet kept sending other Terminators into the past to kill John Connor before he became the leader of the human resistance, it was necessary to keep sending reprogrammed Terminators into the past as well so that the timeline would not be altered, thus resulting in a Skynet victory. While it is possible that John and the resistance may have used reprogrammed Terminators to help them in the future, this was never depicted or otherwise mentioned within the film series.

zendaddy621

Question: In the movie, Buford shoots two flying bottles whilst holding the gun at his hip. Is that even possible?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Technically, yes, but no matter how adept the shooter, such a trick would always rely more on luck than skill. Shooting from the hip makes it impossible to aim any better than "in the general direction of the target."

23rd Jun 2017

Xanadu (1980)

Chosen answer: It's implied that it could be her, but there's no definitive answer as to whether or not it is. It's deliberately left to the audience's interpretation.

raywest

Question: I am really confused by one scene. When Buford realises that Bandit is leaving the same service station he is at, he attempts to drive after him, but the front of his car is cranked up, When it cuts back to that scene, Junior (for no apparent reason) is lying on the hood and a crowd is watching them. Was there some missing scene which explains why Junior is in that odd position? Also why is Buford's car cranked up to begin with?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: There's no missing scene; it's just a joke, albeit not particularly well-executed. Basically, the car was cranked up to replace the tires, and Buford forgot about them in his haste to pull out and crashed into the car in front of him. When we cut back, the joke is that he hit the other car so hard Junior flew out of his seat and wound up on the hood. The crowd gathers, as they tend to do in real life, around the accident to see what happened.

Question: When Bond is getting ready to go down the ski jump, he starts getting chewed out by the guy at the top. What is the guy saying to him? I've always assumed that he is demanding to know why Bond has only one ski pole...but that's just a vague guess.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: He's complaining that Bond didn't wait his turn for the ski run. He cut in front of everyone.

Chosen answer: I always thought that the guy in charge of the jump was saying that Bond didn't have the correct skis to do the jump or something. As I saw it Bond's skis were generic ones for cross country and / or regular skiers and to do the jump Bond needed, and didn't have, special, specific skis designed for jumping.

Alan Keddie

I'm more inclined to agree with you. It didn't appear like Bond had queue jumped. And I doubt the guy at the top would have known (or even cared). The guy did seem to be looking at Bond's attire, so I have to agree that he was chewing him out on that.

Gavin Jackson

8th Sep 2016

Star Wars (1977)

Question: When R2D2 is stunned by the Jawas and falls over, did Kenny baker do the stunt? Me and my brother have argued about this for years.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Most likely, not. The 'costume' Kenny Baker wore had what look like hoses running from the center body to the feet of R2 (to conceal his legs). Looking at the scene in question, those hoses cannot be seen. On that note, it looks like a third leg (and not the center one shown elsewhere) is visible behind R2 and probably used to push him over.

Chosen answer: Vivo V3.

8th Apr 2016

Licence to Kill (1989)

Chosen answer: It was to cause a diversion so Bond could transfer the money back onto the Wavecrest while everyone else was running about sorting out the mess from the crash.

Question: Why did Erik despise humans so much, even though it was a mutant who killed his mother?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Because it was a human who started the Holocaust and got Eric and his family put into a concentration camp in the first place. Seeing how one human reacted to just another race he saw what humans in power would do to another race or species the feared.

28th Feb 2016

Bad Influence (1990)

Question: After Alex has stolen his furniture and killed Claire, he says to Michael "OK, now we are even." So why did he continue to stalk him and plant evidence? What was his motivation there?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Because that's what psychopaths do.

27th Feb 2016

Concussion (2015)

Answer: He was angry.

Question: In both this film and The Desolation of Smaug. Legolas defies gravity in unbelievable and even comical ways. Is this a character trait, or just some ridiculous touch by the filmmakers?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Elves are described in the books and shown in the LotR trilogy doing things that would not necessarily rule this behavior out, ridiculous as it looks. For instance, when the Fellowship is trudging through the snow on Caradhras, Legolas is briefly shown walking easily on top of the snow while every one else's feet are sinking into it.

Phixius

18th Nov 2015

Analyze This (1999)

Question: When Nicky Shivers is being held hostage, De Niro is about to belt him in the face with a metal pipe and make him fall into a hole. This most likely would have been fatal. But De Niro has a change of heart and walks away. Then Nicky sardonically comments "Well geez, that was pretty painless." Given that he was just spared from a painful ending, why would he make such a smart-alec comment?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: That's how he dealt with facing certain death and then not being killed. Some would be silently grateful as you suggest, others wouldn't. Everyone reacts differently.

Captain Defenestrator

18th Nov 2015

The Bodyguard (1992)

Question: I have two questions. Firstly after beating up the guy in the hotel kitchen, Frank returns to the room and tells Delaney that he is quitting. Why was he so ticked off? And secondly, if Nicki was the one who hired Portman to kill Rachel, why did Portman kill Nicki and why did he try to molest Rachel in the bedroom?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: I think he was ticked off because he was being so personally affected by Rachel. He talks about being disciplined. He tries to keep emotions away from his job, but he liked Rachel. Also, Rachel at the time was angry with him, but also showed a lot of disregard for her own safety (as you remember, when he got back it was just after she and Tony went shopping without telling Frank). So yeah, I think it was frustration for the overall situation. To answer your second question, from the conversation with Frank at the lakeside house, Nikki had asked around at a club she went to, but she herself didn't hire Portman. Someone named Armando did the hiring.

Meg Charnley

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