Question: It was stated that Anubis took the Scorpion King's soul until he would be needed again. But, is there any explanation as to why he turned into the giant scorpion mutant that showed up towards the end?
lionhead
23rd Feb 2021
The Mummy Returns (2001)
19th Feb 2021
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: Just before Doc shows his plan with the DeLorean and the train Marty checks the walkie-talkies and Doc confirms it that they work. How are they able to get the walkie-talkies to work in 1885? I'm thinking Doc invented something so Doc and Marty can communicate with each other with them.
Answer: Given Doc's scientific ability (and some suspension of disbelief) it would be easy enough to rig up a makeshift battery that would last long enough. Or indeed they've just got lucky and the walkie-talkies' batteries still have enough life in them. They're not mobile phones, they don't need masts or any infrastructure, they just connect directly to each other.
Like you said, walkie-talkies work independently of any infrastructure, which is what I think the question was more about. However, the battery was invented way before 1885 with the first lead acid rechargeable battery being invented in 1859 with pasted electrode batteries being invented in the 1880's. So it's less about Doc rigging up a battery and just using what's already available or charging the batteries it came with (if we are assuming the batteries ran out of power).
The best batteries they had in those days were crude, wet batteries made out of earthenware and filled with sulphuric acid. They were cumbersome, dangerous and didn't have a lot of voltage or low current. Hardly suitable for a walkie-talkie that needs at least 9 volts. But I suppose it's possible Doc had some charged self-made batteries sitting at home to keep them going.
Definitely not "crude", certainly not as advanced as today, but the lead acid battery is the same technology a lot of batteries use today. They even had electric vehicles prior to 1885. My point was Doc didn't have to invent technology that didn't exist (as opposed to what some say he would have to do to get an 80's camcorder to play on a 50's TV). They had rechargeable batteries back then so it wouldn't be a stretch that Doc could recharge the batteries he had.
Answer: 1955 Doc got him some new batteries ("Just in case, fresh batteries for your walkie talkie. Oh what about that floating device?") They only used them on the train so the batteries would still be charged. In regards to how they work, they don't rely on phone masts, satellites, WiFi etc as they send radio waves to each other and not to any sort of base station.
29th Dec 2020
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
Question: On every planet SG-1 travels to, plants are the same color as those on earth. Shouldn't plants have different colors on different planets?
Answer: The Aliens choose planets that were similar to Earth. They possessed human beings, so they needed worlds with vegetation and atmosphere. In the original movie, their race was dying and humans were the only ones who could give them eternal life - they took many inhabitants as slave labor.
Answer: There have been times where plants are different color, but generally speaking, green is evolutionarily better at capturing the best amount of sunlight energy for photosynthesis. Thus, plants evolved to have green chlorophyll on other planets as well.
Answer: Planets with Stargates were chosen because of the similarities to Earth.
That's ridiculous. Stargate command would never choose a planet based on similarities to earth unless it would to make sure it was safe to travel to.
Stargate command had nothing to do with where the Stargates were. The answer is saying those that placed the Stargates throughout the galaxy chose Earth-like planets. More accurately though, inhabitable planets, which tend to be similar to Earth.
The Ancients put the Stargates on planets, and since their physiology was very similar to modern Earth humans, it stands to reason that they only chose to put planets which could support a similar lifeform. Hence, why most planets or moons resembled Earth at some point in their history.
Huh? First of all, you're trying to surmise what a fictional agency would do. Second, SG-1 and other SG teams frequently visited both Earth-like planets and planets with toxic conditions.
Stargates were placed at worlds that were similar to Earth, this mostly due to the ancients establishing themselves on Earth over 50 million years ago and finding planets to colonize from there. Some worlds may have become inhospitable over the millions of years after the stargate was built though. It is quite possible all these planets were seeded with life from Earth and planets close to Earth's appearance, hence the same vegetation and animal life.
17th Jan 2007
The A-Team (1983)
Question: What were the machine guns The A-Team used?
Answer: They never use an M14. The nearly always use a Ruger Mini 14, a totally different weapon.
Answer: The machine guns primarily used were M60's or M60D's. Although there were a lot of sub-machine guns used too, like the Mac-10. For some reason other answers are talking about rifles used in the show.
For the reason is because most people don't know the difference between an automatic rifle, a sub-machine gun, and a machine gun. I.e. Die Hard "Ho-ho-ho now we have a machine gun" - actually a HK MP5K. M60D's are for helicopter door gunners. I suspect you mean an M60E3, with the pistol foregrip.
You suspect wrong. I did mean M60D since they were seen being used as helicopter door guns.
Only in the stock footage in the intro though.
Yes, because the question was asking what machine guns were used, but didn't cite a specific episode or anything, so I was being thorough.
The question is what machine guns were used by the A-team. Not that one.
So you think the question was what machine gun was used by the A-Team but not by the A-Team?
No. The A-Team never used the M60D anywhere in the series, you only see it in the stock footage of the intro. And the question was what machine guns the A-team used.
Answer: Mostly M-14's. Occaisionally M-16's or Ingram Model 10's. http://world.guns.ru/smg/smg00-e.htm.
They are not M-14s, that is a full automatic military rifle used during the early part of the Vietnam War as a replacement for the M1 Garand. It has much the same appearance as the M1 except with a magazine instead of a top-loading en-bloc 8 rd clip. The rifles used by the team are Ruger Mini-14s, chambered for .223. An M-14 is NATO 5.56.
5th Feb 2021
WandaVision (2021)
On a Very Special Episode... - S1-E5
Question: The intro sequence for this episode seems most closely based on Growing Pains, with a dash of Family Ties, but the painting being coloured in really reminds me of something else, I assume another TV show, but can't place it. Any inspiration?
Chosen answer: The living painting is taken straight from the Family Ties intro.
Ah, that makes sense - I first saw this one on Youtube, which at a guess was the first season or an early version? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRdtO6UKD0. But yeah, this is exactly right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1szfz9nZ8.
Answer: I noticed that too and although I can't think of any sitcom starting like that it does remind me strongly of Bob Ross "The Joy of Painting" intro, which was from the 80's as well.
30th Jan 2021
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
11th May 2017
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Did Obi-Wan know Anakin and Padme are married? Since she thinks Obi-Wan could help them with Anakin seeing with the force that Padme would die giving birth after Anakin broke the Jedi code of getting married. Doesn't it seem that Obi-Wan would not help after what Anakin had done, unless he knew about it?
Chosen answer: Obi Wan didn't know they were married. He only realises Anakin is the father of Padme's child after noticing her emotional response when he asks if she knows where Anakin is. Even though Anakin has broken the Jedi code Padme still thinks Obi Wan might help them because he is their best friend. At worst Anakin would be expelled from the Jedi and the controversy would end Padme's political career but she makes it clear she doesn't care about any of that. Anakin, however does and shoots down the idea.
The fact that they keep the relationship secret baffles me a bit. I mean, they live together in a city. They were obviously shown as close in AOTC.
It makes very little sense, to the point of being absurd. It is portrayed as if Obi-Wan and Anakin are best friends, but Obi-Wan never even asks where Anakin lives when he's not on duty.
It's not like Obi-Wan and Anakin carpool or invite each other to dinner. They are Jedi partners, in service of the Republic and Jedi Order. Even if it were all happening on 1 planet Anakin and Padme could easily keep their marriage a secret, let alone from Jedi who travel from system to system and are extremely busy all the time.
20th Jan 2021
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
13th Nov 2018
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Question: They didn't make it out of the cave with the grail because they dawdled... I wonder, would someone be able to make it out running at a dead sprint once they crossed the seal? And if so, does that mean that they're home free? Or would disaster follow them outside of the cave?
Answer: The implication is that disaster would follow them outside of the cave as well. It wouldn't make much sense if you could simply outrun the disaster.
"Followed by disaster" is a kind of curse, a thing not common in Christianity. It doesn't make much sense anyhow. A seal is just a dot - OK, so let's at least grant that the seal represents a circle that the grail has to stay in. Who decided where those borders are? The grail was taken there during the first crusade. That was closer to 1938 than it was to 33 AD. The three knights could move the grail about then. Why not afterwards? The knights could have built the traps. But the borders could only have been set by god, in an unusually late and completely atypical miracle.
There are several examples of curses in the Christian Bible: Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at Sodom, the plagues visited upon Egypt, Adam and Eve are cursed for eating fruit from the tree of knowledge, etc. The knights did not move the grail around after finding it, they stayed in the temple for 150 years and then two left leaving the third behind. The great seal and it's restriction was already in place when the knights got there.
Where in the movie is that stated? I interpreted the knight's story as them having made that place. Looks like it isn't actually specified. But if God made it, then I submit that he would have used Greek, not Latin, for the stepping stones. (All of those curses are from the old testament. The book where god kills firstborn children as long as they're Egyptian. Grail is by definition new testament where you turn the other cheek. There simply are no curses in the gospel, that's just not how Jesus rolled).
The tests were made by the knights, but the seal had God's power in it. Just like the cup.
It's still a bit dodgy. What if you take a shovel and dig yourself a back door? Basically this film really excels at stuff that makes no sense but helps the storytelling, or to be precise, creates dramatic effects.
Every fictional story is like that in some way. That's why it's called fictional. It's just a story.
Not a particularly convincing argument, "stuff happens for no reason all the time", if I may say so. Why is this website even here then? The fact is that some stories are more coherent than others. (♫ "In olden days, a hole in the plot, would seem to matter, quite a lot. Now heaven knows, anything goes..." ♫);).
It's the difference in what story they want told. Is it a fairy tale or based on actual events? A huge difference in plausibility between the two. The site is there to look at mistakes, not how believable the story is.
It is not set in another universe so plausibility isn't somehow suspended. Maybe take a look at the categories recognised by this website. Plot holes, factual errors, even stupidity. (They? Who are they?).
It is set in a fictional universe because it's not a true story. With "they" I mean the writers/director. Mistakes in a plot (plot holes) have nothing to do with how believable the story is. As long as it's plausible, it's not a mistake.
Pretty sure it's the same universe, just with some added characters/events. What about the total lack of spaceships or orcs or talking animals for example? The seal business is not a mistake YET, but it's very dodgy because no-one knows how it works or why. Like all Indys "trapped" secret places, it's (among other things) unclear who resets the traps for the next visitor. We can't brush it ALL off as "the hand of god" every time.
Huge amounts of stuff in films isn't exhaustively explained. Doesn't mean there isn't an explanation that's perfectly believable. There's zero evidence either way to say how "followed by disaster" would manifest, and just because there's not a thorough explanation doesn't mean that it's "dodgy", and it's not worth bickering about either, because there's no concrete answer either way.
OK but I would like to note that not everyone who offers creative explanations has recently seen the movie; some people just invent their own. E.g. "followed by disaster" is not an actual explanation from the movie, it was just one of the suggestions made here and only here. Or the ones on my own question below. All I'm saying is, it's very hard to tell what the "rules" / "logic" of this place are supposed to be, so I understand what the OP was driving at.
14th Jan 2021
The Mask (1994)
1st May 2020
Total Recall (1990)
Question: Does the movie give any indication with any evidence in the movie that Douglas is dreaming for the ending?
Answer: Verhoeven points out that if a viewer believes the whole film is a dream, then Edgemar's prediction that Quaid will end up being lobotomized is fulfilled in the fade to white which ends the movie.
Answer: When Dr. Edgemar is in the hotel room with Quaid and Lori, Quaid puts a gun to Edgemar's head and says that if it's all a dream, that Quaid could just pull the trigger and it wouldn't really matter. Edgemar goes into details about consequences of what would happen if Quaid killed him. As seen, when Quaid kills Edgemar the walls of the hotel room crash down, Quaid believes he's the rebel savior, had visions of alien civilization and is best friends with Cohaagen and the white light that is at the end of the movie indicates that Quaid was lobotomized.
Answer: There are many signs that the adventure was reality. When Quaid watched the news (before going to Rekall), the newscasters asked Cohaagen about Kuato and alien artifacts (the alien reactor) in the Mars Pyramid Mine. Lori didn't want Quaid going to Mars or thinking about Mars. Harry didn't want Quaid to go to Rekall, as he sounded very intense when he said this to Quaid. The Rekall technicians popped Quaid's memory cap before they could implant his ego trip. Richter and Helm were watching Quaid the whole time and his trip to Rekall made them attempt to kill him before he could remember the alien reactor and his previous identity. Edgemar lied when he said Quaid's "dream" started in the middle of the implant procedure when Dr. Lull had told McClane they hadn't implanted the ego trip yet. Edgemar shouldn't have been sweating if it was a dream. Richter, Helm, Lori, Edgemar, and Benny were all trying to help Cohaagen keep his evil power and prevent Mars from having free air.
This isn't true. The DVD commentary states that if the viewer is believing that the story is a dream, then it begins right where the camera cuts to McClane and his female client watching the TV monitor. The bit where Quaid resists and Renata says she hasn't implanted the ego trip yet are part of the dream. The clue is that McClane's statement is "the trip is as real as any memory in your head." So for it to come across as real, it has to begin right there and then.
If Lori is really Quaid's wife, it seems strange that he would dream of her trying to kill him. When Richter and Helm are trying to kill Quaid, several people get killed in the crossfire. When Edgemar and Lori visit Quaid, Lori gives Edgemar a look right before he takes out the red pill, almost as if Lori is signaling Edgemar to do that. They are awfully eager for Quaid to take that pill, and the film's novelization states that the pill could possibly be a knockout dose or lethal. If Edgemar is a projection, he should not be sweating, which makes Quaid realise Edgemar is real. Those four agents who blast through the wall were back there listening to the conversation and waiting to see if Edgemar's plan with the pill would work. Richter and Helm were downstairs in the bar waiting to hear from Lori and Edgemar that they captured Quaid. If Edgemar was telling the truth, why would Richter and Helm be down in the bar waiting? Also, the novel points more toward reality.
You are forgetting to assume the dream shows him stuff that didn't actually happen, like innocents being killed in crossfire. If it is all a dream it all doesn't matter, he is being fed lies by the implants, about his wife, about Cohaagen, about everything, the fact it connects to real events before he went to Recall (which don't show the truth at all) just shows the ingenuity of the implants, who use his memories to create the story. Edgemar sweating could be another illusion caused by the implants. If it really is all a dream the moment he killed Edgemar the implants screwed his brain up enough there was no way of knowing what was real anymore, and his wife is sitting besides him at Recall crying that he isn't going to wake up anymore, whilst Quaid is experiencing killing her in his dream. This then goes on for him until the end it lobotomizes him. That is, if you believe it was a dream.
There is a villains site called Villains Wiki. Edgemar is listed on this site along with Cohaagen, Richter, Helm, Lori, Harry, and Benny. The article about Edgemar states that Quaid realises Edgemar is working for Cohaagen when he sees him sweating. It also states that Edgemar's goal is to aid Cohaagen in his plans. Also mentioned is the fact that Richter is Lori's real husband and is angered when Quaid kills her the same way he kills Edgemar.
Answer: The novel also reveals another detail that indicates reality. Before it is revealed that Richter is Lori's real husband, Quaid doesn't seem to love Lori. He dreams of Melina every night and actually loves Melina despite being with Lori. Quaid wonders why Lori married him, and she doesn't seem to have aged since their wedding. Once Lori reveals that their eight years together is actually a six-week memory implant, Quaid realises that is why his eight year memory of Lori hasn't changed. When Lori tries to detain Quaid for Richter and Helm at the Hilton Hotel, she tries to kill Melina because she knows Melina is Quaid's dream girl.
Answer: The novel by Piers Anthony has other signs that indicate Quaid's adventure was reality. When Richter and Helm are looking for Quaid on Earth, it says the bug in Quaid's head alerted them about his trip to Rekall. Richter and Helm went to Rekall to question the Rekall staff and dispatch them. When Richter and Helm are chasing Quaid and Melina on Mars, Quaid asks Melina if she has ever heard of Rekall, and she tells him she used to model for Rekall, which explains why Quaid saw Melina's face on the screen during his implant procedure at Rekall. Furthermore, Edgemar tells Quaid he is still at Rekall strapped in the implant chair, but McClane told the other Rekall staff members to dump Quaid in the Johnnycab and send him home. So it doesn't make sense that Quaid is still at Rekall after they sent him home.
20th Nov 2019
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: What was Ron's joke when he said "Next time I see Crookshanks I'll let him know"? I knew he was making some sort of joke or being sarcastic. Can someone please explain it to me?
I don't understand why Ron would joke about that. He owed Hermione an apology. And why didn't he just say sorry?
They are just kids. He just doesn't feel like he should apologize to her for accusing her cat of killing his rat. There have probably been incidents of Crookshanks chasing Scabbers, it is a cat after all.
23rd Dec 2020
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Question: I was watching this movie last night, and I noticed there were a few people of color in Lake Town. The vast majority of people shown in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films are white, so are there any particular places in Middle Earth where people of color might be more prevalent, at least according Tolkien's writings?
Chosen answer: People with brown skin come from the land of Harad, to the south of Gondor and Mordor. Really black people probably exist south of it, but is unknown to the people of Middle-Earth. Any land east of Rhun is just as unknown, it's possible people of colour came from there and settled in Lake-Town.
11th Dec 2020
Spider-Man (2002)
Question: Two questions about the scene in which the Green Goblin comes to JJ Jameson's office: 1) Why does JJJ cover for Parker and say that the photos of Spider-man come in the mail? I would expect him to protect himself before Peter. 2) The Green Goblin says "Jameson, you slime." As Norman Osborne, does he have a prior conflict with Jameson?
Answer: He might be a bad boss but not so bad he willingly gives up his employees to homicidal maniacs. JJJ is probably known to a lot of people as a slime, considering how he runs his paper. Osborne has probably been featured many times in it.
26th Nov 2020
Pokemon (1998)
Question: What happened to Arbok and Weezing? They haven't appeared on the show since season 6.
Answer: They are released by Jessie and James to defend a group of young Ekans and Koffings from a poacher.
I don't think anyone knows where they are now since they haven't been seen since or heard from since they were released.
26th Nov 2020
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Question: Why didn't the terminator obey Kate at their first meeting, when she told the Terminator to let her go?
Answer: Her life was in immediate danger and his primary duty was to protect her. If her command to him jeopardized his mission (which it did), he would prioritize and override her commands until she was out of danger. Stated differently, he did not have to obey her if doing so interfered with his ability to protect her.
Answer: Maybe her future self gave the terminator specific instruction on when to obey her and when not to, particularly regarding her own safety.
10th Sep 2007
Demolition Man (1993)
Question: Why was Simon allowed a damn at the joy joy feeling machine thingy while John was fined for one while talking to his friend?
Answer: I'm assuming you're referring to when Simon says "Damn, I'm possessed!" He was hacking the machine when he said it, perhaps he'd corrupted the program or shut off the microphone as a side effect?
Answer: Note that when Spartan is fined for swearing, the machine uses his full name. When Phoenix is fined, the machine only refers to him as "You" ("You are fined 1 credit...") as he isn't recognised because he doesn't have a chip. Presumably he's expected to take the ticket and pay the fine even if the machine didn't automatically know it was him.
Also notable is that when Lenina swore she was fined only one half a credit instead of a full credit. Probably because she is a cop.
No, I think she got fined only a half credit because it was a *sotto voce* violation (under her breath).
Strange, I can swear somebody already mentioned that once before.
Wait a minute, is that trivia?
Answer: Phoenix has no sub-dermal microchip in his hand. Per Huxley, all transactions are done with this chip. That would mean fines are also generated per person based on this chip too.
Except when Simon is trying to get a gun, he keeps swearing at the booth which constantly fines him.
20th Nov 2020
Grease (1978)
Question: Any idea what the reference to "banging erasers" is all about? I always thought she said "banging your races" or "banging your braces" but never understood what it meant?
Answer: Banging erasers is what kids had to do as punishment. Erasers are used to clear the chalkboards, eventually they will get full of chalk and not work properly anymore so you bang them together to get the chalk out.
Answer: It was a reference to detention. She suggests that he will be banging erasers after school.
18th Nov 2020
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Question: What happened to Luke's hand after Vader cut it off?
Answer: It fell into the reactor shaft alongside his lightsaber, unrecoverable. It probably fell outside like Luke did and dropped into the clouds of the gas giant Bespin.
Well, what about the thing that fell after Luke landed on the satellite dish outside? Was that Luke's hand?
No, nothing as macabre as that. Probably a piece of cloth or something that fell out of his pocket. Or, possibly, his lightsaber. But I doubt they would have him watch his own hand fall.
I always assumed that was his blaster, falling out of the holster.
In the Legends continuity someone found Luke's severed hand and used it to create Luke's evil clone, known as Luuke.
Answer: In the books before Disney, the hand was recovered by an Ugnaught (the pig-like people in Cloud City) and was taken with his lightsaber to the Emperor's secret storehouse on the planet Wayland. It was later used (in the Thrawn trilogy) to create a clone of Luke.
18th Nov 2020
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Question: Why did John Travolta have his gun drawn while talking to the guy in the car who he accidentally shoots?
Answer: He is careless with it, and doesn't think about if it might accidentally fire. There are safety protocols when dealing with guns for a reason. Gangsters just chose to ignore them.
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Answer: He made a deal with Anubis to defeat his enemies in exchange for his soul. After Anubis fulfilled his end of the bargain he claimed the Scorpion King as his slave and transformed him into the scorpion hybrid, taking away his humanity.
lionhead