lionhead

Question: Given Kate met Gizmo in the previous movie, how could she mistake Daffy for him? He looks different from Gizmo.

Rob245

Answer: She only saw him briefly, never in full light either. Plus, it was some time ago. I don't think she would suspect there is another one either.

lionhead

At the end of the first movie, after killing the gremlins, everyone is at Billy's house, and Kate puts a thermometer in Gizmo's mouth and looks directly at him while doing it, giving her plenty of time to look at him.

Still, very briefly, still in low light. She has had way less interaction with Gizmo overall.

lionhead

Question: Extended Edition: What is the point of the avalanche of skulls that the Army of the Dead throw down upon Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli? Surely the AOTD would want to keep Aragorn alive; he was the only way that they could break their curse. Or was the avalanche of skulls something that the AOTD were not responsible for? PS: I don't want any answers like "Peter Jackson put it there because it looked cool", I want answers that fit within the context of the film.

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: With the last of the line of Isildur dead, there would be no one left to hold them to their oath and they'd be free to 'pass on.'

Phixius

The king would have no reason to believe that killing Aragorn would free him. He thought the line was broken. He was surprised that there was an heir left alive. Therefore, he would have believed that they were never going to pass on because there was nobody to free them. Immediately attempting to kill the last person that could free them seems like an odd conclusion to come to within minutes of meeting Aragorn. A possible reason is that the army was leaving, so the magic holding the skulls stopped.

The avalanche of skulls came after Aragorn revealed himself as the heir of Isildur. It was their way of saying no to his request.

lionhead

10th Oct 2023

Starship Troopers (1997)

Stupidity: When the invasion of planet P begins, we see the Rodger Young get hit. In the explosion sequence, we are treated to people sitting around tables in what can only be described as a mess hall exploding. In a military environment, this would be a time where everyone would be at their "battle stations". Nobody would be having chow or off-time when the ship is expecting combat. In this case, it was a planned troop landing.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Yes, it was stupidity, but it was an intentional depiction that supports the plot. During the landing, the Captain is completely surprised by the bombardment and says something like, "This isn't light uncoordinated resistance." The fleet's lack of preparedness at Planet P is a major plot point that later results in the replacement of the Air Marshal in command.

No, you are talking about a different sequence. When they are unprepared, they are doing an invasion of Klendathu, the Bug's home planet. This is earlier in the movie and the Rodger Young was only slightly damaged in that. The stupidity is about the invasion of Planet P at the end of the movie, where the Rodger Young is cut in half.

lionhead

Corrected entry: Kirsty tells Detective Ronson to destroy the mattress because Julia died on it and could come back. In the first Hellraiser, Julia died on the stairway after being stabbed to death by Frank. (01:16:12 - 01:16:41)

Correction: She ended up on the mattress. When Kristy grabbed the box and Pinhead says his famous line "we have such sights to show you".

No, she didn't. Julie was murdered on the stairwell by Frank in the first movie. If you rewatch the movie, you'll see it. The timestamp that was posted for this mistake is for the first movie, not this one.

After Julia was stabbed and drained at the stairwell, the Cenobites took her and put her on the mattress, peeling off her face with chains. She was probably still alive when they did that. It's there where Kirsty takes the box from her hands. The proper timestamp for that scene in the first movie is 1:23:23.

lionhead

12th Oct 2023

Stargate (1994)

Corrected entry: For both opening the Earth gate (they mention having never gotten beyond six symbols), then opening the Abydos gate after Daniel Jackson knows the first six symbols from that cavern, why can't they simply use trial and error to find the seventh symbol? For 40-odd symbols apiece on both, it would only take approximately that many guesses by process of elimination.

dizzyd

Correction: This mistake has already been corrected, twice. The military in control of the project might not have allowed them to experiment with different symbols simply because they didn't know what it might do. Not fully far fetched since the entire compound starts shaking when entering the 6th symbol. It might explode for all they know.

lionhead

Then the Abydos gate alone. Six symbols down. One to go. 40 odd guesses, easy enough, less than an hour.

dizzyd

You missed the point of the correction. It could have been 4 options and still not worth the risk of entering the wrong symbol.

Bishop73

Well, we don't know if the gate on Abydos makes everything shake. So, I'd say there is a point there. But they only discover the symbols on Abydos till later. By then, they are already at the tribe, I think.

lionhead

7th Aug 2023

Oppenheimer (2023)

Factual error: No one would have used the phrase "black hole" in 1939. The term "black hole" was first used in 1963 in "Life" and "Science News" and by Ann Ewing in an article in January of 1964. Princeton physicist John Wheeler popularised the term.

wizard_of_gore

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Nobody uses the term "black hole" in the movie, only the term "dark star". Oppenheimer once refers to it as a hole in space, but not a black hole.

lionhead

When Oppenheimer walks into the room of cheering people (after he says he'll be in Pasadena), someone says "paper on black holes, it's in!"

Bishop73

Ah, yes, I see. I wonder, though, if it's really that unlikely someone would call it a black hole before it was popularized? It is essentially what they are. Certainly, it's possible somebody before 1963 called it that without it ending up in a paper. Just a coincidence, then.

lionhead

5th Oct 2023

Goldeneye (1995)

Question: Was any reason ever given as to why Bond's gadget-filled car was barely used in this film? It seems odd to give the series a fresh start in many ways, make a big deal about his car with missiles inside the lights, and then he drives it for 30 seconds and gives it away. Why bother giving him a car at all?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: There hadn't been a Bond film for seven years, and it was a new Bond. They wanted to get away from the gadgets and show him at his best. It was a way to let people accept Pierce Bronsan, watching what he can do. He put a lot of Sean Connery into it.

I can see that, but it just seems weird to highlight the features the car has and then not use them. Would have been simpler to omit it entirely, but presumably BMW wanted some product placement.

Jon Sandys

According to Wikipedia, the deal with BMW came at the last stage in production, so they were only able to put the car in the movie but not make scenes where the gadgets are actually used. I can imagine they'd have to rewrite parts of the script and take more time filming to do that.

lionhead

16th Aug 2023

The Longest Day (1962)

Factual error: All throughout the movie, whenever some German officer, speaking German, wants someone to shoot off some artillery piece, he screams, "FIRE!" German words for shoot include schießen, drehen, trieb, aufnehmen, abschießen, erlegen, spross, jagen, and ballern, but certainly not "fire".

roy sandefur

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: But they don't say "shoot," they say "feuer," which is German for "fire." This is the accurate word for the German command to firing a weapon. Btw, most of the words you take as an example don't mean "to shoot," but are only associated with shooting. Like "jagen," which is German for "hunting."

lionhead

Nay - They are screaming "FIRE!" They aren't saying feuer. It probably is indeed illegal to yell "Feuer!" in a German crowded theatre. Lol. My original assertion of a mistake in this movie was because they go to great lengths to specifically always be having the Germans speaking German with subtitles - to not be one of these war movies where all the German officers are speaking English (usually in a refined British accent for some reason - lol) - and I maintain they dropped that in this case and went for the English word - and it's a mistake - Whatever the word feuer means, even if it does, or CAN mean SHOOT!, they CLEARLY (and multiple times throughout all the battle scenes) are screaming the English word "fire," not the German word FEUER. The two words may be close, but they do not sound the same. Watch the movie and I'm sure you will hear what I'm saying. You will hear "FIE ur," not "few ERR." There is no long 'I' sound in feuer.

roy sandefur

You are entitled to your opinion, whether you hear "fire" or "feuer," but I hear them say "feuer" enough (Omaha beach scene). About everything else you say, I think the problem is easy - you don't understand the German language. Now, I'm not a native German speaker, but my knowledge of German is adequate enough to know that the German word for firing a weapon is "feuer." I'm also pretty sure the English word "fire" means "flames" as well, so your logic is flawed.

lionhead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO1Em0NCCzE. At the 2:03 timestamp, you can hear a German say "feuer" to firing a weapon.

lionhead

Ok, I just went there and no one says anything at 2:03. (If you mean two minutes and three seconds into the movie). Maybe you meant two hours and three minutes? Gimme a day or so to watch the whole movie again, and I will mark every time I think they say "feuer" and every time they say "fire." If I'd heard "FEW AIR," I wouldn't have asserted that there was any mistake. I would have assumed that was German. I hear some actor from New Jersey screaming "FIE UR" every time - lol.

roy sandefur

I gave a link to a YouTube video of Bundeswehr soldiers training. In the video, at 2:03, you hear a German say "feuer" when ordering to fire the artillery. Just to prove, Germans say "feuer" when firing weapons. Plus an idea of how they pronounce it.

lionhead

Yes, what happened is, I copied and pasted that link - but I included the period you put at the end - and that just brings up Youtube movies, so I thought you meant for me to go to The Longest Day movie - lol. My bad. Again, I acknowledge that there is no way to account for accents and dialects - you made a good point - I just always hear what sounded like some actor from New Jersey saying FIE URR! - (Or should I say JOIZEE) - lol.

roy sandefur

Maybe that's one time they did it the correct way - there are more than one times throughout the movie where you hear "FIRE" and not "FEUER" - they are not pronounced the same.

roy sandefur

Ok - I am GIVING you the understanding that both English and German have a word that means both flames and shooting. I will acknowledge that. But you are not understanding my logic. I repeat: Irrespective of whether any German officer ever screamed "feuer" to mean "shoot", you will, beyond doubt, hear that very strong, long 'I' sound every time they scream the word. Anyone who is reading this is invited to watch the movie, and the word FIRE, pronounced "fie ur" with the long 'I' sound, will be heard at least two or three times - never "few air." Feuer is, (supposed to be), pronounced "few air." But, then, what does "supposed to" really mean, when it comes to any language? I guess differences in accents have to be considered. I mean, how many English words sound different than they seem to be spelled? - tons.

roy sandefur

Think logically about the fact that these actors in the movie are actual Germans, and they are supposed to speak German in the movie. So, absolutely no reason for them to say "fire." They can pronounce it however they want; they mean to say "feuer" and not "fire."

lionhead

Yes, but I hear FIRE, not Feuer. But then, a lot of British people pronounce Lia fail as LAYAFOIL, so I will admit that there may be no way to prove my theory that the makers of this movie abandoned their attempt to stick with German and went with the English word FIRE in this one instance.

roy sandefur

I agree, it's more likely they're saying "Feuer." Even Google Translate says "fire at will" translates to "Feuer frei." But the pronunciation is closer to "fire" than what you're suggesting. You seem to be implying "feuer" is pronounced more like "führer."

Bishop73

Yes, a German might be saying "feuer" some time in some actual war, but in this movie, you will hear "fire" every time. Go watch the movie and you will definitely hear that long 'I' sound. Ultimately, this may be impossible to totally resolve, as I guess there may be no way to determine how different Germans with different accents might pronounce something. I hear the dude from New Jersey saying FIE UR! lol.

roy sandefur

23rd Apr 2009

X-Men (2000)

Question: Jean and Storm combine their powers to get Wolverine to the top of The Statue of Liberty. Why is this? Wouldn't Jean's telekinesis be sufficient enough to levitate Wolverine to the top without Storm's power?

SocietyCynic

Chosen answer: Jean's powers were not that powerful at the time.

shortdanzr

But they were powerful enough to lift cars, water, etc. when she was like 7.

It's more that she doesn't have enough control over it.

lionhead

In addition to what Lionhead said, Xavier also says he altered her mind in "X-Men: The Last Stand" by creating psychic barriers to lock out the Phoenix personality, which also seemed to have altered her memory. So it's entirely possible (and likely) her overall power reduced when that happened, and didn't start to fully come back until the events of "X2."

TedStixon

Question: At the start, she was to drive the truck to get gas. She never got there, and yet was able to drive all over. How?

Answer: Furiosa was not getting gas for the war rig; it is presumably fully fuelled. Furiosa was to fill the tank with gas to bring it back to be used for other vehicles.

BaconIsMyBFF

If you're going to get gas, why have a full tank in the war rig? Put enough in it to be able to get to Gas town, pulling the attached round tank. Fill the round tank and fill up the war rig. Return with lots of gas in a full round tank and a full war rig.

I believe there is some confusion here with how the gas tank system works on the war rig. The truck itself has its own gas tank; the tank that is being towed is completely separate. It's exactly the same as real-life gas trucks.

BaconIsMyBFF

Why does that question even need to be answered? You're going to use gas going there and coming back. It doesn't matter if the war rig was full or not when it left. Assuming they're going to be gassing the war rig up once they get there to collect the gas, it's going to come back with the exact same amount of gas no matter what. So it really makes no difference whatsoever. Also, what happens if they get delayed along the way? If they only have enough gas to get to Gas Town, but something happens, they'll just get stuck.

TedStixon

I agree, it's not very smart to fill the war rig with just enough gas to get to town. But it sounds like they're saying take whatever you can out of the war rig, and you'd have that much extra gas when they get back. For example, if the rig held 25 gallons and only needed 5 gallons to get to town, you can take out 20 gallons. The rig then arrives in town empty, fills up, and comes back with 20 gallons in the tank. So now you have 40 gallons instead of just 20 (plus whatever the tank holds).

Bishop73

I think the big point is what Furiosa was planning. She filled the gas tank of the truck up to be able to go further with it; she wasn't planning on getting the gas anyway.

lionhead

Ok, I can understand that... but I still don't see why it's a question that needs to be answered, hahaha. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see why every tiny detail needs an explanation or answer, especially when it doesn't really matter for the story.

TedStixon

Answer: What she did most likely took months of planning. Who she could trust to help her. How exactly she could smuggle the girls out, and most importantly, gaining the trust of the boss to the point where he believed she was his obedient slave who could never betray him.

Answer: Nobody knew the war rig was full of gas. They thought she was going to fill the tanker and come back, not smuggle out the girls.

Sorry, can't believe that. The boss guy controlled everything. He would know where and how much gas there was. Also, lowering the truck empty would be a lot different than lowering it fully loaded.

The truck was supposed to be empty when it left. She was taking an empty tank to be filled, but smuggled the wives inside. It weighed probably 300 pounds more than it was supposed to, but that would be imperceptible to the people operating the elevator. The war rig likely weighs several tons.

BaconIsMyBFF

It's not empty, it is filled with water. The wives were hiding in the tractor.

lionhead

23rd Oct 2012

Men in Black 3 (2012)

Corrected entry: The boglodites invasion starts when agent J is about to time jump. It doesn't make sense for them to wait 40 years to invade Earth in the the new reality (after Boris succeeds to kill agent K and steal the arcnet) especially when we hear that they would starve to death before finding another planet to consume in case they fail to penetrate Earth. This reasoning is confirmed when we know that in the original timeline they are extinct 40 years ago, which means they were already very very hungry at that time and couldn't have the luxury to wait few more years.

Correction: This is explained if you listen very carefully. The boglodites planet is 20 lightyears away from earth, meaning, it would take Boris 20 years to get back to his planet and then another 20 to return ot invade Earth equalling 40 years.

That's so totally wrong in many ways, not the least of which, that's not how light-years work. More importantly, in the original timeline, it is said that the Boglodites tried and failed to invade 40 years before - meaning shortly after the arcnet was deployed. So, Boris takes the device, and suddenly they decide to wait 40 years? This plot hole still makes no sense.

I think the arcnet prevents them from invading 40 years later, effectively defeating them because they can't reach another planet in time. They didn't invade in 1969 originally. So with the arcnet present (not deployed), the boglodites never invade.

lionhead

Even if we accept this correction, it still doesn't explain why they didn't starve to death! However, the explanation still doesn't hold. Remember, the Boglodites' fleet "was" there, upon us on Earth, 40 years ago, yet they failed because the ArcNet was deployed. They all came to invade Earth along with Boris number 1. In the altered timeline, Boris 2 travels back in time, kills K, steals the ArcNet, but there is still no reason and no explanation whatsoever for them waiting and starving to death.

They didn't invade in 1969, they invade in the present. J enters a different reality, one without K, but he is is still in his own time. That's where the Boglodites invade because there is no ArcNet. Then he goes back to 1969 so they can deploy the ArcNet and prevent the Boglodites from coming to Earth at all.

lionhead

20th Oct 2021

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Other mistake: In the landing scene inside the dropship there is a release valve for all the mechanical suits. No one seems to use this valve to get released, they all just drop spontaneously. Except for Cage, who has to hit the valve every time in order to get released. (00:18:50 - 00:33:04)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: They all wait until they are released automatically. Probably deploys at a certain distance from the beach.

lionhead

I'm not sure this answers the mistake. There's no apparent reason for deployment to be automatic for everyone except Cage. It could be argued that everyone else knew to select "automatic drop," but Cage didn't. However, since that's not covered in the film, it can't be used to explain what happened.

Well, I said it's automatic for them, but it doesn't really have to be. They all know how it works, and he doesn't. They probably have a different method of releasing since their suit is unlocked and they know the system, whilst the red valve next to their head is probably an extra safety measure. He uses it over and over again because it seems to work, whilst it is possible the normal release on his suit doesn't.

lionhead

Stupidity: There is no reason why any person as intelligent as Janet would keep the knowledge of Kang secret from her family. The extended Pym family are the only people in possession of the one thing Kang needs to escape. The brief explanation she gives is that she wanted to protect her family, but this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and she makes no attempt to explain how this secret keeps anyone safe.

BaconIsMyBFF

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: She is obviously scared out of her mind concerning Kang. She, through her fear, had hoped that him being trapped in the Quantum Realm would stay permanent as long as nobody knew about it in the normal universe. In that way, she tried to protect not only her family but the entire universe.

lionhead

Not only does she not say that she is "scared out of her mind", she also doesn't act like it either. There is no indication that she is so frightened by Kang that she has lost her senses - quite the opposite, actually. She appears to function rationally and intelligently in every other area concerning Kang, except of course for simply telling anyone how dangerous the Quantum Realm is because the movie wouldn't have a plot otherwise. It's pretty egregious and wildly ridiculous.

BaconIsMyBFF

Of course, she doesn't say that or act like that. But what she saw of him, when she touched his ship, scared her enough to go to all that trouble to keep him in the quantum realm at all costs. She thought it would be safe to leave, that he was trapped forever. Her judgment was wrong, probably caused by her fear. She is only human.

lionhead

"Fear" is not enough to get past this level of stupidity. My point is that she doesn't act so frightened; she isn't irrational in any other way. It's just a flat-out, stupidly written element of the film that is impossible to believe. There is no way on God's green earth she should keep this secret, even after her family has made it to the quantum realm. I get that the movie is trying to say she is frightened, but this goes well beyond making any kind of sense at all; it's ridiculous.

BaconIsMyBFF

Part of the stupidity also involves Janet's action in the mid-credit scenes of "Ant-Man and the Wasp," where she actively helped send Scott into the Quantum Realm to get quantum energy. If she was so afraid of a signal being sent to the QR, she wouldn't have let Scott go without explaining the dangers of going. This film seems to ignore that and instead seems to focus on Janet simply not wanting to discuss her involvement with Kang and her guilt, thinking no one would go back to the QR.

Bishop73

20th May 2023

The Mummy (1999)

Question: What does Colonel O'Connell yell to his Legionnaires in French as the cavalry charge nears? And why does he then continue in English ("Steady, Steady...Fire!").

Answer: He is in the French Foreign Legion, which is a corps in the French army which allows foreigners to sign up. But, it is mostly led by French and a lot of French nationals are still a part of it. So hence why he speaks in multiple languages, being trained by French.

lionhead

Yes, I know, but what does he yell in French? Does anyone have the text? It's not in the script. Fraser is fluent in French, maybe it was his improvisation. I'd still like to know what he said.

tovangar

Ah yes, sorry. I was too focussed on the second question. He says "Prenez vos positions." Which means "take your positions!"

lionhead

Question: Hermione was the one who said that when a werewolf transforms he'd kill his best friend if he saw him, so why did she think she could talk to Lupin after he transformed?

Answer: Hermione was quoting what she knew from reading in text books. Now she was in a precarious real-life situation and she's going to try anything to survive. At first, Lupin (as a werewolf) seems passive and non-dangerous, prompting her to see if she can communicate with him. She quickly realises she's wrong.

raywest

I wonder why Lupin can't recognize Hermione while in his werewolf form, but he used to spend time with James, Peter, and Sirius, in their Animagus forms? So he was capable of recognizing friends.

All 3 friends of Remus managed to calm down werewolf Lupin as animagi after a while. But only Sirius wasn't enough apparently, plus it had been decades since they did that.

lionhead

Totally agree with Lionhead, but would emphasize that Lupin had no control whatsoever over his mind, did not know who he was, nor did he recognize anyone when he transformed into a werewolf. He simply related to James, Sirius, and Pettigrew in their Animagus forms as being other animals who could moderate his behaviour and kept him far away from humans.

raywest

16th May 2023

End of Days (1999)

Question: Why exactly does the devil need to have a child to conquer the world? Why can't he do it himself? He can easily corrupt mankind and lead them to their destruction, which could allow him to take over the world.

Answer: According to the bible the devil has no power on earth, but like God, he wanted to send his son into the world to influence and corrupt them.

The Devil is unequivocally shown to have power on Earth in this film.

Phaneron

I think he means he doesn't have powers equal to God on earth. That's why he sends his son. Also as a mockery to God's son of course.

lionhead

26th Feb 2017

Resident Evil (2002)

Corrected entry: We know Alice and Spence are the hive's first defense. So the first thing the queen does after the infection is to knockout and disable her own defenses? That isn't very smart.

brianjr0412

Correction: Yes Spence and Alice are part of the defense network of the hive, however they're more directly linked to the safety and security of the installation from outside threats and possibly internal ones. When the Queen enacted her security measures, those measures, knockout chemical, putting Spence and Alice asleep in simply coincidental. Remember that the hive dealing with a very dangerous virus and like all similar installations, real or fiction, the #1 goal is to contain all threats as quickly as possible. Remember that it is spence who stole the virus and purposely set off the events that caused the queen to take the security measures she did. Now maybe, and we're never informed about such, Spence and Alice have been trained about the gas and would have taken measures to avoid being knocked out if it were not for the situations they were in when it happened. Remember Alice was in a shower and Spence was almost back out of the hive facility proper. He even said in the movie something about he thought he could make it out of the hive and the house before the security measures all came about. The Queen was just protecting the installation and reacting with a response level equal to the threat it faced which meant all security measures that were possible to use were done so.

Correcting the correction this isn't just a coincidence they was knocked out with a nerve agent to keep them from investigating why the red queen activated her defenses resulting in them getting infected and letting out the virus the nerve agent was designed to cause short term memory lose so when they woke up hours later they wouldn't remember why they was there and could hold complete deniability if questioned by authority if a team failed their mission and let the virus out anyways in the 4hr.

I don't think the umbrella corporation worries itself with something like plausible deniability. They have full control over the facility, even send their own team. They don't have to answer to other authority.

lionhead

2nd Apr 2023

Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Corrected entry: Mental (the "Gas Man") assumes Harry and Lloyd are rival criminals who have deduced his identity yet he willingly places himself in their vehicle and doesn't even make an attempt to disguise himself.

Correction: At first they did think that, but once they saw the apartment and their ways (and their dog car) I think they soon realised these guys were not pros.

lionhead

It wasn't until the diner scene - which takes place after he had been given a lift by Harry and Lloyd - that Mental realised they were just a pair of weirdos with nothing better to do.

That doesn't make sense. That would mean he still thought they knew who he was and were "pros" when he hitched a ride to "get to know them."

lionhead

Correction: To add, earlier in the movie, when Harry and Lloyd hear a knock at the door, Harry looks through the peephole and Mental is facing away from the door, so Harry never actually saw his face.

Which is besides the point; that Mental had assumed they already knew who he was.

13th Jun 2006

Pleasantville (1998)

Question: Wouldn't David & Jennifer's mom be worried about the sudden disappearance of her daughter, seeing as how Jennifer stayed behind in Pleasantville rather than returning to the "real world"?

Answer: We don't see much of the "real world" after David returns other than his conversation with his mother. I am sure in time she would have been worried but there seem to be many unanswered questions which might make it not so simple.

Lummie

Considering that a couple of days in Pleasantville turned out to be just an hour in the real world, it's possible Jennifer could spend 3-4 years in uni and cone back with it being just a weekend in the real world. David could just make up something in that period she's gone.

Actually if a couple of days is just an hour than 3-4 years is more than 2 weeks.

lionhead

Question: This question is about the book and movie. Why does Draco make an offer of friendship to Harry? His parents are on Voldemort's side. His father and his aunt are Death Eaters. Surely he considers Harry to be an enemy. If Harry had actually decided to join him, his family would have been very displeased. They would also suffer consequences if Voldemort returned and heard that Draco was friends with Harry.

Answer: Draco, still a child when he met Harry, would not yet fully comprehend his family's involvement as Death Eaters or Harry's specific connection to the Dark Lord. His father, Lucius, rarely shared important information with his son. Draco was also the type who would ingratiate himself to someone famous for his own benefit. Draco's cultivating a bogus friendship with Harry could actually have been advantageous to the Malfoys by gaining his trust and giving them closer access to Harry for Voldemort's purposes. The old adage, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," would certainly apply here.

raywest

One other possible reason, I think, it was suggested elsewhere, that the Malfoys did not believe that Voldemort would return, and thought that if Harry had defeated him then Harry must be a very powerful wizard and therefore they wanted to be his friend.

This indeed. This was cut from the movies (it's in one deleted CoS scene), but some people including the Malfoys wondered if Harry "defeated" Voledmort because he was another powerful, dark wizard Voldemort didn't want as a competition. That would make him very appealing to the Malfoys before it is confirmed otherwise. Especially since no-one aside from a few people knew Voldemort would ever come back.

Harry was only a baby when he "defeated" Voldemort though. Why would anyone think he was a powerful dark wizard and competition to Voldemort? I get that they might think Harry has some sort of hidden ability that caused him to vanquish Voldemort, but not that being the reason Voldemort tried to kill him. Everyone knew who Harry's parents were, and that's why he was a target.

lionhead

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