Question: How much material was added for Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies that wasn't in the original novel?
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.
Question: Is Chop Top the same character as the deranged hitchhiker from the first film?
Answer: No, the hitchhiker was killed in the first movie when he's hit by a truck. His corpse is the body that Leatherface uses as a puppet during the opening scene. (He's nicknamed "Nubbins.") Chop-Top is supposed to be one of Leatherface's other brothers. According to director Tobe Hooper, Chop-Top was away in Vietnam during the events of the first movie.
Question: What kind of disease did Tommy (one of Johnny's friends) succumb to?
Answer: It isn't said specifically, but Tommy does mention that "it's in here now" while pointing to his head. This suggests some sort of cancer has spread to his brain.
Answer: It's implied to be a combination of brain damage (Johnny suggests this to Miguel earlier) and cancer that spread to the brain. In real life the actor suffered kidney and liver failure and died not long after.
Question: When the shark attacks the helicopter why isn't the shark sliced in half when the rotor blades hit the water?
Answer: The rotors break as soon as they hit the water.
Question: Why did they always get in and out of the passenger side of the car on the Andy Griffith show?
Answer: Back in the 50's and early 60's it was a law that you had to get into and out of your car from the sidewalk side, so I assume they were following that procedure.
Answer: I found this online, as apparently others wondered the same thing. It is only one explanation but it seems plausible: (paraphrased) It could be equipment-related. Getting in on the passenger side can be shot as a locked-down tripod shot. Getting in on the driver side means the guy has to walk around the car, requiring at minimum a pan/tilt/zoom and probably a dolly shot to make it look good (they didn't have Steadicams back then, so any time the camera had to move, a dolly track had to built for it to roll on). That would add expense and time to what was really just an establishing shot. This was a low-budget TV show, and it was cheaper to shoot it that way.
Question: Would Cadets Woliger and Fox have actually been able to attend a military academy, considering that Woliger has heart problems and Fox is deaf?
Answer: Madison is not a military academy. It is a boarding school and Major Payne has been put in charge of their JROTC program. It is, however unlikely that those cadets, or the blind cadet at the end of the film, would be admitted into a JROTC program. The Code of Federal Regulations states that the JROTC program is designed for "physically fit" students. Tiger is also much too young to be allowed to participate, you must be in at least the 7th grade to participate. Madison is apparently making exceptions to allow basically anyone that wants to participate and that would not be allowed in real life.
Question: Was there any reason why the subway ghost was angry at Sam for being in the same train with him?
Question: Why did later seasons have many of the episodes take place in New York?
Answer: The storyline was that Jessica was teaching classes in New York. However, after so many seasons and as ratings declined, it was probably to freshen up the series with a different locale, introduce new characters, and have a greater variety of situations in which Jessica could solve murders. It was already unbelievable that so many people could be murdered in the small town of Cabot Cove. Being in a large city like New York makes it a tiny bit more plausible.
Question: Why does General Ross keep trying to kill Hulk?
Answer: The Hulk is a giant brute who smashes everything in his path when he is angry. In Ang Lee's "Hulk," General Ross, played by Sam Elliot, explains it to his daughter.
Answer: Because he feels the Hulk is a threat to all life on Earth, and particularly his daughter's close relationship with Bruce Banner puts her at risk when Hulk enters the equation.
Why does Ross think the hulk is a threat?
Because the Hulk is nearly mindless and goes on destructive rampages with high risk of collateral damage.
If that's the case, what's the problem with the way general Ross judges the hulk?
Question: How accurate is this film in relation to the actual Battle of Thermopylae?
Answer: It's based on Frank Miller's comic 300, rather than Herodotus' recounting of the actual battle. Almost nothing is accurate beyond Leonidas leading 300 Spartans to the Hot Gates and fending off Persians until Ephilates (not a hunchback) exposes the goat path. Xerxes is certainly not a tall Latino man, the Persians never used elephants, rhinos and explosives or mutants and Leonidas' former co-king actually sided with the Persians after getting kicked out of Sparta. In addition, 1000 Thespians also stood beside the Spartans and also died besides them. The Persians also did not have an 'inside man' in the Spartan government nor did they pay off the Ephors to tell Leonidas not to march; in reality it was a religious festival so the army had to stay home. Gorgo was also an accomplished wrestler and charioteer and would not have been raped so easily, especially by a politician.
Answer: Remember that even in the film, it's not really treated as a true story. It's Dilios telling a propaganda tale meant to boost the spirits of his fellow Greek warriors at Plataea.
Answer: According to the director it is 90 percent accurate. But in reality there are many things going on in this movie that are totally fantastical. One of the biggest problems are the costumes, diplomacy and tactical situation of the actual battle (the 300 did not in fact stand alone). Also, the movie includes elephants, which the Persians did not use in that battle, and certainly not rhinoceros. Also, Xerxes' portayal is completely fictional.
Question: In all the Highlander movies and in this show, was there any reason given why immortals can't fight each other on holy ground?
Answer: Not directly. But there is a penalty involved. In Highlander 3 the fighting on holy ground resulted in the destruction of one of the weapons. In End Game several immortals are murdered whilst on holy ground but no repercussions were ever revealed, so it's possible it is specifically about the fighting. Nobody knows what happens when an immortal is killed in a duel on holy ground but it's safe to assume the penalty will be severe because all immortals respect this rule, even the most evil ones (except that one moment in Highlander 3).
Question: Monk's psychiatrist died of a heart attack - Why didn't Monk investigate the death of his shrink more thoroughly?
Answer: Because there was nothing suspicious about it. These things just happen and Monk is smart enough to know it was just one of those things.
Answer: In addition to the in-universe answer, an out-of universe answer (i.e. real life), since Stanley Kamel died in real life, it wouldn't be possible to film him in flashback scenes, like Monk's "here's what happened" summation. So setting an episode around solving his death, would be somewhat limited or require a stand-in.
Question: Why does the Chief fake being deaf for much of the film?
Answer: It's better explained in the novel, where the Chief is the narrator. Essentially, he played deaf and dumb, so he'd be left alone by the Nurse and the staff; seeing what they did to the other patients, he figured the less he was noticed, the better. In this way, he is privy to a lot of the seedier goings-on, since they don't think he can hear what they're saying or tell anyone what he's seen.
Question: Maybourne threatens Daniel with a court-martial if he continues to disobey orders by helping the Tollan. The driving force of him helping is the idea that since he's a civilian he can't be court-martialed. But how accurate is that? Can a civilian who works for and/or with the military be court-martialed, especially if he or she has participated in military operations? The Stargate program is essentially a black-ops program and Daniel signed an NDA, so how could he ever face a non-military court?
Answer: In real life, under certain conditions, civilians working with military forces can be required to abide by military law as well as the civilian laws of their nation. This is usually when civilians (eg. scientists, contractors, etc) are deployed for a lengthy time as part of a military force at war (or similar operations). The requirement to abide by the law is usually explained carefully to the civilian and signed before deployment. This helps fit civilians into a chain of command and maintains discipline, without having to return to courts in the home country for infractions. There may be many parts of military law that don't apply to the civilian (e.g. alcohol is forbidden to all personnel, but the civilian does not have to have a regulation haircut). Also, very serious crimes by anyone in a force may be dealt with by civilian courts, if the military can't for some reason. So it is feasible that Daniel would be subject to at least some parts of military law (and civil law too).
Question: Why didn't Harry simply refuse to take part in the Tri-Wizard tournament? Even though his name came out of the goblet, he could have said no.
Answer: No, he had to participate because the goblet of fire forced him into a "magical contract." The goblet itself is probably partially sentient and would punish anyone who didn't participate after being selected by the goblet. How this works exactly is never explained, but the tournament judges were pretty clear that he had no choice but to participate.
What would have happened to Harry if he broke the contract?
Broken magical contracts usually resulted in death; a good deterrent for not breaking them. Keep in mind, however, Harry (in the book at least), like many students, very much wanted to compete in the tournament despite the danger, but initially couldn't because he was underage. He still wanted to compete, despite knowing the selection process was rigged.
It's never explained.
Question: How did Hannibal Lector get that pen in his mouth when his whole body was under restraints?
Answer: When the curator of the insane asylum was in his cell, he had a pen and contract for him to sign. When he was called away, he forgot about it. Hannibal was restrained, when the curator left, the restrains were most likely taken off. That's when he grabbed the pen. He had only the metal clip in his mouth, which he used to pick the lock on his cuffs.
Question: After Ramses finally agreed to let the slaves go, why did Dathan go with them? He wasn't a slave, so he could have said no and stayed in Egypt.
Answer: He had blood on his doorway, only the followers of Moses had it. Therefore, the Egyptian guards assumed he was one of them.
Answer: It's been years since I've seen this movie. As I remember, on the night of the Plague of the Firstborns, those Hebrews who painted a symbol in lamb's blood on their doors were spared God's wrath (Passover). To punish his being a traitorous collaborator and cruelty to the slaves, Dathan's door was marked without his knowledge to identify him as a Hebrew. He was then exiled from Egypt with the others, despite being a loyal to Pharaoh Ramses and acting as his spy.
Winterfell - S8-E1
Question: As Qyburn gives a crossbow to Bronn to kill Cersei's two brothers, he says "The queen's brothers made promises to you and broke them. Her Grace wants to rectify their mistake." I remember Jaime promised Bronn a castle or more, but I don't know what Tyrion had promised to Bronn and broke it. From I can tell, it was Bronn who turned his back to Tyrion. So, what was Tyrion's promise to Bronn that wasn't kept?
Answer: I believe Bronn had wanted Tyrion to give him High Garden, the Terrell's castle - which Tyrion was later unable to provide him. Jamie also offered Bronn a castle and also gave him a large amount of gold, but Bronn specifically wanted High Garden and would not consider any other as being grand enough. At the end of the series, High Garden has been given to Bronn.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Quite a bit, though much of what was added was alluded to in the film as being done elsewhere, especially scenes with Gandalf. This was likely to pad the length, as the book is rather short (around a quarter the length of the Lord of the Rings). Galadriel, Radagast, Saruman, and the Necromancer are not seen in the books, though Radagast and the Necormancer mentioned. Azog is already dead by this time. Tauriel is a new character. Legolas is never mentioned, but as Mirkwood is his home, he was likely there. Dain Ironfoot is mentioned as there, but isn't seen doing anything except taking kingship after the death of Thorin. The White Council scene is also mentioned but not seen.
LorgSkyegon