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: Why didn't Rocky simply tell Ginger at the start that he couldn't fly, instead of dragging everyone through that whole charade. I realise that it was crucial to the plot, but was there any other reason?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Because he wanted them all to have something to look forward to, he didn't want to let them down. Plus Rocky is very bigheaded, it would no doubt be embarrassing for him to admit that he couldn't fly.

THGhost

Answer: The exchange was he would teach them to fly so he could hide out from the circus and he didn't have anything else to offer them.

Answer: Because Rocky is a coward.

Question: When Vesper is kidnapped by Le Chiffre, Bond suspects Mathis betrayed him, and Le Chiffre even confirms it. But then it is revealed the traitor is actually Vesper. So why would Le Chiffre tell Bond Mathis was his "friend"? Or for that matter, why did Vesper get out of the casino (only to get kidnapped), if Mathis apparently never text messaged her saying he "needed her"?

Answer: Le Chiffre needs Bond to believe that Vesper is innocent, so that he can use her as leverage during the torture scene. If Bond knew that she was actually a traitor, that leverage would be gone, so he tells him that Mathis sold him out instead. Having failed to win the poker tournament, Le Chiffre's only remaining option to get the money back is to take it from Bond, so he sent the text telling Vesper to leave the casino so that he can stage her kidnapping, putting his plan into motion.

Tailkinker

Answer: I thought she was getting the money for ransom for her old boyfriend which it spoke about in the next movie.

Question: Anne tried to get her brother to impregnate her so Henry wouldn't know about her miscarriage, but wouldn't this have obviously not worked? She mentioned that Henry already seemed to notice that her pregnancy wasn't showing. Even if she and George did sleep together and she became pregnant, she wouldn't start showing for another four months or so. By then, wouldn't Henry and everyone else expect her to look eight or nine months pregnant?

Answer: Of course they probably would have noticed, but Anne was desperate, thinking irrationally, and she would have done anything to regain Henry's favor and remain queen. She probably believed that if she became pregnant, it would be assumed that it must be the king's child. And if she could entice the king back into her bed, she could claim her earlier condition was a false pregnancy, but that she was now carrying the king's child.

raywest

Question: First question: Who would win, theoretically, Superman or Hulk, in a fight? Second: When Eric Bana changes into the Hulk, you don't see the emphasis on the eyes changing first as you saw in the TV series The Incredible Hulk. Why was this?

mozeus5

Answer: 1. Theoretically, the Hulk would be able to win. Superman draws his power from the sun and the more energy he expends from things such as using heat vision or fighting, will weaken him. The Hulk's power comes from his own rage. Even though the Hulk can lift 100 tons, the angrier he becomes the stronger he gets making him powerful enough to eventually lift anything heavier than 100 tons. If Superman were to fight the Hulk, he would slowly wear himself out but the Hulk would keep on fighting. 2. The only time Bruce's eyes are seen changing are at the end of the movie when some South American militia are stealing medical supplies. After Bruce tells the leader of the group that he just made Bruce angry, Bruce's eyes turn green.

Chosen answer: 1.) Superman, especially if he decided to use tactics like stranding the Hulk in space. 2.) Artistic licence.

Xofer

Answer: Gordon did talk about his son (who was then about 3-years-old) to Bud Fox in Wall Street, but that does not mean he only had one kid. He may have had another child that wasn't mentioned. It's also possible that Gekko's wife was pregnant at the time he was indicted.

raywest

Question: Toward the end of the movie, one of the gang members visits a barber shop and picks up a small bag of cut hair swept from the floor. I cannot remember any follow-up to this scene showing how or where this cut hair was used. I have asked several people who have seen the movie and no one seems to know what happened to this hair. Was there any follow-up to this scene or did I blink and miss the part that shows what they did with it?

Answer: The bag of hair from the barbershop was used to throw off the police when they search the getaway car later. In other words they will find all the scattered hair and have the wrong DNA. This is what they do after the second heist. They never used one at the end since the cops already knew who they were.

Gavin Jackson

Question: Why didn't Casey ring the police, after the call when she realied he was taunting and making threats?

Answer: Characters in horror movies are notorious for not doing the most obvious things. It's most likely that she was scared and not thinking straight at receiving numerous threatening phone calls, particularly when she is threatened after hanging up on the killer.

Manky

Also, when she told the caller that she was "two seconds away from calling the police", his response was that they'd never make it in time. She also knew he was nearby as he made comments that indicated he could see her. She didn't know it was someone that knew her. She's a teenager and scared, so her judgement was clouded. She reached a point where she believed her only chance was to get away from him by either fighting him or getting out and hiding somewhere outside.

dewinela

Answer: Landline phones like the one used in the movie cannot dial out a phone number while the line is active. Considering the killer is continuously calling her, she can't dial out on the phone line. This is referenced in the movie itself when her parents arrive home, attempt to dial 911, and can't due to the line still being active.

Question: When Clint gets inside the firefox in the hangar and starts it up, the guards don't think to shoot out the tires while it's in the hangar?

mozeus5

Chosen answer: There was just an explosion in the hangar and in the resulting confusion none of them were sure why it was moving. To get it away from the fire is not unreasonable. Also, the Soviet military is not big on showing initiative. Unless told to disable it, none of the guards would risk severe punishment for damaging a valuable aircraft.

Grumpy Scot

Question: I submitted a mistake where the soldiers hear the blockade runner docking with the star destoyer before they come into contact. Someone corrected me saying that they were hearing the effects of a tractor beam on the ship. Does the book mention a tractor beam being used to capture the ship?

Answer: The blockade runner's not going to be docking willingly with the Star Destroyer that's been shooting at it. Something has to be moving the runner into the docking bay, and use of a tractor beam to capture ships is established elsewhere in the movies. It's a reasonable assumption that the same system is used in this scene.

Tailkinker

Question: I know most movies have a disclaimer at the end of the credits saying that no animals were hurt during this movie, etc., so I have to ask this: did Percy stomp on a real mouse? I'm only asking because the after-death twitching that the mouse did was VERY realistic. (I've trapped many mice in my home so I know what I'm talking about - only I don't stomp on them.)

Answer: When we first see Mr. Jingles get stomped, that is an effects shot done by ILM. In the next shot when Percy removes his foot and you see the mouse twitch a little, that is a puppet. Director Frank Darabont confirms the effects shot on the commentary, and there's a feature on the Blu Ray that shows it in detail.

Phixius

Question: In the first appearance of Laurence Fishburne where he starts by saying, "Over here," that sounds so much like when Mac wants to remove the scorpion from Dillon in the original Predator 1. I haven't found anything though, if it should be some trivia. Can anyone tell me if it is a trivia or just me thinking that it should be?

Wollabille

Chosen answer: Yes it is trivia. There are many homages to the original movie in this movie. Some are subtle some are cleverly hidden. From the big mini-gun used by a certain character, the stand-and-fight challenge by another character and even covering themselves in mud will camouflage them from the Predators. So many more obvious homages.

XIII

Answer: Beetlejuice wanted to marry Lydia because that would allow him freedom from the ghost world. Any physical attraction would be secondary to that.

Question: Why was Kim funny about Edward? She didn't like him at first.

Answer: Because he's got scissors for hands. It just took her longer to get used to him.

Phixius

Answer: In addition to what Phixius wrote, Kim's mother invited a stranger to live with the family, without consulting the rest of them. That would be awkward enough without Edward's circumstances.

Question: When Harry and Hermione are rescuing Sirius, Hermione blasts open the door using a different spell than the one she used in The Philosopher's Stone to open the door to where Fluffy was. I can understand that the reason the spell would be stronger on Sirius's cell is so he can't escape and it's more secure. But the Philosopher's Stone had to be secured well, so why was the lock so easy to unlock?

Answer: It's never stated that one spell is stronger than the other. There may be different spells that achieve similar results, and Hermione simply chose one over the other. Therefore, it should not be assumed that one lock was easier to open than the other. Also, the "bombarda" spell was never mentioned in the books. It was invented by the filmmakers for the movie, probably because it sounded stronger and was more descriptive (as in to bombard).

raywest

Question: Why did death try to kill Wendy and Kevin during Frankie's death scene, when it wasn't their turn to die?

M0vi3

Chosen answer: It didn't exactly try to kill them. They were more like a part of Frankie's death. It was Kevin's car engine fan that killed Frankie. It was fate. In my opinion Death wanted Wendy and Kevin to witness Frankie's death.

Question: When Tommy and Carrie are at the prom, does he start to like her for real, or is he just pretending to make Carrie feel better about herself?

Answer: He starts to genuinely like her, hence his disgusted reaction at the sick practical joke played on her.

Manky

Question: It's been stated that Elsa and Donovan knew how to get through the path to the Grail because Henry was talking about the way as he lay dying. But I'm still confused about when they get across the cliff. Indy threw some sand and stones across the path he 'believed' was there, but would they still be sitting there, basically in mid air for the bad guys to get across? Did they truly believe in the Grail as much as Indy and Henry did and so could walk across the non-existant path?

jenn_s_h85

Answer: The bridge was actually camouflaged into rock looking as if it was invisible (you can see this in movie).

Of course, any "camouflage" would only work from one perspective (from the doorway at one end of the bridge). As soon as Indy took a step out onto the bridge, the "camouflage" would be revealed, as it would no longer be aligned to the background from his new perspective. Viewed from the opposite end of the bridge, the "camouflage" wouldn't work at all and the bridge would be perfectly visible.

Charles Austin Miller

Not necessarily. They could have fashioned the stonework so it rendered the bridge invisible from both directions.

The sand and pebbles broke the camouflage of the bridge so when Donovan and Elsa came they would see through the illusion and just see a bridge.

lionhead

Chosen answer: The way I see it, the bridge is there, but is invisible. The true test is to step out into mid-air when you don't know there's a bridge there, trusting in God to rescue you. Indy passed this test, then threw the stones to see whether it really was a bridge there all along, or if it was a matter of faith in the moment you step out (or just to mark his way back). The pebbles stayed, proving the bridge was physical and real, only invisible. When Ilsa and Donovan came along, they could see the pebbles in mid-air, and figured out this as well. Originally, you would have to believe and trust in God to step on to the bridge, but Indy effectively "disarms" this trap by proving that there is a way to cross safely for anyone.

Twotall

As stated previously, the bridge is not invisible. It is simply camouflaged so that it's not visible from the position Indy had to stand. This is demonstrated in the film when the camera angle changes and shows that the reason Indy can't see it is the marbling of the stone lines up perfectly from one angle. He throws the pebbles onto it once he's across to make it easier for him to see when he returns.

But the camouflage is only going to work from one direction (the approach). Going in the opposite direction (the retreat), the bridge would stand out like a sore thumb, pebbles or not.

Charles Austin Miller

However, in the film, Indy turns around and throws the pebbles on the bridge, which is not visible until the pebbles are there.

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the original builders altered the vertical stone walls in the "coming back" direction so that the bridge blended from this reverse perspective as well.

Okay, he didn't actually mean invisible, more like "invisible from a certain perspective"

Question: When Kim asks Edward to hold her, and he says he can't, is it because he hasn't got hands or he's still upset about her making him rob the house?

Answer: He means his hands. But he says this, rather than simply working around the scissors like he always has, because he's still hurting over the betrayal.

Phixius

Question: Once Salt escapes from the police car (approx 1/2 way through the film), she grabs a fur hat. In the next few scenes she is wearing a matching wrap, including the same fur. Where did she get that?

Answer: She stole it as well.

Chosen answer: It is stated in the commentary that Sam Rockwell wanted his character to have a spray tan, making his hands an orange color.

sadie

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