Best sci-fi movie questions of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Superman picture

Question: When Superman went back in time to save Lois, doesn't that mean that the people that he had originally saved are now doomed to die?

Teru_Kage

Chosen answer: No. Because the version of him *before* he time-traveled is still out doing those things. The REAL question is, what happens to that Superman, seeing as Lois no longer dies and he has no reason to travel back in time.

JC Fernandez

Answer: There are generally two methods of time travel. Skip vs Slide. When you slide through time, you are in essence rewinding or fast forwarding a tape. Time will accelerate to the desired moment. This method, the traveler will witness the rewind and will only allow one of them to exist. When skipping, you are plucking yourself from the time stream and placing yourself in the desired moment. This method, travel is instantaneous and can allow for multiples of the traveler to exist at once. Superman rewound time. He used the slide method and went directly to Lois after doing so. This means those he previously saved...died after his reversal.

Or he could have used the skip method. Like you said, it enables a traveler to pluck themself from the time stream and placing them at the desired moment allowing for two Supermen to be able to prevent both missiles from reaching their destinations.

He couldn't have used the skip method if he rewound time.

Bishop73

More Superman questions
Jurassic World picture

Question: If all of the base DNA for the dinosaurs in the park was obtained from dino-blood inside mosquitoes, where did they get the DNA for the Mosasaurus from? A flying blood-sucking insect would not come into contact with a sea dwelling dinosaur, and there are no amber-equivalents in the ocean to trap any sea based blood suckers.

iRoN-RoK

Answer: And what about just digging for bones for the Mosasaurus? I think this was said somewhere-although I can't remember where so apologies if I'm wrong-but I think Dr. Wu mentioned something about it, so I'm sure they could've gotten DNA WITHOUT getting the blood from a mosquito. It sounds possible in my opinion.

Chosen answer: The scientific inaccuracy of the mosquitoes/DNA notwithstanding, at the end of the film the Mosasaurus surfaces at the edge of its pool in order to drag in the Indominus Rex. Assuming the Mosasaurus did the same thing to catch prey in its own time period, it's feasible a mosquito could have landed on its body and extracted some blood in that short amount of time, especially if the prey was putting up resistance.

Phaneron

And a mosquito would always be in that area and be keen on getting blood from that particular dinosaur? Plus, it didn't take much for the Indominus to be taken down since the Mosasaurus is kind of a big creature, so how hard would it be for other animals to be taken down as well? Added, the Mosasaurus was being fed a shark when we first meet it; it's not like it was hunting on its own in an enclosed area.

Mosquitoes are everywhere, so it's not a matter of convenience that one would be in the same area and being keen on going after that particular animal. Plus, I just pulled up the scene on YouTube and it takes close to 10 seconds for the Mosasaurus to drag the Indominous Rex to its doom, which is plenty of time for a mosquito to land on it and extract blood. And as I stated in the answer, the explanation of DNA being harvested from preserved mosquitoes is scientifically inaccurate anyway, so even a tenuous explanation of how a mosquito would get that animal's blood is no more tenuous than dinosaurs being brought back to life in the first place.

Phaneron

More Jurassic World questions
Demolition Man picture

Question: I remember seeing this movie multiple times years back, and i distinctly remember the restaurant being Taco Bell, why the sudden badly dubbed pizza hut in the new television version?

Answer: A number of the European releases of the film replaced Taco Bell with Pizza Hut, as Pizza Hut has a significant international presence, whereas Taco Bell is relatively unknown outside the US, with very few restaurants. While most versions around these days keep the US original dialogue, the altered versions do occasionally crop up, particularly on television.

Tailkinker

Answer: In South Africa we also had a version that called the restaurant Burger King. I just always assumed that they changed the name when a franchise offered them more money for product placement.

More Demolition Man questions
Gattaca picture

Question: In the scene where Vincent is just about to launch, the doctor testing him mentions his son. My brother seems to think that the doctor knows Vincent is not who he pretends to be because he is Jerome Morrow's father. Is there any evidence for this?

Answer: None whatsoever. The doctor seems to have worked out that Vincent is not who he seems to be from simple observational evidence. It's because of his son that he feels sympathy for Vincent and hasn't revealed that he's tricking the system.

Tailkinker

More Gattaca questions

Answer: He's punishing Michelangelo for disrupting the session with Keno, which he used as an opportunity to diss Raph.

Phaneron

More Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze questions
Blade Runner picture

Question: I'm aware that there is debate on whether or not Deckard was a replicant, but as I was watching the movie, I couldn't see any clues as to why anybody would think this. Did I miss something obvious? Why do people think this?

Answer: The two most notable hints are as follows. The first (which is only in the Director's Cut) is that after Deckard dreams of a unicorn, Graf makes an origami unicorn and leaves it at Deckard's apartment. Some people interpret this as suggesting that they're aware of the memories that have been given to Deckard to prevent him realising his true nature. The second hint is that replicant eyes glow in certain lights - at one point in the film, Deckard's eyes can be seen glowing in the same fashion. Ridley Scott has stated on several occasions that, as far as he's concerned, Deckard is a replicant, but he does concede that they deliberately left it as somewhat ambiguous - the viewer should decide for themselves.

Tailkinker

Answer: Rachel asks Decker at one point if he had ever taken the replicant test himself, and he doesn't answer. Even though the movie itself doesn't seem to stress the point, in the book on which the movie is based "Do androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", the question of whether the protagonist detective is an android is the main theme.

More Blade Runner questions
Watchmen picture

Question: I don't quite understand why Dr. Manhattan had to kill Rorschach. That is, I don't quite get why that was the only solution. Rorschach was a valuable member of the Watchmen, and in the type of world they were in (chaos, corruption, murder, etc) one would think that they would want to keep as many of themselves banded together as possible. Couldn't some sort of negotiation or compromise have been reached/agreed to by Rorschach instead of him being killed?

Answer: He has spent years as a costumed vigilante despite the fact that it was illegal. He has a very strict idea of what is right ("never compromise") and has proven himself incapable of doing otherwise. So no, there was no real chance of negotiating with him - Rorschach himself made it clear he'd have to die if they wanted his silence.

Garlonuss

Death was not the only choice. Doc M could easily have teleported/banished Rorschach to Mars/anywhere secluded in an oxygen bubble. He could have spared his life and just made him mute or manipulate his brain chemistry/atoms to remove the memory of what happened. The point is Doc M is all powerful and could manipulate matter at his whim; death was just a plot device creating a chance of an emotive martyrdom/sacrificial ending.

Ethically speaking, exiling him to Mars or erasing his memory of the event can be considered just as cruel as killing him, because then his agency is being taken away from him. Rorshach's malcontent with the situation poses a problem for the other heroes, and since Dr. Manhattan isn't willing to let him tell the truth of what happened, he obliges Rorschach's demand that he kill him instead.

Phaneron

More Watchmen questions
Capricorn One picture

Question: Okay, so the three astronauts are on the run but only James Brolin makes good his escape. What happened to the other two? They're shown as being caught, but what happened after? Anybody know?

CCARNI

Chosen answer: It's never stated in the film, however, as the astronauts have been declared officially dead and therefore cannot ever be allowed to contact anybody, they were most likely executed as soon as they were captured.

Tailkinker

Answer: How were they able to fire their flares, then?

Dave Messer

They both had just enough time to fire their flares when they realised they were about to be captured and that there was no chance of escaping.

raywest

Answer: O.J. Simpson would have had time to shoot his flare to show he was caught. With Waterson harder to believe, he had climbed the side of the mountain and was just coming to the top with the planes coming into view. Either he would have been dropped and died on way down, not getting the chance to shoot the flare, or he was grabbed from the edge. Unlikely to have time also to shoot the flare before being intercepted.

More Capricorn One questions
The Blob picture

Question: For the original, the sequel and the remake, what materials did the crew use to create the blob and how did they get it to move?

Answer: In both the the 50's original and 70s sequel, the majority of the Blob effects were created using a thick silicone gel colored with red vegetable dye; its movement was essentially controlled by gravity, just letting the goop run downhill and angling the camera to provide the illusion that it was moving horizontally, vertically, or straight at the audience. The original film also employed a large barrage balloon (or weather balloon) covered in the colored silicone goop for shots where people are actually consumed by the Blob. The 1972 sequel additionally used a preposterous rotating spit covered in red plastic, mounted in front of the camera, to provide the Blob's point-of-view as it steamrolled toward its victims. The 1988 remake used much more sophisticated practical effects such as robotics, latex prosthetics, pneumatic tentacles, et cetera, which were directly inspired by John Carpenter's 1982 special-effects-heavy horror flick, "The Thing." For the last couple of decades, there has also been talk of a major CGI reboot of "The Blob," but it has yet to materialize.

Charles Austin Miller

More The Blob questions
Tomorrowland picture

Question: David Nix is talking about how they saw the iceberg and warned the Titanic, but the monitor was built after the world fair in 1963, and the Titanic sank in 1912 - how is it possible for that to happen?

Answer: He was using it as a metaphor. The Titanic being mankind heading towards its own destruction. Man was warned of the dangers (wars, global warming, etc) and we didn't do anything to change our ways, "went full stem ahead".

Bishop73

More Tomorrowland questions
The Day the Earth Stood Still picture

Question: Is Mr. Wu's grandson an alien like him? When Helen asks him if he's one of them, his response seems to suggest that he's dodging the question.

Answer: It's unknown if his grandson is like him or not as he does not answer the question, but he seems to imply that he might be.

raywest

More The Day the Earth Stood Still questions
X-Men Origins: Wolverine picture

Question: Given that Logan's body (skin, bone, muscle, etc) is what "regenerates" quickly, and Adamantium is absolutely fixed once it is solidified, Logan would now have two permanent holes in the front of his skull from the bullets fired into his brain to destroy his memories at the end of the film? Unlike the skin, muscle, bone and brain tissue, the Adamantium would not "heal over" or regenerate, so the two vulnerable bits of bone would remain, a bit of a vital vulnerability in a dangerous area of the body.

Answer: That would indeed seem to be the case. Granted, it would have to be an extremely lucky shot to find one of those holes under his flesh, but, yes, it is an apparent vulnerability.

Tailkinker

More X-Men Origins: Wolverine questions
Prometheus picture

Question: In the openings scene, the prehuman drinks a tar-like fluid (like the one poisoning Halloway later on), while looking at a spaceship hovering above. He then dies, falls into the river and disintegrates. I do not understand this scene, is he the last of the surviving prehumans committing suicide and the ship above is the others leaving the planet?

Answer: The giant ship has landed on Earth to drop off the Engineer so that he can terraform the planet and make it sustainable for life. He might drinks the black stuff to break down his own structure and spread life on Earth through his own DNA.

Anastasios Anastasatos

More Prometheus questions
Predators picture

Question: This film tells a little about different clans and how some Predators hunt others (smaller ones, how they ever came to be and are not extinct I'd beyond me). But is it every mentioned anywhere just how Predators are created/born? The films never give an indication towards there being any female Predators. We know Aliens have the Face-Huggers and they spawn Aliens from Humans. What about Predators? Is it ever noted if they do something similar, mate like Humans do or are created using some kind of technology? Always been curious about this, thanks for any answer.

SWAN1878EFC

Chosen answer: Female predators (or Yautja) do not hunt, and are therefore rarely seen off their home world. Predators do have a mating season and females choose their mates based on how accomplished a hunter they are.

More Predators questions
Interstellar picture

Question: Why do they still have gravity when Romilly asks Cooper to turn of the spinning, when they neared the wormhole? The centrifugal force stops, but on the inside there is still gravity.

thibault

Chosen answer: They do not still have gravity. Romilly is actually floating, but nothing is ever shown from behind his back, so the floating is gone unnoticed. In fact, during some shots of Romilly, you can see his feet floating behind him.

Casual Person

More Interstellar questions
Armageddon picture

Question: Would someone please explain why they need a huge Gatling gun on the asteroid? Are they scared of aliens or what?

Answer: If you look at the deleted scenes on the special edition DVD, you will see a deleted scene in which A.J. asks what they needed a gun for, and Max explains that it's for debris elimination, in order to take out small rocks in the way.

More Armageddon questions
The Abyss picture

Question: What was Lindsey referring to when she called Coffey "Roger Ramjet"?

Answer: Roger Ramjet was a 1960's American cartoon character who was extremely patriotic, but dimwitted.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: She's comparing the overzealous, gung-ho Coffey to the 1960s cartoon character, Roger Ramjet, a frenetic, extremely patriotic, though not particularly bright American-hero guy. He worked for the U.S. government and routinely saved the world, using energy pills that gave him brief increased strength.

raywest

Answer: Dudley Do-right, Inspector Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, only in a '50's space cartoon, that's Roger Ramjet (I imagine Buzz Lightyear is the nearest pop cultural successor).

dizzyd

More The Abyss questions
Spider-Man 2 picture

Question: How did Harry know where Doc Ock was later located, when Peter asks him for instructions on how to find him and save MJ?

Answer: Unless there is is a deleted scene to shed light on the issue, then it's not really addressed in the movie. It's possible that Doc Ock and Harry had a second meeting that took place off-screen in which Ock revealed to Harry where his hideout was, but as there's nothing really to go on, it's anyone's guess and it's reasonable to consider it a plot hole.

Phaneron

More Spider-Man 2 questions
Maximum Overdrive picture

Question: One of the early posters of this film shows a bearded guy (who is not in the film) coming through a wall crack and holding puppet strings with one hand. Who is this guy supposed to be and what does he represent?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: He does bear a striking resemblance to Stephen King. King was both the writer and director of this movie, and as such, was certainly the guy in charge of all the character's fates and pulling all the strings.

Twotall

Answer: It is Stephen King.

More Maximum Overdrive questions
Logan's Run picture

Question: Why were the enforcers called sandmen?

Answer: In popular American lore, the Sandman is responsible for putting sand over your eyes to make you go to sleep. In this context the "sleep" is a euphemism for death, and the enforcers are responsible for making sure that everyone dies on time.

Phoenix

More Logan's Run questions

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.