Best movie questions of 1986

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Peggy Sue Got Married picture

Question: I never understood the significance of the girl in the wheelchair at the reunion. Peggy Sue makes a big deal out of the girl but never in her "flashback" do we see this character.

Jeanne Perrotta

Chosen answer: In the original script, Rosalie (the girl in the wheelchair) injures herself in an accident. Peggy Sue tries to change things that happen in the future, including Rosalie's accident.

ChiChi

Answer: You DO see Rosalie in the past. She hosts the party at which Charlie and his group sing. And Jim Carrey asks for the lights to be turned out. She walks, and begins to dance with her boyfriend.

No, that was Maddie's party. Peggy Sue's mom said so when she asked her why she wasn't ready for the party, when Charlie came to pick her up.

I finally see her, thanks! She's to the left of Peggy Sue and her girlfriends as they watch Charlie and the guys sing. Then she's the girl dancing on the counter at the coffee shop when Peggy Sue meets with Michael Fitzsimmons the first time. I always wondered about the Rosalie plot hole.

I think we DO see Rosalie before her accident-she is the girl dancing on the counter at the coffee shop when Peggy Sue goes for coffee and a donut and runs into Michael Fitzsimmons. Peggy Sue pauses and watches her for a moment.

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Labyrinth picture

Question: This has always confused me. In the scene with the guards, which one always lies and the other always speaks the truth, Sarah asks which door leads to the castle gate then she figures out the riddle and chooses a door. However, the door she chooses, the supposedly correct choice, doesn't lead her to the entrance instead it's a trap. So did she choose the wrong door, or just the wrong direction for the hands to take her?

Answer: To add to that, the other door was supposed to lead her to certain death, and technically the oubliette wasn't exactly certain death.

Answer: She did choose the right door...if she had chosen up, she would have very likely come out at the castle, but she chose down.

If you pay attention down was also the correct answer. The Goblin king was angry when he discovered she was down there "She never should have made it this far" or something similar upon finding this out. Had she chosen up she would have ended up back at the beginning.

Answer: Sarah did indeed select the right door and did ask a sensible, albeit confusing question. The reason she fell into the oubliette (and the helping hands) is because as she walked through the door she said "I think I'm getting smarter. This is a piece of cake" - saying "piece of cake" within the Labyrinth to say how easy something is brings bad luck upon those who say it. Sarah said it to Jareth and he upped the stakes (reducing her time). Hoggle said it later (in Goblin City) and then they got surrounded by Goblins.

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Aliens picture

Question: I know that the studio chose James Cameron to direct due to the strength of his script, but why wasn't Ridley Scott offered the chance to direct? And was the studio considering a sequel before Cameron joined?

Dra9onBorn117

Answer: It really was all down to James Cameron having already written the script and proving himself capable of directing with 'The Terminator.' It was just a quicker, easier, and almost certainly cheaper decision to let him direct his own script rather than get someone else, even Ridley Scott. While the producers had wanted to make an 'Alien' sequel almost immediately, at the time the head of 20th Century Fox didn't want to pursue it fearing it would be seen as an obvious cash-in and flop. When a new executive at the studio came in a couple years later, the project was put back on track, and I believe Cameron was the first to be approached to write the script.

TonyPH

Chosen answer: The studio was considering a sequel before Cameron was involved, but regarding directing it, Ridley Scott told "The Hollywood" in a 2008 interview, "They didn't ask me! To this day I have no idea why. It hurt my feelings, really, because I thought we did quite a good job on the first one." The studio liked Cameron's script and at that time he had enough clout to be able to insist on directing it.

raywest

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Top Gun picture

Question: This is probably a stupid question, but I know nothing at all about how these kind of aircrafts are flown. What exactly is the purpose of the guy sitting in the back of the plane? All they seem to do in the film is look in all directions for enemy aircrafts.

Answer: These aircraft are extremely complex; the presence of the backseater, variously known officially as the Weapon Systems Operator or Radar Intercept Officer, allows the pilot to focus on the immediate needs of flying the plane, as his backseater can take on many of the other tasks required. They serve as navigators, tacticians, bombardiers, weapons systems operators and, of course, as we see in the film, an extra set of eyes; they use their discretion in passing information to the pilot, ensuring that the pilot has only data that's important to the situation and isn't swamped by trivia. Without the distraction of having to fly the plane, they can often be better placed to coordinate between multiple planes, leading to situations where the backseater can be placed in command of the mission.

Tailkinker

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Ferris Bueller's Day Off picture

Question: When Sloane was told her grandmother was dead, did she know it was a hoax? And did Rooney figure it out?

Answer: Sloane knew it was a hoax. Ferris would not have done something like that without her knowing. Rooney pretty much had figured it out, but could never prove anything. Once he was discovered inside the Bueller house (illegally) by Ferris' sister, anything he did know he would have to keep to himself.

raywest

Sloane starts to put her jacket on the moment that she sees the school nurse walk into the classroom, suggesting that Sloane already knew she would be called out, and she smiles to her classmates.

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The Karate Kid Part II picture

Question: Why does Sato's nephew Chozen take an immediate dislike to Daniel?

Answer: Miyagi and Sato were once close friends who became bitter enemies when they loved the same woman; Chozen's instant dislike of Daniel is simply because Daniel is the student of his uncle's enemy.

zendaddy621

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 picture

Question: At the beginning, Stretch asks the two punks in the car to hang up so that the call can end and the phone line can be clear. Why? Why can't she just hang up and end the call? This makes no sense.

Brittle Fingers

Chosen answer: That's how telephones worked back then. It has to do with the lack of a disconnect signal being sent by the called party, which phone companies have now. Back then when someone called another person, they were paying for the call and thus it was felt that they're entitled not to be hung up on and the line would not be "free" for the person being called, even after they hung up. This also meant if someone was called and they picked up in one room, they could say "hold on I'm going to switch phones", hang up, go to another room and pick up the phone and the caller would still be there. It was also a great way to scam or annoy people by calling them and not hanging up. Some countries still maintain this method of operation, largely because some people have become used to it, although nowadays it's by choice, not by technical limitation, and the length of time the line is held open is significantly reduced.

Bishop73

Yeah that's actually true. in the 80s we used to call up talk radio shows from isolated, seldom-used phone booths and then leave the phone off the hook. No more calls for hours until they straightened it out with the phone company. we called it 'jock blocking'.

That's not true my brother would prank call KDKA in Pittsburgh constantly they had no trouble hanging up. If people called our house there was no trouble hanging up.

That's exactly how it worked if the line didn't have a disconnect signal.

Bishop73

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The Money Pit picture

Question: Walter is discussing changing the name of Cheap Girls to Meryl Streep with a band member. When they say 'Meryl Streep,' their mouths are not in sync with the words. Do you know what the original name change was supposed to be, and why was it changed?

Answer: It was Jane Fonda.

Answer: I have watched this several times. It looks to me like he is saying Meryl Streep but the audio is just out of sync with the man's lips. Plus when Hanks says it, it matches Meryl Streep on his lips.

William Bergquist

Answer: It looks like Meryl Streep the first time he says it but not the second.

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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.

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Howard the Duck picture

Question: Why is the secretary was so rude to Howard when he tried to find the job?

Trainman

Answer: As she said to Howard, she believed that he was using his "outlandish" appearance to be unable to find work and collect money through unemployment. She's probably dealt with people who did the same thing and was eventually sick of it.

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Flight of the Navigator picture

Question: Paul Ruebens does the voice of Max but why in the credits does it say that the voice of Max was done by Paul Mall?

Answer: According to IMDB, Paul Mall is just another one of his names people know him by.

Sir William

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Little Shop of Horrors picture

Question: Near the end of the song "I am a dentist", is Orin saying "and a success" or "and I say sit"?

Answer: He says "and a success". He's singing about his mother telling him he'd become a successful dentist.

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Big Trouble in Little China picture

Question: When Lightning is crushed by the statue at the end of the movie, he sends out dozens of bolts of energy before he dies. The final wisp of electricity forms a Chinese character. Does anyone know what it means?

Answer: It's the symbol for "carpenter" after the director John Carpenter.

Grumpy Scot

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An American Tail picture

Question: Why didn't Tiger go with Fievel after he released him from the cage and Warren T. Rat threw him out of the Maulers?

Answer: Warren T. grabbed Tiger and told him he was fired. Tiger did eventually leave some time after that though.

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Stand By Me picture

Question: In the train dodging scene, why didn't the loco crew brake at all? They definitely saw the boys in front. I know that trains have very long stopping distances compared to road vehicles, but still. And why didn't the boys try to signal the driver to stop? I get it that they panicked, but still wouldn't that be the first thing coming to one's mind in such a situation?

Answer: No, it wasn't that big of a train. He didn't even attempt to get off the throttle. That's all it would have taken for the boys to make it fairly easy. It was a straight-away track, no chance of it derailing by hitting the brakes. Like the man said above, if trains derailed that easily, we wouldn't be using them.

Answer: Throwing on brakes that heavily gives the train a chance of derailing and the train still wouldn't stop in time.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: To add to the other fine answers, and as mentioned, any attempt to make a sudden stop could have resulted in derailment. The conductor knew the train was about to go over an elevated track, and if it derailed, it would have plunged into the deep ravine, killing the boys anyway, as well as those on aboard. The best he could do was blow the whistle, gradually slow the train, and hope the boys survived.

raywest

Can't agree with the arguments about derailment. If trains derailed so easily, they would derail all the time. The train had only 4 or 5 cars. It would not have needed miles to stop. Simply reducing the throttle would have resulted in significant slowing. Plus, they did not stop to determine if anyone was hurt. That is criminal behavior.

Answer: A train that size would have needed miles to stop, and rapid braking could have caused derailment. The engineer was blowing his whistle so he saw the boys; there was no need for them to signal. The engineer and the boys knew their only chance was to get off the bridge.

Brian Katcher

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The Manhattan Project picture

Question: Would the interference from the plutonium keep the RC car from working?

Answer: Radiation wouldn't necessarily affect a remote control car. It would contaminate it, but beyond that the car would continue to work.

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The Wraith picture

Question: What are those devices we see disappear from the wraith's arm and after the second and third race supposed to be?

Mister Ed

Chosen answer: I believe they are markers to show how many people are left to take revenge on for his death.

EMTurbo

The problem with that answer is that the Wraith had to kill five people (Oggie, Minty, Skank, Gutterboy and Packard) and he only had four of those metal braces. If he had one for each gang member he wanted revenge on, he would have had five. I think he was only given four chances to crash his car and reassemble, and once they were gone, that was it. That's why he killed Skank and Gutterboy at the same time.

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The Fly picture

Question: Well into the movie, Seth's computer, which uses voice recognition, can no longer recognize his voice due to his transformation. How then, did he hook up the three telepods and execute the final sequence if he couldn't get into his computer?

William Bergquist

Chosen answer: He just used the keyboard. We see him typing on it several times before this scene, so the computer is not voice command only.

Grumpy Scot

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Rawhead Rex picture

Question: Early in the film, Rawhead Rex kills a farmer, but the farmer's pregnant wife gets Rex's attention and he goes toward the house. She runs upstairs to hide but the monster follows, cornering her in the bedroom. He reaches out to her, but then relents and spares her for some reason. The movie never really explains why. Can anyone explain why he let her live?

dewinela

Chosen answer: Pregnant woman (and possibly women on their periods) are his weakness and the only thing he fears.

Bishop73

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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home picture

Question: What exactly was Scotty's reason as to why giving the Company boss the formula for the one inch glass wouldn't alter the future? He gave a brief response, but I honestly can't think of any reason why it wouldn't do any future damage.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: They only give him a schematic of the molecule. The man even says, "It would take years to decipher the matrix", or something like that.

Chosen answer: Scotty says "Why? How do you know he didn't invent the thing!" If the man was in fact the inventor, this would only cause a slight causality loop problem - he "invents" it because they gave it to him, but they only know it because he "invented" it. However, since Sulu said earlier in the movie that it was about 150 years too early for transparent aluminum, it would seem they do know this, so it wasn't a smart thing to do. Of course, the real flaw in the plot is that they need the tank to be transparent at all.

Myridon

Answer: The crew is resigned to the fact that their mission forces them to alter history in some fashion or another. McCoy just wants to acknowledge the gravity of their actions before they go ahead and do it, and Scotty's response is a cheeky way of reassuring him, "Hey, maybe it won't be that bad."

TonyPH

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