Question: Towards the end of the movie when Kyle Reese dies, what will happen to him, considering he's from the future and there is no way he could be identified?
zendaddy621
7th Feb 2020
The Terminator (1984)
Answer: Also, in the sequel when the T-1000 looks up John Connor's info on the police car's computer, John's father is listed as "unknown', so any info Sarah had given the police was apparently disregarded.
Answer: He'd be treated like any other John Doe corpse.
7th Feb 2020
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: When towing the car across the desert, why did Marty keep checking the speedometer? Did he really expect a horse to gallop at 88MPH?
Answer: At that point in the film, Doc and Marty were looking for any possible means to move the DeLorean regardless of how fast it could actually go; while using horses may have been an unlikely option, Doc and Marty were just grasping at straws at that point and were willing to try anything.
But then Doc says that even the fastest horse in the world could only run at 35 mph so why even try it.
Answer: They were using the horses to get the DeLorean from the cave to the town. Why not test the speedo at the same time?
17th Jan 2020
Night Court (1984)
Question: I seem to recall seeing an episode of this show when I was a little kid that featured Bull being involved in an elevator crash, and when he emerges from the elevator afterwards, he is drastically shorter. Did this actually happen, and if so, what episode was it?
Chosen answer: I just saw the episode again; it's "Blues of the Birth" (original airdate May 2, 1990), which was the same episode in which Christine gave birth to her baby boy. Bull rushed into the broken elevator in which Christine was forced to give birth to retrieve her shoes; the elevator then plunged from the 18th floor to the ground floor, which then resulted in Bull apparently losing at least two feet of height.
Answer: The scene did in fact happen, as I distinctly remember it; I don't, however, recall the specific episode.
28th Oct 2019
Star Wars (1977)
Question: How did Owen Lars and Beru physically age by 40 years between the time of this movie and the biologically previous movie when they should've only physically aged 19, and how did Obi-Wan physically age by 30 years when he should've only aged 19 as well?
Answer: There's no "official" answer, as far as I know, but the most common explanation is simply that life on Tatooine takes a greater toll on humans than on more hospitable worlds, especially in the case of those who simply eke out an existence as did Owen, Beru, and Obi-Wan. Tatooine also has two suns, which could also account for the apparent (as opposed to actual) age of its human inhabitants; much as it is on Earth, excessive sun exposure can cause premature aging of the skin.
Answer: There is no explanation other than this is about casting. When George Lucas made the first Star Wars movie in the 1970s, he never expected the phenomena it is today. Alec Guiness was cast as Obi Wan because he was a famous, well-respected actor who was perfect for the part. When Lucas made the prequel trilogy some thirty years later, there were inevitable changes, revisions, and inconsistencies about plot, characters, and so on. Obi Wan was re-imagined as a younger character when he first met Anakin. The younger actors who played Beru and Lars were probably cast because they had a similar appearance to the original actors playing the parts. Actors often play roles where they are older or younger than their actual age. This is quite noticeable in the Harry Potter films, where the actors who played Snape, Sirius, Lupin, James and Lily Potter, etc. were at least 15-20 years older than the characters they played. Audiences are expected to employ a suspension of disbelief.
13th Aug 2019
Timecop (1994)
Question: When Lyle is at his desk, he has two newspapers in front of him and he is circling the same stock on both of them. One newspaper is for the year he's currently in, 1929. The second one is from 2004. How could stocks from the same newspaper 75 years apart possibly be helpful in getting McComb to the presidency?
Answer: Also, it was strongly implied that Lyle Atwood was in New York City shortly after the massive Wall Street crash that occurred in October of 1929, so all he would need to do is find stocks that still exist and are doing well in 2004 and buy those particular stocks when they're presumably at their lowest value in history; the payoff after 75 years would be astronomical for the stockholder.
Answer: Any stock that massively increased in value between 1929 and 2004 would be a great investment for a time traveller, providing vast quantities of wealth to help fund a presidential campaign, for example.
29th Jul 2019
Goodfellas (1990)
Question: I don't understand what Henry is hiding from Paulie when gets out of jail? And also, why is Henry cheating, and does Karen know? (01:00:00 - 02:00:00)
Answer: Henry is hiding because he's become addicted to cocaine, which he knows will cause Paulie to consider him to be too great of a liability to the mob. Henry cheated on his wife simply because he was afforded the opportunity, and Karen was indeed aware of Henry's infidelity throughout most of their marriage, but she mostly overlooked it because she'd become too accustomed to the cushy lifestyle of a mob wife to risk giving it up by divorcing Henry; it's possible she also didn't want their kids to suffer through their parents' breakup.
4th Jul 2019
Three's Company (1977)
Question: I never understood the meaning of the dialogue in a scene with the Ropers in the first episode. Stanley says to Helen something like "Too bad you're not from India - you'd be sacred there." Helen then comes back by saying "and contented." What did both of these phrases mean?
Answer: Mr. Roper was basically comparing Mrs. Roper to a cow, which is a sacred and highly revered animal among Hindus; Mrs. Roper's retort meant that she wasn't happy with her marriage or current station in life, so she'd be happier as a cow in India.
24th May 2019
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Question: What happened to Dana?
Answer: According to IMDb, a scene was scripted, but never filmed, explaining that she was away at college. The actual reason for her absence was because Dominique Dunne, the actress who played Dana in the first film, was murdered by her boyfriend shortly after the theatrical release of the first film.
15th Apr 2019
Bumblebee (2018)
Question: Why didn't Frank Welker reprise his role as the voice of Soundwave for this film?
Answer: I couldn't find any other information, but honestly... Soundwave is barely in the movie. Probably just wasn't worth it for the production to pay Welker to come in just to record a few throwaway lines.
I considered that possibility as well, but since Peter Cullen reprised his role as the voice of Optimus Prime yet again for this film despite Prime's minimal involvement, it doesn't quite wash. Also, given Frank Welker's highly prolific voice acting career, it's unlikely he would have declined on the basis of pay or importance of his involvement.
Soundwave was barely in the movie (he's literally only in a few shots) and only had one or two lines. As the other answer suggested, it probably just wasn't worth it for the studio to pay Welker to come in, or they just didn't feel it was necessary given that Soundwave was essentially just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. Optimus has a much larger presence, and Peter Cullen's voice is pretty synonymous with the character in the film series. Hence, it was worth it to have him return.
23rd Apr 2019
The Lost Boys (1987)
Question: The grandfather says at the very end that he knew all along about the vampires, so why didn't he tell Sam or Michael before?
Answer: It was also in keeping with Grandpa's eccentric nature; if he'd said anything about the vampires before, they might have assumed he was either joking or possibly becoming senile.
27th Jun 2009
Independence Day (1996)
Question: It's been shown in the film the the aliens are technologically more advanced than us. Then, how come, with all their technology, they were unable to defend themselves from something as simple as a computer virus?
Answer: Remember that the aliens had to interface with our satellite computer code first...David simply "reverse engineered" the code to create the virus. When it was uploaded, they didn't have enough time to combat it.
Answer: It was also a bit of a tribute to "War of the Worlds", in which the alien invaders with much more advanced technology ultimately succumbed to ordinary terrestrial pathogens in the original novel by H. G. Wells as well as its many screen adaptations.
Chosen answer: Its supposed to be an exercise in demonstrating how the aliens underestimated their opponent, but in reality it's merely a convenient plot device.
Answer: I was wondering the same thing. Since the Harvesters had our satellites meant they could eavesdrop on every single conversation. David and other people in the facility probably put up a firewall on the computers and cameras, so that the aliens couldn't see or hear what they were planning on doing.
Answer: Maybe there were no viruses in the planet where these aliens came from so they didn't have any countermeasures against them.
Answer: They could defend against it, hence why they bring the nuke. The virus drops the shields, and the nuke destroys The Mother Ship. David even says that the shields will be down for a few minutes.
15th Jan 2019
The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
Question: After Daniel breaks the slabs of ice and after walking out of the bar Miyagi divides the bet money with Daniel. The money is US dollars. Shouldn't they be using Yen?
Answer: Okinawa is also the site of a number of US military bases, so US currency is likely to be somewhat common there.
Answer: Most nations will accept another country's currency which can then be converted at a bank or other financial institution. About the only issue is the exchange rate, as converting one currency to another is usually not equal (i.e. a U.S. dollar is not worth the same as a Canadian dollar) and the exchange rate always fluctuates. A fee is also charged by the institution whenever currency is exchanged.
Answer: It may be a country that accepts both types of currency. In Canada, for example, many businesses accept both Canadian and American money.
23rd Aug 2018
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Question: Why did the writers decide to have Snoke killed just like that? Fans have spent the last two years wondering about so many theories about who he is, so was it really wise to kill him that early on without even the slightest hint as to who he really is?
Answer: According to reports, JJ Abrams had different ideas for each characters' story arcs while he was directing "The Force Awakens"; when Rian Johnson signed on as director for "Last Jedi", he basically decided to ignore Abrams' ideas and create his own direction for every major character, including Snoke. Since there is still one more film left in the current trilogy, though, we may learn more about Snoke's true nature in Episode IX; the possibility also exists that he may return as a Force ghost or in a cloned body, at least according to fan theories.
Answer: I know this caused quite the uproar with a lot of the fans, but looking back at the original trilogy, how much information was known about Emperor Palpatine when he was killed off? None of this was addressed until the prequel trilogy many years later.
Exactly. I have made this same argument so many times. Back when the original trilogy came out, none of us were running around complaining that we never found out the Emperor's backstory.
I was merely asking why they decided to kill off Snoke this early.
To be more to the point of your question, it seems that Rian Johnson believed (in my opinion, correctly) that the Snoke character added very little to the story and his death would be shocking to the audience. As a virtual copy of Palpatine in almost every way, the audience expected Snoke to fill a similar role in this story and last well into the third film. By killing Snoke so early, you get rid of a pretty useless character and also shock your audience, leaving them with no idea what direction the story will take going forward.
28th Jul 2018
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: During "I Need A Hero" when Puss begins fighting the guards a Spanish song briefly plays, what is the name of the song? I know I've heard it somewhere else before.
Answer: It's an instrumental version of "Holding Out for a Hero", but because it's being played as a tango, it has a Spanish flair to it.
Answer: You're probably referring to "Livin' La Vida Loca", which was the first major hit single for Ricky Martin in 1998; in this film it's performed by Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas in character as Donkey and Puss In Boots, respectively.
I don't think the person who asked this question is referring to Living La Vida Loca. I think the song being referred to is the scene where the Fairy Godmother is singing I Need A Hero whilst Shrek, Donkey and Puss are breaking into the castle, and Puss stops on the way to fight the guards. After Puss gives his kitten eyes and says "En guard", he jumps up, taking his sword out to fight the guards, and heroic Spanish music briefly begins to play in the background. (Watch the video of this scene on YouTube https://youtu.be/WI0mSEzttx8 at the 3:55 mark for confirmation). I think it is that small piece of music that plays that is being referred to in the question, not Living La Vida Loca.
I think it's just an original part of the song to be honest, something Spanish added into it but originally composed for the song.
14th Dec 2004
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: Why is Violet's hair black when her parents have brown and blond hair? None of them obviously dyed their hair, Dash and Jack Jack have blond and brown hair respectively.
Answer: Violet could dye her hair; I don't think it ever said she didn't. Come to think of it, either one or both of the parents could conceivably dye their hair, too.
Answer: Would Violet be able to turn her hair invisible if it's dyed?
That would depend on the nature of her ability. If she is generating a skin-tight field of invisibility around herself (including her hair), then yes, that would effectively cause her hair dye to become invisible. If she is somehow only changing her own molecules to be invisible, then no. However, if this were the case, her hair wouldn't become invisible either, since it's dead material.
I'm in love with this question. This would mean that one of the parents has to dye his/her hair, Helen probably. Or, Helen cheated on Bob (probably with Gazerbeam).
My guess is that Violet's powers work like those of the Invisible Girl/Woman of the Fantastic Four by bending light in her immediate vicinity in such a manner that she appears invisible to the naked eye; this would explain why her clothing becomes invisible as well despite not being part of her body. If this is the case, then there's no reason her hair wouldn't turn invisible as well, dyed or otherwise.
Answer: Judging by the slight blue tint of Violet's hair, it's probable that she dyed it.
23rd Jun 2018
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Question: What is the steamrollered henchman's name?
Answer: His name was never mentioned; he's simply listed as "Henchman Flattened by Steamroller" in Michael McDonald's (the actor who played him) entry on IMDb, who was uncredited. McDonald also appeared as a NATO soldier in"The Spy Who Shagged Me" as well as a royal guard in "Goldmember."
3rd Apr 2018
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: What caused Fiona to turn back into a human?
Answer: It wasn't a side effect of the "Happily Ever After" potion, it was the main purpose of it. The potion turned the drinker of the potion and his or her true love into a more beautiful form. However, in order for them to stay in that form, they must kiss before midnight. Since Shrek and Fiona waited till after midnight, they reverted back. Donkey also reverts back. There was a script idea to show Dragon also change, but it was scrapped. However, we only see Dragon after the potion wore off, so she too would be in her normal form, since they didn't kiss before midnight.
Answer: Yes. Since the Happily Ever After Potion causes Shrek to become a handsome man and, according to the instructions, causes the persons one true love to also change into a different form, after Shrek became human, Fiona turned back into a human.
Answer: That was an unintended side effect of the "Happily Ever After" potion that caused Shrek to turn human and Donkey to turn into a white stallion; the reason it caused Fiona to revert to her human form is never really explained within the film.
13th Jun 2009
17 Again (2009)
Question: If Mike's ex-wife (Scarlet) recognizes him from when they were teenagers, wouldn't the coach remember him too? He was the star player.
Answer: I've not seen the movie, but an ex-wife would be closer to her ex-husband than a coach to his old student, no matter how good.
Answer: It's also possible that the coach might have noticed a resemblance, but he would have simply written it off as an odd coincidence, much like Scarlet did earlier in the film.
5th Feb 2018
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Question: It's stated a couple times in the movie that Arnie could die at any moment. Pardon my ignorance, but why exactly is this? Is there something about his condition that makes him highly susceptible to dropping dead, or is it a matter of his behavioral impulses (such as climbing the water tower) that put him at a high risk of dying in an accident?
Chosen answer: It's because of his often reckless behavior; it's never implied within the film that his unique condition has anything to do the likelihood that he could "go at any time."
Answer: In the beginning, Gilbert explains that the doctors said Arnie will only live till 10 years old, and that he is well past that, so he "could go at any time."
31st Oct 2017
The Manhattan Project (1986)
Question: What was given to Paul to make him talk?
Answer: To further elaborate, sodium pentothal, AKA "truth serum" places the subject in a sedated state; the subject is then questioned while under its influence because it is supposedly very difficult (but not impossible) to lie while under its influence.
Answer: Sodium Pentothal.
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: He would likely be considered as a "John Doe," with some identifying number, then buried in a modern-day equivalent of a "Potter's Field," where unknown persons are buried. Sarah Conner could have supplied Kyle's name, though this could not be verified and he'd still be considered as an unknown.
raywest ★