Sierra1

29th Oct 2018

Doctor Who (2005)

Answer: It was most likely the reflector light from the bicycle Ryan threw off the hill and was retrieving.

Sierra1

Question: How long has it been since the last movie? It is said in the fake mission briefing in the beginning that Ethan has been tracking the Syndicate for "the past year", a mission he received at the end of the last movie. Yet I've also heard that the movies are set in the years they come out (2011, 2015, etc) In either case I find it hard to believe that the IMF has not received a new secretary yet if it has been well over a year since the last one died. At the end of Ghost Protocol the IMF is already up and running again. Why haven't they appointed a new head? And who is giving orders/missions in the absence of one? Who gave Hunt the mission to investigate the Syndicate at the end of GP for example?

Answer: The M:I films seem very careful not to show any specific dates (covering up Benji's opera tickets for example). The only thing I could see in this film was the newspaper Atlee has when he meets Ilsa was an actual Evening Standard issue from 16 June 2014. Regarding the IMF Secretary, there could have been one or more appointed since Ghost Protocol, we don't know, there just isn't one at the time of the hearing. Even if there hadn't been one since the Secretary died in Moscow, IMF would have had enough of a command structure to have acting or deputy directors assigning missions.

Sierra1

21st Sep 2018

Underworld (2003)

Question: Why is it that when Selene was bitten by Viktor she didn't receive his memories, which would tell her he was the one who killed her family, but when Michael was bitten by Lucian he got his memories which told him about Sonia?

Answer: Firstly, Vampire Elders like Viktor have control over the memories they pass on. Secondly, Selene was not an immortal when bitten so she would not have seen any blood memory visions. Thirdly, it seems generally only the blood drinker sees the memories. So why did Michael see Lucian's memories? Could be because he was a descendent of Corvinus and had this latent ability, or he did ingest some Lycan blood (as Lucian had just been shot by Selene).

Sierra1

Question: How did Ethan figure out Atlee's true intentions? He only just learned his name a bit earlier and now he's impersonating him and know exactly how to play him, that he's trying to hide the Syndicate, that he created it, that the PM knows it too. How did he learn all this?

Answer: Atlee was the director general of MI6, so he would have been fairly well known, particularly within the intelligence community. Ethan only impersonated Atlee to get close to the Prime Minister and unlock the red box, and he didn't know Atlee had created the Syndicate until the PM said so. Once he found out, he just went along with it until the real Atlee showed up.

Sierra1

Question: What exactly were Atlee's intentions with Ilsa? Why did he originally send her to infiltrate the Syndicate and why did he send her back later in the movie? If all he wants to do is keep the Syndicate hidden, what does he hope to accomplish with Ilsa as his woman on the inside? Does he actually know what is on the flashdrive she brings him, or does he also think it's a ledger? It makes sense for him to want to delete it in both cases, so I'm confused trying to figure out which it is. Either way, does Atlee send her back to get killed? Hunt later says he wanted to "frame" her, but I don't understand how.

Answer: When Lane took the Syndicate rogue, Atlee no longer had any control or oversight into the group, so he sent Ilsa Faust to infiltrate them and report to him what Lane was doing. The CIA and IMF already knew about the Syndicate so it was no longer hidden, and Atlee just needed to cover up his role in its creation. As Faust was already undercover there, he could also frame her for any connection to MI6 that might be revealed, particularly if she was killed and could no longer incriminate him.

Sierra1

Question: How did Ethan know the location of the meeting between McCloy and Ambrose on that island?

Answer: Luther brings up the schematics of the Bare Island facility when they are looking up the plans for Biocyte's headquarters. Also remember that Ethan and his team abducted then released McCloy earlier on to find out about the cure, so they could have copied and analysed the contents of his briefcase such as his diary and phone to pinpoint the meeting with Ambrose.

Sierra1

Question: Who does Ethan call from the train car? Is it Bogdan? Is it Max? "The Fog" (the arms dealer)? I don't understand how Bogdan, who we last saw completely confused about his friend "Sergei", is now suddenly Ethan's hot secret agent contact. When did that happen? The eventual meeting in Dubai suggests that Bogdan liaised between Ethan and The Fog, suggesting that it was Bogdan who Ethan was on the phone with. How does Max's former henchmen with the long blond hair fit into this? Why is he working for The Fog now and why would they blue ball us that hard? Was Vanessa Redgrave (Max) at one point supposed to appear in the film?

Answer: Ethan called Bogdan, who would have been debriefed (and given a phone) by the IMF sweeper crew whose van they transfer him to. The henchman played by Andreas Wisniewski just works for whichever arms dealer will pay him, so Max and later The Fog. If you recognised him, you were probably supposed to think Max would be the contact, so it was just a bit of an easter egg and subtle gag by the filmmakers, but there has been speculation that Redgrave was supposed to reprise the role.

Sierra1

Question: What does Ethan mean when he offers The Fog that "my friends will become your friends"? What friends does Ethan, a disavowed agent, have to offer to this super well connected arms dealer?

Answer: The Fog doesn't seem to know or care that IMF has been disavowed, as he says to Ethan "You work for the American government?" So Ethan then implies that his contacts in the U.S. government or the intelligence community can benefit him in some way if he helps him.

Sierra1

Question: What's the deal with Russia having sold their old satellite to Brij Nath in Mumbai? The Fog explains this but I didn't understand at all. How did this sale happen and why?

Answer: The Fog implies that he brokered the deal for the Russian government to sell an obsolete tactical satellite to Brij Nath's telecom company. Russia didn't need the satellite now the Cold War was over, Nath needed one for less than the cost of building and launching one, so both parties benefited and the Fog was paid a commission.

Sierra1

Question: How did they locate Hendricks inside the TV station? I don't understand how the nuclear codes help.

ricardoglez22

Chosen answer: The code Jane got from Brij Nath (the Indian billionaire) was not a nuclear launch code, it was an access code for an old Russian satellite Nath owned, which Hendricks was using to launch the missile. Once Benji had the codes, he used the satellite to locate where Hendricks was also accessing the satellite from the TV station.

Sierra1

Question: In the Bourne Identity, Conklin orders all Treadstone operatives to kill Bourne and Jarda was neither shown in any scene or mentioned. In the Bourne Supremacy, Bourne hunts Jarda down and Jarda says, "we are the last two." How is this possible?

GYC315

Answer: Only three Treadstone assets are shown being activated for the Bourne mission (there had to have been more), and all in Western Europe, so by "all of them" and "everyone" Conklin presumably meant all local/available assets. Manheim was based in Germany, so Jarda was probably elsewhere at the time, as he was in Germany in The Bourne Supremacy.

Sierra1

27th Apr 2018

Amelie (2001)

Question: Amelie goes to visit the parents of the green grocer to find out the name of the boy that lived in her apartment in the 50's. As she arrives at the parents' house there is a very tall bridge or walkway, does anyone know its name or location?

Donvogel

Answer: Looking at the height of the bridge, this is most likely the Aqueducs d'Arcueil et de Cachan (which is in Paris).

Sierra1

8th Feb 2018

Hannibal (2001)

Question: Why did the pigs not attack Lecter when he picked up Clarice? They went straight for the fat guy handcuffed to his accomplice and also to Verger but by passed Lecter. I thought it might be a blood thing which is why Lecter picked Clarice up after she was shot but A - Lecter doesn't know anything about the pigs and B - Mason wasn't bleeding before he got eaten.

The_Iceman

Answer: The implication is that the boars are afraid of Lecter, which is why they don't attack him - he shows no fear and exudes dominance.

Sierra1

Next to that the pigs are trained to attack anything that screams. Hannibal stayed calm and thus was ignored.

lionhead

Didn't Verger describe the pigs (by mentioning their molars and incisors) to Lecter when he was first brought to Verger strapped to the dolly?

He also didn't scream or make noise to get their attention.

I'm inclined to agree here. The boars could sense that Lecter was the most savage predator in the pit, and the animals steered clear of him for that reason. Call it "professional courtesy."

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The implication is that savage animals recognize Lecter as another, even more savage animal. Call it kinship. Lecter has the same effect on attack dogs.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Probably the same reason the Alsatian dog of Krendler didn't attack him either.

Question: When Elliott, Mike and Mike's friends are escaping from the agents on their bikes, are the actors' stunt doubles adults or teenagers? Asking because I've heard of teenagers being stunt performers in movies.

Answer: The BMX stunt riders were aged between 15 and 20, so older than the kids in the film who were about 10.

Sierra1

11th Dec 2017

Alien 3 (1992)

Question: Is it true that there was going to be a scene at the start of the movie where the Sulaco exploded, and why wasn't it filmed?

Darth Crucible

Answer: According to the Alien 3 Movie Special magazine from 1992, yes, there was a scene where the Sulaco explodes as the EEV pod ejects, damaging the guidance systems. Apparently it was filmed but not included in the final cut.

Sierra1

18th Dec 2017

Apollo 13 (1995)

Question: Why couldn't the fuel cells be opened again once they were closed?

Answer: The reactant valves to the fuel cells could not be re-opened once they were closed (except by ground servicing) because they are very delicate and must be precisely calibrated. Although CAPCOM tells Lovell to manually close the valves for cells 1 and 3, they had already failed and closed so this had no effect.

Sierra1

Did they really try closing fuel cells 1 and 3 like in the movie?

Answer: Yes they did. And as in the movie, it was futile since the reac valves had failed anyway.

stiiggy

27th Dec 2017

Blade Runner (1982)

Question: Why had the replicants tried to break into Tyrell Corporation? How come Roy Batty knew the corporation existed at all?

Answer: Replicants appear to know about their origin and lifespan, and even if they didn't, Roy is highly intelligent and motivated, and could easily have determined Tyrell's role in his creation through various means. The reason they broke into Tyrell Corp was they wanted the company or Tyrell himself to extend their lifespans, or to work out the means to do it themselves.

Sierra1

Question: How did getting shot knock Jason unconscious? Second, how did getting shot cause him to lose his memory?

Answer: Any significant shock could cause a person to lose consciousness. The amnesia was probably a combination of the shock of being shot, half-drowning, and the fact that Conklin had the Treadstone agents "wound so tight, one of them was bound to snap."

Sierra1

Question: In the Neski file sale at the beginning there is a seller and a CIA buyer that Kiril kills. How did the seller get the files? And also Landy mentions that 2 of her agents were killed in the sale, but I thought only one was a CIA agent and the other the seller?

Answer: Landy says she lost "two people" in Berlin. She is referring to the seller as one of them (as a potentially valuable asset), in addition to the CIA officer. It's not specified how the seller obtained the files, although Landy refers to him as "a thief, a mole."

Sierra1

18th Nov 2017

Iron Man (2008)

Question: What kind of machine guns were the terrorists using against Tony's Mark 1 armor?

Answer: According to the Internet Movie Firearms Database, the Ten Rings insurgents are armed with several Heckler and Koch weapons including the UMP45, G26KV, G26C and a G36K with an AG36 grenade launcher.

Sierra1

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