Question: How, in the year 2000, did this film manage to secure a PG rating? The graphic violence of the final death shown during the vortex scene near the beginning was verging on R-rated.
BaconIsMyBFF
28th Oct 2025
Mission to Mars (2000)
16th Oct 2025
Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)
Question: Is this the first movie to show a dedication to someone at the beginning instead of at the end?
Answer: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home features a dedication to the astronauts killed in the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, which is displayed prior to the opening credits.
13th Jun 2025
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Question: In Venom, Dora Skirth explains to Carlton Drake that a host can only survive symbiosis if they're a match for the symbiote. If they're not, they die. How is it in this movie and "Venom: The Last Dance" that every person or animal that Venom inhabits is able to survive? They can't all be a match.
Answer: Presumably everyone is a match, no matter how implausible that seems. The more likely scenario: this plot element was dropped for the sequels because it limits story possibilities and was never explained. It was already somewhat absurd that Eddie, his ex-girlfriend and the owner of his favourite convenience store are all matches for Venom.
6th Mar 2025
Batman (1989)
Question: The answer is not given in the film, but does it explain in the early scripts why Jack shot his parents but not Bruce? If not, what was Joe Chill's reason for shooting Thomas Wayne in Batman Begins?
Answer: Actually, it is answered in the film. Jack did want to kill young Bruce because Jack had pointed his gun at him. When Jack's accomplice begged Jack to just leave the area, Jack walked away.
Answer: It's unlikely there was anything specific in the early script development addressing this. In the film, Jack Napier, not Joe Chill, was the killer. He had time to shoot young Bruce, but hesitated before his accomplice called him away. In the Batman universe and the various interpretations, there's never been one definitive explanation. In the original lore, Bruce Wayne's parents were randomly mugged by Joe Chill. For unknown reasons, he murdered the Waynes, probably spontaneously. Bruce was probably spared because he was a child or something scared Chill off. However, this should be seen through the lens of a writer. The plot requires that Bruce survive to become Batman. His parents' murders shaped and motivated everything in his life from that point on. Otherwise, there would be no story to tell.
Answer: With regards to Chill in Batman Begins, Thomas Wayne is shown reaching towards Chill when he grabs Martha to get her jewelry. Chill gets spooked and shoots Thomas. He then shoots Martha and runs off. Joe Chill is shown to be extremely nervous and on edge, and he doesn't appear to regard Bruce in any way at all; all he wants is the jewelry.
Answer: There's a fan theory that Bruce Wayne projects his parents' killer onto all his enemies, so whoever he's fighting at that particular moment killed his parents.
11th Jan 2025
The Warriors (1979)
Question: Where are the other members of the Warriors? When they get back to Coney Island, it's just them, the ones who went to Bronx. Was their gang that small? 10 guys.
Answer: How would the rest of the Warriors know where to show up? The members on the run all night couldn't exactly stop to make a phone call.
Answer: That's the entire gang. They are a small gang but well-respected due to their toughness.
24th Jul 2024
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Question: Is K meant to be the boy that supposed lived (while the girl survived)? Or did the girl get passed off as a boy? Why does K have her memories? What is the back story to the doctor? Why is she in a containment area?
Answer: The birth records were purposefully mixed to hide Ana Stelline (Rachael and Deckard's daughter). She was passed off as a boy and raised in the orphanage. K was given her memories because she secretly was giving replicants pleasant memories of her own. She is in a containment area because it is said she has an autoimmune disorder, but this is likely a ploy by the freedom fighters to keep anyone from examining her and discovering that she is at least part replicant.
3rd Sep 2024
Skyfall (2012)
Question: Why didn't M call in reinforcements to help them at Skyfall Lodge? With her being the head of a spy agency, she could have easily requested MI6 or SAS personnel to be quickly flown and parachuted in to their location to assist in the fight.
Answer: It is a major theme of the film that M and Bond must eventually answer for their deeds. Silva's personal vendetta is being taken out on MI6 and puts dozens of agents at risk. Bond and M have decided they are through putting others in peril (Silva's final attack before this decision was on Parliament and put many innocents in danger). Bond seems surprised that Kincade is still around and tries sending him away, but he refuses. It's not really until the helicopter comes in with reinforcements and a heavy machine gun that Bond feels like they might be in over their heads.
3rd Sep 2024
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Question: For many years, I've never understood - how did Zack know exactly where to find Mikey to kill him? Mikey, after stealing the bonds in California, would obviously not have told any of the bad guys where he was running off to. Not only did Zack figure out Mikey was in Detroit, but he knew the exact address Mikey was heading to (Foley's apartment) and Zack never knew Foley at this point. Can someone explain all this to me?
Answer: Jenny is the one who got Mikey the job. Presumably, Maitland knows Jenny and Mikey are from Detroit. Maitland must have sent his crew to Detroit to find Mikey, assuming he fled to his hometown. It appears that Zack somehow spotted Mikey and Axel while they were out drinking and followed them to Axel's apartment. None of this is shown or explained, but we can at the very least assume Maitland guessed Mikey would go to Detroit and infer the rest.
Answer: Money talks. A guy like Mikey would have bragged and boasted about what he did to friends and drinking buddies. Plus, how easy would it have been to check planes, trains, and bus schedules? Once he arrived, they would have bribed an airport, train, and bus employee to find out what taxi he took or car rental.
18th Jul 2024
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: Why did Mrs. Incredible look at herself in the mirror? I never did understand that.
Answer: She sees her reflection and notices her thighs and rear-end look a little big, before letting out a slightly disappointed sigh. It's there to indicate that she has minor body-insecurity issues, much as Bob did earlier in the film. She hasn't been a super in a while and has had kids in the meantime, so she's put on a little weight... it's a nice moment to remind us that despite being a superhero on the surface, she's also a normal person with normal worries deep down inside.
Answer: She was noticing her larger hips/butt thanks to the skin-tight super suit. As with a lot of people, she gained weight as she got older, and she was no longer a superhero, so she didn't get the exercise she had in her youth.
13th May 2024
Rocky III (1982)
Answer: Paulie believed that he shouldn't have to ask Rocky for a job. In Paulie's mind, Rocky should have known that Paulie was struggling and offer him a job, and not wait for Paulie to ask for help, because that would be humiliating. Paulie believes Rocky and Adrian owe him because their success wouldn't have happened without Paulie helping them get together. Rocky believed that Paulie is a grown man, and his financial and emotional problems are his own making and if he needed help he should have been a man and asked for it. In Rocky's mind, offering a job to Paulie would have been like giving him a handout, because he doesn't have any real experience working with a fighter at Rocky's superstar level.
4th May 2024
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Question: A couple of times, Luke mentions Vader not being able to kill/destroy him "before." What is he talking about? At Cloud City, Vader wanted to freeze him in carbonite, not kill him. He even tested the process on Han Solo first.
Answer: The emperor wanted Vader to kill Luke outright, but Vader suggested instead to turn him and only kill him if necessary. He promises the Emperor that "He will join us, or die." Luke is saying that during their fight on Cloud City, especially near the end, he could sense Vader's hesitation to kill him. Vader even says to Luke at two points "Don't make me destroy you" and "Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."
12th Mar 2024
The Thing (1982)
Question: I'm not sure how accurate this is, but someone told me in a story they read about The Thing being able to beat Mac's blood test. So, forgive me if this is a dumb question, but is it at all possible for The Thing (in any context, story or movie) to beat Mac's little "blood test" and remain hidden, or is the blood test absolutely impossible for The Thing to beat?
Answer: Please, there is no such thing as a dumb question. Hard to answer without knowing exactly what you heard, however: based on what we see in the film it is not possible for the creature to beat the blood test as it is shown. Every cell of the Thing possesses a sense of self-preservation and will recoil from pain instinctively. Any stories written after the film that suggest otherwise (ex. The Thing focuses really hard to not react to the pain; it kills the cells so they won't react, etc.) would create a plot hole in the original film. It knew exactly how the test worked and if it could pass, it would have.
I found it in a Thing movie fan group. No official source but claim was it was the movie from The Thing's point of view. Including the blood test and how The Thing mostly managed to beat it except for Palmer (Palmer was freshly assimilated). The Things' goal was turn humanity into a collective species for the "greater good" as it believed. Again no official source, but was just curious if the blood test part has any merit to it.
12th Mar 2024
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Question: Luke tells Darth Vader that he won't turn sides, so Vader will be forced to kill him. Later, though, he tells the Emperor, "Soon I'll be dead, and you with me." Is he predicting that his father kills him, then retaliates against the Emperor for making him do it?
Answer: No, he means that they'll all be dead once the Rebels destroy the Death Star. Luke had resigned himself to his fate once Vader refused to turn back to the light side and leave with him. Luke is unaware that Palpatine knows about the Rebel attack. This is the reason Luke attacks the Emperor; he believes there's a chance the Rebels could fail now that he knows they walked into a trap and that he must take this opportunity to kill the Emperor.
28th Jan 2024
Cool Runnings (1993)
Question: Was there really someone named Irv Britzer in the 1972 games that cheated and cost the USA the gold medal? If not, what really happened in 1972? Because I am thinking that in the scene where he goes to the Alliance and says 'go ahead, disqualify me, banish me, do whatever you want, but do it to me', it seems that if they had, they would have still been disqualified because they would have been without a coach.
Answer: Irv Blitzer was a character created for the film. His real-life counterpart is Howard Siler, who was a successful U.S. Olympic bobsledder and coach and was the man who coached the Jamaican team. However, unlike Blitzer, Howard Siler did not cheat and leave the sport in disgrace. He coached the Jamaican team because he found them to be dedicated athletes and was annoyed by their representation in the film as happy-go-lucky goofballs. None of the characters in the film existed in real life, the film is loosely "inspired by" the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team.
5th Jan 2024
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Question: Throughout the entire show, why is Harry's rank an ensign? Janeway has been seen promoting or demoting other crew members, so why doesn't she promote him?
Answer: In Season 7, Episode 19 "Author, Author," Harry's parents outright ask him why he hasn't yet been promoted. Harry replies, the ship is operating without a full complement of staff, and there is little opportunity for him to be promoted. This, however, was likely added to the script to address complaints fans and Garrett Wang himself had about the character never being promoted.
20th Dec 2023
Godzilla (2014)
Question: Why does the male MUTO mate with the female if she is already pregnant?
Answer: The female produces the eggs, and then the male mates with her to fertilize them. She is technically not "pregnant" until after the mating.
7th Dec 2023
One Piece (2023)
The Pirates Are Coming - S1-E4
Question: Luffy says to the crew, "From now on, it's all gonna be smooth sailing," and then an explosion is heard outside. Nami says to Luffy, "You had to open your mouth." What does she mean by this? I'm a non-native English speaker who studies English by watching shows. Shouldn't she have said, "You shouldn't have opened your mouth"? (00:57:00)
Chosen answer: "You had to" or "you just had to" is a sarcastic way of saying "you shouldn't have".
7th Dec 2023
Star Wars (1977)
Question: I'm not an English native speaker. This can be more of an English-related question. There's a line of Han Solo that I don't understand. He said this line twice, during the conversations with Greedo and Jabba: "Even I get boarded sometimes." What exactly does he mean? What is "get boarded" here?
Answer: To "board" means to step foot on a craft. Han is referring to random inspections, where stormtroopers will come onto the Millennium Falcon to search for contraband. He is saying it isn't his fault he had to dump Jabba's shipment. Even being as good a pilot as he is, he still can't stop the Empire from searching his ship from time to time.
Chosen answer: Getting onto a ship or plane is called "boarding." Han is saying the authorities have come onto his spaceship (boarded his ship), which is why he had to get rid of whatever he was smuggling (bringing in secret and illegally) for Jabba. By saying "even I get boarded", he means even though he's the best smuggler, there's still times he gets his ship searched.
29th Sep 2023
They Live (1988)
Question: When Nada first puts the sunglasses on, when walking on the sidewalk, what did he see on the ground that made him realise something was wrong and different?
Answer: The glasses use a filter that makes everything appear similar to black and white television. This was not immediately noticeable to Nada until he recognized that the grate on the sidewalk appeared a different color with the glasses on (dark gray instead of bronze).
11th Sep 2023
Answer: There was no actual blood or graphic display.
No graphic display? A man is shown on camera being violently torn to several pieces by high G-forces, and there was indeed blood visible. There's also a scene later in the movie where shrapnel completely pierces the palm of a man's hand, complete with a zero-gravity blood spurt.
Phaneron ★
I remember watching it for the first time thinking it was a pretty graphic death scene for a PG rated film, but I think it's a stretch to say it was verging on R rated. There isn't that much blood, the guy is in a space suit, and it happens very fast. Studios can lobby the MPAA for what rating they feel the film deserves, and it is likely Disney argued for a lower rating than PG-13, and the MPAA agreed.
BaconIsMyBFF
Well, by "verging on R-rated," I meant that even in a PG-13 film, that scene would have been pushing the envelope. I would imagine there were a lot of parents at the time who took their young children to see the new Disney film about going to Mars and were not pleased with that scene.
Phaneron ★
A PG rating does not mean family friendly. A "Parental Guidance" rating warns there may be strong language, sexual content, violence, or graphic images. No one should expect a G-rated Disney film. I watched the "twister" clip on YouTube and wouldn't say it's gruesome. It's not a close-up shot of the rapidly spinning body being pulled apart; it's rather blurred, and there wasn't much blood. I realise it's a matter of opinion regarding what is considered too violent.
raywest ★
Yes, but you're also an adult, and you watched the clip having an idea of what you were about to see. If you read the comments on that clip, you'll see a lot of people saying that scene traumatized them as children. Violence like that from earlier PG films is why the PG-13 rating was later invented, and it just struck me as odd that that was able to get a PG rating in the year 2000.
Phaneron ★
My point is that parents were (or should have been) aware of the PG rating before taking their children to see it and that it might be unsuitable for younger audiences. It falls upon them to make sure they do not take their children to a film that could contain disturbing scenes. By 2000, movie violence had become far more graphic and mainstream.
raywest ★