Question: What does Semper Fi mean?
Tailkinker
21st Sep 2005
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
21st Sep 2005
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Question: Is it my imagination, or does the opening theme sound similar to the classical piece "The Planets - Mars" by Holst?
Chosen answer: There are certain similarities, yes. Whether any specific aspects of the piece were deliberately incorporated into the film's opening theme is an open question, but the overall feel is undoubtedly very similar.
Answer: At one point Nicholas Meyer did indeed have the idea to incorporate "The Planets" into the score, but apparently the rights proved too expensive. I have no doubt Meyer asked composer Cliff Eidelmann to give the score a similar sound.
6th Jul 2005
Chicken Run (2000)
Question: In the scene where the circus man comes to the farm to find Rocky, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy come out looking for him. Ginger then runs with Rocky all the way to the other side of the farm and into their own hut. Why didn't they merely run into one of the huts on the side of the farm they were on? It seems this would be much less risky.
Answer: As we see, there's a hiding place within their hut that can conceal Rocky even if the lid of the hut is lifted. If they hid in one of the others, they'd risk discovery if Mr Tweedy decided to look inside, hence Ginger's decision to take Rocky back to her own hut.
8th Aug 2005
Das Boot (1981)
Question: They're nearly sunk and killed when trying to get through Gibraltar, but through some miracle they make it anyway. Then suddenly they're heading back to La Rochelle. If it was so impossible to get in to the Mediterranean, how come it was so easy to get out?
Answer: We don't actually know that it was particularly easy for them to get out - it may have been quite a tense situation, but, from the cinematic point of view, that situation has already been shown once; repeating it would be an unnecessary duplication and would take time that could be better used on showing other events. All we need to know is that they made it through a second time - the precise details aren't that important to the overall storyline.
2nd Sep 2005
Apollo 13 (1995)
Question: There's an "abort" dial Tom Hanks looks at once as they are taking off and once when the engine shuts off. What would happen if he turned the abort dial?
Answer: The launch escape system, the 'spike' mounted above the command module, would fire a set of four thrusters designed to pull the command module away from the rest of the launch vehicle. Pitch thrusters fire to move the command module laterally, in order to avoid the possibility of the module being hit by the oncoming launch vehicle, or to prevent the module from landing in a dangerous location in the event of a launchpad fire. Once these thrusters have done their job, the escape system jettisons and the module lands using the onboard parachutes. The above describes what happens when the control is rotated in the counter-clockwise direction indicated by the control's legend. If the control is instead rotated in the clockwise direction then control of the rocket passes from the computers built into the Saturn V rocket (later jettisoned with the stages) to the computers built into the command module proper. This control was never used in an Apollo launch.
2nd Sep 2005
Watership Down (1978)
Question: I'm trying to remember the song that was made famous by this film. Can anyone help me?
Answer: "Bright Eyes" written by Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel.
2nd Sep 2005
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Question: Why was Bourne sent to kill Wombosi?
Answer: Wombosi's an ex-African dictator, put in power, it appears, with a degree of covert assistance from the US. Deposed, he's threatening to write a book revealing the US actions unless they arrange to have him put back in power. He's intending to include the names of those involved, which could prove highly embarrassing for the US government. To prevent this, Treadstone is given the order to take Wombosi out.
2nd Sep 2005
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Question: When Frank deadheads to Miami, he is shown in to the cockpit and has a short conversation with the pilot. It is pilot slang and I would like to know what they are going on about. Something like "Are you turning around on the red eye."
Answer: A 'red eye' flight is one that occurs during the night, from around midnight through to dawn - so named because reddish eyes are associated with sleepiness. The question is basically "are you going back as the late night flight?"
10th Nov 2004
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Question: Who is One Stab telling the story to? I thought maybe it was a relative of Tristan (son/daughter or grandson/granddaughter) because he hands the person the family letter which makes me think it WAS a family member, but who is it?
Answer: There's nothing to tell us who the listener is. Your theory that it's probably a family member seems entirely reasonable, but there's nothing in the film that would allow the identity of the listener to be narrowed down any further than that.
31st Aug 2005
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: Whats the deal with the moving staircases? Wouldn't they make all the students late for classes?
Answer: Hogwarts is a highly magical place with many oddities built into it; the staircases are one of those, but most are reasonably predictable in how and when they move. The students simply have to learn the patterns to avoid problems.
31st Aug 2005
X-Men (2000)
Question: A woman named Hannah Groves is credited in the movie as Rita, but I don't remember anyone named Rita in the movie. Can someone tell me who she is?
Answer: Somewhat confused by this, as a check down the cast listings for X-Men, X-Men 1.5 (the extended version) and X2 (just in case) has failed to show any credit for either an actress or character with those names. Nor is there a Hannah Groves listed on the IMDb. Your information may simply be wrong.
31st Aug 2005
Moonraker (1979)
Question: What did Bond say in front of Drax which made Jaws reluctant to send Bond to his death in space?
Chosen answer: His comments to Drax were about the physical and mental perfection that Drax required for those chosen to repopulate the Earth. As Dolly (Jaw's girlfriend) needs glasses, she falls short of those criteria (as, quite probably, does Jaws himself), which makes him wonder whether Drax won't simply get rid of them once he's carried out his plan. As such, he chooses to ally himself with Bond rather than risk Dolly being harmed.
31st Aug 2005
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: After reaching Coruscant, why does Qui-Gon tell Chancellor Valorum that he needs to speak with the Jedi Council? Wouldn't Qui-Gon simply report to the Temple once he arrived?
Chosen answer: Valorum sent Qui-Gon to Naboo as his personal ambassador, so the Chancellor would expect to discuss the situation on their return. Qui-Gon is excusing himself in order to bring the news of the Sith reappearance to the Jedi Council as soon as possible.
15th Aug 2005
Collateral (2004)
Question: I forget his name, but he's the cop that rescues Max at Fever, and Vincent shoots him. I'm just wondering does he die? It shows him putting on bullet proof vest and it shows he gets shot in the chest so I'm not sure.
15th Aug 2005
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Question: Jackson, the sniper of Miller's crew, states that if he was in a mile of Adolf Hitler, he would kill him. So, as they were driven to the beach, why didn't Jackson and other snipers try to pick off the the German guys who were firing the at the boats as the Americans left them?
Answer: Sniping needs stability - the movement of the waves under the boat would disrupt their aim so badly that they wouldn't have much hope of hitting anything.
Answer: Also, the machine gunners were under heavy cover. No one had a good shot at them.
15th Aug 2005
Goldeneye (1995)
Question: Sean Bean's character is 006 in this film, 009 died in Octopussy, 003 died in A View to a Kill, and 007 is obviously James Bond. My question is this: have any of the remaining 00's been seen in other Bond films (or perhaps in the novels)?
Answer: 002 and 004 are both seen in the opening sequence to The Living Daylights. There are also numerous other 00 agents who appear in briefing scenes during both Thunderball and The World Is Not Enough, although their actual numbers are not revealed.
15th Aug 2005
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
Question: I've heard that Kovu means "Scar" in Swahili, and that Kiara means small dark thing, but do any other names mean anything? Like Simba, Mufasa, Nala, Zira, Nuka and Vitani?
Answer: Simba means "lion". Nala means "gift". Zira means "hate". Nuka means "smell". Vitani means something like "warrior" or "at war". Mufasa is a proper name in the language used - it was reportedly the name of the last king of the Bagada people, who were dispersed during the English colonisation of Kenya.
15th Aug 2005
Hellboy (2004)
Question: Can someone please tell me the order in which the Hellboy graphic novels take place? I want to start collecting, but they don't have numbers or anything on the spine, so I don't know where to begin.
Answer: They run as follows; Seed Of Destruction, Wake The Devil, The Chained Coffin, The Right Hand Of Doom and Conqueror Worm. There are several other books which collect various stories about the character (often by different authors) - these generally take place in different eras and can be read in any order.
15th Aug 2005
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: In the scene where Hermione grabs Ron's hand, you can see Malfoy in the background pointing and laughing at something. Is he pointing at Harry and Buckbeak or has he noticed Ron and Hermione's awkward hand-grab?
Answer: He's laughing at Harry's situation, expecting him to get mauled at any moment.
15th Aug 2005
The Island (2005)
Question: I don't understand how Lincoln Six Echo ended up with Tom Lincoln's memories. If they explained it, I missed it.
Answer: This is a concept usually referred to as genetic memory or racial memory, which suggests that an individual can receive memories and knowledge from their forebears even without direct contact with them - that the information is, in some way, coded into DNA. Lincoln Six Echo is created from a sample of Tom Lincoln's DNA and has therefore inherited some of his memories, albeit in an apparently disjointed and vague form. There's no scientific evidence that genetic memory transferral actually occurs in human beings (although some scientists have claimed to have observed it in chimpanzees), but it has nevertheless formed a major plot point in numerous works of science fiction.
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Chosen answer: It's a shortened version of the Latin phrase 'Semper Fidelis', which means 'always faithful'.
Tailkinker ★