Question: Why did Hans Landa kill Bridget von Hammersmark if he was just going to betray the Nazis anyway?
lionhead
3rd Aug 2019
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Answer: Because Landa planned his escape from the moment he heard about the venue change. Theater: Hammersmark -> Landa "If the shoe fits" Restaurant: Aldo -> Landa "Shoe's on the other foot." We find out Landa knew about the Basterds from the interrogations of their "Swastika-marked survivors." From the shoe, he strongly suspects Hammersmark had tried to set up the Basterds at the bar. So he killed Hammersmark to tie up that loose end to allow the plot, his bargaining chip, to survive. Fun fact: we never know if Hammersmark was a triple agent or just screwed up with the bar location.
Answer: I always took it he admired her so much and maybe even pursued a relationship with her that never came to pass. Her lying to him was a personal betrayal that drove him to strangle her. Crime of passion. Just always has been my theory.
24th Oct 2025
Fantastic Four (2005)
Question: After the cosmic storm hits the space station and affects the 5 people on board, the next scene is Ben suddenly waking up in a hospital. Ben, Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Victor are the only 5 people on the station, and they would all have been affected by the storm. Unless it's supposed to be that only Ben was knocked out. How exactly did the team get rescued and brought back to Earth? Were they all knocked out or just Ben?
Answer: When we see the rest of the team getting hit by the cosmic storm, you can see they are still awake; Sue even is shown pushing through the storm to get to Reed and Johnny. Plus, Victor was behind the shields and trying to protect himself from the sparks and rays, so we can assume he flew the ship back to Earth.
Interesting. I'm mostly asking because in the video game adaptation of this movie, for which I'm doing mistakes, after the opening mission, every one of these characters wakes up for the first time after the space station in the hospital, in bed with powers. I know the game has to play fast and loose with things, but in that version of events, it's implied that all of them were knocked out and then woke up down on Earth in the hospital. So it could be a plot hole for the game version.
Sounds like it, or at least the game designers took some liberties with it. But that does happen with games based on movies; the Spider-Man game for the 2002 movie was nothing like the film.
Can't the ship simply have an auto-return in case of emergencies? I mean, it's not your everyday space shuttle. In a lot of cases, it's controlled by AI too and, usually, Reed Richards built it.
Good point, but this is based on the 2005 film, and AI wasn't anything like it is today. Also, it was Victor Von Doom's shuttle, not Reed Richards. Von Doom was all about money, so his tech may have had shortcuts.
Well, the whole tech in the movie isn't anything like it is today. Surely Von Doom, though not Richards but also a genius, would have some AI running his ship.
Maybe so, but they were not on the shuttle. They were on the space station, so if the storm knocked them out, they still wouldn't have made it to the shuttle.
Only Ben was knocked unconscious because he was directly hit by the storm; everyone else had some level of protection from the station's shields. Sue was, in fact, alert, as we saw her eyes open when she was going to help Reed and Johnny after she was hit by the rays.
Answer: Johnny was not only awake but also the pilot; he flew the shuttle back and forth. Ben was co-pilot and did the heavy lifting only.
28th Nov 2017
World War Z (2013)
16th Oct 2025
Animaniacs (1993)
Question: Why do the Warners fear Baloney?
Answer: According to the Animaniacs Wikia: "Baloney is one of the few people capable of truly terrifying Yakko, Wakko and Dot, largely due to being impervious to their violently physical brand of humour and his inability to understand how much they despise him."
15th Oct 2025
X-Men (2000)
Question: When Professor Xavier is mind-controlling Sabretooth and Toad, why doesn't he make Sabretooth knock Magneto's helmet off?
5th Oct 2025
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: I actually have two questions. On the commentary for Back to the Future around when Doc breaks the clock tower ledge, Bob Gale mentions that the 4 on the clock is IV and not IIII. I just need a better understanding of how he is talking about it being a mistake. Is it really a mistake? Because I will submit it as a mistake. What kind of mistake would this fall under? Continuity, factorial error, plot hole, or other? If it's not a mistake, then I won't submit it.
Answer: Romans used both numerical styles for the number four. Romans used IIII for vertical lists, on stone columns, etc. It was supposedly easier to add the extra "I" rather than IV. For horizontal writing, the IV was used. Bob Gale is apparently referring to how old clock faces typically used the IIII instead of the more familiar IV. The clock tower in the movie was supposed to be 100 years old, so "IIII" is what should have been used in the 1800s instead of "IV," so that appears to be the mistake. As far as the type of mistake, probably "Factual Error."
Fun fact, my mom has a clock that uses Roman numerals, and the 4 is indeed IIII on it, not IV. If it is a mistake, it is one that is common and not unique to the movie. I think it is used in clocks traditionally since the Romans used to use it on their sundials.
13th Jun 2025
Constantine (2005)
Question: Could Constantine have confessed his sin of suicide and repented, thereby removing that issue for him?
Answer: Yes, he could have confessed his sins and asked for forgiveness. But Constantine is too stubborn to confess and doesn't feel the need to ask for forgiveness; he feels his service in the name of God should be enough. But that's buying your way into heaven.
Answer: No. He died without confession; what he does afterward doesn't matter. It's like being caught driving without insurance, then retrospectively buying a policy hoping to "get off." It doesn't work that way.
27th Jun 2025
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: Does Marty end up in a loop? Since he saw himself vanish in the time machine after returning home, wouldn't that second Marty come back to 1985 and run to the mall to see himself vanish again? Thus, seeing himself vanish again only to return a week later and repeat the cycle?
Answer: From a single point in time, yes it's a loop. But no single Marty ends up in a loop. Marty goes to the past, has his adventures there, returns to the future, sees his past self go to the past, and then carries on living out the rest of his life. The "second" Marty returns, then the third, etc. Except they're all the same Marty, just seeing the same point in time over and over again.
You're right enough. Except they are not the same Martys. Each time a new parallel timeline is created. They all live a different life before going back in time. Each time a Marty returns, he sees a Marty who has lived a different life (although probably not as different as the first two) go back. In fact, the second Marty might not have succeeded. But the first Marty successfully took his place, so the timeline was not erased.
Answer: It seems that time travel in BTTF creates new timelines, rather than fitting into one single "master" timeline. However, it's hard, if not impossible, to give a definitive and satisfying answer to this and other similar questions, since the time travel rules are fairly inconsistent throughout the film and the trilogy. There are time travel films that try very hard to maintain logical rules and in which there is one single, unchangeable "overall" timeline (for example, "Time Crimes", an excellent Spanish film from 2007). BTTF and its sequels do not fit into this category; time travel is a device to explore the themes and characters, rather than a rigid and perfectly thought-out system. Since the time travel is merely a plot device, the filmmakers likely did not care about making sure it all added up in the end, so plot holes abound once you start picking it apart.
27th Jun 2025
Christine (1983)
27th Jun 2025
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Question: Roland asks if the radio and satellite phone were inside the trailer which went over the cliff, but he didn't even know the other group was there until his camp got attacked. Therefore, the only way he'd have known that the trailer went over the cliff is if he saw it. If that's the case, why didn't he tranquilise the Rexxes and save Eddie and the trailer?
Answer: Some time has passed since they pulled Malcolm and the others up from the rope and them talking about what to do next. They could have told them what happened to the trailer then.
13th Jun 2025
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Question: Voldemort's body was destroyed when he attempted to kill baby Harry. At the beginning of this movie, how does he have a small, frail body?
Answer: Going along with what Lionhead wrote: If I remember correctly from the books, after Voldemort was stopped by baby Harry, his spirit was still able to possess animals. Many of them couldn't survive being possessed for long, so he would move between animals. Wormtail found him in a forest before the events of "Goblet of Fire."
Answer: Adding to the other answers, after baby Harry destroyed Voldemort's body, his remaining soul shard fled to Albania. Voldemort possessed small animals and eventually attached himself to Professor Quirrell's head. After Quirrell's death, Voldemort, a disembodied spectral, again hid in the Albanian forest. Eventually, Pettigrew, in his Animagus rat form, discovered Voldemort's whereabouts from other rats. Pettigrew helped revive Voldemort, using dark magic and a potion to regain a weak, baby-like form. Voldemort was probably still possessing a small mammal, allowing him to drink the potion and transform.
Answer: It is described Voldemort had taken a dark potion that gave him a rudimentary body. The potion was made by Wormtail and was a blend of unicorn blood, Nagini's venom, and several dark spells invented by Voldemort. He had to drink from this potion every few hours to maintain his body or return back to spirit form. It is not made clear how Voldemort managed to drink the potion for the first time whilst still in spirit form though.
But how would drinking a potion be possible if he were only a spirit?
13th Jun 2025
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Every Sith apprentice is supposed to eventually kill their master and become the new master, if I'm correct. Isn't this quite risky to the survival of the Sith Order? What if an apprentice defeats their master and decides not to continue?
Answer: They are not "supposed to" do that. In the Sith religion, there are no more than 2 Sith, a master and apprentice. Also, in the Sith religion is the embrace of greed, hatred, and selfishness. This basically encourages every apprentice to eventually kill their master, both convinced that they are more powerful than their master and no longer required, as well as wanting to become a master themselves and take on an apprentice, as part of their religious beliefs. It is a risky way to exist indeed, but that's what the Sith are all about, and it's better than before when there were a lot of them and they had devastating wars amongst themselves that indeed did almost manage to wipe them all out several times. Ironically, this system is better to maintain balance.
3rd Jun 2025
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Question: Joker says he drew fire watch. What is fire watch? I assume it's that someone has to be on guard in case they come under fire, but I don't think that would happen at boot camp (which I get is an ironic thing to say given what happens a few minutes later in that scene!).
Answer: Fire watch is just an informal term for sentry duty (to stand watch). I think it is derived from the fact that he will be the only one awake, so he is the only one to warn if there is indeed a fire, even though that's not the main duty. But that's just a guess.
Answer: Would add that the term "fire watch" has a long-time origin and several meanings. A fire watch is someone responsible for observing hot work activity to spot any fires during work operations. It applied to watching for and reporting forest fires during the summer. Also, "signal" fires were once a communication or warning system over long distances that assigned watchers continuously monitored. In the Army, a "fire watch" refers to a security duty assigned to soldiers, particularly during basic training, to monitor the barracks, especially at night. The colloquial phrase, "putting out fires," has come to mean dealing with problems as they occur.
11th May 2025
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: In this film, German soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht incorrectly wear uniforms of the Afrika Korps, which was actually created in 1941. What would be the correct real-life uniform these characters should have been wearing in the desert by 1936?
Chosen answer: In real life, the Wehrmacht had no presence in Northern Africa in 1936. So whoever they were, they shouldn't have been there. Having said that, since there were no olive or khaki coloured desert uniforms yet (1940), the Wehrmacht soldiers should wear regular Heer field uniforms, which are grey-green ("field grey") and had the same style and looks from 1934 to 1945.
They were there on a personal mission for Hitler. It had nothing to do with the war. It was strictly an archaeological dig. The uniforms were relevant.
The British are not going to let armed and uniformed Wehrmacht soldiers and SS, trucks and warplanes walk around Egypt. Certainly not digging for treasure. There may not be war yet, but they were not exactly on good terms either.
17th Apr 2025
The Patriot (2000)
Question: Why does Susan refuse to speak during most of the movie?
Answer: She is angry, mostly from missing her mum, but also at her dad for being away so long and often.
27th Dec 2021
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Question: Curious on why the surgical equipment doesn't melt when removing the Queen chest burster from Ripley when she has acidic blood?
Answer: This is just speculation (and I haven't watched the movie for ages) but the operation is done with medical equipment in a facility designed for studying Aliens, which the military knows a little about. Maybe it is made of futuristic acid proof material.
If the surgical tools were acid proof, surely the floors of the cells that contain the grown alien specimens would also be acid proof. But that is how they escape: by sacrificing one of their own in order to spill acid blood onto the floor.
Well, you can imagine any acid-proof metal is probably very expensive. They can't make the entire station out of that stuff. Surgical equipment is probably necessary for their research, so they make an exception.
24th Mar 2025
Taken (2008)
24th Mar 2025
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Question: When the Emperor says that Luke is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, is Darth Vader genuinely surprised, or is he pretending? If he is surprised, why was he already focused on finding Luke before the Emperor told him this? He was talking about Luke in particular before the Rebel base was found on Hoth.
Answer: Vader did sense the Force within Luke, but didn't know he was his son. The Emperor stating specifically that he is Anakin's offspring, and not Vader's (who are the same person after all), shows the Emperor tries his best not to link Vader to his own past. Vader himself clearly tries to do the same after finding out, but fails at the end.
24th Mar 2025
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Is it said, anywhere, if Anakin and Padmé decided on their "baby's" name (not knowing there were twins) before Anakin turned? Maybe they chose Luke for a boy, Leia for a girl? Padmé seems to say the names quickly during childbirth. However, after Vader discovers Luke in the future, it would be an interesting coincidence that he and Leia have those names, are the same age, and Leia looks like Padmé.
Answer: It is never said, but since Vader did not know Leia was his daughter, it's safe to assume Padmé came up with the names herself.
6th Mar 2025
Schindler's List (1993)
Question: Was the one-armed man a real person?
Answer: No, the one-armed man is listed as "Mr. Löwenstein" and played by Polish actor Henryk Bista. He is a fictional character.
Answer: According to an internet source, the one-armed man, Itzhak Stern, was real. Stern was a Polish Jew who worked for Oskar Schindler as an accountant and assisted in his rescue activities during the Holocaust. After the war, Stern moved to Israel.
Stern and the one-armed man are not the same person. The one-armed man, hired by Stern himself, dies during the movie, and Stern, as you wrote, survives.
Answer: Because she was a loose end who could have conceivably undermined his carefully-constructed lie that he was working for the Allies all along.