Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Answer: The Hulk is a giant brute who smashes everything in his path when he is angry. In Ang Lee's "Hulk," General Ross, played by Sam Elliot, explains it to his daughter.

Answer: Because he feels the Hulk is a threat to all life on Earth, and particularly his daughter's close relationship with Bruce Banner puts her at risk when Hulk enters the equation.

Phaneron

Why does Ross think the hulk is a threat?

Because the Hulk is nearly mindless and goes on destructive rampages with high risk of collateral damage.

Phaneron

If that's the case, what's the problem with the way general Ross judges the hulk?

It's nuanced. Ross is correct to recognize the potential danger the Hulk presents, but he's also too stubborn to realise that he usually exacerbates the Hulk's rampages by trying to engage him in combat instead of trying to calm him down.

Phaneron

Question: How accurate is this film in relation to the actual Battle of Thermopylae?

Answer: It's based on Frank Miller's comic 300, rather than Herodotus' recounting of the actual battle. Almost nothing is accurate beyond Leonidas leading 300 Spartans to the Hot Gates and fending off Persians until Ephilates (not a hunchback) exposes the goat path. Xerxes is certainly not a tall Latino man, the Persians never used elephants, rhinos and explosives or mutants and Leonidas' former co-king actually sided with the Persians after getting kicked out of Sparta. In addition, 1000 Thespians also stood beside the Spartans and also died besides them. The Persians also did not have an 'inside man' in the Spartan government nor did they pay off the Ephors to tell Leonidas not to march; in reality it was a religious festival so the army had to stay home. Gorgo was also an accomplished wrestler and charioteer and would not have been raped so easily, especially by a politician.

Answer: Remember that even in the film, it's not really treated as a true story. It's Dilios telling a propaganda tale meant to boost the spirits of his fellow Greek warriors at Plataea.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: According to the director it is 90 percent accurate. But in reality there are many things going on in this movie that are totally fantastical. One of the biggest problems are the costumes, diplomacy and tactical situation of the actual battle (the 300 did not in fact stand alone). Also, the movie includes elephants, which the Persians did not use in that battle, and certainly not rhinoceros. Also, Xerxes' portayal is completely fictional.

lionhead

Show generally

Question: In all the Highlander movies and in this show, was there any reason given why immortals can't fight each other on holy ground?

Answer: Not directly. But there is a penalty involved. In Highlander 3 the fighting on holy ground resulted in the destruction of one of the weapons. In End Game several immortals are murdered whilst on holy ground but no repercussions were ever revealed, so it's possible it is specifically about the fighting. Nobody knows what happens when an immortal is killed in a duel on holy ground but it's safe to assume the penalty will be severe because all immortals respect this rule, even the most evil ones (except that one moment in Highlander 3).

lionhead

Answer: Because there was nothing suspicious about it. These things just happen and Monk is smart enough to know it was just one of those things.

Brian Katcher

Answer: In addition to the in-universe answer, an out-of universe answer (i.e. real life), since Stanley Kamel died in real life, it wouldn't be possible to film him in flashback scenes, like Monk's "here's what happened" summation. So setting an episode around solving his death, would be somewhat limited or require a stand-in.

Bishop73

Question: Why does the Chief fake being deaf for much of the film?

Answer: It's better explained in the novel, where the Chief is the narrator. Essentially, he played deaf and dumb, so he'd be left alone by the Nurse and the staff; seeing what they did to the other patients, he figured the less he was noticed, the better. In this way, he is privy to a lot of the seedier goings-on, since they don't think he can hear what they're saying or tell anyone what he's seen.

Question: Since Harry's Boggart was a Dementor, would it have the same abilities as an actual one?

Answer: Lupin addresses this by saying (and I'm paraphrasing a bit here) Boggarts sometimes do not have the same strength or magic as what they imitate, for example, a Boggart transformed into a Dementor has weaker magic than a real Dementor or a deadly scream as a true Banshee.

Ssiscool

Enigma - S1-E17

Question: Maybourne threatens Daniel with a court-martial if he continues to disobey orders by helping the Tollan. The driving force of him helping is the idea that since he's a civilian he can't be court-martialed. But how accurate is that? Can a civilian who works for and/or with the military be court-martialed, especially if he or she has participated in military operations? The Stargate program is essentially a black-ops program and Daniel signed an NDA, so how could he ever face a non-military court?

Bishop73

Answer: In real life, under certain conditions, civilians working with military forces can be required to abide by military law as well as the civilian laws of their nation. This is usually when civilians (eg. scientists, contractors, etc) are deployed for a lengthy time as part of a military force at war (or similar operations). The requirement to abide by the law is usually explained carefully to the civilian and signed before deployment. This helps fit civilians into a chain of command and maintains discipline, without having to return to courts in the home country for infractions. There may be many parts of military law that don't apply to the civilian (e.g. alcohol is forbidden to all personnel, but the civilian does not have to have a regulation haircut). Also, very serious crimes by anyone in a force may be dealt with by civilian courts, if the military can't for some reason. So it is feasible that Daniel would be subject to at least some parts of military law (and civil law too).

Question: Why didn't Harry simply refuse to take part in the Tri-Wizard tournament? Even though his name came out of the goblet, he could have said no.

Answer: No, he had to participate because the goblet of fire forced him into a "magical contract." The goblet itself is probably partially sentient and would punish anyone who didn't participate after being selected by the goblet. How this works exactly is never explained, but the tournament judges were pretty clear that he had no choice but to participate.

lionhead

What would have happened to Harry if he broke the contract?

Broken magical contracts usually resulted in death; a good deterrent for not breaking them. Keep in mind, however, Harry (in the book at least), like many students, very much wanted to compete in the tournament despite the danger, but initially couldn't because he was underage. He still wanted to compete, despite knowing the selection process was rigged.

raywest

It's never explained.

lartaker1975

Question: Since David was a politician, couldn't Elise have just looked him up?

MikeH

Answer: I would think so.

Question: How did Hannibal Lector get that pen in his mouth when his whole body was under restraints?

Answer: When the curator of the insane asylum was in his cell, he had a pen and contract for him to sign. When he was called away, he forgot about it. Hannibal was restrained, when the curator left, the restrains were most likely taken off. That's when he grabbed the pen. He had only the metal clip in his mouth, which he used to pick the lock on his cuffs.

Question: After Ramses finally agreed to let the slaves go, why did Dathan go with them? He wasn't a slave, so he could have said no and stayed in Egypt.

Answer: While Dathan was an overseer, he was still an Israelite (he was from the house of Jacob), so he was still a Hebrew slave. Ramses banished all the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Bishop73

Answer: He had blood on his doorway, only the followers of Moses had it. Therefore, the Egyptian guards assumed he was one of them.

Answer: It's been years since I've seen this movie. As I remember, on the night of the Plague of the Firstborns, those Hebrews who painted a symbol in lamb's blood on their doors were spared God's wrath (Passover). To punish his being a traitorous collaborator and cruelty to the slaves, Dathan's door was marked without his knowledge to identify him as a Hebrew. He was then exiled from Egypt with the others, despite being a loyal to Pharaoh Ramses and acting as his spy.

raywest

Winterfell - S8-E1

Question: As Qyburn gives a crossbow to Bronn to kill Cersei's two brothers, he says "The queen's brothers made promises to you and broke them. Her Grace wants to rectify their mistake." I remember Jaime promised Bronn a castle or more, but I don't know what Tyrion had promised to Bronn and broke it. From I can tell, it was Bronn who turned his back to Tyrion. So, what was Tyrion's promise to Bronn that wasn't kept?

Bunch Son

Answer: I believe Bronn had wanted Tyrion to give him High Garden, the Terrell's castle - which Tyrion was later unable to provide him. Jamie also offered Bronn a castle and also gave him a large amount of gold, but Bronn specifically wanted High Garden and would not consider any other as being grand enough. At the end of the series, High Garden has been given to Bronn.

raywest

Question: Given the Triwizard tasks are the Main Events and huge spectator stands are erected to watch them... why are two of the tasks set up so as to be largely invisible to any spectators? If I'm from Durmstrang and I've failed to get selected, I spend a year at Hogwarts for the purposes of watching a classmate disappear underwater for an hour and, months later, go into a maze. It would be like camping out at a Super Bowl stadium for a year to watch three matches, two of which are held in the dark.

Answer: The students were there for more than just to watch the competition. It was a year-long cultural and educational experience centered around the TriWizard Tournament. Dumbledore's true intent in reviving the competition, however, was to bring international wizarding students to Hogwarts as a means to build lasting friendships and alliances to help fight Voldemort. This was an ancient competition, which had been banned because it was so dangerous. It originally wasn't designed as a spectator sport but as an extreme test of courage and ability. There are many types of competitions that people follow where they cannot watch/see the entire event, such as car and bike rallies, equestrian cross-country jumping, marathons, etc.

raywest

Question: Why was Lex Luthor absent in this movie? Not only he didn't appear but wasn't even mentioned. Did Gene Hackman refuse to reprise the role in this movie?

Answer: There were rumors that Hackman was angry with the Salkind Brothers (the producers) for firing director Richard Donner, though Hackman later disputed saying that. His explanation, though he may have been downplaying the real reason, was that he had a number of other movie projects at the time, and he also did not wish to continually play the same villain in an ongoing movie series.

raywest

Question: Given the Tasks are the main point of the Triwizard Tournament, they're pretty poor spectator sports - one is an hour underwater and another is in a dark maze. So all the overseas students spend most of a year at Hogwarts to watch three short rounds of a competition, two of which happen out of sight?

Answer: This is better understood in the book. The students were not invited there solely to watch the Triwizard Tournament. It was also a year-long educational and cultural experience. Dumbledore revived the tournament in its original form for a specific purpose - his secret goal was to build an international wizarding community to help fight Voldemort, who he was certain would return and spread his evil beyond the U.K. Bringing the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students to Hogwarts for the school year was intended to build lasting friendships and alliances and for them to work cooperatively. Also, the original competition was never designed to entertain a crowd. It was a dangerous, life-threatening event that tested competitors' courage and abilities under extreme conditions, That is hardly boring and would likely keep spectators engaged long enough to see if the champions survived, even if some events weren't entirely visible.

raywest

Not sure where that is in the books, other than it being a genuinely good strategy, but the original question does seem to have a point - if you're going to collate three communities to watch a very spread-out version of the Olympic Games, why select two games where the action is entirely invisible to the audience other than who eventually emerges from the lake/maze first? It's like staging the Indy 500 when the crowd can only see the podium and not the track.

It is part of the book's overall plot, and, in the movie, Hermione mentions its purpose is about "magical cooperation." I don't recall that Dumbledore personally selected the events. He revived the original TriWizard Tournament, albeit with safety modifications. The real answer, however, is that this is a book/movie. J.K. Rowling crafted the plot to make it exciting and suspenseful and to allow for Voldemort's ultimate plan at the story's end to unfold, hidden from Dumbledore, the Hogwarts staff, and Ministry officials, who, naturally, would intervene. Otherwise, how could Harry be captured, Cedric killed, Harry be part of Voldemort's resurrection, and the climatic duel with the Dark Lord in the graveyard take place? Sometimes facts/reality/logic, etc. are suspended for the sake of the story.

raywest

Question: At the end of the movie, it is not Dana Carvey getting run into by the car, but it is a stunt double, as he has a different style of hair than Carvey. However, even after the take with the car accident, the stunt double is still seen lying on the road in front of the car, even after the take has already finished with the accident. Why does the stunt double need to be there in place of Carvey, being that there is no danger to Carvey in this situation?

Rollie55

Answer: Either consistency with the prior accident shot, or else simply that stunt performers and stand-ins are cheaper than stars, and are often utilised for shots where the main actor doesn't *need* to be physically present - shots from afar, behind, etc. For example the multiple mistakes in the widescreen versions of Friends where it becomes clear the person at the edge of shot who in the original versions was just seen as "the back of Monica's head" for example. Wasn't actually Courteney Cox but a stand-in: https://www.moviemistakes.com/picture174481.

Jon Sandys

Answer: Since Christopher Robin is his only human friend, Pooh naturally assumed it was him. True friends always find each other no matter how much time has passed.

Question: When McClane asks Barnes to 'break the code' on one of the baddies' Walkie Talkies, Barnes tells him it is impossible as it is a 10 button device with a 6 digit readout..."There could be a million combinations!" How can there be a million combinations? Surely the largest number on a 6 digit readout is 999,999.

Answer: You forgot 000000.

Jon Sandys

Answer: Totally agree with the other answer, but also, someone saying, "There could be a million combinations!" can also just be a deliberate hyperbole, and never meant to be taken literally. It's like saying, "I told you that a thousand times already."

raywest

Except that a 6-digit code literally has a million combinations. It's not hyperbole at all.

Bishop73

Oh really? No kidding? Never disputed that there was one million combinations. The character, however, could have intended his comment as a hyperbolized, off-the-cuff remark that was not meant to be an exact number count. He said, "There COULD be a million combinations!" He did not say, "There are precisely one million combinations." He could have meant it either way. There was more than one way to interpret what he said.

raywest

This is a strange situation because the wording suggests that Barnes is using hyperbole ("there COULD be a million combinations..."), but mathematically the number of possible combinations with a 0-9 keypad and a 6 digit readout is exactly 1 million (10x10x10x10x10x10 = 1,000,000). So he is technically not using hyperbole but that was his intent. So it's both hyperbole and not hyperbole at the same time. It's kind of fascinating, actually.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: How did Hank's wife Janet survive all those years in the quantum realm?

Rob245

Answer: Hank asks Janet a question about the energy from her hands, and she hints that the quantum realm changes you: not just adaptation but evolution (or mutation!) which gave her certain abilities which may have helped her survive. It's also hinted that she was involved with/accepted into a civilization which existed in the quantum realm and you see a city in the distance as they depart.

Sierra1

Question: Watson gets absorbed into the Darkness, becoming a part of it, so how was he able to appear and open the attic window to let Sara and Eddie escape?

Answer: The Darkness was so focused on Sara and Eddie that Watson used his few seconds of freedom to help them.

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