Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: Is Toulour the guy on the motorcycle next to Detective Lahiri's car when she is trying to get her boss to sign the 1077, when she realises that Ryan and the crew are going to try to steal the egg, or is it just some random guy on a motorcycle? He seems awfully interested in her car. (01:03:46 - 01:04:16)

Answer: We see his face as he pulls up to her car; it's Toulour.

Question: How did anyone ascertain that Orson Welles read the spoken narrative in this film and that it was written by Ray Bradbury? Similarly, how did they come to know that Agnes Moorhead coached Jeffrey Hunter with dialogue? None of these persons feature in the credits though things like the choreography for Salome's dance are printed.

Answer: In the introduction he wrote for Ray Harryhausen's book, 'Film Fantasy Scrapbook', Bradbury mentions writing Orson Welles' narration for 'King of Kings'. A number of online sources cite Agnes Moorehead as coaching Hunter on the post-filming dialogue. She had years of experience performing in radio drama and had a Master's degree in Public Speaking. She likely coached other actors. Not every person involved in a film's production is credited and a voice coach is not a particularly significant role, even for a notable actress. Bradbury was not the screenwriter and only wrote the narration. Scripts often have multiple writers (i.e. script doctors) who are uncredited. Welles demanded more money to allow his name be listed in the cast credits, so the studio left him uncredited. Even uncredited, his voice is quite recognizable.

raywest

Question: Why were only three predators sent to deal with all the aliens?

Answer: As the film explains, it's part of a "rite of passage" ritual where a small group of chosen predators are sent to hunt xenomorphs to prove themselves worthy. The xenomorphs are the "ultimate prey" for them to hunt. There's only three because that creates more of a challenge for them to overcome. If there were more predators, it wouldn't be as much of a challenge, and thus it wouldn't really prove them to be "worthy."

TedStixon

Answer: The Aliens are trophies for the Predators, not some ancient mortal enemy. The 3 Predators are a literal hunting party sent for sport. This is why Danny Glover is not killed at the end of Predator 2 as he had managed to hunt and kill a Predator to its death.

Question: Now I know this is based on a true story, but theoretically speaking: 1) Why did Bobby hold off gunning the engine until the very last second? If he'd have acted sooner then maybe the ship would have made it up the wave 2) Why not just slam her into reverse and wait for the wave to collapse? I mean, wouldn't that have been the safest bet?

Answer: Not a ship captain, but will take a shot. If a massive wave is close to cresting, as I seem to recall in this scene, the boat would have to climb a near vertical wall of water and would likely be flipped back and upside down by the advancing wave. Perhaps he was planning to gun the engine to penetrate the wall of the wave, and bob to the surface after it passed. Reversing the engine would just let the thousands of tons of water in the breaking wave smash down on the boat, crushing it.

Answer: I think you sort of answered your own question. I'd say at a guess he himself would have been wondering what the best action would be and in the end decided to go full throttle. Sadly, no-one will ever know the final moments aboard the Andrea Gail.

Infestation - S1-E3

Question: If the universe is around 13 billion years old, can the distances between galaxies be counted as a different units? Galactic distance is huge; could the distances be in trillion light years apart? I believe the age of the universe is different than galactic distances?

Answer: Yes to all questions. The best theoretical estimate is that the universe is about 7 trillion light years across. That is about 250 times larger than the currently observable universe. So, yes, using trillions of light years as a unit of measure is appropriate. And, yes, the age of the universe is a measure of time, and the space between galaxies is a measure of distance.

Question: When Woody Harrelson is eating the key lime pie in the opening scene, how exactly was that pie made? It looked more translucent like Jello, as opposed to regular key lime pies, which resemble cheese cake.

Phaneron

Answer: Yes, it definitely does not look like a key lime pie. I suspect that because Woody Harrelson is a strict vegan, that it is a substitute made with vegan ingredients.

Answer: My take: The Key Lime pie Mickey eats in the diner looks cheap and trashy on purpose... a garish trailer park version of that pie. The crust isn't even cooked. I think it has more to do with the demographic theme of the diner patrons rather than Harrelson being a vegan.

Question: In the film, Officer Robbie seems to have heavily modified his police cruiser, including adding nitrous. In real life, could an officer actually modify his or her vehicle, even if it's at their own expense? The examples of modified police cars I could find online are never real cop cars (they're for a car show, just a stunt, or hoax of some sort).

Bishop73

Answer: A major police department would probably not allow modifications to an official vehicle, even if it was assigned permanently to a particular officer, due to safety or insurance concerns. That said, many departments do use high performance or exotic vehicles seized during crimes under various forfeiture laws. Most times these are for promotional purposes, but I do know of a Florida department that used a souped-up Dodge Hemi-Charger painted in standard department livery for traffic enforcement.

Answer: I don't believe she says anything beyond seeing a clearer vision of her past.

Answer: According to Babylon 5 lore, PSI Cop Bester was quoted, "We learned some interesting things about Ms. Winters in the course of her debriefing and dissect-that is, examination.

Question: At the end, when Gnomeo and Juliet emerge from the rubble, Juliet is in perfect condition. After her fountain got destroyed, shouldn't her feet have broken off because she was still glued and Gnomeo wasn't able to free her?

Roman Curiel

Answer: The pedal she was glued to was most likely destroyed from beneath her, which freed her.

Question: At the beginning of the movie I counted 9 bad guys. We only see 1 die, then there are 6 - what happen to the others?

Answer: According to Wikipedia, the shootout at the ranch, both Devries brothers are killed by Jeff McCandles, before being shot himself. The rest die at the end of the movie.

You only see the older brother shot by Jeffrey before being shot himself. I only assumed young Billy stayed behind to help his brother.

Question: How did Io die and why didn't Gemma Arterton reprise her role? If she was resurrected by Zeus at the end of the first movie, why couldn't he do it again?

Answer: No particular reason, she was filming Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. The producers of the movie thought it would be easier to say she died, rather than recast her.

Question: After going through the first storm they lose track of the incoming plane they set the barricade up for. The after a minute the plane lands and the pilot is brought in by stretcher. The commander looks at the young inexperienced pilot like something was wrong. Why did the director choose to do that? I think the pilot aged but they took it out of the movie for time or something else. Any ideas?

Answer: First, he had a look of concern for the young pilot under his command. Second, he is also confused as to what exactly happened. They believe it was a first strike weapon, that the world was ending.

Question: Did Evie actually love Tracy or was she just using her the whole time? Did she actually want to be friends with her?

Answer: Tracy acted like she had done everything Evie did before. She pretended she was already bad to become friends with them, so Evie thought she had found someone who was like her. Evie was definitely also in love with Tracy, but was also jealous since Tracy had a family who loved her. She wanted that. Yes she used Tracy, but she also cared about her.

I don't think Evie was romantically in love with Tracy. It was more about her wanting to *be* Tracy, with a mother like Tracy's. Also, she seemed to know that Tracy was only pretending to be "bad." I think Tracy's innocence made Evie sad, because there was a time when Evie was more like her.

Answer: My interpretation is that Evie hates her home life, so she drifts between various friends. She hopes to stay at their homes and feel "included" in their families. Notice how she kept trying to please Mel. Eventually, she overstays her welcome and people make her leave. Tracy was just the current "friend" who Evie was using.

Answer: I don't think Evie ever loved Tracy or cared about her. I genuinely believe the whole reason why Evie befriended Tracy in the first place was the reason she knew well how innocent Tracy actually was and in a way Evie was jealous of that so I think she purposely wanted to change her which she knew would happen if Tracy started to hang out with her. The reason why the whole friendship continued is because of Tracy's mom which Evie was jealous she never had. I guess she thought that becoming obsessively close with Tracy would make her feel like she was part of the family and Mel was also her mother and Tracy probably her sister.? That explains the reason why Evie ditched Tracy the moment she realised Mel isn't going to adopt her - Evie never cared about Tracy she just wanted her life and when she realised that she couldn't have it she tried to ruin it by snitching on Tracy That's my explanation on the whole Evie - Tracy relationship in general.

Answer: I think Evie did care about Tracey, although she did manipulate her and make Mel's home life worse. She made careless mistakes ultimately because of the tragic upbringing she had. Evie was desperate to have a mother that actually cared for her, and Evie does show she loves Tracey. In parts of the movie, she says she loves her multiple times when she sees her asleep alone after she cut herself. She also says Tracey is her girl and she loved her towards the end right before ratting her out, which I think that Evie only blamed everything on Tracey was because if Brooke found out about the drugs she was probably worried about the outcome.

Elfie - S3-E11

Question: Why did the young girl not welcome her Dad home when he came out of the box?

Answer: I'm not sure what little girl the question is asking about. But, the scene in question was a real life surprise to the family of Petty Officer 1st Class Raymond McKnight. It was his wife and two sons that were there. His son was already excited about being on TV and then just shocked at seeing his Dad and didn't know how to react. But then he is hugging and welcoming him home.

Bishop73

Question: When Baxter and his men ride into town, he brings 8 hired guns with him for a total of 9; but when the fight starts, there are only 8. Baxter and 4 men confront Charlie and Boss, in the street, and 3 go round behind the buildings. What happened to the 9th man?

Answer: I believe he is the one being chased by the townfolks, after the gunfight is over.

Answer: The man you see being shot at in the end was the man who ran off once the sheriff had the kid, and Baxter was going to kill him. So, just before the shooting started again, this man ran off away from Baxter. What you see the townsfolk shooting at is this man who ran off just before the end, where Baxter and the sheriff had the boy and were counting down.

Answer: I noticed this as well. The person shot at the end of the film is the same man that was with the sheriff when they were held in the jail. He was a deputy and did not ride in with the land baron.

Question: Why do characters in this movie have such a strange names, like Azrael, Brodski, Kinsa, Stoney, Gecko and others?

Answer: It's set nearly 500 years in the future. Naming conventions change.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Actually internet names of friends of Todd Farmers.

Answer: Darkseid's minions killed a Green Lantern. The humans, Amazons, and Atlanteans were the ones who were actually strong enough to fight off his forces.

DetectiveGadget85

Question: Did this movie have any negative impact on director Joseph Sargent's life or career?

Answer: Not really, he went on to direct many films and TV shows/miniseries, earning some Primetime Emmys and Director's Guild Awards in the process.

Question: Why did they keep showing his weapon at the end, was someone else in the bathroom?

Answer: One of the major themes of the film is Bullitt's attachment to his job, to the point where he has become cold and cynical, which has brought his personal relationship with Cathy (whom we see in his bed moments before) to the brink of collapse. Earlier, he and Cathy had a fight in which it is made clear that she won't wait forever for him to open himself to their relationship, and now he's just come off a very trying, not to say traumatic, assignment. So, at the end, he's staring at himself in the mirror (as one does in films), with two paths: one waits in his bed, and the other is his soul-eroding job, represented by his departmentally-issued sidearm resting outside. It is not clear which he will choose. That's why the gun is the last shot of the film; there's nothing to suggest there's anyone else in the bathroom with him.

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