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.

Answer: "This" happens to be used in computer programming language to refer to an entity that is part of a currently running code. But that is just a guess, or at least a starting point for a discussion.

Bishop73

Question: Why did the ghosts of the Elisabeth Dane try to kill Stevie?

Answer: Six lives for the six members who betrayed them a hundred years ago.

'But Stevie wasn't connected to the six conspirators.

The ghosts didn't care about their victims' lineage.

Jukka Nurmi

Answer: I always took it as an attempt to stop her since she was trying to warn the town over the radio.

Question: Why did Blackthorn have Reordan killed? The man was an evil genius and would have been a huge help with Blackthorn's plans.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Blackthorn was an egomaniac, there was only room for one diabolical madman.

Answer: He said, it'll end up being buried somewhere, locked away and never to be seen again. They wouldn't want it to get out that a U.S. Senator sanctioned a village massacre.

Question: Why did the Scottish scientists run out of petrol? They even say "We've got our own gene and enough tea and biscuits to sink a ship." Surely they'd have stocked up on petrol for that generator too?

Answer: For an average period of time, not for the second ice age. They didn't figure on it hitting so fast and quickly stranding them there.

Question: What happens to Hendrix and Dr Hoover? They were never seen again since they both tied up by Cornell and his henchmen but what does Cornell means "Not on the rug"?

Trainman

Answer: Hendricks and Dr Hoover were killed, when Cornell says, "not on the rug" he means don't kill them on the rug, it will be messy. The rug was most likely an antique.

Why was that a reward though for Hendricks. It wasn't his rug.

Rollie55

Question: We know that for a hybrid to be created it needs a vampire virus a lycan virus and the Korvus gene. If that's accurate then why does Lucian needs blood from an elder vampire like Amelia and Marcus doesn't need blood from an elder lycan? I mean why didn't Lucian take the virus from a non elder vampire? The only thing that comes to my mind is that one of the two viruses must be from an elder either a lycan or a vampire. And Michael turns to a hybrid because Selene, the person who gave him the vampire virus, was turned by Viktor an elder vampire.

Answer: Lucian wants the most pure and powerful blood.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Lucian is an elder werewolf. Selene could be considered an elder vampire because she is over 500 years old.

Question: How is the underage nudity legal? I mean how was it legal to show underage nudity in the movie? How is it not child pornography?

MikeH

Answer: As long as there are no touching or actual physical contact with a child, even simulated sexual act, it is legal.

Chosen answer: Because she is not worthy to open the door (not champion material), or even to touch it. But Silvana is, since he already crossed it as a child.

lionhead

As you can recall Sivana reached for the eye of sin and the old wizard told him he would never be worthy.

He is a champion candidate. That's good enough to at least enter.

lionhead

Question: There was a flash back to cheerleader camp. Big red was there. Why would she be there? She was a graduating senior. She shouldn't be there since she was a senior. Once they graduated they don't go to the summer camps for the next year.

Answer: Kirsten Dunst states that the incident happened last summer. Big Red would have been between her junior and senior year at that point.

Question: How was Biggles able to land the helicopter on a moving train despite only just learning to fly it?

Darth Crucible

Answer: It would be virtually impossible for a novice pilot to be able to do this.

raywest

Answer: It's similar, but not the same, particularly the neck and sleeves are quite different.

raywest

Question: After Ripley discovered that an alien queen was inside of her, why didn't she just kill herself immediately?

Answer: She didn't have the nerve to do it herself, especially since she doesn't have something like a gun where it can be done instantly. Even when backed into a corner by the Company, she still hesitates, she doesn't jump to her death immediately. The survival instinct is very powerful.

TonyPH

Answer: Early on, Ripley wanted Dillon to kill her after she learned she was carrying an alien embryo. He agreed he would, but only if she helped the inmates kill the other alien.

raywest

But the question is why didn't she kill herself as soon as she found out. As in on the spot? As soon as she discovered that an alien queen was growing inside of her, she went to find the xenomorph in hopes it would kill her but it didn't. It would have made more sense for her to take her life immediately as soon as she discovered a xenomorph queen was growing inside of her rather then wanting the xenomorph on the loose to do it or asking Dillon to.

I agree. It would have made more sense for her to just end her life right there rather going to Dillon after the fact and ask him to do it.

Question: After stealing the list from Langley they use smoke grenades to escape the building in the chaos of the evacuation. In one scene, Claire is coughing and leaving the building through a revolving door, using her red dress. And in the following scene the whole team is back in the firetruck going away. As everyone else, Claire is back in her firefighting suit. Was it really necessary to disguise themselves again as firefighters? Or is this a continuity mistake?

kiel814

Answer: The fire engine was their escape vehicle. It allowed them to get away from the site quickly and without question. Otherwise Claire would either be left behind, or get into the fire engine wearing office clothes. Both would cause issues.

Answer: Arguably it was necessary for her to quickly throw on the firefighting gear over the top of her clothes, because if someone saw a civilian getting into a fire truck it might have raised suspicions.

Question: What breed of horses were used for the unicorns?

Answer: Andalusians.

Bishop73

Question: How did the terrorists find Tony's mark 1 suit?

Answer: Most probably they searched for it in the desert, based on the direction Tony flew during his escape.

Question: Does the movie give any indication with any evidence in the movie that Douglas is dreaming for the ending?

Athletic Jason

Answer: Verhoeven points out that if a viewer believes the whole film is a dream, then Edgemar's prediction that Quaid will end up being lobotomized is fulfilled in the fade to white which ends the movie.

Answer: When Dr. Edgemar is in the hotel room with Quaid and Lori, Quaid puts a gun to Edgemar's head and says that if it's all a dream, that Quaid could just pull the trigger and it wouldn't really matter. Edgemar goes into details about consequences of what would happen if Quaid killed him. As seen, when Quaid kills Edgemar the walls of the hotel room crash down, Quaid believes he's the rebel savior, had visions of alien civilization and is best friends with Cohaagen and the white light that is at the end of the movie indicates that Quaid was lobotomized.

Also, consider the end when Quaid and Melina are on the surface of Mars, suffocating. Their eyes are bulging, the Mars atmosphere is burning their lungs, and their faces are bloated. Yet a few minutes later they're perfectly normal and having a romantic kiss.

Answer: There are many signs that the adventure was reality. When Quaid watched the news (before going to Rekall), the newscasters asked Cohaagen about Kuato and alien artifacts (the alien reactor) in the Mars Pyramid Mine. Lori didn't want Quaid going to Mars or thinking about Mars. Harry didn't want Quaid to go to Rekall, as he sounded very intense when he said this to Quaid. The Rekall technicians popped Quaid's memory cap before they could implant his ego trip. Richter and Helm were watching Quaid the whole time and his trip to Rekall made them attempt to kill him before he could remember the alien reactor and his previous identity. Edgemar lied when he said Quaid's "dream" started in the middle of the implant procedure when Dr. Lull had told McClane they hadn't implanted the ego trip yet. Edgemar shouldn't have been sweating if it was a dream. Richter, Helm, Lori, Edgemar, and Benny were all trying to help Cohaagen keep his evil power and prevent Mars from having free air.

This isn't true. The DVD commentary states that if the viewer is believing that the story is a dream, then it begins right where the camera cuts to McClane and his female client watching the TV monitor. The bit where Quaid resists and Renata says she hasn't implanted the ego trip yet are part of the dream. The clue is that McClane's statement is "the trip is as real as any memory in your head." So for it to come across as real, it has to begin right there and then.

If Lori is really Quaid's wife, it seems strange that he would dream of her trying to kill him. When Richter and Helm are trying to kill Quaid, several people get killed in the crossfire. When Edgemar and Lori visit Quaid, Lori gives Edgemar a look right before he takes out the red pill, almost as if Lori is signaling Edgemar to do that. They are awfully eager for Quaid to take that pill, and the film's novelization states that the pill could possibly be a knockout dose or lethal. If Edgemar is a projection, he should not be sweating, which makes Quaid realise Edgemar is real. Those four agents who blast through the wall were back there listening to the conversation and waiting to see if Edgemar's plan with the pill would work. Richter and Helm were downstairs in the bar waiting to hear from Lori and Edgemar that they captured Quaid. If Edgemar was telling the truth, why would Richter and Helm be down in the bar waiting? Also, the novel points more toward reality.

You are forgetting to assume the dream shows him stuff that didn't actually happen, like innocents being killed in crossfire. If it is all a dream it all doesn't matter, he is being fed lies by the implants, about his wife, about Cohaagen, about everything, the fact it connects to real events before he went to Recall (which don't show the truth at all) just shows the ingenuity of the implants, who use his memories to create the story. Edgemar sweating could be another illusion caused by the implants. If it really is all a dream the moment he killed Edgemar the implants screwed his brain up enough there was no way of knowing what was real anymore, and his wife is sitting besides him at Recall crying that he isn't going to wake up anymore, whilst Quaid is experiencing killing her in his dream. This then goes on for him until the end it lobotomizes him. That is, if you believe it was a dream.

lionhead

There is a villains site called Villains Wiki. Edgemar is listed on this site along with Cohaagen, Richter, Helm, Lori, Harry, and Benny. The article about Edgemar states that Quaid realises Edgemar is working for Cohaagen when he sees him sweating. It also states that Edgemar's goal is to aid Cohaagen in his plans. Also mentioned is the fact that Richter is Lori's real husband and is angered when Quaid kills her the same way he kills Edgemar.

Answer: The novel also reveals another detail that indicates reality. Before it is revealed that Richter is Lori's real husband, Quaid doesn't seem to love Lori. He dreams of Melina every night and actually loves Melina despite being with Lori. Quaid wonders why Lori married him, and she doesn't seem to have aged since their wedding. Once Lori reveals that their eight years together is actually a six-week memory implant, Quaid realises that is why his eight year memory of Lori hasn't changed. When Lori tries to detain Quaid for Richter and Helm at the Hilton Hotel, she tries to kill Melina because she knows Melina is Quaid's dream girl.

Answer: The novel by Piers Anthony has other signs that indicate Quaid's adventure was reality. When Richter and Helm are looking for Quaid on Earth, it says the bug in Quaid's head alerted them about his trip to Rekall. Richter and Helm went to Rekall to question the Rekall staff and dispatch them. When Richter and Helm are chasing Quaid and Melina on Mars, Quaid asks Melina if she has ever heard of Rekall, and she tells him she used to model for Rekall, which explains why Quaid saw Melina's face on the screen during his implant procedure at Rekall. Furthermore, Edgemar tells Quaid he is still at Rekall strapped in the implant chair, but McClane told the other Rekall staff members to dump Quaid in the Johnnycab and send him home. So it doesn't make sense that Quaid is still at Rekall after they sent him home.

Answer: The "dream" is when Quaid thinks Lori is his wife. Lori is really Richter's wife. The dreams Quaid had of Melina were visions reminding him of his past life.

Answer: Edgemar's red pill may have been a knockout dose so Richter, Helm, and Lori could take Quaid to Cohaagen. The red pill could also have possibly been poison, like cyanide. The pill wouldn't have returned Quaid to reality because he was still in reality.

Question: When they are stealing the list from Langley, Krieger is holding the rope to make Ethan go up and down. However, in some scenes he seems to need a lot of effort to do it, and in others he seems to be able to move up and down effortlessly and silently. What is going on?

kiel814

Answer: Holding him still on the pulley is fairly simple, but moving him requires him to let a small amount of the rope to go at any one time. This takes a lot more effort. It also becomes more difficult once the rope slips from the pulley.

Question: At the camp scene Harold Oxley is using a stick that whistles as he twirls it about his head. Does anyone know what these sticks are called?

Answer: Some sort of bullroarer, I believe.

Question: If Pym and Janet shrunk themselves smaller than any molecules, how did they get oxygen? (02:04:20 - 02:30:00)

Answer: They may have incorporated an oxygen system into their suits that shrinks with them. Other than that, it's likely the writers didn't realise this would be an actual issue and would therefore translate into being a factual error.

Phaneron

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