Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Did Tommy die? If so, did his body get burned up?

Answer: He did die in the end when the mother sue was on the phone she mentions "losing tommy and the others" or something like that.

Answer: Most likely he did die. After Carrie set the gym on fire, she walked out and locked the gym doors behind her so that no one could escape, leaving Tommy to die too.

Question: Why didn't Hans Gruber simply place 5 hostages in a room and threaten to blow their brains out if John McClane doesn't hand himself in? John McClane is the good guy with a conscience and Hans Gruber is the ruthless killer that kills 2 people in a heartbeat, John would have been forced to hand himself in or be responsible for their deaths. Even if Hans didn't want to kill anyone, he could have pretended to shoot people one by one. John wouldn't know any better.

Answer: We don't know what John would have done in that circumstance. Obviously Hans was planning to kill everyone with the explosives anyway at the end. Perhaps John would have suspected that. Also, doing that would invite more police incursions.

Greg Dwyer

The fact that we don't know how John McClane would have acted doesn't remove the fact that it would most likely have been a good way to coax him out. Also, depending on when Hans Gruber would have decided do implement this strategy, John probably wouldn't have known about the explosives on the roof as he only finds out about them at the 3rd act break. As for the "more police incursions" part, I couldn't disagree more; Hans already killed two hostages - one on speaker with the police -, all the cops in LA seem to be there already, and don't forget that the involvement of the FBI is part of their plan anyway. This is definitely the one major plot hole of this otherwise perfect film.

It would have been, but plenty of movie plots don't pan out the "perfect" way without it being a plot hole. Killing Ellis is a reasonable first step, it doesn't work, and then the events of the plot pick up pace - Gruber goes to check the detonators, as that's a priority. He's hoping/assuming they can get through the rest of their plan by isolating McClane, or at least prevent him causing more chaos. They want the power shut off - they don't want to cause such massive carnage that the building is stormed before then. They need to get helicopters, blow the roof, and escape as planned. Hans doesn't want to derail things any more than they already have been.

Jon Sandys

Seems to me like they have all their bases covered; the police isn't even able to get in with a tank as he blows them up so I don't think the police "storming the building" is even a possibility in the reality of the film. Also, after blowing up that tank, that's two hostages and a bunch of cops dead so I would say the situation is pretty derailed. Everything is going as planned for Hans and his team, except for McClane, so he should be in damage control mode and this is an obvious solution. He doesn't even have to change his plans, just tell McClane he's gonna kill one hostage every 10 minutes until he shows up unarmed and tell one of his henchmen guarding the hostages to do it while they go along with the plan and maybe even try to find McClane at the same time. I think this is something Hans should have at least considered, but the screenwriters just didn't think about it/didn't want to address because they couldn't think of a good reason for him not to do it.

There are no cops dead, Hans says "Just wound them" and despite the awesome explosion, the APC isn't actually penetrated or destroyed. But Hans needed this to turn into a standoff, a show of force would prevent a SWAT raid from expediting the deadline, he needed to get all of the hostages up on the roof to make his getaway downstairs, and executing a bunch of them would bring suspicion onto how cooperative he is (His plan to blow up the roof relies heavily on the police sending in choppers) they cooperate with him, which they won't do if they think Hans is a crazed lunatic who's only interested in more and more carnage, if he wounds the cops and only shows he can defend himself, and that he was being reasonable. The cops would play ball, and they would believe he's willing to spare the hostages lives, plus he always planned on taking one hostage as a contingency, if they thought they were gonna be killed they'd become a liability. Patton Oswalt talks of a real plothole though lol.

John McClane would know they'd kill him as soon as he shows up, as soon as he heard "We'll have to tell Karl that his brother is dead" he knew that all bets were off, he lost his chance to end it civil, if they had no personal connection to the first terrorist John kills then maybe putting 5 people into a room and doing an Air Force One on them would work, but not when John knows he'll be body number 6. Al says it best "If he gave himself up they'd both be dead" with Ellis execution, John watched them take control of the hostages, watched them execute the Takagi, and when the first Terrorist thinks he's found John he shoots first after saying "I promise I won't hurt you" and then taking his bag and realizing how well financed and equipped, these guys weren't domestic terrorists, they used serious money, serious contacts, and serious planning to get themselves into this building on this night. He knew the only way to play ball with them was fists and elbows.

Just because a character doesn't do a thing I doesn't make it a plot hole. The plot was that he didn't do it. You may consider a different approach "better" but that's irrelevant. You may as well try to argue that any character choice that doesn't fit with a perceived meta is a plot hole. It isn't, it's just the plot.

Hans thought Ellis was a good friend of John's and John still didn't give up when he was going to shoot him. If John wouldn't save his friend, why would he care about others. Plus Hans told Karl earlier he could stall the police but not if they heard gun shots. The police would have absolutely stormed the building if he started killing the hostages.

Zorz

Answer: Hans Gruber needed the last vault lock to open by cutting off the electricity, he didn't wanna escalate it further so that the FBI would start getting more aggressive, he needed them to play ball so he could make it seem like he's just a terrorist who martyr's himself and the hostages, and by the time they figured out him and his men aren't among the remains, they'll already have left in the basement with the ambulance. Shooting 5 people would have escalated it to the point that the FBI wouldn't play ball with him.

Question: When Hellboy has the stinger on his arm, in the alley behind the library, he tosses it to Myers, who throws it away, but it's back home - it was thrown away; how did it get back home? Or who took it home?

kh1616

Chosen answer: Myers just threw it a short distance away because he didn't really want to hold it. He obviously picked it up and took it back to base.

Question: I was reading the mistakes for "Hellboy" and I saw one that completely blew me away: In the scenes down in the disused train tunnels, Hellboy comes out of one with his massive arm now on his left and he's holding a gun in his right. How could the make-up people make such a huge mistake, and how come Ron Perlman, the actor who played Hellboy, not notice the difference?

kh1616

Chosen answer: They didn't put the prosthetic on the wrong arm, the scene is flipped; it's a mirror image. An extremely common film-making technique, it's usually only ever noticeable at all with asymmetrical characters and structures, like Hellboy and his stony arm.

Phixius

Question: When Ralph returns to his game from Sugar Rush after betraying Vanellope, he obviously wears his medal. Did he or did he not get back into his game with the medal without being stopped by the Surge Protector?

Answer: It is not shown in the film, so it is unknown.

MasterOfAll

Answer: Tony Aitken played the Balladeer. Blackadder wants to kill him because he annoys him and usually sings songs about what a fool he is.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: What did Dr. Moreau hope to accomplish by turning all of the animals into humans?

Answer: Science. More specifically, to prove that it could be done.

Phixius

Answer: I don't know which movie version you're referring to, but in the 1977 film, he stated by controlling and manipulating the genetic code, he could remove all the defects from humans. No more mental or physical handicaps. No inherent genes passed from generation to generation. No dwarfism, blind or deafness.

Thank you. And I was referring to this version.

Question: When Hauk reads Plissken's military history to him, he refers to him as SD Plissken. Does anyone know what the D stands for?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: I searched this character on the internet, and it's mentioned in several places that Plisskin's full name is never given.

raywest

Question: Right before the climatic fight, "Razor" gives a nod to Sally in the audience, then sees another guy in the audience who just smirks and flips him off. Razor just nods and smirks back at him. Who was that guy that flipped him off and why?

CCARNI

Chosen answer: He is the MMA fighter that Razor punched earlier in the film during one of the fight promotions.

Question: Was Vader aware that the stormtroopers executed Owen and Beru, his step-family? If so, what was his reaction?

Answer: It's not covered in the movies, but according to the (non-canon) expanded Star Wars universe it was Vader who ordered the execution, so he was OK with it.

Chosen answer: All the flashbacks are archive footage.

Ssiscool

Question: In the extended version, when Bud Brigman is met by the aliens, what were the images they were showing him?

Answer: Most of it was television news coverage about the increasing tensions between the US and USSR as it was playing out earlier in the movie. Additional archival footage from previous years' wars implied that the NTIs had been on Earth for quite a long time.

Question: Why is Bruce Willis mad when the gun rig was off by 3 mm when Devlin later says that the rig is actually meant to be off by 100 bullets until one hits the target?

johnsonson

Chosen answer: He's upset that the sights are off because he needs it to be as accurate as possible. Richard Gere was not referring to the accuracy of the gun, he was referring to the firing rate. "It could send off 100 bullets before the first one hits the target." They'd all be on target, it just fires that quickly.

Question: It might just be in my head, but, at the end, when Gretchen talks to Donnie's mom, it seems like they knew each other or their 'conversation' had a deeper meaning. Does it really?

Flamedeiros

Chosen answer: The characters who died in the first running of time are known as the "manipulated dead" who were required to die to fix the hole in time. So although when the hole is closed at the end and the characters didn't die because time has been altered, they can't remember anything that happened, but supposedly have some kind of recognition for each other as the events were like a dream to them.

The Lonely - S1-E7

Question: Why did they kill Alicia instead of just coming back in a few months, when they could bring Alicia and Corry back together?

Answer: I believe it was just to add dramatic effect. Shooting her could have driven Corry over the edge and I doubt an officer would have really done that. I'm sure that they have done this before (leaving an android to keep someone company) and they never expected a man to fall in love with the droid? Separating the two seems like cruel and unusual punishment. And another thing, being that she was an android I'm sure she has a memory module which they could have easily brought back to earth aboard the ship. It couldn't have weighed more then a few pounds .They could have reconstructed her likeness and installed her memories.

Robert Victoria

Question: Why did Anna have to be shielded from all knowledge of magic? I understand that to save her, they had to remove her memories from the past. But what would happen if she found out before she did?

Answer: Most probably because her parents didn't want Anna to think Elsa was some sort of freak or monster.There is evidence to suggest that people who can use magic are seen as such during Elsa's escape from Arendelle, where all the townspeople and, quite notably, the Duke of Weselton, were in a state of fear after Elsa accidentally showed everyone her powers. It makes sense, therefore, to hide the truth from a young Anna so that she would not start avoiding or fearing her sister.

Answer: Because of human nature. When we find something we don't understand and fear we usually ignore, hide, or lie about it. The writers' goal was to make the story relatable and believable so they made her parents react how most parents would have. Spoiler alert: also, it appears they were potentially hiding the origin of Mom.

Answer: The King and Queen knew their daughters and they were trying to protect both of them. They protected Anna from harm because they knew she would've wanted to play with Elsa and her powers and they protected Elsa because Anna was still very young and could've easily and accidentally told people about her sister's powers.

Question: How is it possible that picture 25 was in Walter's wallet the whole time, when the picture is of him later in the movie after he had received the wallet?

Answer: The picture was not taken afterwards - that spot is just a favorite Mitty likes to use to review pictures. That is why Sean O'Connell was quizzing Mitty's mum about his life/work habits, so he could take a picture of his friend for the last issue.

Kenneth Brown

Show generally

Question: Why does the show go out of the way never to show the names of sodas? IE, 'Cola' instead of 'Coke', 'Lime' instead of 'Sprite,' 'Zip' instead of '7up.' They don't seem to have a problem with showing names of other products, such as the snacks in the vending machine.

Brian Katcher

Chosen answer: Certain items are part of paid product placement. Those would be obviously named, as would things that can't go unnamed for simplicity reasons. Other things might be unnamed because of opposite product placement, i.e. Coke pays for it so they don't name Pepsi products.

Greg Dwyer

Question: What is Mel saying when acting as the Sioux chief, as he is speaking to the future sheriff Bart?

Answer: Shvartses! (Blacks!) No, no, zayt nisht meshuge! (Don't be crazy!) Loz im geyn! (Let him go!) Cop a walk, it's all right. Abi gezint! (As long as you're healthy!) Take off! Hosti gezen in dayne lebn? (Have you ever seen such a thing?) They darker than us! Woof!

Greg Dwyer

Question: I am wondering if the scene at the tree in Buxton where Freeman goes to keep his promise to Andy, is the same tree location used in the movie Robin Hood with Morgan Freeman? It sure does look to be the same rock fence and tree on a hill.

Mariellen Lamb

Chosen answer: Nope, while there is a similarity, the two locations are on different continents. The Shawshank Redemption shot those scenes in Ohio, while Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves shot almost entirely in the UK, with a few scenes shot in France.

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