Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: When the camera pans out of Rachel's house, what was the point of the skies flickering with static and the ring symbol being shown at the ending? Did Rachel and Aidan truly survive and succeed at sealing Samara out of their lives?

Answer: Yes, they succeeded. The implication seems to just be that Samara is still "out there" somewhere. It's just a way to try and end of the movie on a creepy note.

TedStixon

Question: Did Rachel really escaped back to the real world? If so, then why does the sky flicker to static and why does the ring symbol flash when the camera pans out of their house at the end? Is Rachel trapped in another realm of Samara, was Aidan still possessed or did something worse happen to the both of them through that ending? (01:45:40)

Answer: Yes, she escaped, and there's no indication whatsoever that Rachel is trapped or that Aidan is still possessed. I believe the little static/ring flash was simply to imply that Samara was still "out there" somewhere. Similar to how a lot of ghost movies end with a jump-scare of the ghost popping out, even if the heroes survived and escaped.

TedStixon

Question: How come the end credits don't mention Robert Zemeckis as the director?

Answer: They do. I just loaded the movie up on HBO Max, and it's literally the first credit to pop up in the end credits.

TedStixon

Question: At the end of the movie, after Steven tackles Jason in order to save Jessica, Jason starts brutalizing Steven. Why didn't Jason simply kill him right away? He could have quickly killed Steven in various ways, like crushing his head, punching through his body, snapping his neck etc. Why was he brutalizing him instead of trying to kill him as soon as possible?

Answer: The honest answer is "because it's better for the movie/narrative that he doesn't try to kill him right away." But I suppose you could also argue that Jason is just toying with him and prolonging his death out of fury.

TedStixon

Question: Why does Eddie's mom look the same after 27 years?

Answer: I think it's honestly just because they used the same actress. They tried to make her look a little older in the scenes set in 1990... but there's only so much you can do on a TV budget.

TedStixon

Question: Why didn't Harry Manfredini compose a soundtrack for this movie?

Answer: From what I understand, he basically did little-to-no work on "Part VII: The New Blood" due to scheduling conflicts. A majority of the score for that film was composed by someone else, although Manfredini was credited since some of his compositions and themes were used. When "Jason Takes Manhattan" rolled around, he simply wasn't asked to return, presumably because they assumed he would be too busy like he was with "Part VII." (Which makes sense, as he had four other credited projects he worked on the same year that "Jason Takes Manhattan" came out).

TedStixon

Question: Was Warren's story about general Smithers' son real, or he was merely making it up in order to provoke him?

Answer: It's honestly been up for debate ever since the film came out, and people still don't have any real consensus. So I don't necessarily think there's a "right" answer. I personally think there may be a kernel of truth to it, but that he also embellished the story greatly to provoke Smithers. (Ex. I wouldn't be surprised if the sexual assault was completely fabricated).

TedStixon

Question: Why didn't Nica use the video cam footage to prove innocence?

Answer: Chances are Chucky was able to either hide it, destroy it or erase it. Really not that hard to do considering Chucky himself was a piece of evidence, and would probably be able to slip around unnoticed at the police station/evidence depository.

TedStixon

Question: The MPAA rating for this movie lists among its reasons "partial nudity." Am I missing something, or was this reason categorically false? The only thing approaching brief nudity I could spot in this film are the crime scene photos and flashback of Hoffman's slain sister, in which she is wearing a spaghetti strap top, and even then, there's hardly any cleavage.

Phaneron

Answer: Honestly, the only other scene I can think of is the opening scene, where the victim is a man wearing nothing but underwear. I guess that would be the other instance of "partial nudity" in the film. In truth, the MPAA seems to really have it out for horror movies in general (just look at all the terrible stories about the "Friday the 13th" movies being butchered by the MPAA), so they were probably just purposely being over-harsh and considering people in undergarments to be "partial nudity."

TedStixon

Question: When she calls for her dad, and he comes to the door he has issues opening it. Is it me or are the handles on the wrong side of the door? The switch to the deadbolt is on the outside of the house. And if the locks are on the outside, why are they like that, and why does the dad not notice this to get himself in easier? (01:24:00)

Answer: Earlier in the movie Nancy's mother barricades the house to keep Nancy in. I believe the extra lock on the outside was part of her trying to barricade her daughter in.

TedStixon

Question: How did Michael get his boiler suit?

Answer: When Aaron and Dana are killed at the truck stop, at one point Aaron spots a dead body - a man wearing nothing but an undershirt and underwear. The fact he's only wearing undergarments implies that he was wearing the boiler suit and that Michael killed him and took it.

TedStixon

Question: After the failed robbery scheme at Jim's house, Edward reveals to Kim that he already knew it was Jim's house. Before, however, he seemed genuinely concerned when Jim pretended that someone had stolen things from him. He even suggested that Jim talk to the person's parents about it. Why did he act that way if he knew all along that they were at Jim's house?

Answer: It's been a while since I've seen it, but if memory services, Edward is helplessly in love with Kim, and is playing along with Jim's scheme because Kim is there with them and is a part of it. Edward wants to do "nice things" for her and her friends, so he basically plays dumb. When he later tells her that he knew it was Jim's house, he also explains that the reason he did it was because she "asked him to."

TedStixon

Question: I know it's a long shot, but does anyone know the name of the song the dad was playing in his car at the beginning of the movie?

Answer: Https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104756/soundtrack?ref_=tttr_ql_trv_7 Here's a link to IMDb's soundtrack listing. It could possibly be in there.

TedStixon

Answer: From what I've gathered, they had some creative differences and butted heads a few times over how McClane was portrayed (Ex. Harlin wanted more humor out of McClane while Willis wanted less), but mostly got along well behind-the-scenes.

TedStixon

Question: I know that Mufasa was originally supposed to sing one song. Why was this song removed from the final version of the movie?

Answer: According to one website I read, it was cut because it was felt the song didn't fit James Earle Jones' singing voice. I'll also add that the song itself (which is available online) feels really redundant... it doesn't have much purpose beyond showing Simba that being a king isn't just fun and games, which is a lesson he learns anyway during the film. So I feel like it also may have been cut due to it feeling redundant in the narrative. (Although that's just my personal theory).

TedStixon

Question: At the beginning, Dolittle was scared because a boy broke in his territory, so he says to Chee-Chee, "Possum, play dead." Why does he call the gorilla possum? Chee-Chee is a gorilla, not a possum. Also Possum is not his name nor nickname.

Bunch Son

Answer: 'Playing possum' is slang for pretending to be dead, as possums sometimes do that to avoid predators.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Opossums will go into a state where they appear dead when threatened, thus the term "playing possum." Dolittle was just saying to act like a opossum and play dead.

Bishop73

Question: Whatever happened to Nightcrawler? He was still with Professor X and the other good mutants at the end of the second film, but in this one he's suddenly gone and no-one even mentions him.

Answer: Alan Cumming declined to reprise the role due to the uncomfortable makeup process, the change in directors (Brett Ratner taking over for Bryan Singer who left the project to film Superman Returns), and the fact Nightcrawler's role would have been minimal in this film. The absence is not explained in the film but the video game X-Men: The Official Game, which is canonical to the films and takes place between the 2nd and 3rd films, has Nightcrawler leave the X-Men because he is uncomfortable with the violent lifestyle.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why did Simon send John to walk the streets with THAT sign on him? The whole point was to use him to cover up his Federal Reserve heist. If John had've died in the very first "Simon says", he wouldn't have been able to play the second "Simon says" causing the subway under the Federal Reserve to blow up, nor use the "a bomb in a school will blow up unless John does this" because John would be dead... So why have him do something he knew could get him killed?

Answer: Because he wanted John dead. Simon didn't "need" anyone to play a game to blow up the subway, and the point of threatening the schools was to occupy the police. John still being alive just gave Simon more opportunities to run him around and mess with him, hopefully with him dying in the process.

Jon Sandys

Answer: He wanted John humiliated and hurt to show the police he has complete power over them, privately to see him suffer for killing his brother, Hans. The rest was like you said to have the police and Feds running in circles, occupying them from the Gold heist.

Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister - S2-E7

Question: At the beginning, Eleven overhears Becky Ives call the police and talk about her. Becky wanted the police to come and take Eleven. Why would Becky betray Eleven all of a sudden? Earlier, she told Eleven to stay with her in the house while showing her own room. She even said she could get Eleven a real bed. Change of mind that soon?

Bunch Son

Answer: She said that to try to make her feel calm and "at home" in a way.

Question: When Dani and Grace are in the vehicle that drops out the back of the plane...how then is it possible that the plane is able to nearly come down upon them if it was moving in a forward motion at a great speed in opposite direction? The plane would naturally have gone down miles away from them and not nearly collided with them.

Answer: The simplest answer is, this is a movie, and movies often exaggerate, change, or fabricate details that logically could never occur in real-life. This is a perfect example of a deliberately faked action sequence that is contrived solely to entertain the audience by employing a 'suspension of disbelief.' It's more exciting and suspenseful to be able to see the plane crash, even though, as you point out, it realistically would be miles away by that time.

raywest

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