Question: Why was there dog food on board in the first place? I thought that Red Dwarf wasn't meant to have any animals on board- so why was it needed?
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 it really true that a character swears in this children's rated film?
Chosen answer: Kehaar says "P*ss off!" to one of the rabbits.
Question: Is there any particular reason Julia Robert's dress was changed from the blue and white dress she wears at the beginning of the movie to a black and pink version of the same dress on the movie poster and film/disc cover? I've always wondered why - there's really no reason for the change.
Chosen answer: Posters are usually designed long after the film has been made, and by the marketing department. Decisions about the outfit may have been based solely on what was considered best by the marketing department (for instance, to match the color of the lettering in the title.) Also, Julia Roberts' head has been super-imposed onto a model's body in the poster image (just as Richard Gere's hair has been darkened). These are all creative marketing decisions.
Question: Why does the helicopter explode at the end? Did the high-tension electrical wire set it off? I never see it hit the chopper, no matter how many times I see the scene. Or does he fact that the helicopter blades hit the pole have something to do with it?
Answer: Willis' character shot the power lines, which fell from the pole and got tangled up in the helicopter blades. Since the blades couldn't spin, the helicopter fell from the air and exploded as it hit the ground.
That's not what happened. John shot the power lines and in an effort to avoid them the helicopter pilot clipped a pole which took them down.
Answer: The sparks seen above the helicopter is meant to be the live wire wrapping around the blades. The helicopter does try to avoid the wire, but it's too late. If you look closely, it doesn't seem like the helicopter hit the pylon, maybe the blades knick it. But the helicopter explodes while in the air before it hit the ground.
Question: Is it true that this film is a blast against religion?
Answer: I doubt it's "anti-religion," although the organ-player says that he couldn't believe in god, especially with all of the death and suffering that was going on in the world. The televangelist is the closest you're going to get for religion setting a "bad example" in the movie.
Question: Is it me, or just before Hot Rod smashes through the barrier at the beginning of the movie, you see the Autobots who were building it run away to avoid being hit, isn't one of them Brawn?, but he died only minutes before the scene with Hot Rod.
Answer: A lot of people get confused by this, but the Transformer you see at the road block is actually Huffer, who is of a very similar design to Brawn.
Question: Are we ever told why Maggie's family cares so little about her? I can only assume it's because they think she's run off to California and left them (and returning later with lots of money doesn't help) but that's just my interpretation, unless I missed something.
Chosen answer: We might just call it an exaggerated portrayal of the "white trash" family. Part of what makes Maggie so endearing is that she struggled and made herself out of nothing, and to create this history, it is expected that her family is awful, and never expected anything out of her.
Question: I'm still not sure how Anna died, all I saw was the werewolf leaping on her. Then when we see her body I couldn't see any bite marks or wounds that would explain exactly how he killed her.
Answer: Could be one of a few things. The impact may have broken her neck. Or when the werewolf jumped and smashed her into a piece of furniture (or whatever it was) it's possible that she was crushed and was killed by it. Or even shock.
Oh yeah? What about one the bride throwing her on the walls with so much power that a car crush is nothing compared.
My thoughs exactly.
Question: Soundwave has two non-animal cassette robots, Rumble and Frenzy, but I'm getting confused on who is who, because in the guide to Transformers, the red and black one is said to be Rumble, but in the episode 'Desertion of the Dinobots part 1', Megatron calls the purple one Rumble, (and if you are wondering, I only have the season two part one DVD, so I don't know much about the T.V series), Can someone please tell me which is which?
Answer: The guide to Transformers (which I believe is known as Transformers: The Ultimate Guide) is based on the comics in terms of character profiles for the most part. In the Transformer comics, Rumble was red and black and had Piledriver arms, whilst Frenzy was purple and could use sonic screams. However, in the cartoon the character colours were reversed for no known reason (so Rumble is now purple and Frenzy is red and black) and both used pile driver arms.
Question: In the commentary the director remarks about how he hated working with an actor and he/she won't work again. Does anyone know who this might be?
Answer: The whole commentary is a joke - they decided to parody other Hollywood commentaries instead of giving a serious one. The actor he was talking about was Ben Stiller, who turns up late for the commentary then leaves early. (The rest of the film is then the commentary for "There's Something About Mary"). So Ben Stiller is the actor, but it's not meant to be taken seriously.
Question: How does Jill find out about the T-virus and its effects? I don't think they ever explained it in the movie.
Answer: The newspaper clippings we see in her apartment at the start refer to a 'mansion incident' - this in fact relates to the events of the first Resident Evil game, when Jill and other STARS members were trapped in a mansion overrun with the T-Virus. By the end of the game Jill knows exaclty what the T-Virus is and what its effects are.
Even though it mentions it in the newspaper clippings in the movie she wasn't even at the Mansion so therefore she wouldn't have known about the t-virus in the movie.
She was at the mansion prior to the events of Apocalypse, and one of the first ones to know about the virus before it hit Raccoon City.
Question: Is it really always Gwyneth Paltrow's beautiful body that we see during all the shots of the striptease? I think when it is showed turned around it is a stunt double.
Answer: A stunt double was used for the "body" shots in the film. Additionally, Gwyneth's body was digitally modified for the posters and DVD/VHS covers to make her a bit fuller figured.
Question: Where can i find a website showing the map of Middle Earth, and preferably one that shows the path of all the fellowship thoughout the movies?
Answer: The most popular and complete site I've seen is theonering.net. It contains detailed information about the books and films, and includes extensive material on Middle Earth. It also happens to be Peter Jackson's favorite fansite for the films.
Question: Does "Vilnius Nastavnic" really translate to "Vilnius Schoolmaster"?
Chosen answer: The literal translation is "Vilnius Principal", but that doesn't sound as imposing.
Schoolmaster is correct. Nastavnik means male teacher or instructor, i.e. a schoolmaster. It does not mean "Principal/Headmaster/Head Teacher."
Question: When Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn are leaving the troops to go summon that ghost army in the mountain, all of the troops and even Eowyn think he is abandoning them. Why does he not explain where he is going? If he would have told them that he was going to summon a great army to help it would have done a lot for their morale. What does the book say about this?
Chosen answer: The Dead who live under the mountain are feared and hated by pretty much everyone - note Aragorn's reaction when Elrond first suggests recruiting them. The Rohirrim will be well aware of all the tales - if Aragorn were to tell them what his mission was, they'd likely consider him to be insane. Better for them to think that one of their leaders has to go on some unspecified mission than for them to think that he's actually nuts. Besides, Aragorn has no idea whether the Dead will actually choose to fight - he seems reasonably convinced at first that they won't, and he's not likely to be alone in that opinion - most of the Rohirrim would probably consider him to be a fool for even contemplating it - also not exactly great for morale.
Question: The WB said that Smallville was going to introduce Krypto the dog. What is Krypto's origin and how did he get his powers?
Answer: In the comics, Krypto is a dog from Krypton who was used as the passenger in a test launch by Jor-El, Superman's father, before he launched the actual rocket taking his infant son to Earth. Krypto's capsule was involved in a mishap, sending it out of Kryptonian orbit and eventually found its way to Earth where he linked up with the young Clark Kent. Like any native of Krypton, Krypto has superpowers on Earth. In Smallville, the dog is a standard Earth dog who has been experimentally injected with kryptonite, giving him super-strength for a limited period of time, who escapes and links up with Clark (who suggests the name Krypto, ostensibly because of the dog's cryptic origins). It doesn't take too long for the dog's strength to fade, and the Kents decide to keep him, although they ultimately name him Shelby, after a dog that Martha Kent had in childhood.
Question: The number 1138 gets referenced in many later Lucas-related projects. What, if any, is the original significance of the number?
Answer: It's been widely suggested that Lucas based the title on his telephone number at the time. The first three digits corresponded to T,H and X on the keypad - the last four were 1138.
Question: Where is the David Schwimmer reference in this movie? I know that there is a Jennifer Aniston reference, but I heard that there was one about David Schwimmer.
Answer: It's when Dewey and Randy are talking about the movie Stab. Randy says to him "At least you get played by David Schwimmer, I get the guy who rode the stage coach through one episode of Dr Quinn".
Question: Just two things I was curious about whilst watching. Does anyone know how they trained the boy who plays Little Jack to do the hand signals and cry on cue etc.? I imagine it would be quite difficult to teach a toddler all of that. Also, how did they get a boy who looks so much like Ben Stiller for the part of Jorge? Is he related in any way or is it just luck that they found a boy like that?
Answer: Little Jack is played by twins so both twins did not necessarily have to learn all of the "tricks". Ray Santiago is not related to Ben Stiller and there are quite a lot of make-up effects applied to his face especially around the nose, ears and eyebrows.
Answer: The boy was already taught to sign by his parents before he was discovered.
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Answer: It's entirely possible there were animals on board. Lister mentions lab mice, there could have been other lab animals too, or pets. Lister got in trouble with the cat because it hadn't been quarantined or vaccinated.