Question: Is it ever explained why Conan was released from slavery?
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Question: I know that DHD's only work on the planet that they are on, because of the point of origin, but the gate on Antarctica has a DHD and the point of origin is still Earth, why couldn't the SGC hook up the Antarctica DHD to their gate?
Answer: It was explained in a season 7 ep, the Antartic DHD ran out of juice after only a few test runs when it was recovered, so its useless.
Answer: The point of origin relates more to the paired Gate and DHD than the planet they are on. Take any gate and it's DHD to another planet and it work just fine as soon as the DHD updated its position with the rest of the network. That point of origin would then work for that planet, which is why Earth could have two gates with two origin symbols.
Question: Was it always Lucas' original plan to have Darth Vader be Luke's father?
Answer: The short, short answer to this is "Yes... from a certain point of view." The long answer is complicated and depends completely on what timeframe you mean by "always." If you're going back all the way to the early rough drafts of the early-mid 70s (which actually resemble Episode I more than they do the Star Wars of 1977), you'll find there's a cyborg father figure protagonist that makes a heroic sacrifice, and then another character that is a "black knight" villain that eventually turns to the side of good near the end. Just to make things more complicated, there is yet another character, a villain by the name of "Darth Vader" that is a human Imperial officer like Grand Moff Tarkin. It may be a stretch to count all that as "Darth Vader was always the father" but the pieces were all there, at least.
(1) Now the earliest explicit mention on any documented material that Darth Vader is Luke's father comes from notes Lucas made outlining the general story of the trilogy and its place in the larger Star Wars saga. These were found in the archives for The Empire Strikes Back, but they are undated and we don't know if they were written before Star Wars (1977) and carried forward, or if they were written afterward. These were found fairly recently (made public in 2010) and as far as I know Lucas has never commented publicly about them.
(3) One thing we know, at least, is that Lucas had come up with the idea of Darth Vader the father before starting work on The Empire Strikes Back. Something incredibly odd, though, is that the first draft written by Leigh Brackett does not feature the twist (and in fact introduces Anakin himself as a ghost); for a long time many fans took this as proof that Lucas hadn't thought of the idea at all by then, but after the series outline was discovered it was made apparent that Lucas simply hadn't told Brackett for some reason. Perhaps he wasn't sure yet that he wanted to go through with it, or maybe at that point he was thinking of revealing it in the third film. Either way, Lucas would write the second draft himself, and that's where the twist first appears in script form.
(2) Something that must be understood about Star Wars (1977) is that it was an ALTERNATIVE to his original plans of a saga. By then he didn't think it was realistic that he would be able to make a long series of many movies, so he came up with a "Plan B": he crammed the general story of the trilogy into one movie. So we know that when Star Wars (1977) was filming, Darth Vader was NOT Luke's father, because this one movie was IT, that was the whole story. But what we DON'T know, is whether that means Lucas had abandoned the idea of Vader being the father in order to simplify the story, or if Lucas simply hadn't thought of that at all just yet.
(2, cont.) On a side note, you can tell by watching Star Wars (1977) how it has condensed the story of the trilogy. The middle portion has the characters trying to escape capture from the Empire while one of them loses a duel with Darth Vader (like The Empire Strikes Back) and the third act is a final battle against the Death Star above a forest moon (like Return of the Jedi). The first act features a member of royalty on the run while a couple of protagonists find the main hero on a desert planet, resembling the original drafts and by extension Star Wars: Episode I. Because of this we've arguably never actually had a "pure" first chapter to the original trilogy, even though Lucas eventually had the film serve this purpose anyway.
Answer: Yes, however, he didn't want anyone to KNOW about it. In fact, the original script said "'Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father.' 'He told me enough... he told me YOU killed him!' 'No, Obi-Wan killed your father'" Even Hamill was only told the real line just before shooting, so his reaction is somewhat natural.
Question: I don't understand why Persephone let one of the guard go, instead of killing both of them when they're saving the Key Maker. Wouldn't they have made a clean escape that way?
Answer: Persephone wants to really stick it to her husband, the Merovingian. By letting one of the guards go tell him she is assuring that he will find out what she did, but it will be too late to stop her.
Question: Why was everyone standing up in the last scene of the movie? Did not make too much sense to me, but it was very apparent so it must have been some intentional directional move.
Answer: One of the elders asks if they all want to continue the village the way it is by telling the younger members that Noah was killed by the creatures in the woods and keeping the truth about the village from them. Standing up was the other elders' way of saying "yes."
Shibboleth - S2-E8
Question: Right before Toby asks CJ if she wants to come over for Thanksgiving, he calls her Toscanini. What does Toscanini mean?
Answer: Arturo Toscanini (1867 - 1957) was an Italian born conductor who was well known for being authoritarian and a bully. Perhaps this is a reference to CJ's commanding nature?
Question: What is the song playing during the mattress sliding scene?
Answer: The song you are referring to is "Let's Bounce," recorded by Disney Channel star Christy Carlson Romano, who played Ren Stevens in "Even Stevens."
Question: On IMDB it says in this film there are some INTENTIONAL continuity errors. Does anyone know any of the intentional errors, perhaps along with a timecode?
Chosen answer: The kid points them out in the film, in order to convince Arnold's character that he inhabits movieland. Also, after Arnold's character falls into the tar pit he is able to completely wipe himself clean, an obvious intentional continuity error.
Question: Why was Cardinal Richelieu's costume changed from red to purple?
Answer: Red is the "color" of the holy church; purple is the "color" of royalty. Richelieu aspired to royalty, not piety.
Question: Maybe I've missed the reason, but why is the film called Friday the 13th? I'm sure there is never any reference to that date, so why be titled this?
Chosen answer: Just after the credits, there's a bank sign that says "Friday, 13 - 7:01 - 60 Degrees". Then the DJ says "It's 7:01 on Friday the 13th of June." and goes on to say some more about it and lists some other bad luck superstitions. At two other points in the movie, two characters (Ralph and Tierney) say "it's Friday the 13th". So there are at least four references to the fact that the movie takes place on Friday the 13th.
Answer: Sean Cunningham was the one who had an idea for a horror film called "Friday the 13th", because he really felt like it was a can't miss film title. He got with Victor Miller about making a horror film similar to "Halloween" and Miller began writing a script. Miller had titled the first draft "Long Night at Camp Blood", but he admits he's never been good at coming up with titles, so this was just a working title. Cunningham had called Miller and told him he wants to name the film "Friday the 13th" and Miller said "That's great. Unfortunately, there's no reason for that." To which Cunningham replied with "Stick one in." (Which is why there's a few references to the date in the film.) Cunningham was so sure of the film's title that he put an ad in Variety magazine in July before any sort of production of the film had begun.
Answer: Another reason is in the scene where Pamela is talking to Alice she mentions that today was Jason's birthday, Friday the 13th.
Answer: I do not recall any answer, definitive or otherwise, been given to your question. Originally the film was to be called 'Long Night at Camp Blood'. I have no idea why it was changed. Or why the new title was chosen. However the film is set on a Friday the 13th. And it is mentioned as such after the credits when Annie is walking through the town. On the radio, the DJ says as much.
Answer: After Barry and Claudette was killed by young Pamela in 1958, it then flashes white to Crystal Lake and words in the bottom saying "Friday June 13 The Present." Present means the year 1979.
Question: Does anyone know why they changed Jimmy's last name to 'Markum' from 'Marcus' (which it is in the books)?
Answer: 9 times out of 10, a character's name is changed to avoid legal action, ie, there may be only one man in the US named Jimmy Marcus who might complain that a character is named after him.
Question: What was the name of the large weapon that Bruce Willis's character purchased to assassinate the first lady.
Answer: It's a Polish produced version of a Russian GSh series 23 or 30mm cannon.
Question: What was the purpose of Berlin? What she planted to stage the rape? Or, was she really trying to get revenge? What did the postcard mean at the end of the movie in the money case?
Answer: I believe that she was a plot device to make sure David Gale had nothing to lose by the end of the movie. She then may have felt guilty about casual sex, and tried to get back at Gale. She then later felt guilty about the whole charade, and wrote him a postcard admitting what she had done. Then the postcard is given to the ex-wife to show he was innocent of rape.
David had asked Bitsy and, presumably, Dusty, to preserve his son's memory of him. So they/he/she forwarded the postcard from Berlin so his ex would know he was innocent of the rape charge. Along with money for his son.
Answer: I think David's wife was having an affair and wanted out of the marriage. She paid Berlin to seduce David and accuse him of rape.
Answer: We also think Berlin was hired by the wife. She has always said that it was not about the grades.
Question: A question for all the extended DVDs. Why does Viggo Mortenson not do commentary with the rest of the cast? Is he opposed to it, or simply could not make it? I missed his presence on the disc and was also wondering if he'd be speaking on the Return Of The King DVD.
Answer: Since he does do the interviews about the film, I don't believe he's opposed to commentaries. And since he was really the only one working on films at the time the commentaries would have been recorded (Hidalgo especially), it's possible that he simply couldn't be there. Other cast members were working on films also, but Viggo was the only one starring in his, and probably couldn't take the time.
Question: What does Moses' birth mother say in Hebrew as she's getting him ready to take to the river?
Answer: "Yal-di ha-tov veh ha-rach (my good and tender son) Al ti-ra veh al tif-chad (Don't be frightened and don't be scared) My son, I have nothing I can give, but this chance that you may live, I pray we'll meet again, If He will deliver us!"
I was wondering that. Thanks.
Question: The movie is supposed to be three years after the first movie, which would make her 18. But on all the trailers, they say she is 21. Why is this?
Answer: I have visited a lot of websites and they all say the movie is supposed to be taking place 5 years after the first one and that would put her at about 21 since it should be a little after her birthday. Don't assume because this movie's made 3 years after the first that that's how long after the first one it's meant to be set.
Question: Jack made me think of this; was there any sort of class action law suit filed against White Star Liners by the survivors and the family members of those that did not, and what was the total amount of money awarded, if any, to any individual claims?
Answer: A lawsuit against White Star Line was brought on behalf of the Titanic survivors. The steamship line was exonerated. Survivors did recieve a small amount compensation. If any good came from this disaster it would be the addition of life boats to all ocean going passenger vessels.
Question: When and how did the Great War end? I know the original Transformers ended its US run after the 3-part Headmasters, but Generation 1 continued on in Japan in Super God Masterforce, Victory, Zone, Return of Convoy, and Operation: Combination. Which cartoon ending is considered "official," the US one which finished its run in the 80's with Headmasters or the Japanese one that ended in 1992 with Operation: Combination?
Answer: It is whichever ending you want. There is no 'real' set or canon ending to the war. The only semi-resolution is Beast Wars occasionally hints at the Autobots winning (before the Maximal upgrade). However, Beast Wars is a combination of the US cartoon and the US comic, and excludes most of the Japanese continuity. So it is really up to you as to what you want to believe. Most people seem to 'accept' the US universe, ending with Beast Machines.
Question: Rasputin and Hellboy each say Hellboy's real name towards the end. I didn't catch it properly, what exactly do they say, and what (if anything) does the phrase/name mean in English?
Chosen answer: According to the comic books, his name is Anung Un Rama, or 'World Destroyer, The Great Beast.'
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Answer: Not in the movies, but in the original books. He escaped by grinding his chain between two millstones until it broke.
Twotall