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: When Splinter is being held captive by Shredder how was he able to survive? He seems to be held by him for quite some time so shouldn't he have been dead?

Answer: Meditation, by putting themselves in a deep mental state, they could go days without food or sleep. It's said, that some hardcore mystics can actually stop their own hearts.

Question: Dr. Robotnik sent Sonic, Tails and Knuckles two hundred years into the future. Mephiles also sent Shadow and Rouge two hundred years into the future. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles met Shadow and Rouge coincidentally at the same time in Crisis City. Or was it planned by Dr. Robotnik or Mephiles?

David&Yara

Question: Why didn't Alan and Sarah just destroy the game instead of throwing it into the river?

DFirst1

Answer: Because of its magical properties, it can't be destroyed. Which is why it was buried in the first place.

Answer: The game can defend itself against a player cheating by turning him into a monkey. What do you think it could do to someone who tried to destroy it?

It's because it's an evil object. You see in the movie it causes damage psychologically and sociologically. What I mean is the game brought bad experience to Alan, Sarah, Judy and Peter.

DFirst1

Question: I do not remember seeing Bill and Ted dressed as women (was that actually them?) get in the telephone booth to go get their wives. Was this explained somewhere?

Answer: That was their wives' future selves I believe.

Question: At the mountain top scene. Nick Memphis is shot in the front and it the steel plate. But aren't all the enemy snipers behind him overlooking the helicopters and people?

Chuck 123

Answer: Yes, they were placed there in case Swagger tried something. Everyone assumed Memphis was Swagger. When Meachum saw who it was, Swagger took out all the snipers before they were radioed instructions.

Correct. But he was shot in his chest as he's walking towards the senator. And the snipers and Swagger were behind them. So how did he get shot in the chest?

Question: What does Regina mean when she tells her boyfriend to swallow food before he talks, because they are in California? Talking while eating is rude almost everywhere, so what does California have to do with it?

Answer: She's just being deliberately snarky, implying he is acting like someone from a place where they have crude manners and lack proper social graces.

raywest

Question: What happened to Chozen's friends, Toshio and Taro? After being defeated by Mr. Miyagi (in the scene where Chozen hits Mr. Miyagi with the spear) they no longer appear in the movie. Is this possible that they perished during the typhoon? If they didn't, then what happened to them?

Question: Why would an exploding helicopter take so long to slide down the side of the building? Enough time for McClane to get down to the party area?

Answer: This is a movie, not reality. The doomed helicopter's descent was deliberately slowed down on film for a visually dramatic effect. It is also timed so it coordinates with McClane's movement and better serves the plot's pacing. It is also not necessarily linear, timewise, cutting back and forth at different points to show what is happening.

raywest

Sorry not adequate explanation. Hundreds of action movies are made regularly the world over they don't make these sorts of errors. Insufficient explanation.

There was no error. It was a deliberate artistic choice by the filmmakers to achieve a desired visual and dramatic effect, regardless of real-life physics.

raywest

Question: Can someone please put to bed a question that has been raised and not answered...why would the terrorists try to blow McClane up with grenades that have enough of a delay to make a quick coffee in?

Answer: There is no in-universe explanation...they didn't go to an arms dealer and say, "Give us your longest-fused grenades, we want to give our target a sporting chance." There is no deleted scene where Col. Stuart wonders aloud why those grenades took so long to explode, while making himself a coffee. This-the hero in a deadly situation and escaping in the nick of time, regardless of how long grenades actually take to explode in the real world-is an action movie trope and nothing more, in a film that is chock full of them. It would be a pretty sad movie, not to mention a bad one, if McClane got blown to bits by grenades, and the bad guys won.

But surely they could have filmed this scene in slo-mo to stretch out the 7 second delay to whatever it becomes, OR edited it in such a way it appears to take longer when it actually doesn't?

The grenade fuse time is deliberately lengthened so the audience can process what is happening. The audience has to see the danger of the grenades, understand that McClane must get out of the cockpit without the bad guys shooting him, see McClane think of the ejector seat plan, and then execute that plan. It's ridiculously unrealistic but McClane is meant to be clever and resourceful so the audience has to see him work out the problem. If you used slo-mo it would make it seem like McClane instantly figured out a solution, which would make him look superhuman.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: It's worth noting that they wouldn't have to pull the pins out of all the grenades, just one. That one would cause the others to explode as well.

Answer: Yes they did hint at it, but her religion was down played because they didn't want that to define her character. But besides the "Cheers" episode mentioned, s10e06 of "Frasier", "Star Mitzvah", is about their son Fredrick's bar mitzvah. Typically under Jewish law, a child is considered Jewish if his or her mother is Jewish (and we know Frasier isn't Jewish). It should also be noted that Lilith is a figure in Jewish mythology and considered to be the first wife of Adam.

Bishop73

Answer: Yes. The 'Cheers' episode 'For Real Men Only,' deals with infant Frederick's bris (ritual circumcision).

Brian Katcher

Question: How did Hector Savage get killed in Jane's apartment?

Answer: Frank stuck a fire hose in his mouth and turned it on, causing Savage to explode.

Brian Katcher

Why couldn't Savage just remove the fire hose, especially when he began inflating with the water? Plus, how could water possibly be spraying from his chest?

Because this a ridiculous parody movie and it's funny.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: How did a dead lobster claw the first lady's boob? Why was Daniel Boone at a police shootout? It's a silly, cartoonish movie.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Why would he? He knew what happened to Sarah when she told people about it, and his parents hardly seem like the sort who would a) believe him, or b) indulge him in his "fantasy." Better to simply get rid of it (as he and Sarah do).

I was pertaining when Alan was still a kid not as an adult.When he discovered the game and he went home immediately. Remember his mother called him and then Alan keep the Jumanji under the sofa.

DFirst1

Given their wealth and status, Alan's parents may not appreciate him bringing home stuff he found buried. In addition, he's probably having difficulty himself believing the game is making the drum noises and wants to investigate first.

LorgSkyegon

Question: When Michael and Claire are discussing whether to hire Peyton, Claire says, "I don't think she'll be a nanny forever, but I think we can get her to commit for a year." Why does she not think that Peyton can be nanny long-term?

Answer: Peyton is young and attractive, and Claire, unaware of her real identity, is assuming Peyton probably will meet someone and want to marry and have a family. Presumably, most nannies do not stay in one position for long and it tends to be a high-turnover profession.

raywest

Answer: Well for one, his wheels were damaged, and two, if he did try to chuff out of the wall he would still need to perfectly a line his wheels on the track, which is impossible.

Answer: His wheels were destroyed.

Answer: Because he was afraid he was going to fall.

Question: How did they stay frozen the whole time if they demolished the building? Wouldn't something that can keep a person frozen, require a lot of power? Did they just decide to demolish the building without checking that the power was out? Didn't they put a fudruckers on top of it? How did they remain frozen so long?

cubuntu1883

Answer: The science in this movie is far-fetched at best. Assumedly the pods had some sort of battery backup for emergencies. If the battery lasted 500 years, we can just assume it was secret government technology.

Brian Katcher

Question: In Francois Toulour's first scene, he says something in French before switching to English. What was he saying? (00:58:46)

Answer: "What joy, and what a surprise, to see you here."

Question: Any idea what the reference to "banging erasers" is all about? I always thought she said "banging your races" or "banging your braces" but never understood what it meant?

Answer: Banging erasers is what kids had to do as punishment. Erasers are used to clear the chalkboards, eventually they will get full of chalk and not work properly anymore so you bang them together to get the chalk out.

lionhead

True - but my first grade teacher made it a "reward" by giving the student who had the BEST behavior that day the "honor" of cleaning her erasers.

KeyZOid

Well it might be time period dependent. Or teacher dependent.

lionhead

Answer: It was a reference to detention. She suggests that he will be banging erasers after school.

Question: Who kills the informant on the boat? How is Verbal outside the boat and also supposed to be the villain who's killed everyone?

Answer: Keyser Soze killed the informant, Verbal was telling the cop his version of what happened to the cop and the movie going audience, to misdirect everyone. Confusing everyone until the revelation at the end of the movie.

Question: At the end of the movie, as the credits roll, and in the background, we see Brody and Hooper paddling their way to shore on those 2 yellow barrels. Would I be right to assume this is probably not actually Scheider and Dreyfuss, but instead, 2nd unit filming this with stand-ins for those two? Knowing Spielberg at that time, maybe he did use Scheider and Dreyfuss. If 2nd unit, anyone know who the stand-ins were?

Question: When David steps on the land mine, the group rescues him by tying a rope around him and pulling while he runs. What exactly does this accomplish? It's impossible to outrun an explosion, much less pull someone to safety at supersonic speed.

throcko

Answer: Yes, I think the blast of a land mine usually goes straight up, unless it's a bouncing Betty.

Answer: Anti personnel mines usually have a small blast radius compared to a bomb or artillery shell. If they can pull him away quickly enough he can be clear of the blast.

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