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 there any mention in the films or books about how the extinct plants were grown (or recreated/cloned)? I've already suspended disbelief that their extraction of viable DNA is possible and I know seeds can lay dormant for thousands of years, so I can accept whatever made-up technique they claim. I'm not looking for speculation or "it's just a movie" type responses.

Bishop73

Chosen answer: It is never explained in any of the films or the novels. In the novel The Lost World it is very briefly mentioned that InGen maintains a facility where they house prehistoric plants but that is literally the only time it is brought up. It isn't mentioned in the films at all.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: As the DNA came from fossilized tree sap, Probably an offscreen procedure of removing plant DNA directly from that.

dizzyd

Question: When Agent Tucker tells the air operator that their helicopter altitude is "about 18 Inches", why did she hang up on him? Is it suppose to mean anything sexual? I found this in the "sex and nudity" category on parents guide and I just wonder.

Answer: I don't think it was intended as something sexual. Tucker tells the operator that their altitude is about 18 inches because they were 18 inches over the ground. The operator hung up because they were piloting the helicopter ridiculously close to the ground. She likely thought that they were joking around with her, or weren't taking the situation that seriously, so she just gave up on them.

Casual Person

Question: When Reginald says to Cecil "You really think he (Larry) is the one?" and then Cecil replies "Oh yes, he's the one", are we already suppose to know that Cecil, Reginald and Gus are the villains?

Answer: Not necessarily know it, but it's a clue that foreshadows their culpability.

raywest

Question: Was this film a box office hit, did it flop or simply break even? I have heard nothing about it being a huge money-maker. And of all James Cameron's films, it seems to have gotten the least mention (the controversial strip tease scene might be one reason). So I was wondering if someone could clarify it once and for all?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: True Lies did well, earning about $379m worldwide from a $100m+ budget, the first movie to have a production budget that high. It was the third highest grossing movie of 1994.

Jon Sandys

Answer: There was supposed to be a sequel but after 9/11. Middle East Terrorism seemed in poor taste to James Cameron.

Question: My question is the fact of Davy Jones, and now Will Turner, not being able to step on land except for once every ten years. What exactly is physically stopping them? It is hinted at in Dead Men Tell No Tales, that he would turn to ash, however, my question is, if that were to happen, the Dutchman would have no captain and the Dutchman must always have a captain. That is said repeatedly. So, unless there is some physical boundary, which, to me would make the buckets in the meeting in At World's End, be not possible, why can they not walk on land? Also, this one kinda ties in to the first, the Dutchman must always have a captain, so why did the soldiers' of the East India Trading Company point the cannons at it? There must be a captain. So, that couldn't actually work because then who would be captain? And I understand that it was the Mercer showing his power over Davy Jones, but they both had to know that it does not follow the logic of the Dutchman having to have a captain. Any ideas?

Answer: It's never definitively explained why the Dutchman's captain cannot step on land, but it has to do with the fact that he was supposed to remain in the underworld and ferry lost souls to the 'other side.' The "stepping on land" is a generalized reference that refers to him being allowed to return to the living world once every ten years. Jones abandoned his true purpose by leaving the underworld to stay among the living, thus becoming cursed. He was apparently able to withstand being on solid ground as long as he was not directly in contact with it (hence the bucket). As to Jones' relationship with the East India Company, Lord Becket would only maintain a pact with Jones as long as it was useful and Jones remained loyal. If Jones violated their agreement, Becket would not have hesitated to destroy him, his ship, and the crew.

raywest

Question: In the 'War Room' scene, there appeared to be a sheet of plastic or acetate covering the wall with the map of the enemy's movements. Was that premature for plastic to be available in that size for that time frame?

Myke

Answer: It was probably Perspex, an acrylic plastic commonly available at the time, used for, amongst other things, fighter plane cockpit canopies and windscreens.

stiiggy

Answer: It may be polyethylene, which was in wide use by the 1930s. Other plastics were also available at that time.

raywest

Question: Seems like a petty, trivial question, but it has been bugging me. Throughout the film, events that are taking place on one level have a profound impact on the the level below. One example is the scene with Arthur fighting the with the 'bad guys' while floating without gravitational pull. This is a result of the van being in mid air in the 1st level. How come Nolan chose this approach? It's like saying that if we sleep during a flight, we will definitely dream that we are in the air. Or if we get slapped while dreaming, we will be tossed aside aggressively. We all know that is not the case. There isn't such a direct connection between what happens in reality and what happens in a dream. Seems to me that Nolan traded the integrity of the whole dream eco system for some stunning visuals. Or am I very wrong?

Adi

Answer: Dreams can be and are often influenced by what's happening around us. There's been plenty of research on the topic and some interesting findings. Yes, Nolan exaggerates it for the purpose of drama, but it's based on reality to some extent. You also have to remember, the film's rules establish that the deeper levels of dreams are quite different, what with time being greatly extended, the subconscious playing a bigger role, etc. So it'd stand to reason that smaller things in the level above would have a large and consistent impact on lower levels, since it'd be messing with your mind. Also, and most importantly... it's a sci-fi movie. It can alter the rules of reality a bit for the sake of the story being told.

TedStixon

Thanks a lot TedStixon. You've put my mind at ease :).

Question: While en route to Miller's planet, Romilly explains that due to relativity, for each hour they spend on the surface, 23 years will have passed on earth. Romilly stays aboard the ship, orbiting the planet. The crew goes in, has a tragic accident, then goes back to the ship. Now, this is what I don't get - Romilly has aged 23 years while they explored the planet for a couple of hours. How come Romilly aged at all? He was just outside the planet. Not on earth. There should be no major time difference between the crew and Romilly.

Adi

Answer: It was stated that the time dilation on Miller's planet was a result of its close proximity to Gargantua, the black hole. Romilly kept the Endurance out of range of Gargantua, whilst Cooper, Brand and Doyle went to Miller's planet, so he was not affected by the time dilation, and aged consistently with Earth. Had Romilly gotten the Endurance any closer towards Miller's planet, he would have been affected by the time dilation in the same way Cooper and Brand were, but he did not.

Casual Person

Thanks a lot :).

Adi

Answer: It was actually 1 hour on the planet was 7 years outside of the time slippage. They spent a little over 3 hours on the planet, these a little over 23 years passed for Romilly. As an added interest, in the scene there is a "tick" in the background soundtrack. Each tick is the passage of 1 hour of Earth time.

Show generally

Question: I have recently bet my friend that at some point in the series the boys were playing penny football. Am I right? And if I'm right when did they play?

Answer: I know Friends pretty well - at least off the top of my head I can't think of a time when they did.

Jon Sandys

In season 5, episode 10: The One With The Inappropriate Sister, Chandler is playing a game on their kitchen peninsula where he launches a spoon into a large bowl while Joey sits in the living room trying to write a screenplay. Joey chastises Chandler for playing with the target so close and tells him to move it further back. They then go on to invent the game Fire Ball. Could this be what you are thinking of?

Answer: Because despite whatever unresolved issues there are between them, he still cares about his son, and probably hopes for reconciliation one day.

raywest

Question: As popular as Dusty was, wouldn't you think one of the Tuckers would have heard of him, since they go to the country bar, and recognized him.

Question: A bit puzzled as to why Ash tried to kill Ripley by stuffing a rolled up magazine in her mouth when he could have strangled her in seconds.

Answer: I believe this was another subtle way for the film to depict that Ash was malfunctioning or at least not fully processing correctly and having problems. It was showing a brutal savagery to his motions as well as an artistic choice for the moment.

Quantom X

Answer: This is just one possibility among many, but Ridley Scott suggested Ash may have been developing latent sexuality that he was not equipped to handle through his programming, and perhaps not physically either; his use of a rolled-up magazine may have come about because he was not constructed with a penis (I had to stop myself from making a pun about "hardware").

TonyPH

I always wondered about this. It always struck me as a little Freudian. Also, notice the picture of the topless lady on the wall - an interesting detail when combined with the phallic paper.

Jack Vaughan

Question: After they escape the safe house, Weston calls the CIA and says "no chance of an SDR, I've picked up a tail." What does SDR stand for?

The_Iceman

Answer: "Surveillance Detection Route." It's what you do when you think you're being followed (drive a specific route to detect if you're under surveillance or not). Weston says "I think I might have picked up a tail", so he was unsure if he was actually being followed or not, but had no time to try and determine if he actually is being tailed or not.

Bishop73

Season 3 generally

Question: How is it that Butch doesn't get his hand back but Galavan's sister has full control over hers even though it was sliced off?

Answer: Tabitha got her hand sewn back on, Butch didn't.

Question: When Charlie looks inside the toilet to see the mess Max made since he missed, why don't we see what's inside?

Answer: Because it's a kids movie that adults are supposed to be able to sit through as well. Seeing the horrific diarrhea mess would have too high a gross out value and be a turn off for the audience. It's better to leave it to the imagination than gross out your audience when that's not what you're wanting to do with the movie as a whole.

Quantom X

Question: Mark finds pathfinder, and takes it back to the hab, and recharges it. Wouldn't he have to repair it first? The rover is very old, and hasn't been used in decades.

Answer: Maybe some slight repairs sure, but it wouldn't have been nearly as damaged as you would think. Unlike on Earth, the Martian atmosphere lacks enough oxygen to cause corrosion or rust. And since the Pathfinder has been buried, it wouldn't have really taken much damage from weathering or light past that point. In other words, the conditions of Mars would have actually preserved it pretty well.

Quantom X

I am not asking whether or not he would have to repair the rover due to the effects of corrosion, or rust. I am asking whether or not he would to repair the rover due to the effects of aging.

What I said still stands for that. A lot of the issues with equipment aging is due to being exposed to the elements. Oxygen in the air oxidizing metals, sun light cracking plastics and rubber, the presence of bacteria and other microscopic life forms causing bio degradation, etc. Those are the main reasons why machinery and equipment here on Earth are subject to deteriorating with time and age. The environment the Pathfinder was in is a stark contrast and it was basically kept preserved like in a museum... so to speak. Yes, it's been up there for 2-3 decades. But the amount of aging it would have taken from that might only be equivalent to a couple years or so if it were here on Earth. The environment, and especially the air and exposure to sunlight, are the main contributors to the aging process of non living items. Being buried under the Martian soil for 30 years most protected it from any exposure to the elements that would cause aging.

Quantom X

But being buried in sand could damage it too though right, Given that it could allow sand to get inside the rover, and damage the electronics?

No. Dust storms are a part of life on Mars - any rover would be designed to withstand sand intrusion, or not be affected by it to any serious extent, otherwise they'd stop working. Spirit and Opportunity massively outlasted their original mission parameters despite frequent dust storms which would apply much more pressure than being buried.

Yeah basically what he said. They are designed to withstand the strong winds on Mars picking up dust and small rocks that hit it at a much harder force and pressure than just the weight of dirt on it buried.

Quantom X

Question: If Remus is a tidally locked planet, and the bright side is too hot to live on, wouldn't the dark side be too cold to live on?

Answer: On the surface, yes. But if I recall, the Remans live underground. Below a certain depth from the surface, the outside temperature would not affect living environments underground and they would pretty much have one single temperature through out their whole civilization. Like how here on Earth, regardless of what part of the planet you are on, once you reach a certain depth, the temperature below the surface is usually a constant 65° globally until you start getting too deep.

Quantom X

Wouldn't it make more sense to live on the terminator sides instead?

If their species is adapt to that. Like with how Ron Pearlman is, the Remans appear to be very bat like in how they 'evolved'. The ideal conditions for them is probably underground in cooler, moist temperatures.

Quantom X

Question: Is it really possible to keep a person warm by putting him inside the body of a large animal? That's what Han does with Luke in the movie.

Answer: There are real life stories of people using horse carcasses for warmth and shelter. There were even old stories of shepherds using their camels in the exact manner as Han does for Luke, although I can't attest to their validity. (DiCaprio does a similar thing in "The Revenant" with a horse). There is residual heat in these animals. Most large animals have an normal temperature over 100°F (a camel's temperature can rise to 104°F during the day). However, what is most likely keeping them relatively warm is using the carcass as a heavy blanket while at the same time blocking the cold winds (creating a small tent) and not using the guts to warm themselves up.

Bishop73

Answer: In the Mythbusters' Star Wars episode #208, Adam and Jamie created a tauntaun and an analog Luke and simulated the same frigid conditions to test whether this was possible. They concluded it was "plausible."

Question: If the core stopped spinning, where would all the kinetic energy that keeps it spinning go? Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

Answer: For one thing, the rotation of the core is almost identical to (if not a bit faster than) the rotation of the rest of the planet; so the core coming to a stop relative to the rest of the planet is physically impossible. Over billions of more years, the Earth's core and mantle may eventually cool off and solidify (as has happened on Mars), but the core will still be rotating at the same velocity as the rest of the planet. By that time, of course, Earth will have also lost its Moon, so there will be no tidal forces between the Earth and Moon, which means the planet will be seismically dead, but the Earth will still be rotating on its axis. For the time being, though, it would literally take a miracle, an act of divine intervention, to overcome the physics of planetary rotation. If the core could somehow be stopped relative to the rest of the planet (which is physically impossible), then the core's energy would quite quickly be dissipated into the Earth's mantle, which would become an unimaginable inferno (much more so than it already is), propagating seismic and super-volcano activity all over the globe by a factor of, say, 10,000 times normal activity. The Earth's crust would be effectively ripped to shreds by super-earthquakes and eruptions within a matter of hours, perhaps even causing the entire globe to disintegrate into space. As mentioned, though, it would require something on the order of a true miracle to precipitate this chain of events.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The same place it goes normally: dissipated into the Earth.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Despite how loyal Rattlesnake Jake was to the mayor, why did the mayor betray and attempt to kill Jake at the end?

Answer: The mayor wanted to modernize the town, getting rid of every trace of its "old west" feel. Rattlesnake Jake, being a stereotypical gunslinger archetype, was a huge part of what the mayor was trying to eliminate.

BaconIsMyBFF

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