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: What exactly do the machines do on a day-to-day basis? What's their reason for existing? Is it solely to maintain and perfect the Matrix, develop more efficient programmes and hunt down the remaining humans? Are they planning universal domination? Or just designing more cute inquisitive little metal spiders with which to fill their cities?
diesel123Question: There have been episodes where Rachel, Monica, Chandler and Ross were all drunk at different times and they all did something stupid. Phoebe has been drunk, but didn't do anything stupid. Has Joey ever been drunk in an episode?
MBarryChosen answer: Nope. Joey is the only friend who has never gotten drunk.
Brad
Question: It wasn't addressed in the movie, but did NASA intend for Lev Andropov to go on the mission, assuming the RSS didn't blow up? It seems odd that later on, he has his own pressure suit and spacesuit without any explanation.
Darthbane2007Chosen answer: No, he was not meant to join the team. The pressure suit and space suit he uses are spares brought along in case one of the others had a malfunction.
PhixiusQuestion: If the machines have managed to locate Zion, wouldn't it have been easier for them to try and find the main door through which all the hovercrafts fly and blast their way through that, as opposed to digging through a HELL of a lot of pure rock to get into the city?
diesel123Chosen answer: To do so, they'd have to search a vast labyrinth of tunnels under the earth, contending with human ships, booby traps, dead ends and so forth, plus they can guarantee that they'll be facing a defensive bottleneck of apocalyptic proportions. Once they establish the location, much easier to just take the direct route and drill straight down to it, rather than waste time and resources attempting to locate the entrance used by the human ships. Plus the drilling method has the added advantage of bypassing most of the Zion defence grid and putting their forces directly into the dock, rather than having to battle their way there.
TailkinkerQuestion: During Neo's final fight with Smith it looks as if Smith has turned every living person (including other "human" programmes) in The Matrix into versions of himself - have The Merovingian and Persephone also been captured and morphed? It's an odd thought that these two seemingly powerful figures would have given up without a fight, although The Oracle was turned too so it might not be implausible. Any mention of them again in any other media?
diesel123Chosen answer: ##The Oracle deliberately choose to be assimilated so she could help Neo in the final fight. The Merovingian (and Persephone) had access to the Trainman and so, most likely, would have either hid in the machine world or in the Trainman's half-way Mobile Station. The both played a large role in the (now defunct) Matrix Online Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game.
SanguisQuestion: Why is it when Bella sees Waylon's body does she have a flashback to Edward? What is the relationship here?
xoalisaxo17Chosen answer: When Bella sees Waylon's dead, pale white foot sticking out from under the sheet, she has a flashback to Edward's cold, pale white hand touching her in the car. Seeing the skin color of a dead body automatically made her think of Edward's skin, and how cold it was. She finally realises then that Edward is not a 'living being'.
Question: How long had it been since the time Kate stabbed Simon in the eye and the time he captured Sasha? You can tell by his appearance that it's been a nice length of time, but it's never specified. I don't know much about survival, but it's evident that he had been cannibalizing even before that point, so he had probably been eating people in that whole time so it could have been a very long time. I'm inclined to believe that it's been at least a month, given the dramatic change in his appearance. Can anybody give a clearer response? As mine is just a blind guess. (01:19:00 - 01:19:40)
KneverChosen answer: I'm inclined to think it was longer than a month because of the lack of proper needed care for such an injury would prolong the healing process. But he only had a handful of souvenirs on him, which means he probably stopped collecting after a while. I concur with your cannibalism theory, there's no other way he would have survived. However that doesn't explain what he could have done for water. This theory of Simon spending possibly months in the cube also brings up the question: If the cube breaks down at 6:06:59, then how is it possible to live in there for months? Well, as we saw, certain rooms have slower and faster rates of time. So, he could have spent all that time in a room with a slow time rate waiting for people to wander into it and feed off of them.
Question: This is sort of a question for the Superman fan-verse, but I thought I'd ask it here. Is there an antidote for the effects of kyrptonite?
padfootrocksmysocksChosen answer: No. Kryptonite as a plot device has changed from "every yahoo can get a chunk at the corner store" to an extremely rare element. It hardly ever shows up anymore. Also it really doesn't need an antidote. So long as it's removed from Superman's vicinity before he dies, he'll recover. Its effects don't linger like radioactive materials do for humans.
Grumpy ScotChosen answer: Though not explicitly stated in the movie, it is strongly implied in the film that he is not. He mentions that he is part Apache and that he was born and raised in Maynardville, Tennessee. He tells his troops that he was a direct descendant of Jim Bridger the mountain man, suggesting he is the hillbilly type (there were not many Jewish hillbillies). He was in charge of leading the actual Jewish-American soldiers (with the exception of Hugo Stiglitz, who was not Jewish) into enemy territory. In all likelihood, Raine received/asked for command of the Basterds purely so he could have a crack at the Nazis.
Question: I'm looking for an audio version of the Buying a Bed sketch - where they have to get in a fish tank and sing Jerusalem. Does anyone know which album/CD it appears on? Thanks.
Chosen answer: The sketch appears on their first album "Monty Python's Flying Circus" from 1970. BBC retained the rights to this album and it has not been re-released on CD as the other albums whose rights belong to the Pythons so you will probably only find it on (very used) vinyl.
MyridonQuestion: At the end of the movie, why does Ethan appear so shocked when the flight attendant asks if he wants to watch a movie? I understand that this is probably another mission, but why does he react the way he does?
Answer: In addendum, only the leader of the group receives communication in this method. He's baffled because he's never been approached in this fashion, hence his utter confusion. Naturally, he catches on quickly.
Chosen answer: Because he's resigned from the IMF. As such, he's more than a little surprised to be approached with another mission.
TailkinkerQuestion: After Karl and his henchmen go up to the 33rd floor to help Hans, one of the henchmen is shot in his legs and dies. Then Hans throw himself to the floor to take his machine gun, while he's saying something in German. Can someone translate what he said, please?
gambitChosen answer: Hans tells Karl, "Schiess den Fenster" - "shoot the window, although he then translates it himself more broadly as "shoot the glass." By the way it is wrong German grammar and should be "Schieß auf das Fenster!"
Question: When Hiller is leading his squadron for the first air battle against the aliens Jimmy makes a short speech as the "Reverand" - putting on an accent - and talking about how he's sure they'll be successful. Can someone tell me is doing an impersonation of a real life person or is it something unique to the movie and his fellow pilots?
Chosen answer: He seems to be doing an impersonation of Jesse Jackson.
swamphawkQuestion: I don't think this is ever answered in the movie, so could someone tell me approximately how much time has elapsed since Andy's escape, until he meets up with Red on the beach in Mexico? Or until Red gets paroled?
Chosen answer: Andy escapes from Shawshank in August 1966, as evidenced by the date on the paper that Norton reads shortly before his suicide. Red's parole comes up the following year, 1967, exact date unknown. He then works at the store for an unspecified but short period of time before fulfilling his promise to Andy to go and find the box buried in the field - from the greenery visible, most likely in the mid-to-late summer - and he then heads to Mexico. In all likelihood, the total time between Andy's escape and he and Red being united is about a year, give or take a couple of months either way.
TailkinkerPlausible, but the question asked if the real time frame/date was addressed in the movie. I believe the answer is No. The date of escape was stated as 1966, but Red's release date was not formally indicated.
Simpsons Spin-off Showcase - S8-E24
Question: Is there a behind-the-scenes reason for Lisa being replaced by the blonde woman in the variety hour part of this episode?
Chosen answer: Lisa (the character, not the voice-actress) refused to take part in the show, since it is terrible. So the family re-cast her part.
Gary O'ReillyQuestion: I read that Mace Windu was originally going to be in this movie. Does anyone know if this is true?
Chosen answer: Sort of. The name "Mace Windu" dates back to the very first story treatment that George Lucas wrote in 1973, however the character bears no resemblence to the distinguished Jedi Master of the prequel trilogy. In the rough draft, the name is given to a brother of Leia's, while a later draft has the character as a friend of Luke's. The name was ultimately dropped from the script entirely, only to be reintroduced when choosing names for the Jedi council members decades later for the prequels.
TailkinkerQuestion: Is there a song that plays before the deaths like in the first three films? I've seen the movie and I do recall about two songs, but I'm not sure.
Chosen answer: No.
Answer: Nope not in this one.
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Chosen answer: The machines tried to peacefully found their own nation before the war that sent the last of the human race underground. So their society would not be entirely unlike our own. They perform tasks similar to a society based on agriculture would. They are not planning any sort of domination. They just wanted to be free and respected as mankind's equals. Humanity wouldn't have it, so they did what they had to do to survive.
Phixius