Question: How is Rey able to control a Stormtrooper's mind, when trying to escape from the torture chair, after only a few attempts? Luke knew that he was Force-sensitive for three years before he met Yoda, and still has very limited abilities when Yoda begins to train him.
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 Bourne and Marie arrive at his Paris apartment, Bourne phones a hotel to inquire if a 'Jason Bourne' was a guest there. When told no, he then asks if his other alias - John Michael Kane - was registered. He is told by hotel staff that Mr. Kane has been killed in an accident. (This is before Treadstone's Rome operative tries to eliminate Bourne in the apartment.) So I'm guessing this first report of Kane's accidental death had been arranged by Treadstone? To cover Bourne's trail to Wombosi's yacht?
Chosen answer: That's correct. Nicky arranged for a substitute corpse to appear as if "John Michael Kane" had died in a motorcycle accident, to cover up the connection to Bourne's mission once Treadstone realised Bourne had failed and disappeared. However, Wombosi saw the body at the morgue and deduced the deception, and Bourne later discovered that body is "taken" by the brother so deduced that it's a setup all together.
Question: When the four main guys are first coming down the slope in 1986, the two from the ski patrol apparently don't recognize Jacob's snowboard. Though snowboards were still largely unknown in 1986, wouldn't someone who worked for a popular ski resort recognize them?
Chosen answer: The James Bond film "A View To A Kill" came out the year before in 1985. In the film, Bond's snowscooter is blown up by the Soviets, so he takes a wrecked ski from it and improvises it into a snowboard. Snowboards existed at the time, however, it wasn't until that film that their existence became well known. One year later in 1986, they'd still be very rare, but it's likely that his wasn't the first that the ski patrol had seen.
Question: In the end, the Pterosaurs fly away from Isla Sorna for a new home. Where on Earth would they go and wouldn't they attack and kill any human or animal there?
Answer: The island was located west of Costa Rica in the pacific so its likely they are headed for the Americas or Galapagos islands. They won't likely start hunting on animals and humans as they are thought to be fish eaters and thus would stay near the coast and avoid contact with land animals, especially predators. The reason they attack the humans in the bird cage is because of malnutrition and captivity related stress.
Question: What are the chances of four guys of their age ACTUALLY passing the physical to the required standards? I know they all kept reasonably fit but they struggled with running etc. so it seems unlikely they would pass all the tests. I know movie rules dictate suspense of disbelief to a certain degree, I'm just wondering what their chances would be in reality.
Answer: Eastwood would be out on height alone and the rest probably have high blood pressure. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/606877main_FS-2011-11-057-JSC-astro_trng.pdf.
Chosen answer: It wasn't a matter of how physically fit they were, but that their particular combination of knowledge, skills, and past experiences were needed for this specific mission. The physical criteria would be amended in order to recruit them for that mission.
They were specifically told they wouldn't be given an easier ride and would need to pass the exact same tests as the younger astronauts. The physical criteria wouldn't have been amended to suit them so is it possible for 4 guys of this age to pass?
Remember that at some point in the process it became a political issue - the old cowboys were wanted for their PR value, so physical test results would have been "fudged", if not ignored altogether.
Agree that the physical requirements were a major plot point and part of the 'deal' for the team to go, but there was some relaxing of requirements and politics. In general, the answer is YES, old folks can go to space without major fudging of the requirements as was demonstrated by lots of astronauts in their late 50s, a few in their 60s, and John Genn at 77. Just recently an 82-year-old woman flew on Jeff Bezos' tourist rocket.
Question: In this episode, as the Professor is put into a trance, in the background, there seems to be a radio or television transmission tower that can be seen over the roof of the hut. It's blurry, but doesn't seem to be a standard palm tree. Is this a mistake, or set error, or my imagination?
Chosen answer: It looks like a mistake to me I see it when the Professor is put into a trance, but it is not there later.
Nobody Says Rat Fink Anymore - S8-E10
Question: Harry recognizes one of the defendants who used to bully him when they were both children. Harry says that he can't participate in the case because of this, and also because that would make it a conflict of interest. Wouldn't any cases where his father was brought before him also be considered a conflict of interest, and why would Harry be allowed to preside over his father's cases?
Answer: Harry's father only came to his court as a defendant once (about trying to start a mutiny on the ferry). Harry said he was going to recuse himself when Christine said the Dept. Of Transportation had already dropped the charges, so it was a moot point.
Answer: Harry recuses himself from the case because of his own conflict of interest, however, his father is usually brought in for simple public disturbances and with his mental health record, gets remanded to a mental facility for examination. In cases like those, the judge's task is little more than signing a form, so there's not really a question of impartiality to be considered.
Question: There are two scenes on the boat after they have seen the shark and Brody has a panicked look, while in the background a shooting star passes right behind him. This happens twice, but it's in the day time. Was it real?
Answer: Although the 1995 documentary "The Making of Jaws" claims that the shooting star was real, the fact is that the shooting-star background effect is a Steven Spielberg trademark in most of his films (first noticed in "Jaws," but also appearing in "Close Encounters," "E.T. The Extraterrestrial," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Saving Private Ryan" and others). Spielberg has always had a fascination with shooting stars, dating back to his childhood, and he works them into almost every film. Http://americanprofile.com/articles/steven-spielberg-shooting-stars-movies/.
Question: Since kryptonite obviously doesn't come from Earth, how can Earth elements be used to create a synthetic version? Like in "Man of Steel", when Jonathan says that the Krypton key wasn't made from anything on the periodic table, so it couldn't be from Earth.
Chosen answer: Kryptonite is a compound created by irradiated fragments of Krypton rather than a pure element, Synthesizing it would then be a matter of analyzing the compound and finding Earth elements with similar properties. (Some, as you say, would be beyond the knowledge of human science, which is why Gus looked at his cigarette pack and decided to use tar in the place of the unknown elements).
Question: How exactly did Ynyr die? When he visits the Widow of the Web, he makes it safely to her without being attacked by the crystal spider. He even uses the sand from the hourglass to stop the spider from attacking him. But, when he makes his way back to where everyone's camping, he dies after telling Colwyn where the Black Fortress will appear.
Question: When Gerry and Segen are making their way to the airport, the helicopter they're supposed to take gets blown up. So they're without transportation. Yet suddenly, 20 seconds later, they're running onto the runway, boarding the Belarus plane. How did they get to the airport?
Answer: The likely answer is that they ran to the airport. Their journey to the airport was simply cut to save time and keep the movie going.
Question: What does Will Ferrell say to Mark Wahlberg in the scene at the fertility clinic, when Wahlberg first takes his pants down? Farrell makes a few remarks about the size of his genitals.
Answer: He says, "James and the Giant Peach."
Question: Watney leaves the Hab for the long trip to the Aries 4 site in the rover. Is there a restroom on board?
Chosen answer: No. The book answers this by stating that he uses a bucket for his waste.
Question: If the French kidnapped the Native American woman, then why were the natives trading the furs with them and saying that they needed horses to find the woman. Were the French hiding her?
Answer: The French were lying to the natives. They had kidnapped the woman and then sold them provisions to help the search for her. They benefited further from the Native Americans killing their rivals.
Question: Scott throws discs which enlarge/shrink whatever they hit, except when he throws them at Darren in Cassie's bedroom. Darren is able to bat them away. One hits an ant, the other the train engine, both of which enlarge. Why didn't Darren enlarge when he touched the discs?
Chosen answer: I can assume it was because they didn't attach, just touched.
Question: As Kurt is loading the hack to deactivate the laser grid, Paxton and his partner are banging on the van, demanding that Kurt and Dave come out. Just as the program finishes loading, the cops open the door and drag them out. If the van was locked, how did they open the door? If It wasn't locked, why did it take so long to just open the door?
Chosen answer: They could have opened it with a crowbar or a Jaws of Life. (Likely the crowbar, since we didn't hear metal rending).
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Answer: When Kylo Ren is attempting to read her mind it is clear that she manages to push back. It is possible that in the process of this she gained a glimpse of how to use the force. There are also many theories that she started training as a Jedi when young but repressed the memories after all the other training Jedi were killed.