Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Loki is pacing in the prison on the helicarrier and just as he says "there aren't many people who can sneak up on me" Natasha is shown. In that shot half of her outfit is tan. at first i thought it was Loki's reflection in the glass but he isn't wearing anything tan. Can someone explain what's going on to me?

Fightergirlpan

Chosen answer: The cell has large glass windows connected by large white supports. It is one of these supports that you see dimly reflected against her black outfit which, along with the lighting, creates the effect that you describe.

eldeem

Question: Although Shreck's death makes the situation moot, why would Batman risk revealing his identity to Selina right in front of Shreck if his intention is for Shreck to go into police custody? Surely Shreck would have revealed Batman's identity had he survived.

Phaneron

Chosen answer: It has always been in Batman's character to do everything it takes to save lives, any lives, no matter what. In Batman forever, during the circus scene, he immediately jumps to his feet and reveals who he is to Harvey Dent when Dent threatens everyone at the circus with a bomb (even though the noise of the crowd means nobody hears him, his intention was clear). At this point in the movie, Bruce cannot think of any other way to get through to Selina and show her that there is another choice besides revenge and murder. He's trying to save her from herself and save Shreck from her, giving up his identity and his secret is something he simply decides is worth it. That's who Batman is!

roboc

Question: This has been a question that's always brought up. Was Ellie Grimbridge always a robot from the very beginning, or was she turned into (or exchanged with) one when she was held captive at the shamrock factory?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: She was turned into one when she was captured. The robots didn't speak and if you notice that after he finds her, she never says a word. As well, she displayed genuine emotion throughout the film before she was captured, something the robots also never did.

I agree, she was a real person until she was captured. If she were a robot, I think Chalice would have found that out when they made love. Plus, as you mention, she had real emotions until her robot replacement was rescued.

Answer: Another theory might be that Ellie has always been a robot but an advanced model that Cochrane designed to interact with the outside world.

Question: The woman making the announcements in Grand Central Terminal in Superman: The Movie sounds a lot like the Mother computer. Could someone confirm this?

BocaDavie

Chosen answer: No, it isn't the same woman. Mother was voiced by actress Helen Horton, who is not credited for any role in Superman, although, coincidentally, she did appear in Superman III in the minor role of Miss Henderson.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: Starting at middle C on a piano move up one scale. He plays D and E together, moves up a scale and plays D and E together again, then backs down to play A and B together.

oddy knocky

Is this combination of notes an Easter egg of some kind?

Question: At the end of the movie, why was the Marquis being led to his execution?

Answer: The ending is set during the French Revolution. The Marquis is going to be executed because he is an aristocrat.

raywest

Chosen answer: Heimdall could definitely see where Loki is at any given time.

Question: (Not that I'm complaining or anything) but why was Violet wearing the outfits that showed off her belly? Did it have something to do with the loss of her unborn child?

Rydersriot87

Chosen answer: Simple sex-appeal, no plot significance.

Question: After being turned into a bear, Elinor finds her sons in Fergus' trophy room messing up his trophies. She forces them to put everything back to where it was and they obey. How did the boys know it was their mother before Merida told them? (01:33:00)

Answer: They're intuitive. A regular bear would not order them about. This bear's behavior reminded them of their mother, so they made the logical assumption that it must be her.

Phixius

Question: After arguing with Merida about her behavior at the archery tournament, Elinor throws her bow into the fire place, and then Merida flees. Eventually, Merida returns to the castle, and then leaves while protecting her mother, who has turned into a bear. Merida also brings a bow with her that time. Is that the same bow her mother tried to burn or is that a different bow? (01:33:00)

Answer: Different bow. Merida's bow had decorative carvings on it, but this bow is plain.

Phixius

Question: SPOILER: What exactly were Talia and Bane waiting for when they stalled the detonation of the bomb? Why would they need to plunge the city into chaos before destroying it, and then wait to the very last minute to actually blow it?

Friso94

Chosen answer: Same reason she wanted Batman alive when the bomb went off: to adequately and thoroughly punish the people of Gotham.

Phixius

Question: When Jack goes to the first class to have dinner, and Ruth and Cal are asking him questions about being in third class and being poor in general, what are they hoping to achieve from embarrassing him in front of all the people at their table? Even Molly doesn't seem too pleased with their line of questioning.

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Molly is only recently wealthy, that's why she's not amused. Ruth and Cal are bad people, basically. They take pleasure from from humiliating Jack.

Phixius

As you say, Molly was "new money" - a person who had recently become wealthy. Those who were born into wealthy families - "old money" - sometimes acted superior to "new money" people. Molly seems to have more sympathy for Jack because of her background. Her life was not always comfortable.

Question: Is there any reason, other than to further the plot, that Jack and Will fight over possession of Davey Jones's heart? Their plans once they have control of the heart are not mutually exclusive as Will wants to free his father and Jack wants his debt with Jones settled. They have shown previously that they can work together, so why couldn't one of them take control of the heart and make the demands for both?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: Will having control of Jones' heart would not help Jack in the slightest. Will's intent is to KILL Jones, therefore freeing his father. If Jack had control of Jones' heart, he'd only use it to settle his debt, given Jack's history of treachery. Yes, they could work together, but that would solve nothing: Bootstrap agreed to serve Jones FOREVER. The only way that debt is settled is with Jones' death. That wouldn't help Jack, because, as he says: "With Jones dead, who's to call his terrible beasty off the hunt, eh?"

Brad

Davy Jones doesn't have to die in order for Will's father to be freed from service, though. As captain of the Dutchman, Jones has the power to relieve Bootstrap of his duty for any reason or no reason at all. The third film makes it clear that Jones is at the mercy of anyone that is in possession of his heart, when Beckett becomes his overlord and orders him to kill the Kraken and hunt other pirates. Will and Jack could have easily taken possession of the heart and ordered Jones to both release Jack from his debt and release Bootstrap from the Dutchman. Jack even proposes the idea in the next film to Will that Jack can be the one to stab Jones' heart and then release Bootstrap from his service, allowing Will to still be with Elizabeth.

Phaneron

Question: Just interested, but when the Mystery Men are rescuing Captain Amazing, how did Amazing know the sequence for the release mechanism and where it was if he was unconscious when he was put there?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: In a previous scene with Casanova, Capt. Amazing and he have done this (capture & escape) a lot! So much so that Capt. Amazing would have been in that situation before enough times to already know the sequence code from previous times being captured (and escaping).

CCARNI

Question: Even though it's meant as a comedic moment, I've never really understood why Kirk would be so nervous about Saavik piloting the ship out of space dock. She's not actually flying the ship, so it's not like she's going to crash it into the wall or something. Plus, Sulu is an experienced pilot, so even if she said something stupid like "Warp speed!", he's unlikely to follow the order. Just something odd that I have always wondered about.

wizard_of_gore

Chosen answer: He's nervous because she's a trainee and had never done this maneuver before. Even if Sulu is there, she could still possibly make one small error that he would be unable to react to in time. As you point out, the scene is meant to be comedic, and it's being a little over-played strictly for that.

raywest

Again though, she is not actually piloting the ship, only giving orders.

wizard_of_gore

Even though Sulu is an experienced pilot, taking the ship out of space dock under power is still prohibited for a reason. If something were to go wrong and a quick decision had to be made, Savick would be the one giving orders to correct the problem. That's what makes Kirk nervous, not the piloting skill involved but the decision making required in an emergency.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Normally a ship is piloted out of spacedock using thrusters (see ST:TMP). Saavik ordered impulse power.

Answer: Saavik destroyed a simulated Enterprise during her Kobayashi Maru test, with Admiral Kirk chiding her afterwards. When Spock invites Saavik to take the real Enterprise out of space dock, Kirk is obviously nervous because he thinks Saavik is unready for command, as she destroyed the Enterprise earlier.

Charles Austin Miller

To my original point though, she is not actually touching any controls, only giving orders. The Enterprise was destroyed in the simulation during a Klingon attack, which is very different than guiding a ship out of spacedock. Not to mention the fact that the simulation is designed to make the cadet fail.

wizard_of_gore

The whole scene is about Spock taking a dig at Kirk's ego. Being the only cadet in Starfleet history to ever actually beat the Kobayashi Maru test (albeit by trickery), Kirk has an inflated standard for what constitutes "readiness for command," and it shows in his reaction. Knowing full well that it will raise Kirk's hackles, Spock deliberately invites Saavik to handle the simple space dock maneuver. McCoy also knows that Kirk will over-react, which is why he offers Kirk a tranquilizer.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Is there any indication at all in the film as to who the Joker actually is? Batman is obviously Bruce Wayne, but are we ever given a slight indication as to who the Joker is/was before he became the Joker?

Miz Came To Play

Answer: In the comic books, there was never any background on who the Joker was or where he came from. In some comic book lore, there were brief indications of his past. One, that he was an enforcer for Falcone. The other he was part of the Red Hood gang.

Exactly. Real beginnings of the Joker is that there is no origin story for him. He just appeared. In the comics, Joker says something that perhaps defines him pretty well too which is "sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Hahaha!"

Paradox Rastafa

Chosen answer: No. The director/writers have said that they did not want to explore The Joker's history on purpose. They wanted to have the element of mystery, for the viewers.

XIII

Question: If Eric and Shelley were fighting tenant eviction, why did T-Bird and his crew show up with a list of complaints about the conditions of the building?

Answer: Top Dollar (the main villain played by Michael Wincott) sent them over there to talk them. He sorta explained at the end. He 'believed' that he owned the building. I think he said something along the lines of: "Hell, nothing in this area happens without my say so." I guess Eric and Shelly's complaints were going to attract attention with the authorities and Top Dollar did not want that.

XIII

Question: Why were the dwarves names changed for this movie? I was trying to find a correlation of each dwarf to the original dwarves, but couldn't. It seems like it was changed for no reason.

Answer: There are no "original" names for the dwarves, they are unnamed in the fairy tale. If you are referring to the names they had in the Disney movie, well, those were inventions by the Disney people. It might not even be legal to use them.

Ioreth

Question: It's now clear why Angus is found in the circle of stones, even though he was afraid to enter it in the first place. There's one part of that matter I don't quite understand, though. Why is he afraid to enter that circle in the first place? Is there something in that circle frightening him? Is there a special effect?

Answer: The stone circle is like a gateway to the spirit world, something slightly supernatural. Angus senses this, and it makes him freak out.

Ioreth

Question: Why did Bane take blood from the professor on the airplane at the beginning?

Answer: He needs people to believe that the professor is dead. He therefore takes some of his blood and puts it into the body they're carrying with them, so that there'll be evidence that the professor died in the crash.

Tailkinker

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