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: In the scene where Kirk boards the shuttle and bangs his head, is this by any chance a homage to the infamous Stormtrooper blooper in Star Wars?

Answer: No. There are plenty of scenes in movies where people bang their heads, including Scotty in Star Trek V. There is no evidence that this is intended as a specific homage to any of them.

Tailkinker

Question: In Mrs. Lovett's song "By the Sea," near the end she sings "Bring along your chopper!" What is the word "chopper" supposed to mean? Sweeney can bring his what?

Answer: His knife/razor/sharp edge to kill someone with.

Chosen answer: Because Dalek toilet technology is the only area where they are inferior to the rest of the universe. Approximately 1960's. You'd have to ask the designer of The Daleks. It is shown in the new series to be a very nasty weapon indeed, some sort of point singularity projection device, like a mini-black hole launcher.

Grumpy Scot

There are lots of documentaries and DVD special features about The Daleks and how they made. It was due to budget costs that they use the plunger the idea was that it was able to suck or stick to anything push and pull.

Dan23

Question: Can someone tell me why the Emperor's terracotta army become invincible when they cross the Great Wall? It is never explained.

Answer: It has something to do with the curse that was placed on him. similar to the consequences of the first film.

MasterOfAll

Question: I hope someone can help me with this: In one of the movie's /teaser/promotional posters, we see Katie and Micah tightly huddled together on the extreme far right of their bed while they look at a shadow of something that is outlined on their bedroom door. I've seen the movie more than once but don't remember that scene. When (or if) does this occur in the movie?

Answer: It's just a movie poster, not showing any part of a scene. Some movie posters may take different parts of the movie and combine them to make a more suspenseful image for the movie poster/teaser. There is a part in the movie with a shadow on the door, and there is a time where they are together on the bed in a similar position. Combine the two to make the poster interesting.

Question: Anyone who's read the seventh book will know that Harry misses something very important in the room of requirement (I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers.) Is said item ever shown in this film?

Josman

Chosen answer: I have watched the film several times and specifically looked for the item you are mentioning (The bust of a warlock with an ugly wig, and the object you're referring to). I have not seen it. There ARE several Easter Eggs from previous movies, however, such as the harp and chess pieces from HP1.

Chosen answer: It could be from many reasons. Speaking from my own experience, when an elderly family member has been in a long decline, has suffered from illness and/or age-related maladies, not only is their death expected, but it also comes as a relief that the person is no longer suffering. That may well be the case with the Gellers. We also don't know how long the Gellers mourned, it's not shown. Also, being a comedy show, it's unlikely this is something that will be ongoing in the storyline.

raywest

Question: In the Christmas party scene, when Harry and Cormac are behind the curtain talking, Cormac pops a dragon tart in his mouth then says something weird while his mouth is full. What did he say? I listened to that line over and over but couldn't make it out.

Answer: If I remember correctly, he says something along the lines of "what is this I'm eating?".

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: Because he's a giant meat-eating spider. His love for Hagrid stops him and his children from attacking Hagrid. But beyond that, they simply want to eat whoever just meanders into their lair.

Garlonuss

Question: Is there a reason why the white bird in the cupboard died? Also, why did it turn black when it came back to life?

Answer: There are two birds, as we see in the cage early on. Draco uses them to test whether the link between the two vanishing cabinets is working - with the white bird, the link is unsuccessful, so the bird dies. After working on it further, he tests it again using the black bird, which survives, telling him that the link is up and running.

Tailkinker

Answer: The sign said $30,000.

Chosen answer: $25,000. Given to the Griswalds by Sid Caesar's character just before he passed away.

Question: What is the name of the first song that plays in the trailer?

Brad

Chosen answer: It's "You're a God" by Vertical Horizon.

Madstunts

Question: At the end of the forest battle, Megatron stabs Optimus right through the back and chest, then blasts a hole in the same spot. Later, Sam merges the Matrix of Leadership with Optimus's chest. Where exactly does he put it? The logical place would be to unite it with his spark, but his spark is gone. Furthermore, Optimus then gets up to reveal that the hole in his chest is gone. Does the Matrix harbor the same regenerative abilities as the All Spark?

Answer: There are 2 possible scenarios: First, is that Optimus wasn't really dead, he only went into status lock, in which the spark is active, but the body is inert. So the Matrix rebooted Prime back to normal. Or the second possibility is that the Matrix did in fact regenerate his spark. In the cartoons, the Matrix was a kind of gateway to the Transformers afterlife - so it is possible it brought Prime back from the dead.

Question: Why don't EMPs affect the Transformers? Heck, Starscream even used one as a weapon. It had no adverse effect on himself or any of the other Transformers in the area. I know their life force is mostly Energon, but aren't they also powered by electricity to some extent?

Answer: The transformers are far too advanced to try and guess if the run on normal electricity, and EMPs can be assumed to have no effect on them at all. It's possible to protect human electronics to varying degrees, so there's no reason to assume the Transformers wouldn't have mastered the technique.

MasterOfAll

Question: If Claude came to the US from Manchester when he "dropped out", why does he have an American accent?

lensloon

Chosen answer: Claude did not come from Manchester, England. He is from Oklahoma in the movie although in the original stage musical he is from Flushing, NY.

Myridon

Question: How does the "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" song go after the line "Ones as big as your head!"?

Answer: The lyrics go: --- I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts / There they are, all standing in a row / Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head / Give 'em a twist, a flick of the wrist / That's what the showman said. --- There's much more to it, but that's how that section goes. For more, look here.

Garlonuss

Question: Although it is not mentioned in the film, I assume that unobtainium has antigravity properties, since it floats in the air in Parker's office. If this is the case, the logical thing to do would be to mine the floating rocks in the hallelujah mountains, which obviously contain loads of the stuff. Why mine it out of the ground at a much higher expense?

Answer: Unobtanium is a superconductor which creates an antigravity effect in a magnetic field. The places where the rocks are floating indicate that the magnetic field is stronger there, which reduces the effectiveness of the human machines and makes using them more dangerous. In fact, they specifically mention that fact when hiding among the floating rocks. They can't be tracked as easily so the odds shift a bit in their favor. Add to that the fact that human technology is geared toward surface mining, not mining floating rocks.

Garlonuss

Question: When it is mentioned that Ilia is Deltan, a couple of the male Enterprise crew members (Sulu in particular) look very interested when they hear that. Why? Also, why was it necessary for her to say that she has taken an oath of celibacy?

Answer: Deltans exude an intensely potent and effective chemical substance known as pheromones, which act as signals arousing an intense sexual reaction in other species (in other ST material it's inferred that its potency is so extreme that a non-Deltan risks insanity in a sexual encounter with a Deltan). Upon entering Starfleet, Deltans must swear "an oath of celibacy" so as not to influence or take advantage of crewmembers. That is why Lt. Ilia stated that her "oath of celibacy" was on record.

Super Grover

Question: At the end of the movie, it is stated that the Drakensberg mountain range in South Africa now has the highest altitude in the world, since the "entire plate of Africa has lifted". Isn't this highly unlikely, seeing as the Drakensberg is incredibly far away from any tectonic plate lines? Wouldn't it rather be Mount Kilimanjaro, which is not only already the highest point in Africa (the continental plate of which is implied to have been raised as a whole), but is also a volcano (thereby being more likely to be raised should there be lifting within the plate itself)? I am South African myself, and though I am incredibly proud of our mention, I wonder if it really is plausible.

Answer: It's really impossible to say, given all of the massive land shifting seen in the film. We see the entire coast of California fall into the ocean. It's reasonable (in the film) to assume some cataclysm struck Kilimanjaro to lower or destroy it, or that the continent has been tilted.

In the movie, it was implied that the continent of Africa as a whole remained unflooded. So it stands to reason that the millions of inhabitants of the various countries may have survived intact. And so, the animals and plant life as well. So the question of saving the human species may be mute in this scenario. It's ironic, since most of the scientific community believes that modern humans evolved there first anyway.

Question: Did journalists disappear by 2113? Why didn't Jake and the scientists try and contact someone on Earth (or even upload the whole thing on Youtube of the future)?

Answer: Because it wouldn't really do any good. Firstly, as is observed in the film, while bad publicity isn't ideal, it's worse to come back with no profits. A successful mining mission, even with some local casualties, would swiftly override any negative publicity from actions taken to secure the prize. Plus, they're six years away from Earth. Even if they could somehow get a message out through a communications system that's likely rigidly monitored by the company running the operations, it's not as if any backup could rush to help them - all they have to work with is what's right there on-planet.

Tailkinker

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