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: Was this film based on an true story, or was it fiction based on the true warring states as the backdrop?

Answer: It was a fiction based on the true historical period as backdrop, althought it sorted of resembled a true event that the deserter general of Qin gave his head to an assassin as a pass to get close to the Emperor, who was then still a king of a state among the warring states.

Question: I heard a rumour that in one scene on Naboo, (I think it was something with a balcony, but I haven't seen this movie in a while) someone accidentally left a Dr. Pepper in the shot. I'm pretty sure this has been disproved, but is it really there?

Answer: Put simply, no.

Show generally

Question: Does anyone know how old Zefram Cochrane is or when he was born? He seemed pretty old in Star Trek: First Contact which takes place in 2063, and "Broken Bow" shows him still alive about 60 years later dedicating the Warp 5 complex with Captain Archer's father Henry.

Answer: Acording to the Star Trek Encyclopedia Cochrane was born in 2030. His warp flight was in 2063, and he himself disappeared from Alpha Centauri in the year 2117 at 87. Kirk met him on a planetoid in the Gsmms Canaris region in the year 2267 making him 237. The first episode of Enterprise is in 2151, so Cochrane was missing for 34 years by that time and would have been 121 at that time.

Garlonuss

Question: What happened to all the animals that McLeach was keeping prisoner?

Answer: Cody most likely told the authorities and had them freed.

Question: Aunt May's speech to Peter at the end of the film suggests she's figured him out. The look he gives her back (I think) suggests he knows she knows and is cool about it. Am I right?

Answer: Without reading the minds of the scriptwriters, no way to tell. Certainly one interpretation of their conversation is that she knows, or, at the very least, that she strongly suspects. Given that she knows Peter better than anyone and that she's now encountered Spider-Man up close, it's not unreasonable to think that she could have noticed something and put two and two together - Peter certainly doesn't seem to make any attempt to disguise his voice when he speaks to her.

Tailkinker

Question: Why does the video cover say "We're back"? It's the first film.

Answer: When the movie was originally released, the art work simply said "We're Here." After it's initially theatrical run, they waited a while and then re-released it and changed the "We're Here" to "We're Back"

ctown28

Answer: I have the VHS from the 80's. 100% it says we're back.

Answer: I just looked at the cover on cdcovers.cc and it actually says "We're Here", not "We're Back". On Gremlins 2 - The New Batch it says "Here they grow again".

Vernon Gilmore

Question: Throughout the movie, the Sarmatian knights shout the word "rus" at each other; Bors in particular says it a lot. Does anyone know what significance this word has or what it means?

Answer: At the beginning of the film, we learn that young Sarmatians were drafted into the Roman military for a period of fifteen years. As the Romans lead young Lancelot away from his family, his father yells 'Rus!', the war-cry that is repeated throughout the film. 'Sarmatian' was the name the Romans gave the Rus, descendants of Norsemen who had settled in lands that still bear their name today: the River Rus (in modern Romania), Russia, Belarus, and Ruthenia. Culturally and geographically, these people were the Rus. So when they were inducted into the Roman army, their war cry of 'Rus!' identified them as being fearsome Rus/Sarmatian warriors, warned their opponents that the Rus were coming for them, celebrated their cultural identity, and symbolized their hope of returning home to the Rus. In the film Arthur honors them by yelling it back, signifying the unusual bond between leader and soldier exemplified in the Round Table, Arthur's respect for the Rus warriors, and his commitment to the idea that all men are born free and have the right to their own lives and beliefs.

Rus were a people combined of Vikings traveling between Denmark and Byzantium, and Slavic people. Sarmatians were before that, but from the same area and did intermingle with Slavs, so their blood is more than likely in there.

Rus was not from Denmark.

RUS is the word for Vikings who ruled the city of Kyev, and by the Ryrik family which assembled many Slavic tribes into "Kyev Rus", which is the name of state and foundation of modern Russia. Russia" as a ethnonim is similar to Rus but is not. Russian call themselves "I am Rus, I am ruski", and their language "ruski", but their country is "Russia" and they are RussiaNS, old name coresponding to Latin word "Ratio" (sense, mind) Race -of people...Sarmatians are Serbs, Serbs are Slavs and old Russians.

Ruthenia was the Roman name for what is now Ukraine. The main part of Rus i.e. Kyivan Rus is actually the land and people who are now known as Ukrainians. The Sarmatians were our ancestors.

Answer: Except the Norseman/Rus came much later than Arthur's time...so that's not it. Though more to the point is the Sarmatian /Scythian relationship and their dynamic with the Romans in respect to this timeline.

Norsemen invaded Britain in the 8th century but were around much earlier. Romans recruited from foreign lands and could possibly have recruited from tribes earlier than this. Rus vikings were first recorded around the 8th century but could also have existed prior to this. It is accepted that Viking history was from 800 AD. However the legendary king Arthur was allegedly invented by a 12th century french poet. The Roman Lucius Artorius Caster died around the end of the 2nd century. So it's all speculative.

Answer: Rus in Latin means country or land. The whole movie was based on winning freedom. Fighting and dying to win them their home, their country. Arturius chooses Britain as his land and his countrymen to defend. So Rus in this context, being they are Roman, their battle cry means 'for country', not Rome but Britain. For home.

Answer: They do not yell "rus", they shout as "rochs". In fact at first the pronunciation in the movie shows that. "Rochs" is a Sarmatian term, in fact it means "light" in modern Ossetian, the only remnants of the Sarmatians in modern world. There were three major Sarmatian tribes in history: Alans, Rochsalans (Rochs-alans or Latinized Roxalans) and Iazyges. Second one bears that prefix, and historically not Roxalans but Iazyges were forced to become mercenaries for Rome. So with that yell there is a little mistake in the movie but this is tolerable at the end.

Question: This may be ignorant but what exactly does half-a-virgin mean?

Answer: Many girls will consider themselves half virgins if they have performed/recieved oral sex but not traditional sex. Or that they had penetration but not orgasm. Some girls also consider themselves half-virgins if it has been an extremely LONG time since they have had sex (meaning that they might as well be virgins again).

shortdanzr

Question: After the Transporters BMW gets blown up he goes back to the house and starts beating everyone up. Whats the song that plays during the the whole scene? I don't think it's on the soundtrack.

Answer: It's not in the soundtrack. The song is "Fighting Man" by "DJ Pone & Drixxxe".

Question: It's common knowledge that Darth Maul blinks only once in the whole film. How was Ray Park able to keep his eyes open, without blinking, for such an extended period of time?

Answer: Easy, they filmed him in short intervals. How long is the camera on him at any given time, without the camera cutting to someone else? 30 seconds at the most. Pretty much anyone can keep their eyes open for 30 seconds if they try.

jennibee

Question: Are there any midi files or digital sheet music or pictures of sheet music available for the knight bus or apparition on the train?

Answer: Here is a midi file from the Knight Bus http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/prisoner_azkaban.html#audio. I wasn't able to find any free midis for Apparation On The Train, but if you are willing to spend $0.08 you can download it from http://songs3.allofmp3.com/mcatalog.shtml?group=5823&album=3&song=4&affiliate=saniheating.

Mortug

Question: What exactly happens between Trevelyan and Ourumov in the pre-title sequence? Is this just a staged hostage situation to get Bond's guard down? Or, if Ourumov really shot Trevelyan, how did he come back to life?

Answer: Yep it's a staged hostage situation. Trevelyan and Ourumov are in on it together and the gun was filled with blanks. The purpose of it was to get Bond to surrender, but it backfires and Bond sets the timers to 3 minutes instead of the planned 6 minutes - so Trevelyan and Ourumov have less time than they realise - hence the bad scarring on Trevelyan's face later in the film because presumably he got caught in the blast.

Sam Johnson

Question: Is there any explanation in the book as to why the Phantom is deformed? I've heard something about acid, but I don't know if that's correct.

Answer: Although there are myths and rumours as to the origins of the Phantom's deformity (acid, fires, etc.), it is simply a birth defect. In the novel, the birth defect covered his whole face. The idea of the distortion covering half his face for the musical originated from photographs of World War II soldiers covering half of their badly injured faces. For the film version, makeup artist Jenny Shircore based the Phantom's disfigurement on a medical condition she had seen.

The half face design was actually created to better allow for singing, as a full face mask wouldn't be suitable.

Question: Can anyone remember which of the brothers had "Veritas" tattooed on his hand? It was either the Sean Patrick character or the Norman character, one had veritas and the other libertas, but which was which?

Answer: Sean Patrick Flanery was the one who had veritas tattoed on his index. He's the one playing Connor. The other tattoo is not Libertas but Acquitas.

Question: Why does the first Dementor we see on the train focus specifically on Harry, and attack him? It seems a bit off for a "prison guard", looking for an escaped prisoner, to go after an innocent child.

Answer: Dementors are drawn to unhappy memories, bad emotions and so so - Harry's got more of those than just about anybody else on the train, which would draw the Dementors to him. It's also not really the case that Harry was really attacked as such - the presence of the Dementor would have brought bad memories to the fore for all those present. Harry having worse memories than the others, he was simply affected to a much greater degree.

Tailkinker

Question: When the evil Count Olaf disguises himself at Captain Sham, how did he end up with the peg leg? To get the children's money, did he literally cut off his own leg to be rid of the identifying tattoo on his ankle and also create a more effective disguise?

Answer: Of course not. It's common practice in theater (and movies) to simply tie the lower leg to the thigh and attach a peg at the knee.

Xofer

Question: The theme of Greeks comes up a few times in the film. First in Edna's house, on the wall behind the door is a giant Greek mural and the statue outside is a stylised Greek soldier. Next, the password, Kronos, is the Greek Titan of time. Then later at the end of the film, there is a close up of a sign reading 'The Spartans' with a hoplite helmet. Is this just coincidence?

Answer: Possibly, but it's probably because the first known "superheroes" came from Greece. Achilles, Hercules etc.

Question: Can someone please explain the big twist at the end of the film?

Answer: Clooney and the gang actually stole the Faberge Egg before Francois Tolour. Clooney and Pitt went to see the thief La Marque who informed them the egg in the heavily secured truck was actually a fake. The real egg was the one on the train with the very low security. In exchange for the information, they must give La Marque the egg (as he had put it back many years ago when he tried to steal it because his wife told him to put it back) and his long lost daughter (Catherine Zeta Jones). In regards to Tolour he stole a fake egg despite the amazing burglary, and at the end we see him in disguise probably trying to steal the money back he lost in the bet.

Lummie

Question: The request "Fire for effect." is used in this and many other war films when calling in artillery support. What is the meaning of this term?

Answer: After a series of individual rounds are fired to insure that the artillery is on target, the entire battery then fires as many rounds as possible to have the greatest effect on the enemy.

scwilliam

Question: Can anyone tell me the name of the artist who sings a jazz version of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' played when Tom Hanks finishes talking on the radio for the first time? And where can I buy this version of the song?

Answer: Ray Charles is the singer who performs this version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" - this is not on the original movie soundtrack, but you may be able to find a Ray Charles album where this song is included.

I found an album by Ray Charles "Genius Loves Company By Ray Charles, Ray Charles And the Count Basie Orchestra" where "Over the Rainbow" is one of the songs, but it's not the same rendition as in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle." I can't fine the movie version anywhere.

Try the Ray Charles album "Genius Loves Company." It's a collections of duets and he sings "Over the Rainbow" with Johnny Mathis. It was supposedly recorded sometime between 2003 and 2004, but his lines sounds like what's in the film. So I don't know if it's just him reprising an older version he did that was used in the film, or if it's the older version with Mathis' lines mixed in. I couldn't find anything earlier.

Bishop73

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