Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: Why does Vader go and stand near the Emperor for a moment before deciding to kill him and save Luke? Earlier, the Emperor told Luke to kill Vader and take his place. It seems strange that Vader would remain loyal after his master just encouraged someone to kill him.
Answer: Vader's alone; for twenty years, he's had only the Emperor, a man who he hates for what he's become, but also the only person truly remaining in his life, having killed or otherwise burned his bridges with everybody else. He has nowhere else to go but to the side of the Emperor. He may well be angry at the Emperor for telling Luke to kill him, but it's exactly the same deal that he tried to make - it's the way of the Sith that the strong replace the weak. The Emperor needs an apprentice; with Luke dead, the Emperor may well punish Vader, but won't kill him, because he doesn't have a replacement. So he initially returns to his master's side, resigning himself to going on as he is, a bitter twisted half-machine in the thrall of a more powerful master. It's only when Luke reaches out to him through the pain that he decides that his son's life is worth more than his own and finally acts directly against the Emperor.
I thought the reason Vader stood near the Emperor was that he wanted to save his son while the Emperor tortured Luke with lightning, but his loyalty to the Emperor got in the way.
Question: I don't understand why Adam Monroe wanted to release The Shanti Virus? doesn't he realise the just how dangerous it would have been?
Chosen answer: Yes, of course he does. That's the point. He wants to do something to stop humanity going through the same cycle of death and destruction that gets played out every so often. By releasing the Shanti virus, he'll wipe out the vast majority of the human race, dropping the demand for Earth's diminishing resources to a manageable level and allowing the survivors to start over with a relatively clean slate.
Question: What exactly is the machine entity known as 'Deus Ex Machina'? Is it a physical representation of the machines? Or a separate being all together?
Question: SPOILER ALERTS! Does anyone know why they changed the final symbol to the keys instead of the one in the book? Also why they left out that the Pope was Ewan McGregor's father?
Chosen answer: In the book, the location of the antimatter bomb is only revealed after the Camerlengo pretends to have a "vision from God" on the steps of the Vatican. By changing the symbol to one that actually provides a clue to the location, it allows Langdon to work out where the bomb is, to actually play some part in proceedings rather than passively stand by until the villain just takes everybody there as part of his plan. As for the Pope being the Camerlengo's biological father, this is a fairly late revelation in the book and requires a substantial amount of exposition, which would only serve to abruptly slow the film to a crawl during the climax. The Camerlengo's motives, his hatred for the church's indulgence of science, are strong enough to explain his actions without the additional detail of his parentage being necessary, thus it could be safely left out to keep the film's momentum going.
Question: The commanders said that the destruction of Skynet in LA would end the war but when John blew it up, he said the war is not over. Did the commanders mess up on that statement or what?
Answer: The same commanders also thought that they had the radio frequency that would disable all the Terminators. So when John said the war was not over, he was considering that A) they don't have the super weapon they thought they'd have, and B) a fair amount of the commanders were killed.
Question: At the beginning, during the war montage sequence when you see Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting in the various wars, you see them fighting in the American civil war. I was just curious and this may seem like an incidental question, but is there any indication as to which side they're fighting on?
Question: What is this connection that Guinan and Picard have that goes "deeper than friendship or family"? I just don't understand where it has come from. Am I missing something?
Chosen answer: If you recall the episode with the traveller, who takes the Enterprise out of their galaxy to one neighbouring Triangulum, we are introduced to the concept that time and space are not the "separate things they appear to be" (see season 1 episode "Where No One Has Gone Before"). This theme runs rampant throughout the series, and novels. In particular, we learn of the El Aurian's sensitivity to shifts in the space time continuum: remember the movie with the Nexus? Anywho, Picard and Guinan are intertwined lifeforms in multiple realities and timelines. In a later season, he goes back in earth time to rescue Data, and ends up saving Guinan's life: she is uniquely aware of this in her past, and knows who he is before he knows that would save her life in the future. Also, because Picard travelled back in time to be the hero, his younger self fresh out of the academy on his first captain's assignment on the starship Stargazer comes into contact with Guinans in a novel from the Stargazer series that ties up even more lose ends; after her world was destroyed, her depression so deep, created a Guinan we would be hard pressed to recognize: but she recognizes Picard as a young man in trouble with the planet's law enforcement and comes to his aid. There are other links as well, but rest assured that their connection is one that does not hold description in any language we understand: it's one that is part of the fabric of the universe, of which they share a kind of common thread. Picard is also uniquely linked to Q, but that is another thread!
Question: One of the early posters of this film shows a bearded guy (who is not in the film) coming through a wall crack and holding puppet strings with one hand. Who is this guy supposed to be and what does he represent?
Chosen answer: He does bear a striking resemblance to Stephen King. King was both the writer and director of this movie, and as such, was certainly the guy in charge of all the character's fates and pulling all the strings.
Answer: It is Stephen King.
Question: What did the cafe server mean when he said to Marty "I can't give you a tab unless you buy something"? I know that Marty was referring to the Tab soda (which didn't exist then), but what was the other guy talking about?
Chosen answer: A tab is the same as a bill. The server guy thinks Marty wants a bill for whatever he's ordered, although because Marty hasn't eaten or drunk anything yet, he can't give him one. Even though a bill for a restaurant meal can be referred to as a "tab", this term is more commonly used in bars. When someone "runs a tab," it means they pay the total cost as they're about to leave, rather than pay for each drink separately.
Question: Nero destroys Vulcan, because he believes Spock caused the destruction of Romulas. In the movie, 'The Journey Home' when the Enterprise crew go back to find the whales, the movie starts off with the crew on Vulcan with the stolen Klingon spacecraft, also Spock is talking to his mother as he regains his memories. How can that happen if Nero destroys Vulcan and Spock's mother dies in that event? Also, in 'Star Trek Nemisis' the movie starts with scenes on Romulas, but it was destroyed, how can that be?
Chosen answer: As elder Spock speaks to Kirk, it is mentioned that in the 'real' timeline George Kirk actually lived for many years, long enough to see his son, James, become Captain of Enterprise. It is in that timeline that 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' and 'Star Trek: Nemesis' occur. There are numerous changes to the 'real' timeline, including the fact that James never knew his father. As to the "how", when elder Spock tells James of his failed effort (120 years in the future) to save Romulas from being obliterated by a supernova (after the events of Nemesis), he explains that it results in the black hole that transports Spock (in his ship) and Nero (in his ship, the Narada) into the past - which changes the timeline.
Question: I don't understand why Alex waits until Mrs. Alexander has unchained the opened front door and fully opened it, before he and his droogs break in. I'm sure the four of them could easily have broken the chain off with a bit of force. Is it simply part of Alex's nature to be invited in, before he starts his attack?
Chosen answer: It's part of the "fun element" of the crime to get the victim to open the door themselves.
Question: When the father was leaving the house of ill-repute, how did he recognize Benjamin as his son?
Answer: Thomas Button knew the house where he had abandoned Benjamin as a child, and while we the viewers are never shown or explicitly told so, the film gives us the impression that Thomas had been watching Benjamin over the years, as he was watching Benjamin the evening the two first meet.
Answer: He was watching him the day he met Daisy.
Question: If Spock easily destroys the Romulan drill in his "Jellyfish" ship, and Kirk and Sulu nearly take it out using hand phasers, why couldn't the Starfleet garrison on Earth, or some other planetary defense weaponry destroy it? Surely there was a single ship with minimal armament that could have taken it down.
Answer: Spock's ship is from 200 years in the future, and is likely quite a bit more powerful than its size would imply. Kirk and Sulu were able to land on the drill because of their significantly smaller size to a ship, i.e. they were invisible to scanning. And finally, as was so amptly displayed by the Nerada, it destroyed seven Federation Starships in a matter of minutes, I think its fair to theorise that a much smaller ship would fare little better in sneaking a shot at the drill.
That's a stretch. Kirk and Sulu were able to shoot hand held rifles at the drill and disable it. There wasn't a single ship on earth that could compare to the firepower of two hand held rifles?
Question: Why wouldn't the Adamantium procedure that Wolverine undertook, work on Sabretooth? To my knowledge they both have the ability to regenerate. So why not?
Chosen answer: Sabretooth's healing abilities are not as good as Wolverine's. As we can see in the movie, Wolverine himself almost died from not healing fast enough from the trauma of having metal grafted to his bones. Sabretooth would have taken even longer to heal, meaning that the process would have killed him.
Question: What did Eugene say or do to support his claim in the movie Gattaca?
Question: Why is Colonel Stryker so intent on killing Wolverine? All he wants is to be left alone to live in relative seclusion.
Chosen answer: He never really wanted to kill him, he wants him on his side again. Wolverine is a great agent with many talents. He just wants him back on board. It's only when Wolverine makes it very clear that he's not coming back on board (voluntarily at least) and that Wolverine is planning to kill Stryker that Stryker starts trying to kill Wolverine.
Question: What kind of car is it that Rusty is driving, when he picks up Danny from jail in the final scene?
Answer: I'm assuming it was the 1963 Ford Falcon Futura Convertible that served as Rusty's car throughout the film. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_5165-Ford-Falcon-Futura-1963.html.
If you listen closely it sounds like a late model 5.0L mustang engine in the convertible.
Question: I'm trying to find a specific part of a scene. All I can remember is the background is a forest-type set with possibly ruins or stairs. The four hobbits are there, but they're in their normal street attire. Any help would be appreciated as to which scene this shot is located.
Chosen answer: It sounds like a scene in "Return of the King" in the extended version, but it was the TWO hobbits (Merry and Pippin). Frodo & Samwise are still in Mordor trying to destroy the ring. The scene I think you're imagining is where Gandalf and gang come upon the destroyed Two Towers and find Pippin and Merry smoking pipes while sitting on a destroyed tower next to the forest. Hope that helps.
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Chosen answer: I believe he may think that Combo is just joking with him in a way that he was earlier in the film when he talks about him being black.
Awesomo
In my opinion, I think that it is because Milky has started to understand the reason's for Combo's anger - that he is jealous of Milky's perfect family set - up. Milky laughs because he finds it absurd that jealousy is the reason behind Combo's increasing anger towards him in this scene and may have been behind his aggressive behaviours all along.It is almost child-like and perhaps Milky is aware that he looks like the better person in the situation. He knows Combo knows this too.