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: 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: How are Kirk, Sulu, and Olson able to parachute from space to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere?

raywest

Chosen answer: Vulcan has a thinner atmosphere than Earth. That, combined with the special dive suits they're wearing and the lower speed than space vehicle re-entry makes it possible.

Captain Defenestrator

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?

MusicalPurist

Chosen answer: Their uniforms are blue, which means they were fighting for the North.

MoonFaery

Show generally

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?

tattoojunkie

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?

Gavin Jackson

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.

Twotall

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?

Gavin Jackson

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.

raywest

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?

Philip Myers

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.

Super Grover

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?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: It's part of the "fun element" of the crime to get the victim to open the door themselves.

Captain Defenestrator

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.

GalahadFairlight

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?

MusicalPurist

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.

Twotall

Question: What did Eugene say or do to support his claim in the movie Gattaca?

cruzazul

Chosen answer: Please be more specific. To what claim are you referring? The only one I can think of is at the end when he is claiming to be himself. And then he only needed to give his blood and he was done.

Garlonuss

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.

Gary O'Reilly

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.

padfootrocksmysocks

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.

CCARNI

Chosen answer: It's implied that Sabretooth killed him. When he and Wraith meet in the alley, while Wolverine is meeting Gambit, Wraith says "Your creepy black coat don't scare me. to which Sabretooth responds "Worked on Dukes."

Question: How did Kirk and Scotty manage to teleport onto the Enterprise, through its shields, when it had obviously traveled many light years? It is safe to say that Kirk was marooned on the planet at least an hour before teleporting off it (in reality it would have taken much longer to walk 14km in the snow, meet Scotty, figure out the equations, etc), so the Enterprise would have traveled an extreme distance at warp speeds in even one hour, as the ship can go much faster than the speed of light. Even if Scotty figured out how to teleport onto a ship moving at warp speeds, it doesn't explain how they managed to teleport such extreme distances.

Answer: Scotty mentions early in his first scene that he believes distance is not a factor in teleportation, contrary to popular belief. He uses an example of transporting a grapefruit from one planet to another (a pretty massive distance), and this is before Spock gives him the formula for mid-warp transport. After looking at it, Scotty says he never thought to consider that space is the thing that moves. If he's already certain he can transport between planets, and then he sees a formula that lets him bend space, distance shouldn't be a factor at all.

Question: What does he give to Inez, the old woman?

Answer: She was not getting proper treatment. When he chewed out the boss because of this, the patients all started to get better care.

Knever

Question: What is the video game young Josh plays at the beginning of the movie?

Answer: According to imdb: Though some believe it to be Colossal (Cave) Adventure or an early Sierra Game, no known game up to 1988 accepts the commands "melt ice wizard" or "throw thermal pod" (as used in the movie), therefore one can assume the game screen was simply created for the movie.

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: Yes, the character he plays is Chris Bradley (Bolt) who is able to create and manipulate electricity.

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