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: Serious spoiler alert: these questions summarise the entire film. During the Second World War Sgt Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart) and nine allied soldiers (plus one German and one Italian captive) are crossing the North African Desert. They discover a well, but this has nearly dried up and only provides a small trickle of water, barely enough to keep them alive. They are besieged by over 100 Germans. Since the Germans have no water at all they surrender to Joe Gunn. At this point a stray shell lands in the well. The resulting explosion brings hundreds of gallons of water bubbling up, more than enough for Joe Gunn's company and all the Germans. Two questions. 1. Could a well in the Sahara dry up until it only gave a small trickle of water? 2. Could an explosion really open a water supply like this?

Rob Halliday

Answer: Thank you for that! I first saw Sahara on television when I was eleven, with my mother, father and younger brother. When we saw the shell explode in the well to re-open the water supply, we all dismissed this as Hollywood hokum. But sometimes it is amusing to be proved wrong. You put a smile on my face when you informed me, and quite convincingly too, that the well really could have dried up but then opened up again.

Rob Halliday

Answer: 1. Yes it could, as water flows into the well, it could easily bring sediment and other bits of small debris and eventually block the flow of water resulting in only a trickle. 2. Again, yes. If the explosion weakens the surrounding walls holding the water back, the pressure of the water could easily rupture through the walls and result in the flooding mentioned.

Ssiscool

Question: Could the other vampires transform and fly like Dracula and his brides? And if not what made his brides special?

Answer: All vampires can transform and fly. It might depend on age how easy and effective it is.

lionhead

Answer: In the original book, Dracula made Mina Harker his bride by having her drink the blood from his chest. Thus making her different from the others to quote Dracula, "Blood of my Blood, Flesh of my Flesh." She became mentally linked to him.

Question: How did Ted Bundy manage to fool law enforcement, and evade them for years before finally being arrested?

Answer: I don't think he fooled police. He was clever and able to commit murders without leaving enough evidence to directly tie him to the crime. Eventually there was enough physical as well as circumstantial and eye witness accounts to convict him. He evaded police for stretches of time by flying under the radar and carefully calculating his moves. Weird writing about this as he terrorized my city.

raywest

Question: Why does Adam need to erase Amy's memories of everything that happened? Shouldn't Scott's parents should have a chance to agree with Amy to keep their identity a secret so Scott can have her cause she likes him?

Trainman

Answer: I haven't seen this movie in a very long time. However, if I remember correctly, Adam was originally going to erase both Amy and Randy's memory to keep their identity a secret. The risk of them being exposed as superheroes would have been too great. It was only after Randy protested, upon seeing Amy getting her memory erased, where Scott's parents agreed it would be nice for him to have a friend to talk about his secret life with. Scott was more disappointed Amy's mind was erased because they had shared feelings for one another. He was afraid she would not remember her liking him. However, the parents accurately state, "if she liked you before, then she will still like you afterwards." This was evident when they chose one another to be co-captains. If they allowed Amy to keep her memory, it would have also prevented Scott from having any normal type of relationship with her.

Invader_Gir

Question: Just before Sherlock attacks somebody, he determines what areas to strike to incapacitate someone and determine how long it would take someone to recover from both physical and psychological trauma. Granted that he could figure out a person's physical recovery but, could he actually figure out a person's pyshological recovery? He noted that it would take six months if I remember for a guy to recover psychologically but, to me, Sherlock is just taking a wild guess. Especially, if the guy recovered in half the time.

Answer: I believe that particular line was him making a joke to himself about the man's pride.

Quantom X

Question: What were the languages Beni was speaking when he ran into Imhotep?

Answer: English, Arabic, Chinese, and Hebrew.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: I believe it's exaggerated a bit for the sake of action and drama. I forget where I read it offhand, but criminal profiling is largely more dull office work than the exciting field work depicted on the show.

Cubs Fan

Question: During La Mans, it shows Shelby taking a stopwatch from Ferrari's pit and dropping a nut on the floor. Is there any indication Shelby ever cheated during a race like this (whether at Le Mans or somewhere else)? Like, was he ever caught or accused of cheating? I get there's a lot of artistic licensing taking place in this film, so I understand if it was made up, just curious if it was based on anything from Shelby's life.

Bishop73

Answer: Technically, neither of these incidents would be considered cheating in the classic sense. Stealing the stopwatches would be just that, stealing. It's likely that some other members of a team like Ferrari had back up stopwatches. Dropping the lug nut in the Ferrari pit would just be a mind game to put doubt in the minds of the pit crew as to whether they got all the lug nuts on the wheels. Neither of these incidents would affect the performance of the race car. It was mischief, not cheating.

This doesn't answer the question at all (and seems like someone's trying to correct this thinking it's a mistake entry). I said "cheating like this" for the 2 examples I gave, because it's cheating (by definition) but not necessarily breaking La Mans rules. Plus I also asked about actual accusations of cheating.

Bishop73

It's called gamesmanship, how is dropping a lug nut to make the Italians think they had forgotten one cheating? Now if he had taken the lug nut so it delayed their pit stop or so it wasn't put on at all that's a different story. You seem like you never competed if you think those things are cheating.

And stealing a stopwatch is gamesmanship too? The question is was this based on anything. I've never competed in LeMans, but in a majority of sports there are rules against deceiving the other team (for example a balk). Seems like you've never played sports.

Bishop73

Question: Is the food fight scene completely imaginary, or are the Lost Boys actually able to will food into existence by imagining it? I always thought it was the latter growing up and we as the audience didn't see it until Peter, as the audience's proxy, saw it for himself, but any YouTube videos I watch about this movie all seem to think all the food was just in everyone's collective imaginations.

Phaneron

Answer: Neverland very much runs on "If you believe, it will happen" which is what Tink means during the meal when she says "If you don't imagine yourself as Peter Pan you won't be Peter Pan." So by the rules of Neverland, as soon as Peter believed it was real it was then real. The dinner was trying to teach him to believe as, in Neverland, if you don't believe it then it won't happen.

Question: Why did John's house suddenly alter so drastically when Jack's hand was blown off in the past? Did this one event somehow turn John into a better interior decorator?

quinnnmallory

Answer: Because the house is no longer John's. In this universe, his parents still live there.

Brian Katcher

Or he lives there and his wife redecorated.

I always took the scene at the end with Julia and Frank getting in a packed car with an older looking Elvis as them moving and leaving the house for John. And as I said above John's wife must have moved in and decorated.

Answer: The house changed because John's life changed, with both his parents alive to nurture and guide him, he became a different person. Different lifestyle and attitudes.

Show generally

Question: Since this is the Americanized version of Man About The House from the UK, they copied that show's pilot. So my question is did they get permission to do their pilot like the original show or what?

Rob245

Answer: There have been a number of U.S. TV shows that are reworked from British series. Producers first have to obtain permission and pay for the rights in order to do an American version.

raywest

Question: How do we know that he put her in the casket?

Answer: It's obvious it was him. Nick lured Libby to that specific mausoleum, knocked her out, and dragged her into the crypt before closing the doors behind him. He then paid off the kid who acted as a decoy. Nick was motivated to get rid of her (though it was implausible that he would have left her alive before putting her into the casket). There was no-one else who could or would have done that.

raywest

Answer: They would need to have access to a large amount of electrical wiring, lights, and other supplies to rig a usable lighting system. Using electricity could also drain power from the rest of the camp, alerting the Germans that something is going on.

raywest

Also. The power would go out during air raids and the like. Whereas oil could be used to stay lit no matter what (despite the fact that it uses oxygen from the tunnel and the fumes would probably kill you).

Question: Was the film supposed to feature an alternate ending involving the Twin Towers before 9/11 happened?

Answer: This is from IGN.com: The original ending: While the movie was in production, terrorists flew two planes in the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001. Out of respect, the filmmakers cut the ending which saw the World Trade Centre open up to reveal a swarm of Serleena's UFOs. MIB2 wasn't the only movie to remove scenes featuring the World Trade Centre - Spider-Man famously cut a scene in which a helicopter was stuck in a web spun between the two towers.

raywest

Answer: She may just be hoping that he cares enough to forgive her.

raywest

Answer: Thank you.

Rob245

Question: If the movie was supposedly taking place in Indiana, why then during town meeting to runoff the band director did Marian tell the town folks to "put aside your Iowa stubbornness"?

Answer: The movie doesn't take place in Indiana. It takes place in River City, Iowa, which is established multiple times throughout the movie.

Question: Re Amanda's Reverse Bear Trap 1.) What does the writing on the wall say behind her in the trap? 2.) The "dead body" Donnie Greco - her drug dealer - was alive and in the game getting his body sliced open and had no way out so surely that's against Jigsaw's philosophy as he couldn't win the game by leaving alive?

Answer: The writing on the wall is non related graffiti as can be found in many abandoned buildings. Jigsaw is shown to have little regard for people other than the subjects being tested. In Saw 6, there is the infamous carousel "6 ride the carousel but only 2 can get off alive. Their lives are in your hands" he also has to choose to save an apprentice or a secretary. In saw 4, there is the abusive couple chained together with spikes through his organs, to save herself she must remove the spikes killing him. In Saw 3D, the public trap explains 1 of the 3 must die, be it Brad, Ryan or Gina. So it's clear that Jigsaw and all his accomplices have no qualms in having extra people killed during a game.

Ssiscool

Season 6 generally

Question: Is this actually true that with a massive heart attack Cynthia wouldn't have felt a thing? I thought the more serious the heart attack the more severe the pain?

Answer: Heart attacks can cause severe to mild pain, but in some cases, the victim feels nothing. Women tend to experience less severe pain than men. Also, there is a difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest, where the heart just suddenly stops beating, causing death. That was probably the case with Cynthia.

raywest

Question: How did they have enough time to do everything they did on the first night? I believe everyone is ready by 7pm, then they go to the rooftop, then dinner, then they play blackjack and other games, they also find the time to kidnap Chow, go to the strippers, get married, steal a cop car, go to Mike Tyson and steal a tiger, come back to the hotel, fill a hot tub, playing bowling with champagne bottles, drink at least 40-50 beers, energy drinks and champagne, use all the inflatables, wait for Doug to fall asleep and get him on the roof, come back and pass out, then wake up by about 9am It seems like the casino games and strippers would take you until about 2am anyway, but they managed to fit everything else in with about 5 hours.

Answer: They didn't have time. This is a movie. Time is deliberately compressed to an unrealistic level in order to make the plot work, to make it funny, and fit it all within a 100-minute running time. Audiences are expected to employ a "suspension of disbelief" in order for the movie to be made.

raywest

True, but the movie still takes place in the real world, and physics should still prevail. It also doesn't help that they mention the time at several points throughout the film.

wizard_of_gore

Hollywood does not have a history of adhering to "the rules of the real world and physics," particularly in a comedy buddy flick. Movie makers bend whatever rules they want to make a story work. The goal here was to make a funny movie that earned lots of money.

raywest

Answer: She's only "assigned" to the case after Jack Crawford sends her to interview Hannibal Lecter; she goes thinking it's just a training exercise, though he (Crawford) really wants to see if Lecter spills anything about Buffalo Bill. When Lecter does reveal "Miss Hester Mofet" to Clarice, she follows the lead and discovers it is linked to the Buffalo Bill case, so at this point it's only natural that she would continue to work on it. Plus, Crawford has seen her potential and is her mentor/champion, so he's happy to bring her onboard...though, of course, she starts off still as an apprentice rather than a field agent, and no-one has any idea how deep she will get with Lecter or that she will be the one who apprehends Bill herself.

Answer: Clarice is never assigned to the case, she is just working with Crawford as a trainee and under his supervision. Crawford wanted to obtain information from Lecter (he being a notorious serial killer) that might help capture the Buffalo Bill killer. Crawford knows from past experience that sending a seasoned FBI agent to interview Lecter will yield few results as Lecter is too brilliant a psychiatrist to be manipulated into helping. Crawford instead sends a trainee and chose Starling because she is young, attractive, unpretentious, and somewhat emotionally transparent and vulnerable. He gambles that Lecter will be disarmed and intrigued by someone different from the usual law enforcement type. Lecter is taken with Starling and they form a bond which prompts him to provide clues to Buffalo Bill's identity. Based on that, Crawford knows Clarice's relationship with Lecter will be a continued asset during the case.

raywest

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.