Best thriller movie questions of 1983

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Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi picture

Question: How come this movie barely showed anything about Luke and Leia's mother? Luke doesn't even ask anyone what her name was (maybe that was hidden from Leia, but he can probably guess that Yoda or Obi-wan would know). I know we can assume that she was discussed off-screen, but they could have revealed a little more about her.

Answer: The Jedi are shown to have something of a blind spot in regards to matters of the heart. Note that when Luke confronts Obi-Wan over lying to him about his father's fate, Obi-Wan's response is haughty and defensive, and gives Luke nothing in terms of regret or apology. They're focused on their mission, not on how Luke feels. Why waste time, in their eyes, telling Luke about his mother? If they had their way, he wouldn't even know about his father. The prequels would make this more explicit, showing that the Jedi are conditioned from the beginning to let go of all "passions" because they could so easily be corrupted, and their inability to understand Anakin's emotions just contributes to his downfall.

TonyPH

Answer: Why can we assume that she was discussed off-screen? Luke's got more important things to talk about than who his mother was. Yoda dies shortly afterwards and Luke's understandably more interested in how Darth Vader, given that he's got to go up against him, can be his father when talking to Obi-wan's ghost shortly after. Not a lot of time for general chit-chat. Behind the scenes, at that point, very little would have been decided about their mother, as it would be irrelevant to the plot of the trilogy and to discuss her on-screen would have wasted time and slowed everything down.

Tailkinker

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WarGames picture

Question: How could WOPR not know the difference between a game and real life?

Answer: While merely speculation, the WOPR is not alive and knows only what it's been programmed to do. It would have no concept of life or death, and as such would see no difference between the simulation and the real thing. That being said, an easy way to make it see the difference would be to program it to not waste physical resources. It would then see the use of all its actual warheads as less desirable.

Answer: This film is science fiction and hardly reflective of a real-life scenario. The WOPR is depicted as being almost semi-sentient that is flawed. The movie employs an illogical, suspension-of-disbelief plot line.

raywest

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Something Wicked This Way Comes picture

Question: This was produced by the Walt Disney Production Company. Unlike other Disney films that were family friendly, this one had a dark tone to it and even terrifying moments. Why would the Disney Production company help produce this film considering how scary it is? It seems unusual considering that a lot of the movies they made were more light-hearted.

Answer: Disney at the time was trying to break the stereotype of only producing family-oriented animation films. So they were interested in making more mature films, especially ones targeted to the teen audience. At the time they had already produced "The Watcher in the Woods" and "Dragonslayer". "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was toned down though and some things deemed too dark were removed. It should be noted, this was also the last film under the Walt Disney Production label.

Bishop73

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Octopussy picture

Question: How did Bond win the game of backgammon, with Kamal Khan, when he didn't get all his chips off the board? Even the two sixes he rolled wouldn't have done it.

kh1616

Answer: Bond (taking over for the Major) had 1 piece on point 2, 1 piece on point 3, and 2 pieces on point 6. Rolling doubles in Backgammon means you get to make 4 moves instead of just 2, so he was able to remove all 4 pieces. If you have a piece on point 2, you don't have to roll a 2 to remove it. Anything higher than a 2 can be used to remove the piece. Kahn even says Bond has to roll a double 6 in order to win, which he does.

Bishop73

Answer: Not knowing anything about backgammon so this is perhaps wrong. But I thought that Bond didn't win. And the fact that he produced the Faberge egg is what ended the game. (I'm more than likely wrong tho).

Alan Keddie

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Jaws 3-D picture

Question: How come there is not one alligator inside the lagoon? I mean it is Florida.

Answer: The lagoon was part of the theme park. Artificial with specific mammals inhabitants inside, warm and friendly.

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Christine picture

Question: What song is playing as Christine is crushing Darnell against the steering wheel?

Answer: "I've Got A Girl Named Boney Maroney" by Larry Williams.

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Cujo picture

Question: Is this film accurate to how rabid dogs behave in real life?

Answer: Not really. Rabies has a wide range of behavioural symptoms, and it's rare for a rabid dog to display what's called "furious rabies," whereby they become more aggressive. And even then, they wouldn't become single-mindedly determined to terrorise two people in a car. It's much more common for a rabid dog to get slower/lethargic as paralysis sets in, eventually leading to coma and death. You can find more info here: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/rabies-in-dogs.

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Psycho II picture

Question: Spoiler alert: this question gives away much of the first "Psycho" movie. In the original Alfred Hitchcock "Psycho" we witness Norman Bates murdering Janet Leigh/Marion Crane and Martin Balsam/Milton Arbogast, and very narrowly missing killing Vera Miles/Lila Crane. At the end of the movie we discover that Norman Bates had murdered his mother and her lover ten years previously. We are also told that he had killed two female guests at Bates Motel. Norman Bates is therefore guilty of six murders and one attempted murder. In Psycho II we find out that, after his crimes were discovered, Norman Bates was placed in a secure psychiatric institution for the criminally insane. This does seem plausible. But with such a criminal record, would he ever be released from incarceration?

Rob Halliday

Answer: Norman was found "not guilty" by reason of insanity. Therefore, once he is deemed to be no longer a danger to himself, or to others, and is released from the mental institution, there is no crime he can be sent to jail for (i.e. he has no criminal record for the murders). I haven't done enough research to tell you if a serial killer in recent times has ever been found not guilty by reason of insanity and subsequently been released, but there are numerous accounts of people being released from mental institutions after committing murder that are then considered free.

Bishop73

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Twilight Zone: The Movie picture

Question: With the death of Vic Morrow, how were they able to film him being captured by two Nazi officers and thrown into a freight train car?

Answer: Due to production logistics, movies are rarely filmed in a linear timeline. Storyboards visually map out the entire plot to provide the director continuity while filming different scenes, in various order, and often simultaneously with second-unit directors. As to the movie, Morrow's segment was originally supposed to end with the Vietnam scene. After Morrow rescued the two children, thus redeeming his character, he was to be returned to his own timeline. However, after the fatal accident and with the filming incomplete, the scenes were reordered so that the segment now ended with Morrow being sent to a Nazi concentration camp.

raywest

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Never Say Never Again picture

Question: Sean Connery took dancing lessons for 11 years in his youth, and he surely knew how to dance when he made this film in his 50s. So, why is his choreographed tango with Kim Basinger in this film so painfully, embarrassingly awkward and heavily edited? Is this perhaps due to the fact that Kim Basinger had virtually no dancing skills?

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: Neither is a professional dancer. Having studied dancing some thirty years before does not mean someone has retained the same level of skills. As you mentioned, Connery was in his 50s by that time.

raywest

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The House On Sorority Row picture

Question: When the girls are drinking together in a bedroom, one of them comments about her mother saying that she was "born with a silver spoon" in her mouth. She jokes that the spoon is actually in her nose. What does she mean?

Answer: That she uses cocaine.

Brian Katcher

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Answer: Probably, but action/police movies often are unrealistic about depicting laws and police procedures.

raywest

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