Question: Why did Mccabe turn against SWAT at the end?
Gavin Jackson
4th Mar 2010
S.W.A.T. (2003)
4th Mar 2010
Mad Max (1979)
Question: Whatever happened to the 2 cops from the beginning that were in the March hare pursuit vehicle? We never see them again after the beginning. Did they die when their car overturned or what?
Chosen answer: Yes, they died. One of the other MFP officers says after the crash that "they're wasted".
11th Feb 2010
Family Ties (1982)
Question: Does anyone know which episode it was when Steven decided to grow a beard, or why he decided to grow one? I never watched the show in order and still can't figure out why he suddenly has one in the second half of the show's run.
Chosen answer: Steven Keaton (Michael Gross) did not grow the beard for an episode. He grew it between season 1 and season 2 as a character he was playing in an Off-Broadway play. When the show began taping for season 2, it was decided to have him keep it. It never was a plot point on the show.
11th Feb 2010
Cars (2006)
Question: Many people have observed this has virtually the same plot as the 1991 film Doc Hollywood. Did Warner Bros. ever have any comment on that?
Chosen answer: Nope, nothing official was ever said. There are very few truly original film storylines these days; a close examination of most films would allow one to swiftly note plot similarities to any one of a number of preceding movies. Both Cars and Doc Hollywood fit neatly in a very standard storyline of an outsider coming into an unfamiliar cultural group, which they learn to appreciate and benefit from, while their presence likewise benefits the group they encounter. While the two are unusually similar, no comment on the subject was ever made.
28th Jan 2010
War of the Worlds (2005)
Question: Does anyone have any clue as to why the aliens are vapourising people when they first appear? They never seem to do it again after that one scene (instead opting to grab them and drain them). Any help would be appreciated.
Chosen answer: The aliens saw the humans as an immediate threat to their ship getting out from underground, so opted to vaporise anyone in the near vicinity so that it could leave the ground unimpeded.
Answer: In the movie there are 3 different Tripods 1. Fighting Machine 2. Brute (Seen at the ferry coming out of the water) 3. Harvesters which take the humans.
Answer: My guess is that they are in search of a specific blood type needed for the growth of the vines that is why some people are harvested and other people with "useless" blood types are killed off.
18th Jan 2010
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Question: Why did Obi-wan say to Luke "You will go to the Dagobah system" as opposed to "You must go"? Was he simply giving him an order? Seems strange considering Luke was very close to freezing to death when he said it.
Chosen answer: Obi-wan's one with the Force at this point, so, given that the Force has been shown to grant precognitive visions, he may simply have seen that Luke survives and does go to Dagobah and is telling Luke that he will go there as a statement of fact. Or it could just be a bit poorly worded.
9th Jan 2010
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Factual error: One submission stated that when the Cuban hitman is killed with the arrow from Melina's crossbow, it goes in his back when it should have gone in his side. The corrector stated that we have no idea what angle she was firing from. Well, it is clear that she was standing at the left side of the pool (since we get a point of view shot from her) when he's about to dive in, and she shoots from there. She couldn't have got behind him that fast. So there is no way she could have got him squarely in the back.
18th Dec 2009
Rambo: First Blood (1982)
Question: I actually have two questions about this film. Firstly, does Rambo actually kill anyone in this film? Dennehy doesn't die and he didn't kill Galt so was there anyone else? And secondly when Rambo arrives at the cliff face, why didn't he simply run to his right or left? The police were only coming at him from behind (and even if one of them came from the side, Rambo could have used his skills to get past him). So why did he feel that going down the cliff was his only option?
Chosen answer: No he doesn't kill anyone. He didn't know if he was surrounded or not and if he did encounter one from the side they might have shot him.
Rambo killed Galt, albeit indirectly and unintentionally. In the US, "manslaughter involves causing the death of another person in a manner less culpable than murder." Rambo was responsible for throwing a projectile that struck the helicopter, causing the pilot to lose control resulting in Galt falling to his death.
But if Galt had been buckled in, he'd have lived. He was behaving recklessly. Yes Rambo's rock was involved, but that's two steps removed from Galt's death. Rock thrown -> pilot overreacts -> Galt falls because he wasn't strapped in properly. Galt's own behaviour and the pilot's reaction are more at fault than Rambo. This isn't a court, by most reasonable standards Rambo didn't kill Galt.
25th Nov 2009
The Running Man (1987)
Plot hole: In the unedited video footage of the helicopter incident shown to the crowd, the last shot of Arnie getting knocked out is seen from his perspective and as such could never have been filmed by any camera.
9th Nov 2009
Casino Royale (2006)
Question: In this film Bond almost dies when he is poisoned and discovers that his portable defibrillator has a broken wire. My question is, has this been the only time in the entire bond series that a Bond gadget has had a fault and not worked properly, or have there been been other instances?
Answer: The defibrillator did not have a fault, due to the fact the Bond nearly falls unconscious he forgot to properly connect both cables to the main device.
Chosen answer: It isn't the first time a Bond gadget didn't work. Most notably, the machine guns mounted on a gyrocopter in You Only Live Twice, and a fake nipple (can't believe I just said that!). It should be noted though that this Bond gadget didn't have a fault, Bond just did not plug the two patches into the Defibrillator, which is what Vesper does when she runs up to the car, thus saving Bond's life.
Answer: In Never Say Never Again, Bond's explosive projectile-shooting pen fires at Fatima Blush, but the projectile that strikes her only explodes after an unexpected delay, leading both her and Bond to assume that it has malfunctioned.
9th Nov 2009
Backdraft (1991)
Question: Can someone please tell me why Kurt Russell is playing his own father in the flashback scenes. I just don't understand why.
Chosen answer: Why not? There's no reason why an actor couldn't play his own father at the same age - indeed, it can serve to emphasise a family resemblence between father and son. It can also serve as a swift way of letting the audience know that this is the father, rather than having a different actor come in and have to have the relationship established through dialogue.
20th Oct 2009
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Question: Where exactly are Humungous and his men getting their gas from? Given the amount of vehicles they have, it would take a fair amount of fuel to run them. But there is no explanation as to where they are getting it.
Answer: The answer could be referenced to the first movie "Mad Max." In that film it shows some members of the outlaw gang, though not necessarily the ones in "Road Warrior" stealing gas from a tanker by jumping onto the back of it and filling cans; apparently the driver of the tanker unaware. "Road Warrior" was a continuation of "Mad Max."
13th Oct 2009
Halloween (1978)
Question: I have wondered this for ages. Laurie went over to the Wallace house because she thought they were all playing a prank on her. So when she found the bodies in the bedroom, why did she never assume that this could all just be a practical joke set-up? How did she know straight away that it was the real thing?
Chosen answer: Because it was too graphic and elaborate for her to think it might be a prank. Not to mention that there was probably a very distinctive smell to the room.
7th Sep 2009
General questions
I am trying to find the name of a TV movie that I saw back in the 80's. It featured Ken Berry and Sean Marshall (who starred in Pete's Dragon). In the film, Ken's character sees Sean fishing on a beach and they strike up a friendship. Sean lives with his brother and divorced mum who works in a bank. Ken eventually becomes close to the family. At the end whilst in the bank, Sean's little brother dares him to step into the open safe and as a joke promptly closes it, locking him in. They are told that the safe is on a timelock and can't be reopened until the next morning. With no other option, Ken Berry attempts to open it with some tools and is successful. I remember that Max Showalter played the bank manager. I have been unable to find anything on IMDB that links all 3 actors but I know that the film exists. Has anyone else seen this film and knows which one I am talking about?
Chosen answer: It's Valentine's Second Chance (1977). It was an ABC Short Story Special. It's based off the O. Henry story "A Retrieved Reformation. See http://www.hollywood.com/tv/Valentines_Second_Chance/5194277.
11th Aug 2009
Public Enemies (2009)
Question: I must have missed something, but when Dillinger and his accomplice (can't remember his name) are escaping from the lodge, they both hitch a ride with Baby Face Nelson on the dirt road. Later Purvis and his men run Nelson's car off the road and kill him and another guy. Then we see Dillinger and his wounded accomplice with a car in town getting medical supplies. How's that possible?
Chosen answer: Baby Face Nelson doesn't pick up Dillinger. He picks up the characters played by Stephen Dorf and another associate. Dillinger and Hamilton escape through the woods and steal a car from an older man they come across in the forest. After the shootout, Dillinger and Nelson are never in the car together.
30th Jun 2009
Bullitt (1968)
Visible crew/equipment: When Bullitt gets out of the cab at the car wash, just before the big chase sequence, the cameraman's reflection is visible on the door window. (01:02:15)
8th Jun 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Question: Was the scene of a naked Wolverine arriving at the elderly couple's farmhouse supposed to be some kind of a reference to Superman? The couple seemed to resemble Ma and Pa Kent, the house and farm looked identical to the ones in the Superman films and Logan turning up naked seemed to mirror the fact that baby Clark was naked when he first arrived. So was it intentional?
Chosen answer: There is nothing that the filmakers have said to indicate that this is a reference to Superman. In addition, since this is a Marvel comic, and Superman was was/is a DC comic, it's unlikely.
5th Jun 2009
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Question: Was Bryce Dallas Howard actually pregnant when this film was made, or was she just wearing some kind of a cushion under her shirt? Just asking cause no one in the film seems to mention it.
Chosen answer: She wasn't pregnant, no. Her pregnancy, while unremarked upon in this film, will presumably assume greater significance in subsequent films.
Question: Could someone please explain to me exactly how the Millennium Falcon is being flown. It appears to swoop in such a way like someone is steering it, but no one on board seems to be doing much more than pressing the odd button here or there. And it can't be autopilot because it seems to be doing exactly what those on board want. So does anyone know?
Chosen answer: Han has the control board in front of him - he has everything he needs to fly the ship to hand. We never get a particularly good look at the console, so we don't know precisely what format the controls are presented in, but that's what he's using.
19th May 2009
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
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.
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Chosen answer: Because he was offered a lot of money. $100 million is a lot of money to turn down for someone on a policeman's salary.
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