Question: I was hoping someone could clear this up for me. Did ET really die and somehow return, or did he simply fake his death to fool the authorities?
Gavin Jackson
22nd Nov 2012
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
20th Oct 2012
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Question: This has been a question that's always brought up. Was Ellie Grimbridge always a robot from the very beginning, or was she turned into (or exchanged with) one when she was held captive at the shamrock factory?
Chosen answer: She was turned into one when she was captured. The robots didn't speak and if you notice that after he finds her, she never says a word. As well, she displayed genuine emotion throughout the film before she was captured, something the robots also never did.
I agree, she was a real person until she was captured. If she were a robot, I think Chalice would have found that out when they made love. Plus, as you mention, she had real emotions until her robot replacement was rescued.
Answer: Another theory might be that Ellie has always been a robot but an advanced model that Cochrane designed to interact with the outside world.
13th Aug 2012
Cool Runnings (1993)
Question: Could someone as overweight and unhealthy as John Candy's character really have lived in Jamaica? I would have thought the extreme hot weather conditions would have been rather dangerous for someone in his shape.
Chosen answer: It may not be the wisest place to live, but that doesn't mean that he's physiologically incapable of living there, even relatively long term. It's pretty dangerous being that size anywhere in the world, as Candy's sadly premature demise illustrates; living somewhere as warm as the Caribbean probably wouldn't make the situation significantly worse than it already is.
8th Aug 2012
Jewel of the Nile (1985)
Question: The lead villain Omar bears a striking resemblance to actor Omar Sharif (although it isn't him). Was naming him Omar an in-joke or just coincidence?
8th Aug 2012
Robocop (1987)
Question: When the Swat team leader is trying negotiate with the guy in the Mayor's office, he says to him "Hey no problem Miller. Let the mayor go. We'll even throw in a Blaupunkt". Could someone please explain what a Blaupunkt is? I've never heard that word and its not in my dictionary.
Chosen answer: Blaupunkt is a major manufacturer of car stereos. Miller wants a car as part of his ransom demands, so the SWAT team leader is playing along with those demands telling him that they'll make sure the car he wants is fitted with a really cool stereo.
8th Aug 2012
Con Air (1997)
Question: Why did Poe get back onto the plane when it left Carson city? I know he stayed on after the first stop cause Cyrus wouldn't let Baby-o off and Poe needed to get him his insulin shot. But he got his shot in Carson city and Poe had no reason to get back on (seemed even more ludicrous after he tied the plane up.but anyway).
Chosen answer: Poe is an ex-Ranger, and he wants to stop the criminals. Also he wanted to save the cops inside the airplane.
Answer: You almost have it right, with one exception. Poe does not get the insulin to Baby O in Carson City. It is not until they reach their second stop at Lerner Airfield when he gets the first aid kit. He rushes the first aid kit back on board and is able to give him the shot, but at this point, the plane is already taking off.
29th Jul 2012
Rambo: First Blood (1982)
Question: If Rambo could afford to eat, why couldn't he afford a bus ticket?
Chosen answer: A meal in the 80s would have cost 4 or 5 dollars. A bus ticket would have been around 50, or more, depending on where he was going.
Answer: There's no evidence he could afford to eat. It's possible he was planning on working for a meal.
23rd Jul 2012
The Client (1994)
Question: When Reggie is negotiating with Reverend Roy and tells him that Marks mum wants a walk-in closet, Roy responds with "Walk-in. Is that hyphenated?" Although I gather that Roy was being sarcastic, I still have no idea what that comment means. Any help would be great.
Chosen answer: Meaning is the word walk-in hyphenated.... walkin or walk-in.
Answer: I saw his question "Is walk-in hyphenated?" as a touch of humor.
21st May 2012
Titanic (1997)
Question: I have two questions about this film. Firstly who was the guy who tries to drown Rose after the Titanic sinks? I couldn't see his face properly and wondered if anyone knew who it was. Secondly, given how possessive Cal was of Rose, why didn't it seem to bother him when Jack leads her arm in arm into the dining room. It's almost like he just doesn't care in that scene.
Chosen answer: The guy who nearly drowned Rose was just a random panicked passenger who needed something to hold on to, like a life ring. As for dinner, at this time, it was actually customary in higher society for a man to escort someone other than his own wife or fiance to the table at a dinner party, and always arm-in-arm. Husbands and wives (and fiances) were also not seated next to each other at the dining table, primarily to mix up the group dynamics and stimulate conversation. Being as Jack is the invited guest for having saved Rose, it would be acceptable that he should have the honor of escorting her into the dining room. At this point, Cal would hardly consider Jack a serious threat to his relationship with Rose, and would have no reason to object.
4th May 2012
The Avengers (2012)
Question: Was Natalie Portman ever approached to reprise her role as Jane Foster (from Thor) for this film?
Chosen answer: As she was extremely pregnant at the time of shooting, which would have been impossible to hide, it's likely that her participation was never considered seriously. Given the desire to get the film out on their chosen release date, there would have been no question of delaying shooting to include her in what could only have been a minor supporting role at most.
25th Apr 2012
The Howling (1981)
Question: Why did Eddie Quist give Chris his rifle back before transforming? Is it because he wanted to die, or because he (wrongfully) thought the gun would have no effect on him?
Chosen answer: The reason Eddie gave Chris back his rifle before transforming was probably because he thought the gun was loaded with normal bullets. Regular bullets (at least in this movie) do not kill werewolves. This is shown in an earlier scene with Eddie and Karen White when he confronts her about the police raid in the porno theater. The police shoot him down and it was thought that Eddie was dead. However, later it is shown that Eddie had escaped from the morgue. Also, right before transforming, Eddie digs the bullet out of his head. It was likely that Eddie was taunting Chris by daring him to shoot him, thinking that the gun would have no effect on him. What Eddie didn't know was that Chris had loaded the rifle with silver bullets, which are deadly to werewolves. If you look closely, you can see the shock on Eddie's face when Chris shoots him in the throat.
20th Apr 2012
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Question: On the rollercoaster, why did Rusty say to the guard that Clark killed Aunt Edna? He had nothing to do with her death.
Chosen answer: Rusty was just being an ass. That's his character, him and his dad are usually going at one another. They really play up this relationship in European vacation.
Answer: Maybe, too, because he inadvertently killed her dog so maybe that killed her, too.
4th Apr 2012
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Question: Does anyone know who really sketched the picture of Allison's bridge? I doubt that it was Ally Sheedy, but I could be wrong.
Chosen answer: It was said in the movie commentary that the drawing was the work of digital editing.
25th Mar 2012
The Hunger Games (2012)
Question: When Katniss is attacked by Clove after she takes the bag, why didn't she grab the knife she had (the one she cut the tracker-jacker nest's branch with) and use that instead of trying to fight her bare-handed?
Answer: She shows little to no competence with a knife. Katniss' ideal weapon is a bow, and she would not learn much on how to use a knife in the training time, especially as we have seen her do various other things in training. Though she could be able to cut off a still branch that in and of itself can't fight back, here she is dealing with a moving, killing opponent. She just might not know how to fight with a knife, or not be confident enough to do so.
13th Mar 2012
Licence to Kill (1989)
Question: After Sanchez has killed Krest, he goes to Bond and pays him for his information. Bond then says to him something like "only one man? No one would go after you alone." Did this mean that Bond was trying to get Sanchez to kill all his own men? Seems a bit ambitious to me.
2nd Feb 2012
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Question: Are there any actual restaurants like Jack Rabbit Slim's out there, where booths are done up like cars? I know the restaurant they filmed in was torn down afterwards and I can't find anything online, so any help would be appreciated.
Chosen answer: Disney World has one.
18th Nov 2011
Batman (1989)
Question: Probably a dumb question, but when I first saw this film.I thought that the opening scene where a young family is mugged in an alleyway was supposed to be a flashback to when a young Bruce Wayne lost his parents. Of course we know it isn't, but is that what the filmmakers wanted us to think. Or was it just my way of thinking?
Chosen answer: It foreshadows what will be learned about what happened to Bruce Wayne's family and what set Batman on his path.
Answer: It's not just you. No matter how many times I watch I find it refreshing that this Batman movie doesn't start off by making us watch Bruce's parents get murdered for the dozenth time. But fans of the character definitely would have fallen for it in the theater, so it's like a clever inside joke for their benefit, I think.
18th Nov 2011
1408 (2007)
Question: Do continuity mistakes really count for this film considering it is a haunted room and one could say that the room itself is moving things around or manipulating objects?
17th Nov 2011
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Question: Has there ever been a backstory written for Jaws? I would love to know where he came from, and how he came to be, so I was wondering if there has ever been one written, and where I can find it.
Chosen answer: Yes, there was a backstory for the character of Jaws in Christopher Wood's novelisation of the film "James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me", not to be confused with the Ian Fleming novel.
8th Nov 2011
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Question: How does the Liparus explode and sink at the end? After the nuclear subs have been destroyed, the ship just starts blowing up for no apparent reason. Was there any explanation for it?
Chosen answer: When the nuclear subs have been destroyed, there's an explosion in the control room, and one of the men cries out "Fuel tank!" Liparus has numerous internal fires raging after the battle with her crew. These uncontrolled fires eventually spread to her fuel tanks and ammo storages, one of which explodes in a huge fireball and finally causes Liparus to sink.
I thought the final explosions that sank the Liparus were deliberate self destruction after completing the mission in an attempt to destroy any evidence, rather like when Bolfeld manually triggers explosives after being thwarted in You Only Live Twice.
Liparus sinks slowly, and that would leave her crew plenty of time to evacuate. Angry and armed crew with a grudge against Stromberg.
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Chosen answer: First, it is hard to know whether he actually died and was revived, or possibly got so close to dead that the scientists simply assumed he had died and called it. But it was not a ploy. His link to the flower reflects his dying condition. As he died, so did the flower.
Garlonuss ★