killin_kellit

Question: In the beach scene, they keep talking about something called "dog one exit". What is "dog one"?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: The Allied forces identified five heavily-defended "exits" off Omaha Beach, which had to be cleared in order for the invasion to proceed inland: Dog One, Dog Three, Easy One, Easy Three and Fox One. The real Dog One was a road off the beach, although the movie portrays it as a stepped footpath.

Sierra1

24th Feb 2006

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Question: If Mr. Orange had not been killed would have he had to face charges for shooting the woman in the car, despite being a cop on an infiltration job?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: There would definitely have been an investigation. But it was also self defence and /or a reflex action of being shot himself. Also he could claim that Mr. White shot her.

Soylent Purple

Forensics would prove him wrong if he attempted to implicate Mr. White for the shooting.

Chosen answer: Esteban disfigured her as punishment for her trying to leave his employ.

Grumpy Scot

Question: In the scenes that take place in Japan, they sometimes speak English and sometimes Japanese, sometimes even a line in English following a reply in Japanese or vice versa. It was made clear that The Bride can speak and understand Japanese, so why do they keep switching languages like that?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: There is nothing to say exactly why its mixed up, but films using foreign languages can approach it in three different ways. Have it all in English and apply accents to the characters, which avoids subtitles. Make it more authentic by having it in the native language but subject people to subtitles (which is never a commerically popular decision) or mix the characters' speech with having the characters speak some English and some of the native language. This keeps some authenticity and avoids having the entire film in a foreign language. Films like The Godfather are examples of using both English and a foreign language.

Lummie

24th Feb 2006

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Question: This one applies to many gangster/action movies but, what is the idea of pulling the firing pin back manually when getting ready to fire your gun?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: It depends what you mean. On a revolver, pulling the trigger will pullback the hammer and release it. But if you pull the hammer back manually, then only a small touch is needed on the trigger to fire that first shot. On an automatic, the first round must be chambered from the magazine (by manually pulling the slide back), each subsequent shot will do this automatically. On some weapons such as a Colt .45, the hammer MUST be pulled back (either manually, or from the previous shot). Generally speaking, they do it in films as a threat. For some reason film makers think this is more threatening then just having a loaded gun pointed in your face.

Soylent Purple

16th Dec 2005

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Question: About "the gimp" in Maynard's store. Who/what was it exactly? And why was he sleeping inside a box?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: We're never told and it's never explained who he is. Zed and the other guy in the pawn shop make him sleep in the box. He's their sex prisoner.

Jane Doe

17th Nov 2005

The Rock (1996)

Question: In the opening scene, when Hummel passes the four soldiers in the graveyard he salutes them but they pay him no attention, even though he is a general. I was thinking it could have been because they are taking part in the funeral procession, even though Hummel probably couldn't tell that, as they weren't carrying the coffin anymore at that point. Also, it seems a bit strange for a funeral as they're not victims' family or any other participants. Is there any explanation for this?

killin_kellit

Answer: When marching with a rifle a soldier rests the rifle on the right shoulder. In order to salute with the rifle the soldier holds the rifle vertically, with both hands, in front of himself/herself. This is known as "present arms." As the Honor Guard is approaching the General you can see them move their weapons to the present arms position and hold them there until the General returns their salute.

Chosen answer: I'm no expert on military protocol, but those soldiers (marines?) are marching with their rifles as part of some tradition or honour guard, and so are probably not required to salute.

Soylent Purple

Negative on that they present arms with their rifles.

21st Sep 2005

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Chosen answer: It's a shortened version of the Latin phrase 'Semper Fidelis', which means 'always faithful'.

Tailkinker

15th Aug 2005

Black Hawk Down (2001)

Question: In the film they are referring to the Somalians as "skinnies". Can anyone confirm if this was the actual name used by Americans to call the locals in Somalia in the 1993 conflict?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: My source is one of the real life members of the Black Hawk crew and he tells me that the Somalians were indeed regularly called "Skinnies", as well as "Smallies" and, unfortunately, the "N" word, too. He is not proud of this, but said in the spirit of truth and honesty felt this was the best answer to this question and hopes sincerely no-one finds this offensive. Additionally, the term "Skinnies" itself comes from Starship Troopers, a 1959 book that has become required reading for the modern US Military (and which was also made as a movie in 1997). The word references the alien antagonists in the book.

OneHappyHusky

3rd Aug 2005

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Question: When the ship where Dorie Miller is serving gets torpedoed and the captain is about to die, Dorie tells him "You trained us well". This line has always confused me. Does he mean the captain has trained each of the crew members?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: More of a "you have been a great role model and taught/showed us the proper way to act". He was reassuring the Captain.

shortdanzr

3rd Aug 2005

Star Wars (1977)

Question: How was it possible for Vader to survive when his ship was dashed out into space from the Death Star before it was destroyed? When the TIE fighter crosses Millennium Falcon Obi-Van says "A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own" and "It would be as well to let it go, it's too far out of range" and Vader's ship is about the same size. Could we assume his ship was some sort of special long-range fighter, or that he was lucky enough to reach an imperial base or catch up with a convoy?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: Vader's ship was a prototype of the TIE-Advanced, an enhanced model that ultimately proved too expensive to be mass-produced. Part of the reason for that expense was that the fighter was equipped with a hyperdrive, allowing Vader to reach safety with little trouble.

Tailkinker

Question: How come it takes such a long time for the Super Star destroyer to be able to catch the Millennium Falcon in the tractor beam? In episode 4 when Millennium Falcon is captured by the Death Star, it is caught in the tractor beam immediately, and from a much greater distance. I understand the plot requires the Millennium Falcon to escape, but this seems a bit illogical.

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: The sheer size of the Death Star and its colossal power generators would allow it to have a much more powerful tractor beam than any capital ship would be capable of supporting, giving it much greater range. The Millenium Falcon was caught quickly because they were unaware of what they were approaching - by the time they realised, they were already captured. With the Star Destroyer, they're aware of its presence and can take steps to avoid a tractor beam lock-on.

Tailkinker

21st Jun 2005

The Rock (1996)

The Rock mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Nicolas Cage drives through the window in the yellow Ferrari and the shot changes, he is coming out from a different window than in the first shot. In the first shot he emerges from the window to the left of the 7th Street Garage storefront ('Classic Autos' written on the window), but next shot he emerges from the window to the storefront's right. Also, note the now glassless window to the storefront's left, due to a previous take.

killin_kellit

20th Jun 2005

The Rock (1996)

Question: What is the purpose of the special gear given to Mason? He uses them to kill the bad guy later in the movie but he was just there to lead the way and wasn't meant to take part in any action, so is there any other reason why he was given them?

killin_kellit

Answer: He led them to believe he needed it to break in.

Chosen answer: He wasn't meant to be involved in any action, but being SAS-trained he could defend himself if needed. He was given the equipment just in case.

Question: In the battle of Hoth, when Han and Leia are at the command center, we hear a voice saying "Imperial troops have entered the base" but this happens before General Veers has destroyed the power generator. How is it possible for them to enter when the shield is still up?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: The shield prevents ship from landing close to the base and stops any orbital bombardment; it's not designed to prevent actual entry to the base. As such, the Imperial Walkers were landed a long way out, then they simply walked in under the shield, much as the probe droid did earlier. The ground troops simply came in with the walkers, disembarked and entered the base - the shield wasn't in their way.

Tailkinker

It got corrected on the 4K release.

Question: What happens to the clone army between episodes III and IV? I assume they are not the same as the Imperial forces in the original Star Wars movies (unless they got new ships, uniforms, etc.).

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: You assume incorrectly, I'm afraid, it's the same army. Their equipment has evolved over the twenty-year period between the films, as you would expect to happen. The main change to the ground forces is that the stormtroopers from episodes 4 to 6 are conventionally recruited troops rather than clones (which may account for their apparently decreased effectiveness) - very few, if any, of the original clone troopers would still be alive, given the levels of combat that they've seen and their accelerated aging process. The only faction where only the original clones remain is the 501st Legion, otherwise known as Vader's Fist. They were the clones who helped Anakin overthrow and destroy the Jedi Temple.

Tailkinker

26th May 2005

The Rock (1996)

Question: During the SEAL team raid on the rock, they are using two "decoy choppers" which fly towards Alcatraz. What is the point of this? Wouldn't it be easier to just have the transport chopper fly all the way to drop zone under radar coverage?

killin_kellit

Chosen answer: Alcatraz is small enough and out in the middle of the bay that any lookout in a high point could see and hear a chopper, no matter where it approached from. The idea of the decoys was to split any enemy fire received. The whole insertion of SEALS was absurd, in a real situation like that, the SEALS would have been inserted by submarine or used dive motors to pull themselves to the island.

Grumpy Scot

21st Apr 2005

The Rock (1996)

Continuity mistake: When the SEAL team is onboard "Raider one" the pilot says "we're going dark" and SEAL commander gives them order to turn nightvision on. However, when camera shows the chopper from outside, there is a beacon light flashing in its tail. Trained Navy SEALS would never overlook this detail under any circumstances.

killin_kellit

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