Sierra1

8th Sep 2016

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Question: How does seeing Phelps on the train on his watch via Ethan's glasses camera make Kittridge reach the conclusion that Phelps is the mole and Job? He thought Ethan was the mole the whole time, and Ethan didn't really help his case by telling Kittridge on the phone at Liverpool Street station about how arresting his mother and his uncle was a huge mistake, when Ethan has been trying to clear his name the whole time.

Answer: Kittridge may still have suspected Ethan, but the point of the glasses and watch was to show him that Phelps was still alive, throwing the whole case open again. Ethan would have been cleared in the eventual investigation.

20th Jul 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Question: If Kylo Ren idolizes his grandfather, Darth Vader, why did he turn to the dark side? If Luke was the one who trained him, surely he would've told Kylo that Darth Vader redeemed himself at the end of ROTJ after saving Luke and killing the Emperor.

Answer: He would have to have taken Luke's word that Vader was redeemed as there were no witnesses who survived - Snoke may well have convinced him that Luke was lying to him. The Dark Side is predicated on lies.

28th Jun 2016

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Question: How does Splinter know who shredder is? It's established that his first memories are from the lab so that's how he knows Eric Sacks is a bad guy and April saved them, but how does Splinter know Sacks is working for the foot and is connected to shredder? He even knows shredder trained Sacks as a boy, but this was in Japan, 20 to 30 years before Splinter was around.

Answer: Sacks told April that he was raised in Japan by a local sensei, and that he shared the lessons he learnt with her father. Splinter would have overheard Sacks mention his master at the lab, as well as when O'Neil discovered what he was up to with Project Renaissance and his connection to Shredder and the Foot Clan.

1st Jun 2016

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

Question: How come in First Blood, Rambo went out of his way to subdue his enemies non-lethally like Batman, but in the sequels he just killed everyone?

Chosen answer: Probably because the first film is set in the United States, and Rambo's opponents are non-military, but the sequels are set in Asia and the opponents are "foreign" (mostly Soviet) soldiers.

20th Jun 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Question: What does Kylo Ren mean when he tells Rey "Don't be afraid. I feel it, too"? I thought he meant the Force, but Rey has seen him use the Force by now, so it would be strange to for him to inform her that he can feel it.

Answer: Kylo Ren is referring to an unexpected connection through the Force between them. He thinks this will make it easier for him to read Rey's mind, but it actually allows her to block him and read his mind.

7th Jun 2016

La Confidential (1997)

Question: What made Vincennes and Exley think Smith was Rollo Tomasi? Surely it wasn't just because he was a criminal.

Chosen answer: As he died, Vincennes mentioned the name "Rollo Tomasi" to Smith because he knew he would follow it up, which would reveal to Exley that he was with with Vincennes when he was killed. Exley did not really think Smith was Tomasi (the purse snatcher who shot his father), but when Smith asked him about the name, he knew he had killed Vincennes. The nickname also fit because Smith had been getting away with his crimes, as "Tomasi" had.

30th May 2016

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Question: In the final fight between T-850 and the new T-X, there is a nuclear explosion. But this is not behind the shelter door, it explodes under the door. How could John and Kate survive such a massive nuclear explosion?

Chosen answer: The explosion isn't massive, it is caused by the T-850's hydrogen fuel cell. The T-850 throws its damaged first cell out of the car window earlier, and it causes a mini mushroom cloud but not the same as a true hydrogen bomb, which would have destroyed their car.

30th May 2016

Fawlty Towers (1975)

The Builders - S1-E2

Question: After Manuel has been punched by the builder, there is a close-up of the telephone receiver, and we hear Basil say something that ends in "thank you very much." What does Basil say?

Answer: Basil says "Well done, Manuel, thank you very much."

6th May 2016

Speed (1994)

Question: On the phone conversation, Howard Payne claims that it took him two full years of his life setting up that elevator job and investing himself in it. So how is he able to move out of his old retirement home and relocate in an apartment building in downtown LA near Pershing Square, rig 2 city buses with a handheld remote with C4 bombs, rig his old home, cut the hole on the street underneath the garbage can and think of that revenge plot and plan and set up everything else in just a month. That's just not enough time for him to do all that.

Answer: Apart from setting the bombs and a camera on the buses, the rest of the setup (the apartment, booby-trapped house, hole under the garbage can) could have been part of the elevator job, which Payne just re-used.

8th Apr 2016

The Great Escape (1963)

Question: Who is the actor playing the very tall cooler guard? Has he appeared in any other films?

Answer: His name is Trevor Wood, apparently rather than acting again, he went on to become a solicitor and partner in several London law firms.

30th Mar 2016

Daredevil (2015)

A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen - S2-E13

Question: When Frank returns to his home, he has to push through a pile of mail to open the door. He then walks into the kitchen, sits down at the table, and picks up a newspaper that reads "Frank Castle Dead." Where did the fresh paper come from? Obviously Frank didn't leave it, and it must have been put there within the last few days.

Chosen answer: Castle picks up the newspaper from the pile of mail and carries it to the table. There don't seem to be other newspapers in the pile, and there should be more given how long he was away, so perhaps only that issue was put through the mail slot. Karen may have done it, but she seems to still think he was dead at that stage.

28th Feb 2016

Up (2009)

Question: How old is Charles Muntz when Carl and Russell encounter him? When Carl was a kid, Charles appeared to be an old man. But, with the rest of the movie showing Carl at the age of 78, that would make Charles well over 100. How is he still alive?

Answer: According to writer/director Pete Docter, Carl was 9 and Muntz was 23, so if Carl is 78 in the rest of the film, that would make Muntz about 92.

18th Feb 2016

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Question: The lightsaber Anakin wields in this film is described as being his first lightsaber, so why does he say "Not again!" when it's destroyed in the Geonosis factory?

Chosen answer: Because he dropped it earlier while chasing Zam Wesell on Coruscant. Obi-Wan caught it that time and scolded him for losing it.

8th Feb 2016

Life of Pi (2012)

Question: What does Pi mean when he says "there was no question"?

Answer: He means that he is so hungry and thirsty, there is no other option than to create an opening to the tiger's den to access supplies.

3rd Feb 2016

Overboard (1987)

Question: I know one of the dogs is named Jackson, but what is the other's name?

Answer: The other dog is called Buster.

She calls him "Rover."

26th Jan 2016

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Question: How was Ethan successful in getting touch with Luther Stickell? Was it the from list Ethan was checking of the disavowed agents?

Chosen answer: Yes, Ethan accesses the disavowed category of the IMF personnel database to recruit Stickell and Krieger. Even if their locations were not there, Ethan is shown to be very resourceful and could have worked out how to find or contact them.

26th Jan 2016

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

Question: When Bourne interrogates Nikki (under duress) in the underground station, Nikki insists that Bourne had never worked in Berlin, much less completed his first mission there. But it is established that Bourne had killed the Neskis in Berlin on what is described by Conklin as his first mission. Assuming Nikki has no reason to lie and that she would have accurate information about Bourne's activities, what might explain that issue?

Chosen answer: Conklin ordered Bourne to kill the Neskis, telling him it was a training mission, when in fact it was an unofficial, off-the-books assignment to cover up his and Abbott's corrupt dealings with Gretkov, which Neski was about to expose. Nicky did not know about this Berlin mission as it was not an official Treadstone operation.

Conklin did not tell Bourne that it was a training mission. Conklin told Bourne "this is not a drill soldier...this is a live project, you're a go."

Partially correct. After Bourne eliminates the Neskis, Conklin says "Congratulations soldier, training is over." This implies that while the mission was real, Bourne was still an asset in training, and off the books.

By "not a drill" and "live project", Conklin is telling Bourne to actually kill the Neskis - like killing the hooded man for Hirsch, it's training him to do anything for Treadstone. It could be that the edit is out of chronological order, but the order of the scenes implies that after Bourne has done the job and returned to the car, Conklin says "Congratulations, soldier. Training is over."

Answer: Conklin was using Bourne for an off-book hit on the Neskis because Neski knew about the stolen money and the oil leases. Bourne was told it was a genuine "hit" for patriotic purposes, but it was not.

3rd Feb 2016

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Question: When Bourne and Marie arrive at his Paris apartment, Bourne phones a hotel to inquire if a 'Jason Bourne' was a guest there. When told no, he then asks if his other alias - John Michael Kane - was registered. He is told by hotel staff that Mr. Kane has been killed in an accident. (This is before Treadstone's Rome operative tries to eliminate Bourne in the apartment.) So I'm guessing this first report of Kane's accidental death had been arranged by Treadstone? To cover Bourne's trail to Wombosi's yacht?

Chosen answer: That's correct. Nicky arranged for a substitute corpse to appear as if "John Michael Kane" had died in a motorcycle accident, to cover up the connection to Bourne's mission once Treadstone realised Bourne had failed and disappeared. However, Wombosi saw the body at the morgue and deduced the deception, and Bourne later discovered that body is "taken" by the brother so deduced that it's a setup all together.

21st Jan 2016

La Confidential (1997)

Question: How was the Mexican girl connected to the story? The three Night Owl suspects abused her and then burned their blood-stained clothes. She is found tied up at a house (why?), and later she says "Would anyone care that they raped a Mexican girl if they hadn't killed those white people at the Night Owl? I did what I had to do for justice." What does she mean?

Chosen answer: Inez's statement that they left her at midnight meant the suspects had time to commit the Nite Owl massacre at 1am. However when Exley questions her about the time, she implies that she only said that so they would be in the frame for the Nite Owl and would be arrested (and likely killed) by the police. No one would care about her rape, so she indirectly accused them of the killings "for justice".

7th Jan 2016

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Question: How do James Bond and Camille Montes manage to get back from the sinkhole to La Paz? They're in the middle of the desert with no water or access to shelter - you would have thought that the chances of hitching a lift would be slim.

Chosen answer: They find a whole dam full of water in the sinkhole, so that isn't a problem. The sinkhole is an old river bed, and there is a village nearby which they walk to in a few hours, then they catch a bus to La Paz from the village.

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