Question: Was this film a box office hit, did it flop or simply break even? I have heard nothing about it being a huge money-maker. And of all James Cameron's films, it seems to have gotten the least mention (the controversial strip tease scene might be one reason). So I was wondering if someone could clarify it once and for all?
Answer: There was supposed to be a sequel but after 9/11. Middle East Terrorism seemed in poor taste to James Cameron.
Question: When Woody Harrelson is eating the key lime pie in the opening scene, how exactly was that pie made? It looked more translucent like Jello, as opposed to regular key lime pies, which resemble cheese cake.
Answer: Yes, it definitely does not look like a key lime pie. I suspect that because Woody Harrelson is a strict vegan, that it is a substitute made with vegan ingredients.
Answer: My take: The Key Lime pie Mickey eats in the diner looks cheap and trashy on purpose... a garish trailer park version of that pie. The crust isn't even cooked. I think it has more to do with the demographic theme of the diner patrons rather than Harrelson being a vegan.
Question: At the end when there's a zoom shot of the castle on the water, how was the effect with the water done? Is it real water?
Answer: From what I understand it's done with a method called xeroxography. It's a really good job, I'll agree.
Question: Is removing hands, feet and teeth really sufficient to prevent the corpses being identified? What about DNA?
Answer: Even with head, hands and feet removed, a lot about a person's identity can be determined from body scars, tattoos, body tissue and blood samples, etc. Sex, age, height, weight, body-fat content, race, hair color, and pre-death physical health can all be determined rather easily through traditional means, even given only a torso for examination. Once investigators have a general idea of identity, they can compare their findings to a missing persons database and narrow it down further to likely matches. Then they can request DNA samples from the families of likely missing persons and compare it to the DNA of the corpse. Of course, if the corpse was never reported as missing, that would bring the investigation to a dead-end.
Answer: Identifying a body (or anyone for that matter) through DNA would only work if that person's DNA is already on file and you had something to compare it to (and getting a DNA match is an extensive process that doesn't happen over night despite what some TV shows suggest). I don't know about the UK, but in the US, federal DNA databases didn't really start until 1994. And only a few states started a felon DNA database in the 90's, so it's unlikely Hugo's DNA was on file. It's much more likely that a person's fingerprints or dental records were on file since they were much more common and not exclusive to felons. Again though, those records would have to be on file in order to compare to a body. I don't know if the feet removal was more for the dark comedy aspect or if they thought his feet print were on file and would be viable (i.e. prints taken when he was born in the hospital).
Question: Neal Israel is the writer for the film (and the series) and Richard Israel is in the film (as Adam Sharp). Are they related at all? Or is this just a coincidence of last names?
Answer: They are not related. It is a coincidence.
Question: When the brothers go into the bank for the first time Bill overhears the manager call Sara by her name. Bill then goes over and says "Sara? Sara Collins?" And she says yes, and later she askes Bill if they know each other. He says they do not, and she walks away. But why didn't she ask him how he knew her last name when no one told it to him at the bank?
Answer: She was busy at work and did not care how or why he knew.
Question: Why, in the beginning scene, would they be playing basketball on the rooftop with the hoop set up with no screen or rail to protect them and the ball from going over? The premise makes no sense. (00:00:01 - 00:01:53)
Answer: There is no in-film explanation for this nonsensical scene. It's a dilapidated hoop on a roof, so maybe we can assume there used to be safety netting there at some point, but it has since been removed or destroyed. The real-world answer is the filmmakers wanted the death to be a freak accident. It also had to be something Shep would be legally blamed for (the police thought Shep threw Nutso from the roof) and something that would make Shep feel immense guilt (he bet Nutso couldn't jump higher than he could). And of course, to make it topical to the plot of the film, it also had to occur during a basketball game. This is apparently the best they could come up with, and we are left with a classically ridiculous death scene that makes no sense at all.
Question: Were any of O.J. Simpson's scenes cut due to his then-impending murder trial?
Answer: According to the IMDB, the only scene cut out was an extended version of Norberg and Ed's visiting Dreben near the beginning of the film. So you can assume the rest of Simpson's scenes were left in.
Answer: O.J. Simpson's murder trial wasn't then pending. This movie came out on March 18, 1994. Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered on June 12, 1994. In fact, O.J., Nicole and their kids attended the premiere of Naked Gun 33 1/3 together.
Question: Is there any reason that for the re-make it was changed from Santa speaking to a little girl in Dutch to him speaking to a girl in sign language? It seemed like it would be less convincing this way, since it would not be uncommon for any department store Santa to know sign language.
Answer: The original Dutch girl was a World War II orphan. That wouldn't make sense in the newer remake. And why wouldn't a Santa know sign language? It would seem more common than Dutch.
Question: In the credits, T. Hawk is listed, I didn't see him anywhere, who is he?
Answer: When Guile storms Shadaloo headquarters with the stealth boat, he is accompanied by Cammy and a hugely modified (in terms of character) T-Hawk. At one point Guile asks about T-Hawk's headband. Being an aid to Guile, T-Hawk is in other scenes, but these are the most obvious.
Question: I remember watching this movie a long time ago and seeing a scene where Clifford gets a walkman after pretending he's deaf and a scene where Clifford and Uncle Martin are out driving looking for "Sneakers", the dog Clifford stole from the airport. I watched this movie many times after that and have never seen these two scenes again. Does anyone know the whereabouts of these scenes or any other information about them?
Chosen answer: There were scenes that were edited into the television edition of the movie, but weren't included in the VHS or DVD edition, and this was one of them. Reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109447/board/thread/49571041.
Question: Was everything Richard Tyler went through real, or was it all just a dream?
Answer: It's hard to say for sure but I think it was just a dream to help him to overcome his fears.
Question: Arsenio Hall is credited for starring in this film. When does he appear and what character does he play? I have seen this movie multiple times and don't recall ever seeing him in it.
Chosen answer: He filmed a fake episode of his talk show for the film. You can see Kevin watching it (it has superheroes Gay Man and Midget Man).
Question: Does anyone know why this is the only Tim Burton film for which Danny Elfman hasn't written the score? All I can think is that time-wise it might have clashed with Black Beauty, but I'd like to know a definite reason.
Chosen answer: According to Tim Burton in an interview at the time, they were "taking a little vacation from each other", - he also said that he was not sure what the situation between them was, which certainly implied a falling out. Danny Elfman is a bit more open, describing what happened as "a family feud" - he says that after working on six films together in ten years, they had a bit of a creative fallout, which led to Howard Shore doing the music for Ed Wood. Afterwards, according to Elfman, they realised that they missed working together and went back to collaborating happily.
Question: At the end, after the Indians leave and Harlow says "Wagons ho", when the wagons are moving, there's a stool thrown into the field from the left of the screen (in my viewing thrown from off-camera). Was there a joke I missed or does someone know who threw it and why?
Answer: It appears to be a woman standing up and reaching for something in her wagon. As the camera pans away, this stool can be seen thrown and landing - breaking apart.
Chosen answer: True Lies did well, earning about $379m worldwide from a $100m+ budget, the first movie to have a production budget that high. It was the third highest grossing movie of 1994.
Jon Sandys ★