Question: Why didn't they make a composite drawing of the suspect?
Answer: Which suspect are you referring to? Several men were suspected of being the Zodiac Killer. The film even cast different actors for different scenes to account for the discrepancies in individual eyewitness accounts. Additionally, this film is based on the real-life case files as well as Robert Graysmith's book, and there does exist a composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer (you can Google it). So if there is a certain suspect whose sketch isn't shown, it could be either that it wasn't shown in the film or it doesn't exist in real life.
Question: Alexander shoots the moose with a rather rapid fire action: it sounds as if the rifle is semi-automatic. What was the true story, and why did Alexander specifically ask for a a cal .22 rifle? Was it because he planned to hunt small game, and knew that a heavier rifle/calibre would be unsuitable? To plan for moose hunting, he would choose something like cal.308.
Answer: Having read Krakauers book: The rifle was a .22 Remington scoped semiautomatic. Accounts at the time mention that this may not have been the best choice, and it is clear that McCandless did not have enough experience to live in the wild, although it is impressing enough that he managed to survive for 16 weeks.
Question: Why would the pretty girl who plays with the trains be married to the obese, immobile Uncle Joey? Also, what is the joke when the old man says "That's Uncle Joey. He works out"?
Answer: Well you don't have to be 'good looking' to be married. Second it is just meant to be ironic when he says "That's Uncle Joey. He works out" because when you work out you're meant to be in good shape but obviously he isn't so it seems in the future working out is what we call now, a slob.
Question: If everyone involved in the scheme knew that Clayton's mother would get in the way and really didn't want to let Jack do the surgery why did they call her to the hospital? Yes she's on the call sheet but couldn't they erase her name of the sheet to make the surgery and scheme go smoother? I mean it's $100 million dollars at stake and they have had a year to plan everything out.
Chosen answer: They still had to follow hospital protocol, they couldn't risk getting into trouble over a technicality at such a critical stage of their plan. Since he had just married Jessica Alba, her rights as his wife now superseded those of his mother, and so as far as the scheming group knew, the mother was essentially powerless to make decisions for her son. They had no way of knowing she would go to the lengths that she did to save him.
Question: Regarding Paul and Eli. Are they actually twin brothers or is Paul an figment of Eli's imagination and Eli schizophrenic? As far as I remember Paul is only mentioned three times. At the beginning when he meets Daniel, when Eli attacks his father (and says 'you are as stupid as Paul!' and at the end, when Daniel mentions him. Are there any other bits I've missed? Or is it left open to interpretation?
Answer: There is nothing in the film to suggest anything other than that they are brothers. Paul sells out his family, takes the money and goes away. It is only natural that they would not want to speak of him later on. Daniel on the other hand, keeps a certain track on Paul, especially since he also got into the oil business and became a minor competitor to Daniel.
Question: I have been trying to obtain a copy of this movie with English subtitles that is available to watch in my region. I live in the UK and I own a Region B Blu-Ray player. This means it can only play Region B Blu-Rays and also Region 2 DVDs. Are there are any versions available in a Region B Blu-Ray or a Region 2 DVD with English subtitles, or places to watch it online with English subtitles?
Answer: Google your player model, you may be able to make it region-free by pressing certain keys in a certain order. The home media of this film has what it says "New and improved English subtitle translation", but it's almost certainly going to be either Region A (Blu-Ray) or Region 1 (DVD). It is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #576. All of this being said this title is showing on CinemaParadiso.co.uk, the DVD rental company, with English subtitles and in Region 2.
Answer: Leigh Allen. Mike Mageau was the only one who had seen him and was still alive. He recognised him at the end of the movie.
Jan Arends
This is what I read online: "In 1991, Mike Mageau identified Arthur Leigh Allen as being the shooter. This identification was the result of Mageau being shown a photo lineup by George Bawart of the Vallejo Police Department. When Bawart asked Mageau why he had never identified Allen in the 20 years Allen had been the top suspect, Mageau said that he had never been shown any pictures of suspects and he had only been asked if he recognized certain names. If Mageau's statement is true, it's probably the biggest law-enforcement blunder of modern times." This would suggest that the police also never made a composite sketch based on Mageau's testimony.
Phaneron ★