Gavin Jackson

Question: I've always found it odd that although Wallyworld is closed, the car park is still open and accessible. Is this normal for closed US parks, or could it be considered a goof?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: The parking lot is huge. There's really not any way to close the lot itself, but even if there were gates, Clark would probably have been oblivious to them by then.

Chosen answer: Why would he? It is hardly unusual for a person to never mention a past relationship with someone if they were particularly hurt, angered, or disappointed, resulting in them acting as if that person never existed. It can often come as a surprise to others to learn that a friend or relative had some prior relationship they never knew about.

raywest

8th Jun 2011

Fawlty Towers (1975)

The Anniversary - S2-E5

Question: When Polly is laying in bed disguised as Mrs Fawlty, was that really Prunella scales playing that part? I was wondering as Polly as a more thinner face than Sybil and could never have really got away with it.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Indeed it is Polly. She has stuffings in her mouth to pretend she is swollen.

Mortug

24th May 2011

Star Wars (1977)

Question: What did Obi-Wan mean when he said to Vader "You can't win, Vader. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine"? Also when he said "Strike me down", did he specifically mean taking Obi-Wan's life?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Yes, he meant take Obi-Wan's life. By killing him, Vader would release Obi-Wan from his body allowing him to follow and advise Luke wherever he goes.

Phixius

I believe that Obi-wan would also win because he was willing to "let go" in this situation. Helping Luke was more important than destroying Vader right now.

7th Apr 2011

Robocop (1987)

Question: I have two questions about this film. Firstly, was Clarence Boddicker killing cops simply cause he was crazy, or was he doing it under orders from Dick Jones (so he could get his ED-209's online faster)? And secondly, why was Clarence at the drug factory? I always assumed that he was purchasing drugs, but his conversation with the owner didn't mention this. Also it was a lot of money, and he never struck me as that much of a user. Any other reason?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: In part yes. By killing cops along the way, made more of a case for getting the ED-209's brought into service sooner. Clarence was at the drug factory to buy drugs, presumably to sell on for profit and fund his criminal activities.

GalahadFairlight

Answer: Robocop asserts to Sgt. Reed during booking that Boddicker is a "Cop killer" so it's to be assumed he is a ruthless and notorious criminal. Clarence was at the drug factory to form an alliance and partnership with Sal. Clarence has the man power, executive protection and the sales organization to potentially triple Sal's distribution income. Clarence would receive the drugs at wholesale and Clarence would mark up prices.

22nd Feb 2011

Black Moon Rising (1986)

Chosen answer: It was both. Wynn, a fine character actor, was suffering from pancreatic cancer while this film was being made. He died in 1986, the same year the film was released.

raywest

5th Oct 2010

Flyboys (2006)

Question: Is it possible to shoot the pilot of an enemy bi-plane in mid-air with a handgun? I would have thought the high wind velocity would have blown the bullet sideways, but I'm hardly an expert.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Biplanes were not very fast in flight. For instance a Sopwith Camel at about 5000 ft altitude had a cruise speed of approximately 100 mph. A Fokker had a cruise speed of about 95 mph. A typical WWI handgun could shoot 830 feet per second. With the distances between the planes as shown in the movie, a bullet could travel between the planes in less than half a second. The pilot would have to lead the target some, but he conceivably could hit the other pilot if close enough.

rswarrior

5th Oct 2010

Chicken Run (2000)

Question: Why didn't Rocky simply tell Ginger at the start that he couldn't fly, instead of dragging everyone through that whole charade. I realise that it was crucial to the plot, but was there any other reason?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Because he wanted them all to have something to look forward to, he didn't want to let them down. Plus Rocky is very bigheaded, it would no doubt be embarrassing for him to admit that he couldn't fly.

THGhost

Answer: The exchange was he would teach them to fly so he could hide out from the circus and he didn't have anything else to offer them.

Answer: Because Rocky is a coward.

Question: When this film was being released, I read a rumour somewhere that Lucas originally wanted actor John Houseman to play Indy's father. Given that at the time Houseman was in his mid-80s and in poor health (He passed away when the film was in production), was there any truth to this story?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Not at least according to the "making of" DVD included in the trilogy box set. According to Spielberg, he always wanted to direct a James Bond film. In Spielberg's thinking, a 1930s action hero could only have one father - James Bond, and also according to Spielberg, he thought only of Connery.

16th Jul 2010

I Am Legend (2007)

Question: Is the scene where Will smith recites all the movie dialogue while it is playing in the original Richard Matheson novel, or was it just a homage to The Omega man (where Charlton Heston does something similar)?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: It's an homage to the Omega Man.

Grumpy Scot

25th May 2010

Avatar (2009)

Question: Why doesn't Jake show any kind of emotion when he watches his brother being cremated at the beginning? I realise that the brother was the higher achiever of the two, but to not show as much as a tear for him seems really odd to me.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: He knew his brother was dead, had been dead for some time. It's likely he'd already done his grieving. Also, he's a marine; he's certainly seen a lot of his comrades fall. Death is part of his way of life.

Phixius

7th May 2010

Creepshow 2 (1987)

Question: Not including the animation sequences, why did this film only have 3 live stories (unlike the original which had 5).

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Beacause the ones from the first ones are short, but the ones from this one are long. So they probly cut it to three to save the budget.

tetracore99

4th Mar 2010

S.W.A.T. (2003)

Chosen answer: Because he was offered a lot of money. $100 million is a lot of money to turn down for someone on a policeman's salary.

LorgSkyegon

4th Mar 2010

Mad Max (1979)

Question: Whatever happened to the 2 cops from the beginning that were in the March hare pursuit vehicle? We never see them again after the beginning. Did they die when their car overturned or what?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Yes, they died. One of the other MFP officers says after the crash that "they're wasted".

11th Feb 2010

Family Ties (1982)

Show generally

Question: Does anyone know which episode it was when Steven decided to grow a beard, or why he decided to grow one? I never watched the show in order and still can't figure out why he suddenly has one in the second half of the show's run.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Steven Keaton (Michael Gross) did not grow the beard for an episode. He grew it between season 1 and season 2 as a character he was playing in an Off-Broadway play. When the show began taping for season 2, it was decided to have him keep it. It never was a plot point on the show.

jairodrigue

11th Feb 2010

Cars (2006)

Chosen answer: Nope, nothing official was ever said. There are very few truly original film storylines these days; a close examination of most films would allow one to swiftly note plot similarities to any one of a number of preceding movies. Both Cars and Doc Hollywood fit neatly in a very standard storyline of an outsider coming into an unfamiliar cultural group, which they learn to appreciate and benefit from, while their presence likewise benefits the group they encounter. While the two are unusually similar, no comment on the subject was ever made.

Tailkinker

28th Jan 2010

War of the Worlds (2005)

Question: Does anyone have any clue as to why the aliens are vapourising people when they first appear? They never seem to do it again after that one scene (instead opting to grab them and drain them). Any help would be appreciated.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: The aliens saw the humans as an immediate threat to their ship getting out from underground, so opted to vaporise anyone in the near vicinity so that it could leave the ground unimpeded.

GalahadFairlight

Answer: In the movie there are 3 different Tripods 1. Fighting Machine 2. Brute (Seen at the ferry coming out of the water) 3. Harvesters which take the humans.

Answer: My guess is that they are in search of a specific blood type needed for the growth of the vines that is why some people are harvested and other people with "useless" blood types are killed off.

Question: Why did Obi-wan say to Luke "You will go to the Dagobah system" as opposed to "You must go"? Was he simply giving him an order? Seems strange considering Luke was very close to freezing to death when he said it.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Obi-wan's one with the Force at this point, so, given that the Force has been shown to grant precognitive visions, he may simply have seen that Luke survives and does go to Dagobah and is telling Luke that he will go there as a statement of fact. Or it could just be a bit poorly worded.

Tailkinker

Question: I actually have two questions about this film. Firstly, does Rambo actually kill anyone in this film? Dennehy doesn't die and he didn't kill Galt so was there anyone else? And secondly when Rambo arrives at the cliff face, why didn't he simply run to his right or left? The police were only coming at him from behind (and even if one of them came from the side, Rambo could have used his skills to get past him). So why did he feel that going down the cliff was his only option?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: No he doesn't kill anyone. He didn't know if he was surrounded or not and if he did encounter one from the side they might have shot him.

Grumpy Scot

9th Nov 2009

Casino Royale (2006)

Question: In this film Bond almost dies when he is poisoned and discovers that his portable defibrillator has a broken wire. My question is, has this been the only time in the entire bond series that a Bond gadget has had a fault and not worked properly, or have there been been other instances?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The defibrillator did not have a fault, due to the fact the Bond nearly falls unconscious he forgot to properly connect both cables to the main device.

Chosen answer: It isn't the first time a Bond gadget didn't work. Most notably, the machine guns mounted on a gyrocopter in You Only Live Twice, and a fake nipple (can't believe I just said that!). It should be noted though that this Bond gadget didn't have a fault, Bond just did not plug the two patches into the Defibrillator, which is what Vesper does when she runs up to the car, thus saving Bond's life.

Answer: In Never Say Never Again, Bond's explosive projectile-shooting pen fires at Fatima Blush, but the projectile that strikes her only explodes after an unexpected delay, leading both her and Bond to assume that it has malfunctioned.

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