Question: Yoda always makes a huge deal about Anakin's age in Episode 2, being too old to start training as a Jedi. Yet in Episode 5, he barely hesitates before training Luke, a full grown man. We are made to think that even a young boy is a lost cause, so wouldn't a man be impossible to train? Unlike Anakin, Luke had never displayed any Force characteristics (except for piloting in the Battle of Yavin).
Tailkinker
27th Oct 2004
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
27th Oct 2004
Star Wars (1977)
Question: Why does Obi-Wan freely admit he is a Jedi, when he is supposedly in hiding from Vader? He sure made no secret of his last name.
Answer: It's a very large galaxy - Vader's hardly going to track down some old hermit living out in the middle of nowhere on a backwards planet based purely on a surname that, for all we know, might be quite a common one, and remember that nobody knows him as 'Obi-wan', only as Ben. The only person that he admits to being a Jedi to is Luke, who's not going to go running to the Empire to turn in a man who was a friend of his fathers. Everyone else seems to regard him as a crazy old hermit, not a Jedi Knight or anything like that. Okay, he cuts loose with his sabre in the Mos Eisley cantina, but (a) he's about to leave the planet anyway and (b) it's not as if he had a lot of choice. By the time that Vader might hear about it, he'll be long gone.
Question: What is the music in the trailer for the film called?
Answer: It was taken from various sources, most notably the films Backdraft and Drop Zone (music by Hans Zimmer) and Danny Elfman's score for Planet of the Apes. There's also a piece of music used called "Voices of War" by X-Ray Dog.
27th Oct 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Question: What is Gollum? I thought he was supposed to have once been a hobbit but what happened to him?
Answer: He was indeed a hobbit, probably of the Stoor sub-race. After the finding of the Ring, he fell under its influence and he took it. The Ring kept him alive, prolonging his life far beyond the norm (he's around 500 years old at the time of the films). His physical change is related to the Ring - the precise mechanism is unclear, but it's most likely due to repeated exposure to the wraithworld that parallels our own; wearers of the Ring are transported at least partially into that world, rendering them invisible in ours. The same process happened with the kings who became the Nazgul.
27th Oct 2004
Scary Movie 3 (2003)
Question: There is something I have always wondered about spoofs: Do they actually get permission from the makers of the films they spoof?
Answer: Nope. Parodies aren't usually covered by copyright laws as they are generally considered to be as example of fair usage, provided that it can be demonstrated that the copyrighted material was used in a manner that is considered to be a commentary, ridicule or criticism of that material.
27th Oct 2004
Star Wars (1977)
Question: Obi-Wan can obviously understand Wookies, since he books passage on the Falcon through Chewie. So why does he never talk to Chewbacca again? It's like they forgot Ben can understand him.
Answer: Just because we don't see him talk to Chewbacca, it doesn't mean that he doesn't off-camera during the trip. The conversations that he has are with either Luke or Han - he could talk to Chewie but, from the storytelling point of view, it would just be extraneous material.
30th Sep 2004
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Question: Considering Luke's severed hand was replaced by one which looks exactly like a normal hand, why does he wear a glove? Is it explained in the books?
Chosen answer: It's explained in the film, although not terribly clearly. Luke's hand takes a direct blast during the fight on Jabba's sailbarge, putting a rather unsightly charred hole in it. As they leave Tatooine, Luke is seen pulling on a glove to cover the hole - he then wears it, I believe, for the remainder of the film. Presumably, with visiting Yoda and all the preparation for the assault on the Death Star, he hasn't had time to go and get it fixed.
Answer: Additionally, from a story standpoint, when Luke cuts off Vader's hand to reveal it to be completely mechanical, he looks at his own gloved hand and is reminded what lays ahead if he turns to the Dark Side. That shot would not have worked as well if he just stared at what appears to be his normal hand, thus they found a reason to put a glove on it early on.
18th Sep 2004
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: What's the whole deal about Captain Hook playing the piano in the bar?
Answer: It's a joke - the concept of a man with a hook for a hand playing the piano, something that requires considerable dexterity, is quite funny.
18th Sep 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: With the Eomer crying question, the answer says that he could be grieving for Gamling. Why would Eomer be so emotional of his uncle's right-hand man?
Answer: After the deaths of their parents when they were very young, Eomer and Eowyn were taken in by Theoden, and grew up in his house. As such, it's quite likely that Eomer has known Gamling for many years and regards him as a close friend, possibly even a brother.
18th Sep 2004
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Question: What style hat does Indiana Jones wear?
Answer: The original Indiana Jones hat was custom-crafted by world-renowned hat maker Herbert Johnson of London, England. It was based on a style of wide-brimmed beaver hat called a "Poet" (this style had already been in production since the 1890s). Using Harrison Ford to model the hat as it was customized, Herbert Johnson deliberately made the crown much taller and more square than a conventional fedora, and they deliberately made the brim an oval shape, narrower on the sides, to accommodate the lighting in profile camera shots. Herbert Johnson made 45 identical customized Poet hats for the original Indiana Jones films, including hats for Harrison Ford's stand-ins and stunt-men. The Jones-style Poet hats became so popular that Swaine Adeney Brigg continues making them to order to this day. Http://www.swaineadeneybrigg.com/store/herbert-johnson/poet-hat/poet-hat.
18th Sep 2004
Seven (1995)
Question: Okay, I don't get what happened to Victor exactly. Was he tortured? I get that his fingers were somehow used for fingerprints, but I don't get what else. And if he was (technically) still alive, why would all of those air fresheners seen in his room be necessary? What was done to him to make him be only technically alive? And - which victim was he and do we learn what exactly he'd done to earn the killer's malice?
Answer: John Doe simply strapped him to the bed for a very long time, keeping him alive while his body wasted away. Even though Victor isn't dead, the smell would probably be pretty horrendous - he won't have washed for a year and parts of him would start to decompose, hence the need for the air fresheners, to avoid the stench drawing unwelcome attention prematurely. The psychological effect on Victor would be horrific - trapped, unable to move, at the total mercy of a lunatic, fed only enough to keep him just above the point of death. There would have been no mental stimulation at all, except to wait in fear for Doe's next visit - Victor's mind would have snapped long before he was found. His body was alive, barely, but any capacity for rational thought would be long gone. Victor was the Sloth victim, hence the method of killing him by trapping him in a bed. His crimes were listed by Somerset (Freeman) once his prints are matched up. He's the drug dealer John Doe (Spacey) mentions in the car at the end.
Answer: Doe was forcing Sloth to continue his stagnant life, as attrition.
Answer: I believe that Doe had Victor drugged constantly as well, contributing to the mind-mushing.
18th Sep 2004
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Question: They use a pinch in this movie to cut the power. How does a pinch actually work? Why did they need one in this film?
Chosen answer: They needed to shut off the power in order to turn off the detectors in the lift-shaft. There was no way to do that locally, so shutting down the entire city was the only option, using an EMP, a massive wave of electromagnetic energy that disrupts electrical equipment. In real life, pinches are generally used to create high-intensity X-rays for scientific study, and they're very large - much larger than the one seen in the film. It is true that they cause electromagnetic interference when fired, but nothing like on the scale seen in the film. However, given that the only source of an EMP with the strength to really black out the whole place would be a nuclear explosion, it's understandable that the makers of the film decided to play around with the laws of physics a bit.
1st Sep 2004
Armageddon (1998)
16th Sep 2004
Ella Enchanted (2004)
Question: Anyone know when or if this film's released in the UK?
Answer: According to the IMDb, it's currently slated to be released here on December 17th.
16th Sep 2004
Blackadder (1986)
Question: Can anyone hear the (heavily slurred) words of the ending song in this episode - or is it just random garbage?
Chosen answer: Black Adder couldn't hold his beer. The art of boozing he's not mastered. And I, your merry balladeer, Am also well and truly plastered. Black Adder, Black Adder, a bit like Robin Hood. Black Adder, Black Adder, but nothing like as good. Black Ad(hic), Black Adder, I thought that he had died. Black Adder, Black Adder, our writers must have lied.
Question: Does anyone know where I can get the plans for the Black Pearl? If not, maybe the HMS Dauntless? And what is the status of those ships? (i.e. blown up, put away, etc.).
Answer: Neither ship existed - they were both shells, built over large barges. The only real ship was the Interceptor, in reality named the Lady Washington, and even that was modified for the film. The Black Pearl was modelled on a real ship that stands in a museum in Stockholm.
16th Sep 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Question: On the way to Helm's Deep, Theoden is riding Snowmane. After the battle with the Wargs and the company finally arrives inside the great fortress, Theoden dismounts off of a brown horse...where did Snowmane go?
Answer: Snowmane was presumably either killed during the battle against the Wargs and their riders, or injured to the extent that Theoden didn't want to risk riding him.
Answer: Snowmane definitely wasn't dead. He rode Snowmane to the battle of Pelennor fields.
16th Sep 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: Is it true that Cirdan the Shipwright can be seen near the end of the movie? If so, which actor plays Cirdan?
Answer: It's true, yes, you can see him, standing on the dock at the Grey Havens, behind Galadriel, Elrond and Celeborn. He's also seen in the prologue to the Fellowship of the Ring - he's the elder of the two male elves who possess Rings (the other being Gil-galad). Cirdan was played by Michael Elsworth.
16th Sep 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: Does anyone know what exactly happens to Shmi (Anakin's mum) while enslaved by the Tusken Raiders or is this something that George Lucas leaves for us to ponder.
Answer: She's been very badly treated - quite possibly tortured, maybe to gain information about the farm in preparation for a possible Tusken raid. She's not a young woman, who's led a pretty rough life, and her body's simply given up on her - from what's said, it's remarkable that she held out as long as she did.
3rd Sep 2004
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Question: There is a scene partway through the movie when Marianne is playing and singing, the first time Colonel Brandon sees her. What song is she singing, and where can I find music for it?
Answer: The lyrics come from a poem called "Weep You No More, Sad Fountains" - it was set to music specifically for the film by Patrick Doyle. There is sheet music available for this piece here: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/selections-from-sense-and-sensibility-sheet-music/2923004. As far as I know, you have to buy both 'The Dreame' and 'Weep You No More Sad Fountains', but they are both here.
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Answer: In Episode 1, he's clearly reluctant to train Anakin at all, obviously sensing something that troubles him. The age issue may have been something of a smokescreen, but it is clear that Jedi training starts at a very early age - Anakin is well past that age already. With training Luke in Episode 5, what other choice does Yoda have? If the Emperor and Vader are to be brought down, it's pretty much Luke, Leia (who obviously has the same age issues) or nobody.
Tailkinker ★