Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: If the witches were being hung outside the house when Winifred's book showed her how to cast the life spell, where did the black flame candle and its instructions come from?

Answer: They were set up, beforehand, just in case. Winnifred knew about the spell, but she didn't memorize the incantation. So she needed the book to see how to cast it.

Phixius

If you pause the movie, you will see that the book opened up to the Black Flame Candle spell.

Question: According to the mistakes page, there's a shot of the Death Star hangar in the original theatrical version and a crew member walks in then realises he's in shot and walks back out. I have got the original on DVD and have searched each hangar shot and can't find it. Anyone help?

Answer: It may have been edited out for the DVD release. They clean up things like that on DVD.

Phixius

Question: Why exactly does the radio in the movie (and the game) react with static when a monster approaches? I've never been able to figure this out.

Answer: It's either simply the same phenomenon explored in the film "White Noise," or it could be Dark Alessa warning them. She doesn't want the mother to be killed; but she does need to refine the mother's will, for the final conrontation with Christabella, with tests of emotional and physical endurance.

Phixius

Question: At the end of the movie, Jennifer asks Doc about the note she got from the future that became erased when Marty did not participate in the race with Needles. Doc's answer to her question is that her future had not been written yet, and he goes on to say that no-one's future has been, but if that is so, then how come in the previous movies he could travel into the future with Marty to see Marty's future?

Answer: What they saw was one possible future, not a definitively laid down one - one of the key plot devices in the series is that making changes in the past will affect the future. As such, what Doc's saying is that, while they've seen one possible future, actions that they take in the present can change it for the better (or worse).

Tailkinker

Question: What is the significance of that guy at the gas station, as he closes the door on the cannibals' truck, is he one of the inbred family or what?

Answer: The chosen answer is incorrect. In part 2, the old man turns out to be one of them. He tells Dale, you killed my boy! The 3 cannibals are his sons.

Answer: Both answers are correct. In the first movie, it isn't clear what the old man's relationship to them is, but is implied they leave him alone in exchange for leading people to them. In the second movie, its established that he is their father. However, if you're going by the first movie alone, he does appear to be afraid of them, which is why he shuts the garage door when he sees their truck approaching.

Answer: He is frightened of them, which is why he hides when they go by. He allows unwary travelers to encounter the crazies as a means of protecting himself. So, they leave him alone in return. But, apparently, it doesn't do much to dissuade his fear.

Phixius

Answer: This is hard to understand. In the first movie he is scared of them. In the second movie and its sequels and prequels he is helping them and caring for them.

Question: What is a "Panama" from the boat explosion scene?

Answer: "Panama" is their nickname for the escape tactic employed which caused the boat to explode. As they said in the movie, it is so named because the first time they tried this stunt they thought they were in Panama.

Phixius

Question: What purpose (if any) do those tiny blades that flip out near the hilt of the Kurgan's sword?

Answer: You can lock your opponent's blade in there. It's good for disabling, disarming, and if you've got the leverage, breaking their blade.

Phixius

Question: I own a copy of the DVD, and the cover says "We're back". Why does it say this? It's the first film.

Answer: The movie was originally released in theaters in June of 1984. It was released again to theaters in August of 1985 with the "We're Back" ad campaign. When Gremlins was released on video in 1999, they used the more recent "We're Back" artwork.

Myridon

Question: What does Hank mean when he tells Nora (in the car) that he's sure paying for her family?

Answer: He is paying for her family in an emotional way. He wants to be with Nora but has to put up with the young kid's antics.

William Bergquist

Question: Heres something I never quite understood. Back in One-eyed Willie's day it seems they were Spanish speaking. What with the Spanish Armada and all. So why is it that the Treasure Map is written in Spanish, but rhymes in English?

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: Well, his ship is hidden in America where the people spoke english, so perhaps it was done for the benefit of those who were most likely to find the map. Must have been his idea of a joke.Actually though, I'm betting it was the result of the filmmakers not thinking that through.

Phixius

Question: If Matthew and his partner are paid so little, how does he afford the high-tech equipment in his apartment? I doubt that whoever made his sleeping-pod thing would have accepted sports equipment in payment.

Julie Wegner

Chosen answer: They accept whatever payment their poorer clients can offer. That doesn't mean they *don't* get clients who can pay the going rate for legal representation.

Phixius

Question: When the Brian and Roman are telling each other to shut up, in the scene by Verone's pool, Monica comes over and as she sits down, she mouths something to Brian. What does she say?

Answer: It looks like she says "Hi" but she says it so quietly it is not picked up by a microphone. Also, if you turn the volume up, you can sort of make out, "Hi" as her lips move.

Thomas Ryder

Chosen answer: Yes you can. Quoting from Drugs.com: "Symptoms of a nicotine overdose include nausea; vomiting; watering mouth; diarrhea; abdominal pain; cold sweat; headache; dizziness; disturbed hearing and vision; confusion; weakness; weak, irregular heartbeats; chest pain; seizures; and death."

Kevin Hall

Question: Tim Russ' (brief appearance) is listed on IMDB as "Enterprise-B Tactical Lieutenant". I'm not enough of a Trekkie to know - would it be feasible for him to be Tuvok? How long is it supposed to be in the Star Trek universe between this film and Voyager? Do Vulcans live that long?

Answer: Vulcans do live that long (300+ years), but it is not Tuvok. For one, his ears and eyebrows are human, not Vulcan, for another, Voyager tells us he left Starfleet for over 40 years shortly after the Khitomer conference, which was before Enterprise-B entered service.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: To attempt to provoke Ethan to come out of hiding.

Tailkinker

Question: In the scene where Goldie Hawn nearly gets her head run over by the car, how do they get that effect? It just looks far too dangerous to be an actual stunt, but it looks too real to be a bluescreen / split screen effect either.

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: It is a composite shot, with the actor's head added to the scene. They just did a particularly good job on the scene.

Chosen answer: According to Wikipedia: "Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants made by combining two high explosives: nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, i.e. it is a double-base propellant. However, Cordite N, a triple-base propellant is also used. Cordite is classified as an explosive, but it is normally used as a propellant for guns and rockets." So yes, it works.

Twotall

Answer: Yes, cordite is classified a an explosive, but it's rarely used as such. It's a common propellant for artillery shells etc. Realistically, the Jackal would have used a plastic explosive such C4 or Semtex for a bomb. And the mercury fulminate tipped rounds are a fantasy, it's so unstable, it would explode before it had left the barrel.

stiiggy

Answer: It's him singing (and dancing), as singing/dancing is what he was primarily known as doing before he began acting (usually backup singing). He is, for example, in Little Shop Of Horrors (for all of 2 seconds), singing backup. Danny actually re-recorded the song and released it as a single, which reached No. 17 in the UK charts.

Gary O'Reilly

Show generally

Question: One of the other questions about season seven mentions Sarah Michelle Gellar leaving the show, so they had to change the storyline and not look at Dawn's key-ness, or lack of. Was Sarah Michelle Gellar's leaving the reason they had to end it at season 7 or was there only 7 seasons planned? If it was ended prematurely, how many more seasons were they planning/hoping for?

Answer: Sarah leaving the show was one of many reasons it finished at the end of season seven, Joss did want to carry on with one of the other characters kind of like a spin off but he has as yet unable to get funding for it. Season 8 is going to be released but in comic book form, the title and date of release is not available yet but Joss is writing it.

Vianna7uk

Question: Why doesn't the King enjoy seeing his nephew (the Prince's cousin) when he arrives near the beginning of the film to congratulate the Prince?

Answer: For the same reason everyone else is unhappy to see him: He's getting on their nerves!

Ioreth

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