Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: In an interview in the Extended DVD Peter Jackson says at one time that they had cast the character of Aragorn "a little too young" and changed their decision to Viggo Mortensen on pretty short notice. Just wondering, does anyone know who they had originally cast as Aragorn?

Answer: Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn but after filming a few scenes it was deemed he was a little too young and Viggo Mortenson was cast as Aragorn.

Answer: The Angel of Death can only kill those who look directly at her/it, therefore closing their eyes killed only the Nazis and Belloq.

Answer: To add to the previous answer, technically, the Angel of Death can kill anyone if choose to, but simply chooses to kill those who don't show proper respect by closing their eyes.

Question: Why is the Black Pearl able to sail so fast (let alone faster than the Interceptor) with tattered sails? If the ship is cursed like the crew, then you'd think they'd only look tattered in moonlight. And even still, it's hard to settle why a cursed ship would be faster than normal. The curse means the crew can't be killed, not that they're superhuman. So how does the "supership" come into it? It might have been the crew using the oars, but the Pearl sails just fine even without the oars. With those sails, it shouldn't be moving hardly at all.

Answer: First of all, the tattered sails are only to make it look more the part of a ship or a cursed crew. While still technically a mistake, it is intentional. Secondly, the curse has nothing to do with the speed of the Pearl. It is the fastest, as it is the best built ship of the time.

Question: What happened to Jason? I know Stryker said he died but it sure didn't seem like that.

Answer: Of course he died! He was left in the collapsing/flooding cerebro, which Professor X was only barely rescued from safely.

Question: I don't know if this can be answered, but does Rose die at the end? And why does she throw the necklace into the ocean at the end of the movie? I have a feeling it was left unclear so everyone has different interpretations of the movie, but I was hoping someone may have information to give a definite answer to these 2 questions.

Answer: Rose does die at the end. She dies above the wreck of the Titanic and returns to the ship (metaphorically) with all those who perished on. I think she throws the necklace into the ocean because people should be interested in what happened and feel sorry for those who died rather than to look for treasures (my interpretation).

Kara

My interpretation is that she threw the diamond into the ocean giving her heart and the heart of the ocean back to Jack or the Titanic.

Answer: According to director James Cameron, what happened to Old Rose is ambiguous so that people watching the movie can decide for themselves if she is still alive and having one more dream about Jack or if she had finally died and is now reunited with Jack. According to the actual screenplay, "We PAN OFF the last picture to Rose herself, warm in her bunk. A profile shot. She is very still. She could be sleeping, or maybe something else."

Answer: The ending is left ambiguous. After lying down in the bed she either, a) has one more dream of Jack or b) has died in her sleep and is now reunited with Jack.

Answer: My interpretation is that Rose dies. Prior to Jack's passing, he makes her promise that she will never let go of the will to live. He tells her how she will go on to have a few babies, live a life full of adventure, and die in a warm bed at a very old age. He makes her promise that she will never let go of the will to live no matter how hopeless a situation may seem. After telling her story of Jack, we see her in a warm bed surrounded by photos of her life. The photos are of her family, a glamour shot from her time as an actress, a photo of her by an airplane, and lastly, one of her on a horse, at the beach, by the Santa Monica Pier. As she has fulfilled her promise to Jack, while also returning the diamond [as Mr. Lovett now sees the real value is that of life and no longer has any interest in it], she passes away in her sleep. The final scene shows her back on Titanic, which may also represent her afterlife, marrying Jack as only the people who perished in the sinking are featured.

Invader_Gir

Question: What is the name of the style of the Merovingian's tie knot? How is it done? He also has a different mystery style in the dinner and fight scenes in Reloaded.

Answer: In Reloaded the knot always looked to me as if it's a regular necktie, tied in a windsor knot, only backwards. At a lot of angles it's tricky to see, but the narrow end of the blade is at the front, and the wide end is at the back. Tie a windsor and turn it around, you'll see. One method to duplicate the Merovingian's knot from Revolutions is to first tie a normal Windsor knot. Then with the small blade of the tie from behind, wrap it loosely around the base of the knot twice, tucking it through the loop you've just made down the back again.

Question: This is for all 3 of the movies. I know that they are filmed in New Zealand but are they filmed on the North Island, the South Island, or both?

Answer: Both. See, for example, http://www.tourmasters.co.nz/tm/content.cfm/ID/25.

jle

Question: Often when Gollum is in the middle of a sentence, he will cough the words "Gollum, Gollum". Why is that? It does that in the book too but I don't understand it.

Answer: It is not known exactly why he makes this noise only that it started after he recieved the ring. Since any people that knew him are now dead or have forgotten his name, the sound he makes (gollum,gollum) is what people now call him.

bessytheevilcow

Question: Why was the videotape made? I don't think it was ever explained.

Answer: The tape was never made as such, Samara projected the images onto the tape when the college kids tried to record the football match. In the original novel she is trying to spread her curse across the country - each person will see it and pass it on to another person, or two other people to be safe and so on until everyone is infected. There is no reason given - she is just angry with the world after her mother's death.

Shay

Question: The box for the Region 1 DVD of this movie says that there are 3 alternate endings on the DVD, but I've only seen two listed (one showing Jim dying in the hospital, the other being an almost identical version of the original ending, but with Jim cut out). Does anyone know where the last alt. ending is located on the disc?

Answer: Special Features -> Alternate Endings then at the bottom of the page is a arrow pointing right. Select this and you get the option "Radical Alternative Ending". It is worth seeing since it is much more than an ending. It is a completely new film starting at the point they reach the roadblock in Manchester. It is presented in storyboard format.

jle

Question: Trolls usually turn to stone if they are exposed to daylight (like in the Hobbit). How is it then that the trolls that were opening and closing the Black Gate (when Sam and Frodo wanted to try to sneak in after the foreign army) weren't turned to stone and it was the middle of the day?

Answer: It was so cloudy that not enough sun came through. Or it could be that the Trolls were of Sauron's new Troll-breed, Olog-Hai, who could withstand direct sunlight.

Question: When Mark is watching a video in which he views himself being swallowed by a random monstrosity, he says, "I love you Eddie." Now, I took it as a reference to the "Eddie" that was part of a famous Iron Maiden stage show back in the eighties. A friend of mine took it as him (Mark) being thankful for his friend, Eddie, giving him the drug inbibed brownies that he was eating. Which was it?

Answer: I'm pretty sure it was the Eddie that gave him the brownies, because the band we see that is onstage at the time is Gwar, if I am not mistaken. They were famous for having a monster onstage that would 'eat' fans.

T Poston

Yeah, cause Eddie gave him the pot brownies that made him hallucinate being in a Gwar show, so he's thanking him.

Question: When they are having thanksgiving at Harry's and Peter's apartment, why does Norman get up and leave so quickly?What has come to his attention?

Answer: Seeing the cut on Peter's arm makes him realise that Peter is Spider-Man, as Spider-Man was injured in the same area earlier. He leaves either to stop himself losing control and/or to plan his next moves.

Jon Sandys

Question: I've just rented the Director's Cut and I'm wondering what differs from the original. I've seen the original so many times I almost know it by heart and I couldn't find anything different in the DC.

Answer: According to the IMDB, "This was supposed to be the director's cut with additional 20 seconds of footage. But due to company policy (which does not allow to release unrated DVDs), the same cut as on the 1997 DVD was put onto this DVD. The director's cut was available on laserdisc."

jle

Question: Can somebody please explain to me everything that happened in Mulholland Drive? What is up with the bum behind the diner, the little people chasing Naomi Watts at the end, who is who, what is the key for? Ideally give a website reference which has a full answer, as a full answer will dominate this page.

Answer: There is no one right answer. See http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,634856,00.html for some theories from movie critics.

jle

Answer: Naomi Watts killed her lover, Laura Harring, rather than lose her to someone else. She felt such guilt, she created an alternate reality using everything and everyone she knew, to create a happy and peaceful world. But the real world was sneaking in and the key was to unlock her blocked memories.

Question: What did Samara's dad mean when he said, "my wife wasn't meant to have a child"?

Answer: She's infertile. She wasn't ever supposed to have children. It's hinted that she made a deal with evil forces to have Samara.

Grumpy Scot

I love your answer and share your opinion. But that's also why The Ring 2 wasn't really good because they made it official: Samara has been adopted. But, if we forget the second and third movies, there is an obvious hint that the Morgans require some sort of evil forces to get a child because Anna couldn't be naturally pregnant. Also, it could be a start of an explanation about why Samara is evil and why she got supernatural abilities.

Answer: A 401K is a pension plan. Graduating 'magna cum laude' means you were at the top of your class.

jle

Question: How did Jack lose the Pearl? I watched that part near a hundred times and still I can't quite catch what Gibbs is saying.

Answer: Barbossa was his first mate and instigated a mutiny, after which they left Jack on his island.

Question: In the beginning of the scene with the dodos, there is one dodo who shouts "Prepare for the ice age." Does anyone know who he is or what other movies he's been in? His voice is so familiar that I'm sure he's done another cartoon character's voice, but I can't remember who it is.

Answer: There are four people who do the voice for the dodos. They are Peter Ackerman, P.J. Benjamin, Josh Hamilton, and Chris Wedge (who also voiced Scrat and directed the movie). I checked their backgrounds, but I did not see any previous cartoons done by them. Also, of the four, it is possible you have seen Josh Hamilton or heard him before, because he has been in quite a few films, but I am not sure he is the one who voiced the dodo who said prepare for the ice age.

T Poston

Answer: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk/home.html. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/poapics.html has more pictures.

Grumpy Scot

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