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: In Mount Doom, why didn't Elrond stop Isildur from leaving or make him destroy the ring (i.e. throw it into the pit)?

Answer: Any hostile confrontation between Elrond and Isildur, as would be required to stop Isildur from leaving, would invariably grow into a fight between the remaining human and elven forces, something that Elrond would not want to risk. Better to let him leave, then monitor the situation, looking for a chance to get the Ring away from him safely.

Tailkinker

Question: I never really understood at the end of this film why exactly Doc Brown goes back to 1885. Doesn't the DeLorean have to be going 88 mph for it to activate the system? The Doc was just hovering over Marty, so why did the time circuits automatically kick in?

Answer: If you look carefully, Doc accidentally knocks the time circuits on when trying to keep the DeLorean stable. When Doc and Marty were leaving the alternate 1985, we see that the time circuits were failing/faulty. So when the lightning struck the DeLorean, the time circuits were already on and with the equipment faulty, Doc was sent back in time. The DeLorean flips (possibly due to the flight circuits being hit by lightning) and the car accelerates to 88 MPH.

XIII

Question: Why does Obi-Wan say he doesn't ever remember owning a droid when he had some type of ownership over R2 in episodes 2 and 3?

Answer: It could be old age. But also, Ben never technically owned R2. They interacted with each other to a degree, but Ben was never R2's owner in the same sense that Luke was. R2 spent most of his time with Anakin - Obi-Wan was with R4.

Cubs Fan

Show generally

Question: Who sings the theme tune? I know that it's called 'There Might be Giants' but that's all. Thanks.

Answer: Actually, the band is called They Might Be Giants; the song is called "Boss Of Me."

Xofer

Question: We see something going on between the corrupt skinhead and the Hispanic criminal inside the prison, and it makes Vinyard leave that gang. What exactly was the arrangement by the skinheads to 'protect' Vinyard?

Answer: It's quite simple: He was one of them, a fellow skinhead. In prison different groups stick together for mutual protection and comradeship, and as neo-nazis/skinheads would be fairly unpopular with the colored inmates, all the more reason for them to protect each other.

Twotall

Question: I was just wondering why the Sorting Hat speaks out loud in the film, because in the book it was only heard in the pupil's head. Obviously it would need to shout out the house at the end, but everything else could be a bit personal, and shouldn't be shouted to the whole school.

Answer: This is a common movie tactic. Telepathic communication can be confusing in a movie, making it hard to really know where the voice is coming from. Being a kid's movie, they apparently opted to eliminate the telepathic element as it could easily confuse the target audience who may not be very familiar with the concept of telepathic voiceover.

Garlonuss

Question: After John and Jane killed all those people, wouldn't their boss send more people after them? And why don't the Smiths fear/anticipate/react to this fact/possibility? Is it me or does it seem the only way they could have a happy ending is die or they have to kill the boss and destroy all their records (Which they would probably die trying).

Answer: The boss probably decided to stop wasting resources on a lost cause.

Phixius

My Occurrence (1) - S1-E22

Question: In this episode, Brendan Fraser has his arm on fire for a good ten seconds. I've seen this effect before, and his arm has gotta be covered in some kind of fluid that protects his skin, or something. But it looks so good. Does anyone know exactly how it's achieved without him feeling the pain? I'm pretty sure it's not a prosthetic, could it be a false skin wrapped around his forearm?

Answer: It's coated in a fireproof gel under the flammable liquid. It can burn for 10-20 seconds without harming the actor. The bonus features in the Spawn DVD have a whole section on fire special effects if you want to see more.

Grumpy Scot

Question: In the scene where Jessep, Markinson, and Kendrick are discussing what to do with Private Santiago, Jessep says he wants Santiago to make 4-6-4-6 on his next proficiency report. What does this score mean?

Answer: A good detailed explanation can be found here: http://www.marinewives.com/knowledge/srb-oqr.htm.

Mister Ed

Question: Alright I understand all but one part of the movie. Why was Clem acting all weird and freaks out during the movie? For example when she tells Patrick "I'm getting old, I'm disappearing, nothing makes any sense." And why was Patrick using Joel's diary entries and other stuff on Clem?

Answer: Clem is slowly becoming aware that her mind has been tampered with, and gets regular flashes of deja vu when talking to Patrick, who is using Joel's diary in order to get closer to her, sometimes conducting exact conversations that Joel and Clem shared during their relationship, which naturally causes her to become a little disorientated.

Manky

Show generally

Question: What are Betty Applewhite and her son holding Caleb prisoner in their house and why won't they allow him to be incarcerated?

Answer: The clues so far point to the fact that Caleb was accused of killing a teenaged girl. Betty could be hiding him because she knows that he will not be treated fairly or properly because of his learning disability. The exact reasons will most likely be revealed as the season progresses.

Steph_Jared

Question: At the end of the movie, when the crew member yells something and waves a green light, what is he saying? Not the scene where he's looking for survivors, the scene right before they reach the Carpathian.

Answer: Using my amateur lip-reading skills, it appears as though he is saying "Come on, put your backs into it, men. We've been saved! Row!"

David H

Question: Does anyone know what kind of an accent Dracula (and most of the other characters) have? I've googled Transylvanian, and it gave me quite a few countries.

Answer: Well, no one really knows what type of accent they were trying to achieve - but Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) was born in Transylvania in the middle ages. Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia were joined together later to form Romania. Therefore, it would historically correct to say they had Romanian accents.

Zwn Annwn

Chosen answer: The show was recorded on Thanksgiving, 1976. The movie was released April 26, 1978, 17 months later closer to 1.5 years. The movie was not just the straight footage of the one concert, it includes various interviews, studio sessions, etc. filmed at different times. It had to be edited, produced, distribution had to be arranged. Then a release date was picked probably based on some marketing scheme - what other movies were being released around that time, etc. 17 months is not at all an unusual delay for this process.

Myridon

Chosen answer: Going from memory: Stone gave a nice deal to the star witness against Masucci. He gave some deal to Beigel, the brother-in-law. The witness lied under oath: he was in the hospital and could have never heard the conversation he claimed he did. There was a mistrial declared, jeopardy had attached (Masucci could not be retried for the same crime) and Stone was bound by the deal he gave Biegel, and to the witness. Everyone won, except Stone. The testimony was planned.

Rlvlk

Question: I don't understand the opening. What was the object that Zod broke in half, and why was it so important (considering it had a guard standing near it)?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: We're never told.

K.C. Sierra

Question: Why make a whole adult just to give birth to a baby? Why not just make a baby in the first place? We know they can adjust the clones' age. Come to that, why was Lima killed right after she gave birth? Her body would still be fine for organs and parts should her sponsor need them.

Daria Sigma

Chosen answer: The company claims to have the ablity to create organs for their clients. They most likely claimed that they can create babies too. They did not want anyone to know that they are allowing the clones to "live" let alone one to carry a baby. Lima was killed becuase they wanted to conceal this secret. Besides, if their client wants new organs, I guess they'll make her pay for another insurance policy.

XIII

Chosen answer: Gotta get back, back to the past...

Rlvlk

Question: When Phil and the two locals are driving on the railroad tracks, they are closely followed by a police unit. Phil drives off the tracks at a crossing where the tracks became level with the street surface. How did the police car get out from in front of the train?

scwilliam

Answer: We know the police car survived because unit 2 is the car that followed them onto the tracks, and unit 2 is also one of the cars present when they are stopped (though it came from the wrong direction). The movie doesn't explain how the car survived so it is left to the viewer's imagination.

jimba

Chosen answer: It was never explained in the film but there could be two possible explanations. One is the police car never got off the tracks in time and was hit by the train. Another is the car managed to get off the tracks in time despite the difficulty of getting off a railroad track so quickly. Up to the viewer to decide.

Gavin Jackson

Question: Why does the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall begin acting weird when Mad Eye Moody (Crouch) makes his entrance during the beginning-of-the-year feast?

raywest

Chosen answer: The ceiling does not really start acting weirdly when Moody enters. The ceiling is enchanted to portray whatever the outside sky is doing, and, as it is stormy outside, it is therefore stormy on the ceiling. It is just a coincidence that just as Moody enters, there is a lightning strike, and he thinks that it is a curse or some other magic spell.

mandy gasson

Addendum: in the book, there's a big storm going on (outside), and Mad-Eye does not interact with the ceiling as he does in the movie. The lightning at the same time he comes in is a coincidence.

It's more about foreshadowing for the terrible events caused by fake Moody later in the movie.

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