raywest

8th Apr 2020

Titanic (1997)

Question: Would everyone have been saved if the lifeboats had been filled to capacity properly? Mr Andrews yells at one of the officers about the boats not being full and how they were tested with the weight of 70 men, so won't buckle under the weight of only 15 or 20 people. So since women and children don't weigh as much as men would, if they had filled the boats properly, would everyone have been saved in the actual tragedy?

Answer: Not everyone, no. Even with all the boats at full capacity they still couldn't hold all of them. It had 20 lifeboats in total that could carry a maximum of 1178 people, at full capacity. The ship was carrying 2208 people (passengers and crew). Even if you would cram as much people in them, you still couldn't fit them all in and there will be risk of sinking. The 2 major problems were that they measured lifeboat capacity in cubic meters rather than number of people, if the ship was in full lifeboat capacity (64 instead of only 20) it could take everybody twice over. Secondly it wasn't considered necessary according to the safety regulations to have more lifeboats because of the tonnage of the ship, regulations that maxed ships at 10,000 tons (whilst the Titanic was over 46,000 tons). Eventually only 710 people were saved, because of incompetent evacuation procedures and panic. Almost all first and second class women and children were saved, third class and crew were not so lucky.

lionhead

Answer: In a word, no. More lives would have been saved, but as an earlier scene points out (and accurately reflects what happened in real life), there was only enough lifeboat capacity for roughly half the people onboard, even if they were filled to capacity.

Answer: There were not enough life boats for all passengers, and it was because it was never believed everyone needed to be in them at once during an emergency. While it's true that cruise lines didn't want too many boats blocking passengers' view, their intended use was to ferry passengers in turn from a stricken vessel to a rescue ship. After the disaster, new maritime regulations were enacted, including enough lifeboats for all passengers.

raywest

Answer: Also, even if there were enough boats, there was not enough time to get all the boats filled and lowered.

Yes there was. It took over 2 hours for Titanic to sink. Plenty of time to get everyone on the lifeboats, if they had known the urgency.

lionhead

In one of James Cameron's documentaries that he did after making the movie, they timed him lowering a lifeboat, and it took him twenty minutes to get it swung out and lowered while it was empty. Add additional time to actually fill them would bring launching one to at least 30 minutes. So no, even if they had enough lifeboats, there wouldn't have been time to launch them all. They didn't even launch all the ones that they did have.

They weren't launched one by one, you know.

lionhead

8th Apr 2020

Alien 3 (1992)

Answer: It's been years since I've seen the film, but as I recall it was because head lice was so prevalent and that was how the prison population avoided getting it.

raywest

Question: At the end of the wedding celebration, Jess is sitting in the car when her sister says 'Don't you want all of this?' What does Jess mean when she replies 'I want more than this'?

Answer: She means she wants more than a conventional life of being an average married woman. She wants more out of life.

raywest

Answer: It was never revealed in the film series what happened to him.

raywest

24th Mar 2020

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Question: Why did Rosemary want to see her husband's left shoulder?

Answer: To see if he had been given some type of mark indicating he had been initiated into a coven. Something like "666" (Satan's mark) being tattooed on him.

raywest

Question: Since werewolves stop ageing, wouldn't humans notice?

MikeH

Answer: The werewolves in the Twilight series are Quiliute Native Americans who mostly live on their reservation, have their own school, own legal system, etc. Being as it's a rather cloistered society, it would be easy for certain members to generally go unnoticed.

raywest

Question: Why are the Volturi even needed? If humans know about vampires, there's nothing they can do about it. What if a vampire uploads a video of themselves to YouTube, and it instantly goes viral?

MikeH

Answer: People do not know vampires exist. The only thing known is through myths and legends, which no-one believes is real. The Volturi exist to act as a centralized, albeit loose, form of vampire government, that other vampires rely on to maintain their community. Any vampire breaking the laws or doing anything that exposes their world faces death, so it's unlikely any would violate the code of secrecy.

raywest

Question: What reason did Bella give Charlie for going to Italy?

MikeH

Answer: It's unknown if she gave Charlie a reason. As she was 18-years old, she was free to go. She may have generally told him it had to do with Edward being in trouble, but would not have gone into details.

raywest

21st Mar 2020

All About Eve (1950)

Answer: As I recall, and it's been some time since I've watched the movie, Karen was part of the plot to have Margo miss a performance so that Eve, Margo's understudy, would have an opportunity to perform the part, for which she received rave reviews. Karen and the others arranged to take a day trip out of town before the performance, and then get "stranded" so they couldn't get back to New York in time for Margo to perform in the play.

raywest

21st Mar 2020

Superman III (1983)

Question: When Gus is eating at a diner, he overhears a man telling another man that somebody is making money off the oil shortage. How?

Answer: For one, when a commodity like oil is in short supply and the demand is high, the price rises significantly.

raywest

21st Mar 2020

King of the Hill (1997)

Answer: No, he does not know or suspect he has a different biological father.

raywest

Question: Will Renesmee ever die of old age? And would it be possible for her die from something a regular human could die from?

MikeH

Answer: Renesmee is not immortal, but will live an extraordinary long life and she will age slowly. It was never revealed if half-breeds can succumb to human ailments. Considering half-breeds are extremely rare, it's unlikely anyone knows.

raywest

Question: Jacob almost murdered a baby. He only decided against it when he involuntarily imprinted. Why would the Cullens still welcome him in their house after that?

MikeH

Answer: It was never shown that the Cullens knew Jacob intended to kill Renesmee, only that he imprinted on her. Edward may have read his thoughts later, but kept this to himself after realizing Jacob would be forever bound to Renesmee as her protector.

raywest

Question: In the end credits scene, what is it that the Volturi wanted? If it was Renesmee, is that a mistake, since they were informed about it in part 2?

MikeH

Answer: They want Alice because she can see into the future, which would be a significant advantage to the Volturi. Aro destroys other covens, sparing the one member who has some special ability.

raywest

Question: What would Jacob have done if Renesmee left? Would he have followed her? Wouldn't it be emotionally painful for him to be away from her?

MikeH

Answer: If, in the future, Renesmee left, Jacob would have to accept that, regardless of whether or not he was emotionally hurt by it. Because he imprinted on her, he is bound to abide by her needs and decisions.

raywest

Question: If Edward had successfully revealed himself, would the Volturi have killed everyone who saw?

MikeH

Answer: It's unlikely they would do that. People may claim to have witnessed some strange event, but unless there's tangible rather than anecdotal evidence, this usually, over time, is dismissed. Killing the witnesses would garner unwanted attention on the Volturi.

raywest

17th Mar 2020

Die Hard (1988)

Question: While running away from the bad guys, John McClane severely wounds feet by stepping on broken glass. Wouldn't his feet be at risk of infections if they were as severely wounded as shown in the movie? He's feet don't appear to have any infections.

Answer: Infections take time to set in. The whole events of this film take place over 1 evening. Not long enough for an infection to set in. Especially since he receives medical attention at the end.

Ssiscool

How long would John have to go without getting medical for his feet to get infected?

Per a google search: "An infection can develop any time between two or three days after the cut occurred until it's healed."

TedStixon

Answer: Infections take a while to develop - the events of Die Hard are borderline real time, and given the injuries happen towards the end of the film, that's way too soon for any significant side effects.

Answer: As mentioned, it would take time for an infection to set in. Also, even though John had some nasty cuts, it doesn't necessarily mean they will become infected and could heal without any complications as long as the feet are cleaned and bandaged.

raywest

17th Mar 2020

Donovan's Reef (1963)

Question: This is regarding the scene in Boston. Why was that one gal smiling? Why did Amelia turn the lights out? Who were the three men Amelia told "You can go in now?

Answer: The lady smiling is one of Amelia's relatives who sits on the company board of directors. Being as she is elderly, she appears to be somewhat unaware of what exactly is going on and just sits there, apparently amused by the proceedings. The men were just waiting their turn to meet with the board, and of no significance to the story. Amelia's turning off the lights is just an exaggerated comedic gesture to show that she is on her way out and heading to Hawaii, that really makes no sense.

raywest

Answer: I think Amelia shutting off the lights was meant to imply she is extremely frugal and cautious with money, indicating she would more than likely scrutinize over judgment of her father (Doc Dedham).

jenlib11

Answer: I think it's her Irish frugality.

17th Mar 2020

Flightplan (2005)

Question: Surely military people and special needs people would have gone first before her and her daughter? If that's the case there's no way no-one would have seen the daughter. Or are there different policies in Berlin?

Answer: It's unlikely it's different in Berlin, and it would be an airline policy, not a government one. The fact that no-one else was on the plane when Kyle boarded with her daughter or was not seen by one of the flight crew is simply an implausible plot device. This would never happen that way in real life.

raywest

Question: Why after receiving a phone call from Laura's friend at the YMCA does her husband go looking through all her stuff on the bed? Then he finds the ring in the toilet. It just makes no sense why he's tearing through her stuff.

Answer: As that was the last place Laura was before disappearing, he is just looking for anything that could provide a clue that she might actually be alive. He was not sure until he found the wedding ring in the toilet.

raywest

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