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: What did Obi-Wan mean when he said to Luke "then the Emperor has already won"?

DFirst1

Answer: Luke was the only chance to get Vader back to the light side. Only together they could defeat the Emperor and bring balance back to the force. If Luke couldn't confront his father, then the Emperor would kill him. Then he would have won.

lionhead

Question: How did the Phoenix land on Earth after the warp display for the Vulcans? It looked like a non-reusable rocket to me.

Answer: It was never shown or explained how they landed, so any answer would be a guess. This is set in the future (mid-21st Century), so there could have been new rocket technology.

raywest

Answer: While the main fuselage was a re-purposed intercontinental ballistic missile, and they separated from the ascent stage of the rocket, the payload section housed two deployable prototype warp nacelles capable of achieving lightspeed. Beyond that, the payload also contained the prototype warp core (which was powered by matter/antimatter annihilation), the warp core coolant, elaborate magnetic-containment systems, and probably even impulse drive and landing thrusters (It kind of goes without saying that thruster and impulse technology would have existed before warp technology). There was no space left over in the payload section for conventional rocket propellant, and Zefram Cochrane's enormously-expensive and one-of-a-kind warp components would not be expendable; so he must have devised a way to safely bring the Phoenix down for re-use. Since the Phoenix's return and landing were never addressed in the film, my assumption is that the payload section was powered entirely by the warp core, including its impulse drive and landing thrusters.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: This gets described as a reboot rather than a sequel, but why? Nothing directly contradicts the original, as far as I'm aware, the only real change is the title character being recast - hardly unusual for a franchise.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: I haven't seen this movie in several years, but one contradiction I distinctly remember is the Punisher having a deceased daughter in this film, whereas in the 2004 film, he only had a son. The 2004 film had the Punisher's wife and son (named Will here) murdered in Puerto Rico and buried and Tampa. This film takes place in New York, and the cemetery the Punisher goes to has a gravestone for his wife, daughter and son (named Frank, Jr. here). There is also a brief flashback in this scene of the Punisher sitting on a picnic blanket with his dead family around him, which is closer to the comics origin where his family were collateral damage in a gang crossfire. The 2004 film depicted his family as being the deliberate targets of a mob hit and were run over by a truck on a pier.

Phaneron

Question: What ended up happening with Truman's "father"? It seems like him returning convinced him to stay, but then all of a sudden he decided to leave. So does that mean he was faking it when he hugged him, and he knew he wasn't actually his father?

MikeH

Answer: His reaction to his father's return was genuine. However, as time went on more clues helped him realise some of the truth. Enough, in fact, that he became determined to learn what was actually going on.

Answer: Leigh Allen. Mike Mageau was the only one who had seen him and was still alive. He recognised him at the end of the movie.

Jan Arends

This is what I read online: "In 1991, Mike Mageau identified Arthur Leigh Allen as being the shooter. This identification was the result of Mageau being shown a photo lineup by George Bawart of the Vallejo Police Department. When Bawart asked Mageau why he had never identified Allen in the 20 years Allen had been the top suspect, Mageau said that he had never been shown any pictures of suspects and he had only been asked if he recognized certain names. If Mageau's statement is true, it's probably the biggest law-enforcement blunder of modern times." This would suggest that the police also never made a composite sketch based on Mageau's testimony.

Phaneron

Answer: Which suspect are you referring to? Several men were suspected of being the Zodiac Killer. The film even cast different actors for different scenes to account for the discrepancies in individual eyewitness accounts. Additionally, this film is based on the real-life case files as well as Robert Graysmith's book, and there does exist a composite sketch of the Zodiac Killer (you can Google it). So if there is a certain suspect whose sketch isn't shown, it could be either that it wasn't shown in the film or it doesn't exist in real life.

Phaneron

Question: Can someone please explain the scene in the hallway at the basketball game? It seems to suggest that Andrew actually wasn't fired because of his sexuality or AIDS. But I thought the point of the movie is that he was.

MikeH

Answer: My take was that one of his firm's issues was that they didn't consider him a "victim" of the disease because, unlike his co-worker who contracted the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion, he was infected due to what they considered were his reckless and immoral life-style choices.

raywest

Answer: It's just the irony that 2 people are fighting each other whilst feeling connected they are from the same city.

lionhead

This is also Captain America's way of letting Peter know there are no hard feelings. He understands Peter doesn't have all the facts, so he doesn't blame him.

Question: Why didn't Mal use the totem to prove to herself she was back in reality instead of killing herself? Or why didn't Cobb spin the Totem in front of her to prove they were back in reality?

Answer: When Cobb used inception on Mal, the idea that her world isn't real and she needed to kill herself took over her mind. Mal made an error in telling Cobb how her totem worked before they ever went into limbo. Cobb was able to use her totem specifically to implant the idea in her head. Since he knows how her totem works, it can't work as a totem anymore. Spinning the top in front of her and having it fall over would not prove that she wasn't dreaming anymore. Ironically, Cobb makes the exact same mistake as he continues to use the totem even after he tells Ariadne how it works. As an important note, the spinning top itself is a poor choice for a totem, since the thing that makes it special (it never stops spinning in the dream world) can be easily observed by anyone else. The entire point is to have you, and only you, know what makes the totem special. Arthur's loaded die is a better choice because only he notices how the weight is uneven in his hand. Ariadne's totem is not described but it seems to have similar properties to Arthur's in that she has altered its balance in a specific way.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: The movie implies that all the time spent in limbo made her lose her mind, so if Cobb tried to demonstrate the totem proofs for her, she might have dismissed the evidence anyway.

Phaneron

Question: What is the weight of the million dollars in $20 bills?

Answer: A U.S. bill weighs roughly 1 gram so that about 454 bills (regardless of denomination) weighs 1 pound. It takes 50,000 $20 bills to equal $1M. Which is about 110 pounds. Of course this is freshly minted weight, so any debris and anything used to secure the bills would increase that weight).

Bishop73

But you also have to take into account the weight of that strong box. I have seen replica boxes, and even they were quite heavy, so I'm sure the real thing would have weighed quite a lot. Then you have to add the actual weight of the currency.

Question: I have one question about this movie that I have never been able to figure out. When Tia was 'repairing' the cooling system, it almost hit 1,000, and Tony was trying to increase it, while Tia was trying to decrease it. Then she opens her eyes and it just goes down, but Tony is still trying to increase it. How was she able to overpower Tony's ability to increase the temperature and bring it back down?

Answer: I always figured it was because Tony had been using his powers more often than Tia whilst he was under Gannon and his team's control, so wasn't as strong as Tia was by the time they were all together at the plutonium plant, which is why she was able to overpower him telepathically. Remember, Uncle Bene talked to Tony at the start of the film about controlling his telepathy, and that he must "never energise unless it's absolutely necessary", but the moment Tony was taken by Gannon, he was no longer in control of his telepathy, so would not have been able to ration his powers like Tia did.

Question: What is the name of the instrumental track that plays where Akasha tells Lestat "I'd like you to kill her" and Jessie is turned into a vampire? It's beautiful but I don't know the title, and it's not on the original soundtrack.

Answer: There were two soundtracks for Queen of the Damned: one of rock songs by Jonathan Davis and others, and a score album by Richard Gibbs. The track you are talking about is "Long Live Jesse" from the score album.

Sierra1

Answer: Phasma is apparently dead, and Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says there are no plans to revive the character in the next film. However, the ending was ambiguous enough that it leaves open the possibility of the character returning.

raywest

Question: This is about both the first and second film, and the Lion Guard. How did only one cub born occur about four times in a row (Simba, first cub of Simba whose name is unknown, Kiara and Kion). Why weren't there more than one born at once for this long amount of time?

Answer: Because this a fictional animated movie that bends reality in order to better serve the plot. Having too many lion cub characters being born would be confusing and clutter the story line.

raywest

Plus it could be assumed that not all of them survive.

Ssiscool

Maybe, but being this is a Disney movie, morbid facts like that are usually kept to a minimum.

raywest

Agreed. Which is why only 1 cub is ever seen.

Ssiscool

Question: At the dinner table in 1955, Marty's grandfather is there. It has always appeared to me that there is something off about his appearance. He seems to appear as if he was not actually there, and that he was spliced into the footage from another movie. The lighting on his face, his style of hair, the quality so to speak of him, just seems off from everyone else. He almost seems like he is from a black and white movie, spliced in and colorized a bit Is it supposed to be that he was to look this way, or did they actually take this actor's scene from another movie and splice it in?

oldbaldyone

Answer: I just pulled up this scene on YouTube, and I think it is just the lighting. The shadow from his wife's head is casting onto his right shoulder in a realistic way, which suggests the actor was there for filming. It would also be impractical logistically and economically to insert him after the fact, because they could simply hire another actor for the part if he was unavailable.

Phaneron

Question: Why did it take so long for Dr. Hoffman to become a vampire? I'm referring to at the very end when she was underwater and opened her eyes.

Bryanna Norris

Answer: It's unknown how long it took for her to become a vampire. She was tossed into the bay and sunk to the bottom, lying there unconscious for a period of time. She may have turned early on, but did not awaken until much later.

raywest

She had teeth when she was being bit by Barnabus. She had turned before he confronted her. He just drained her to a weakened state and she woke back up in the bay.

Question: When Kirill shoots Bourne from the bridge, he only fires once. Why doesn't he empty his gun and finish him? He has enough time before he the police arrive.

Answer: Bourne is a significant distance away from the bridge, and nearly round the corner by the time Kirill takes aim and fires. He was lucky to hit Bourne at all from that distance and angle, and with rapid fire from a handgun it would be almost impossible to get a subsequent hit, and Bourne would have ducked out of sight almost instantly. Also the police show up only five seconds after his shot, so he didn't have a lot of time.

Sierra1

These guys are professional killers/assassins. It's hard for me to believe that he couldn't get a deadeye shot there. But unless I missed something, it's the only explanation that can be made I guess.

Bourne and his fellow Treadstone agents were expert killers and assassins, there is no indication that Kirill, seemingly a regular FSB officer, possessed similar skills to that level - we don't see him fight, drive particularly well, and the long-distance sniper shot he takes in Goa hits the wrong person (Maree).

Sierra1

Question: What did Dr. Hirsch mean when he said to Alex how he witnessed "some form of mass neurosis in East Proctor"?

Joey221995

Answer: He was referring to the local residents that lived in the area who, unknown to the doctor, knew about and were terrorized by the werewolf that roamed the countryside during a full moon. The doctor thought they suffered from some type of mass mental illness.

raywest

Question: Ana gets in the bus to get Michael. He shows a chainsaw to her. Ana tells him that might be the most romantic thing anyone's ever shown her, then Michael says, "I'm trying here." Sorry for a silly question, but what does he mean by that? Try what? (01:20:45)

Bunch Son

Answer: He's returning her sarcastic comment about being romantic with a sarcastic apology. "I'm trying here", as in he's trying to be romantic and he's sorry it's not coming out the way he intended. He doesn't actually mean it, the two are simply trying to break the tension with humor. Their rapport is somewhat flirtatious throughout the film, they have an attraction that might have developed more naturally were the world not ending in a zombie apocalypse.

BaconIsMyBFF

I actually took it that Michael was saying he's just trying to do his best in general.

Question: A lot of fuss was made over the omission of the lunar flag planting in this movie. However, when I saw the movie in the theater, I distinctly remember seeing the flag on the moon, just not the actual planting. However, that particular shot seems to be missing in the home video release. Does anyone know the reason for this?

Answer: The home release includes a clear shot of the lunar lander with the American flag next to it.

Question: Who is married to the muffin man?

Answer: According to Lord Farquaad, she's the leader of the underground, who's helping the fairy tale creatures to safety.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Someone he wants to find, possibly a princess to marry himself or someone who can point him towards one. It's never specified. The whole muffin man thing is just a joke referring to the nursery rhyme of the Muffin man.

lionhead

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.