Question: How come with computers and electronic gadgets everywhere they have to use a telegraph to let the world know how to destroy the aliens?
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: How old was Olivia Hussey when this movie was made? Also, what is the name of the guy who plays Romeo and how old was he?
Answer: Olivia Hussey was born April 17, 1951 so she was probably still 16 when the film was being made, but 17 when it was released in 1968. Leonard Whiting was born June 30, 1950 - almost a year older than Olivia.
Question: Just before Todd Anderson has his emotional breakdown about Neil's death, one of his friends grabs a handful of snow and shoves it at his mouth. Why did he do that? It makes no sense.
Chosen answer: He is just trying to get something to help wash the taste of vomit out of Todd's mouth.
Question: I don't understand the ending bit. Why did Lupin and Sirius Black want to kill Harry, then when Pettigrew turned up they all became friends? It just doesn't make sense to me.
Answer: Neither Lupin nor Black ever wanted to kill Harry. Black was only at Hogwarts to get Pettigrew (in the form of Ron's rat), who he knew to be the real murderer. Lupin thought Black was evil and had killed Harry's parents until the truth came out that it was Pettigrew. Then he sided with Black, renewing their old friendship.
Answer: Lupin never believed Black was evil or killed Harry's parents. They've always maintained their friendship. When Professor Snape burst in, at the old house, he said, he told Dumbledorf that Lupin was hiding someone on the school grounds. They didn't know who killed Harry's parents until Pettigrew's name appeared on the map.
Yes, he did. Until he saw Pettigrew on the map, Remus was as sure of Sirius' guilt as anyone else was. He says as much in the book.
Question: What is the 'lost in translation' scene with Robbie Coltrane about? (is it actually a reference to the Bill Murray film?).
Answer: A "lost in translation" is a kind of con - Danny, Rusty and Matsui basically pulled a prank on Linus to make him feel like he didn't know what they were talking about when, in fact, they were just speaking gibberish.
Almost right. Actually, Danny, Rusty and Matsui weren't just speaking nonsense, all the conversation contains their plan.
Answer: It's a joke that Matsui plays on newbies. Near the end of the film, When Linus tells his mother (Cherry Jones) he blew the meet with Matsui, she explains that's his idea of a joke on new players. Linus then comments he didn't see that coming. (Damon shows a moment of bad acting, he can barely contain his laughter).
Question: So is Elektra dead? It seemed like she was still alive, but then again, she could very well be dead, as Daredevil sees her heart stop. And if she is dead, how does she get brought back to life in the spin-off "Elektra"?
Answer: Elektra is dead, at least when DD sees her heart stop. If you had actually seen Elektra the movie you would have known the she is reserected that same night by her future mentor, Stick. Thus leading to the probablity that at the end of the movie when Murdock finds the brail pendent (which says "Elektra", btw) that she has been brought back from the dead at that point, at least for a few days.
Question: Was Doom II (the game played in the Ultimart) ever ported to an arcade machine? I think it would be difficult to produce a real coin-op version of the game (a lot of custom hardware and programming - I don't think any arcade hardware could support Doom back then). Making a prop would be easy by sticking a PC with a TV monitor (to prevent flicker) in a cabinet mock-up, or even just run a pre-recorded tape of someone playing Doom and just have the actor mime it.
Answer: No, Doom II was never available in a commerical arcade cabinet. It must have been specifically designed for the movie.
Question: Can anyone point me in the right direction to find the "island" sound versions of the various songs played throughout the movie? (like somewhere over the rainbow) I have the soundtrack, but it doesn't include all the songs.
Chosen answer: A complete listing can be found on the IMDB page for the movie. Specifically if you're looking for "Over the Rainbow", that was performed by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343660/soundtrack).
Question: I've seen the French version of the film, and the opening credits have been taken out. Can someone please tell me why this might be?
Answer: Because none of the English-speaking cast 'appear' in the film, as all of the voices were redone by French-speaking actors. As such, the original credit sequence is pointless, and it would have been a lot of work to redo the credit sequence for every single different language that the film had to be redubbed into. Hence the choice not to have one.
Answer: The French dub of the movie has all the songs translated into French. I suppose that with the song "All Star" by Smash Mouth in the opening they weren't allowed to do it so as a result they removed it instead, resulting in the removal of the entire opening. This is sort of a French thing, to translate the songs.
Question: I understand that most living Elves are really old by human standards and are immortal, but I have a few questions about the elf "life-cycle." First, ARWEN is the last Elf born but how old is she? Second, how do Elves reproduce and how often? Given their ages, wouldn't an elf child be a super-incredibly rare event such that most humans would never live long enough to see one? Third, when ARWEN weds ARAGORN, she has presumably given up her immortality. How does that work? Is it a biological change or a decision made by the gods - the ones who created the Undying Lands for the Elves? Fourth, would ARAGORN and ARWEN's son have merely human-like mortality or would he be somewhat superhuman - perhaps live longer? I am reminded of the half-god heroes of Greek mythology. I know Tolkien was fascinated by Norse mythology (dead Rohan Kings go to "their father's" like Vikings). Does Tolkien ever explain the elf life-cycle and the logistical problems associated with immortality?
Answer: Hmm, lot of questions. Okay, here goes. (1) Arwen was born in T.A. 241, making her 2778 years old at the time of the War of the Ring. However, there is no evidence in any of Tolkien's writings that she was the last Elf born in Middle-earth. (2) Tolkien never really goes into Elven reproduction, but there's no indication that the basic mechanisms aren't pretty much the same as humans (after all, elves and humans have bred successfully on several occasions in the history of Middle-Earth, so it's fair to say that the plumbing presumably interconnects). Elves don't reproduce terribly often - in 2401 years of marriage, Elrond and his wife Celebrian only had three children. Celeborn and Galadriel only had the one child in at least six thousand years of marriage. Arwen is only six generations removed from the first elves who awoke at Cuivienen, eleven thousand years before the events of the films. So, yes, it's fair to say that elven children would be pretty rare, enough so that most humans would never have encountered one. (3) Arwen's family are not pure elves - without going into complex lineages, her father, Elrond, is roughly half-elven. Elrond's father and all his descendants were given the option by the Valar to choose whether to be counted among men or elves - Elrond chose elvendom, his brother, Elros, chose to be counted amongst men, founding a bloodline that would eventually lead to Aragorn. So, basically, it's a mystical thing. (4) Eldarion, Aragorn and Arwen's son, will have a normal lifespan for a human of his bloodline (i.e. About two hundred years). His mother's former status as an elf shouldn't have any effect. The elven lifecycle is basically the same as humans, just very, very elongated - despite the prevailing view to the contrary, elves are not actually immortal. While they live long enough that humans think of them that way, Tolkien stated that they do age, just incredibly slowly, making a natural death an eventual possibility for an elf (after tens of thousands of years). Plus, of course, they can be killed in combat or accidents, being arguably less resilient than a human in that respect. So, between that and the very slow population increase, there's no real problem with overpopulation or anything like that.
Question: I'm almost certain that the first time I ever saw this film on video (I never did see it during its theatrical release) there was no mention or use of the remote mini-guns that the Marines placed outside their "sanctuary", but I've since seen those guns in action. Does anyone know if there are several cuts of the video version in circulation within North America (Canada specifically), or import versions that would be different?
Answer: In the original theatrical release, the sentry guns are mentioned in passing when Hicks inventories the weapons that survived the crash of the first dropship. This reference was deleted in the original VHS release. When the movie was first brodcast on network television, the sentry gun scenes were added (as well as some other scenes including one near the beginning involving Ripley mourning the death of her daughter). As far as I know, up until the Special Edition DVD release which also includes those scenes, that was the only version which contained the sentry gun scenes and the network (I think it was ABC) would brocast this altered version from time to time.
Answer: The Special Edition was first released on video in 1991. While there have been times the Special Edition was the one most commonly available, it's definitely possible to have seen the theatrical cut on video first.
Question: Is what Andy Dufresne says about victims biting down when they have sudden brain injury true? Or is he just making it up so the sisters won't stab him?
Answer: It's true.
Answer: It's not true. But he came across as educated and convinced them it was true...He further put reluctance into them by basically saying "try it and see what happens..."
Question: There is a short scene with a group of African-American youths on a staircase playing this dice game where they throw the dice and take money, or something along those lines. This game has been featured in many other films. What is this game called, and what exactly do you do in it?
Answer: This is almost exactly like the casino game 'Craps'. Except you are only trying to roll your original number. If you roll a '7' before your original number then you lose. If you roll your original number before the '7', then you win. The other crap rules usually do not apply.
Question: Why does Terry Benedict call Rusty by the name of Robert Charles Ryan, is that his real name? Or who is this Robert Charles Ryan?
Answer: Yes, that is his real name. Rusty is just a nickname or short for his whole name.
Question: In the French version of the film, the names Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow do not appear in the beginning. Can someone please tell me why this is and what other versions (Germany, Italy, etc.) if so, have this occurrence?
Answer: The actors' names do not appear because the actors do not feature in any of the international versions where the voice track is dubbed rather than subtitled. As only their voices are used, not 'live action' performances, the non-english language releases are essentially different movies with a totally different cast list.
Question: In the Return of the King movie, after Arwen has a vision of her unborn son, she rides back to Rivendell to ask her father whether he saw a son in her future. He explains that he saw death. She argues that that is not a certainty and then asks him to reforge Narsil (Isildur's Sword) for Aragorn. She then sits down and drops the book she was holding. What book was she holding and what is its significance?
Answer: The book contained the exact information about the legend that she was pointing out to Elrond. When he balked, she sat dejectedly and let the book fall from weakened fingers.
Question: What is up with that pig thing in the window? Does it have anything do to do with anything?
Answer: That's Jodie. In the book and the supposed "true" story, the Lutz' daughter said Jodie could appear to her in any form he wanted, but usually looked like a pig.
Answer: According to the book (and you can take that for what it is worth), one of the characters saw a pair of glowing red eyes in a window. Later they went outside and found pig tracks in the snow. That is what this scene is trying to convey.
Answer: The answer that mentions that the pig thing in the window is supposed to be Jodie is correct. However, in the broader spectrum of things, the appearance or the sounds of animals (squeals, growls, etc.) during a haunting is supposed to mean that the haunting is demonic in nature, which the haunting in this story obviously was.
Question: If George Lucas had a false page in the script to fool everyone into thinking that Obi-Wan killed Luke's father, then how did he get round the scene between Luke and Vader later (where Luke actually calls Vader 'Father')?
Answer: Everything after the false ending page was hidden from Mark Hamill and the rest of the cast. The scene where Luke calls Vader "father" was filmed after Hamill had already found out the real truth that Vader is Luke's father.
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Answer: The aliens had destroyed the satellites orbiting Earth. This meant that the usual hi-tec methods of communication could not be used (as most use satellites now), and a low-tec method had to implemented.
Tanith