Answered 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 is the song that is played at the end of the film. (When the credits come up.) (Starts something like: "A man down under . . . ")

Answer: It's 'Down Under' by Men at Work.

J I Cohen

Answer: According to the IMDB, the voiceover is provided by Steven Zirnkilton, who also provided the oppening voiceovers for the other Law & Order series, as well as for the 2003 revival of Dragnet.

J I Cohen

Question: How exactly do you cut the hard line? In the scene at the hotel where the walls turn to brick, a shot is shown of someone literally cutting a cable with a big pair of pliers, but how would that affect the Matrix?

Answer: The entry and exit points from the Matrix are always functional landline phones - we don't know precisely why, as the full details of how this works are never explained (the book "Taking the red pill" has some theories). As the Matrix largely follows the same rules as our reality, cutting the line to the phone will prevent that phone from functioning, and thus it cannot be used as an entry point.

Tailkinker

Question: The war between humans and machines started because machines needed a source of power and created the Matrix to hold humans in bondage while they were used as batteries. Now that humans are free to leave the Matrix, won't the machines start losing their source of power, causing them to force humans back into bondage, restarting the war?

Answer: The war didn't start because the machines needed a source of power; it had been running for quite some time by then. It was the humans who began the war because they weren't prepared to share a world with sentient machines. This is explained in the animated film "The Animatrix", or also in the supplements on the second disc of the "Matrix Revolutions" DVD. And while it is true that humans are now free to leave the Matrix, there's no guarantee that everyone who is given the choice will choose to leave. Remember Cypher from the first film? He preferred to stay IN the Matrix rather than live in the real world. Many others may do the same. And further still, it may be that most humans WILL choose to leave the Matrix and the machines may break the peace because they are losing their energy source. The Architect alludes to this when he says "How long do you think this peace will last?" and the Oracle responds "As long as it can." There are a myriad possibilities now.

Phil C.

Question: Why do the survivors wear nothing but short-sleeved T-shirts and other flimsy clothes that can be easily bitten through? If you were fighting zombies who were trying to bite you, wouldn't you try to cover up your arms and face, even a leather jacket and a pair of thick gloves would help?

Answer: Yes, but protective clothing would also hinder your movements, making it harder to escape.

J I Cohen

Question: Near the end of the Super Brawl, when Neo is lying on the ground helpless. Why does Agent Smith appear to act frightened and worried after he has said "Everything that has a beginning, has an end, Neo." Is it because it will mean he too has an end? And what made him say it?

Answer: This is an echo of a line spoken to Neo by the Oracle earlier in the film. It's hard to say for certain, but I believe that given the disruption to the Matrix when Smith took over the Oracle's body, it's likely she somehow weakened him. She puts these words into Smith's head to spur Neo on - Smith is worried because he has realised what she's done.

Shay

The line was spoken to give the audience hope that Neo was coming back to win the fight. What the audience doesn't know is that Neo and the Oracle want to lose this fight, so that Smith can be destroyed. It serves as the start of a little rollercoaster of emotion, as Neo comes back, then loses, then destroys Smith. it also clarifies which Smith it is that Neo is fighting, and makes Smith not think things totally through (which helps) when he starts to copy himself into Neo (had he stopped to think for a second, he might wonder why Neo was just letting it happen).

oldbaldyone

Question: What is the "million dollar wound" Forrest says he he got while rescuing Lt.Dan?

Answer: He's refering to being shot in the butt. They called it a million dollar wound because it didn't do any real permanent damage, but the solider would still be taken to a hospital and sent home from Vietnam. It was a great relief to get a million dollar wound rather than be killed or permanently maimed.

RJR99SS

Answer: "Breathe" sung by Jane French.

princesskelli

Question: What are the names of Ariel's sisters? It's very hard to hear it during their song.

Answer: Their names are Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Atina, Adella, and Allana.

Krista

Answer: A blimp is a large flying "balloon". Sort of like a hot-air balloon without the basket. There is a "control deck" on the bottom. Also known as a zepplin. The Goodyear (tire) blimp is the most famous.

Ral0618

Chosen answer: According to IMDb, the filming locations for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial are: (1) 7121 Lonzo Street, Tujunga, L.A., California (2) Crescent City, California (3) Culver Studios, Culver City, California (4) Granada Hills, L.A., California (5) Northridge, L.A., California (6) Wrightwood, California.

Super Grover

Chosen answer: It's the name the fish have given to the volcano in the tank, a volcano which can be "turned on" to produce a stream of bubbles (which look like a ring of fire when seen at night through the red glow the volcano produces).

Phil C.

The ring of fire is what comes out of the volcano but they gave it a name that sounds Hawaiian, I'm assuming; Mount Wanhanaluki or something like that.

Aww. You missed another joke! It's Mount Wanahakalugi, or "Want to hock a loogie", ie. Spit.

Question: How can hyperspace work without hitting or going through stars? The Spacecrafts don't turn, so how does it work? This is a problem with most movies with a hyper drive scene.

Answer: Because a computer calculates a path where the ship will not collide with anything. Han Solo even says this to Luke about "ending his trip real quick." This is why it's possible.

David Mercier

Question: Obi-wan ordered the people on the ship to "send no reply" when the cries for help were being received from Naboo ("It sounds like bait, to establish a connection trace," he explained). That being the case, how did Darth Maul know they were on Tattoine? Darth Sidious even asked him, "Are you sure your trace is correct?" or something like that.

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: As a Sith, Maul has methods of tracking that would not be available to non-Force users. When Obi-wan ordered them not to reply, they're not aware of any possible Sith involvement - his precautions would be secure against technological means of determining location, but not against a Sith Lord.

Tailkinker

Answer: It is stated in the novel that they did send a brief response. I see no reason why they could not have defied Obi-Wan's advice and done the same off screen in the movie.

Bane91

Chosen answer: He got cut fighting the zombie in the water fountain at the mall's front door, on a piece of metal that was part of the fountain.

bigwhitekitty

Show generally

Question: Several times, when the family is at a baseball game, the announcer will say something like, "Oh, Doctor, we've got a good game...". What's the "Oh Doctor" part about? Is that something that really happens, or a joke?

Answer: That announcer is a parody of veteran baseball announcer Keith Jackson, who is know for saying "Oh doctor" quite often in his commentaries.

Deidra Goins

Question: When Strider meets up with the Hobbits at Bree, how does he know that they are looking for Gandalf? Or that Gandalf's not coming? Or about the ring and the Nazgul?

Answer: Because Gandalf told him about them. He doesn't know for certain that Gandalf is not coming - his words are "You can no longer wait for the Wizard, Frodo. They are coming." In other words, he knows that Frodo is in danger because he carries the Ring, and so they cannot wait for Gandalf to show. As for his knowledge of the Ring, his eyesight is keen and quick enough to see what it was that Frodo inadvertently threw up in the air when he fell to the floor in the common room, and the results when it slipped onto Frodo's finger. He would have guessed the rest.

Phil C.

Question: What's the extent of 'Blink's' powers? I know he/she(comic) never sleeps so he doesn't get knocked out by the 'tranquilizer' but what else can he do?

Answer: There's nothing to link the character seen in the film to Blink the comic character - the fact that he's seen using his powers by blinking is tenuous to say the least, particularly as the comic Blink doesn't do that. Blink the comic character has the ability to open teleport gates, and seems to able to use those gates to physically disrupt solid objects. She has lilac coloured skin and does sleep. The character seen in the film bears no resemblance to any X-man seen in the comics - he appears to be entirely an invention of the film makers.

Tailkinker

Answer: His father owns a coffee shop, and in the episode where the Starbucks ripoff is moving in, it shows that his parents give him coffee all the time. So it's just the effect of the caffeine.

starsfan97

Answer: 'Baker Street' by Gerry Rafferty.

Xofer

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