307
votes
Accepted
Why did C.S. Lewis use Turkish Delight as temptation for Edmund?
It's helpful to consider in context of the time. Rationings were in effect in WWII England, and Turkish Delights were a particular delicacy that was popular at the time and hard to come by. Also ...
- 15.7k
231
votes
Why did Stanley Kubrick include these scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
You can remove these scenes or shrink them and still get the same movie
No, you can't.
The pacing and mood of the movie depend on scenes having the right pace and structure. These scene contribute ...
- 2,047
225
votes
Accepted
Why did George Lucas set Star Wars in the past instead of the future?
The goal was to evoke fantasy, not science fiction. Placing it in the dim and distant past freed Lucas up to create a visual and sound palette that was unique, without incurring the ire of 'hard-...
- 652k
194
votes
Accepted
Why was a young actor in age makeup cast in the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, rather than an older actor?
There is a deleted scene where he is shown going to the station each year, but the Cylons never show up. The passage of time is shown by him aging each time...when they didn't include most of this, ...
- 2,983
115
votes
Accepted
Why did Stanley Kubrick include these scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
The job of the director is to make the viewer truly feel the characters' situation. I believe he did that, and quite masterfully too.
The truth is - space exploration is slow, brain meltingly slow ......
- 1,016
114
votes
Accepted
Why does (almost) everyone in the crowds in the training Matrix wear only black and white?
This was addressed in one of the rare interviews that the Wachowskis gave in order to promote the film. In short, the poverty of difference in the outfits and the duplication of the characters are ...
- 652k
105
votes
Accepted
What is Deanna Troi's accent?
Israeli, as revealed ten days ago at Star Trek 50
Marina Sirtis herself said exactly the following on Day 4 of the Star Trek 50th Anniversary Celebration in Las Vegas:
SIRTIS: I based Troi’s ...
- 110k
104
votes
Accepted
How did they film the changing decks in the turbolift scenes in Star Trek: TNG?
According to Memory-Alpha, which lists as source the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg DVD set text commentary:
Cliff Bole filmed the scene wherein Riker and Worf share an elevator
trip – from one ...
- 3,672
100
votes
Was the mythology in "Moana" based on an established myth?
The film is based on stories from myths of various Oceanic cultures, although they take typical Disney liberties to make their own story. Maui is a popular character in Polynesian mythology, and most ...
- 4,703
91
votes
What characters in Game of Thrones have been recast?
At least eleven...
or see the other answer
Gregor Clegane:
Conan Stevens season 1. Ian Whyte season 2. Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson starting season 3.
Myrcella Baratheon:
Aimee Richardson on seasons ...
- 59.4k
91
votes
Accepted
Was there ever any actual Spaceballs merchandise?
In a 2012 interview, Mel Brooks said that he wasn't allowed to sell Spaceballs merchandise because of an agreement with George Lucas and "Star Wars":
AVC: That’s a real thing now, by the ...
- 2,037
88
votes
Accepted
How was Luke's prosthetic hand in Episode V filmed?
You can see the original prop here. Note that the metal collar has slipped down slightly.
The actor would sit under the table and reach up through a hole, then place their hand flat onto the table. ...
- 652k
83
votes
Accepted
How did Sir Alec Guinness' voice appear in The Rise of Skywalker?
McGregor: But they used, they got Alec Guinness to do "Rey." Which is extraordinary because he's not alive anymore.
Kimmel: JJ's really impressive. Yeah.
McGregor: Amazing what they can do ...
- 114k
82
votes
Accepted
Were McCoy's medical instruments Swedish salt shakers?
Yes, they were.
The following excerpt from an article quotes Gene Roddenberry himself (via the authoritative book The Making of Star Trek) as saying:
[Feinberg] went out and bought a selection of ...
- 110k
81
votes
Is Kirk’s comment about “LDS” intended to be a religious joke?
No, the point is that Kirk, despite having an interest in 20th Century history, is still largely ignorant of the finer details. He's dredging up half-forgotten memories in what the original script ...
- 652k
79
votes
Was the original Star Wars film originally called "The Star Wars"?
Yes, this is correct
One of Lucas' earliest drafts of the script, penned in 1974, sold at auction in 2013; that script bore the title "The Star Wars" (click to embiggen):
And fan-made scans of the ...
- 161k
78
votes
Accepted
Was the mythology in "Moana" based on an established myth?
Some of them have backings, but others don't. Most of the characters are based on characters from Polynesian myths, but the details in some cases do not line up with the mythology.
Let's take a look.....
- 38k
78
votes
Accepted
Why does it say on Netflix that "Star Trek: Discovery" is a Netflix original series?
Netflix also uses that label for anything they have exclusive distribution rights for in your area. Other examples for my area (US) include some anime like "Little Witch Academia" and other foreign ...
- 3,480
77
votes
Accepted
Why are energy weapons seen as more acceptable in children's shows than guns that fire bullets?
The Comics Code Authority restricted the amount of blood and gore that could be depicted, starting in the mid-1950s:
(7) Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, ...
- 3,959
75
votes
Why did Greedo shoot first?
Yes, Lucas addressed this controversy in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2012:
Lucas: The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean ...
- 161k
73
votes
What characters in Game of Thrones have been recast?
Ghost
img 1 src | img 2 src
In Season 1, Ghost was played by a Northern Innuit pup (a variety of large wolf-like Dog) provided by the Mahlek Northern Innuits.
From Season 5 onward, Ghost was ...
- 44.8k
72
votes
Accepted
How did Chadwick Boseman voice T'Challa in What If...?
The recording was done prior to Boseman's death with at least some of the last sessions over Zoom calls. It was the last production he voiced.
[Chadwick] really enjoyed the idea of being able to play ...
- 207k
71
votes
How did they film the changing decks in the turbolift scenes in Star Trek: TNG?
Taking into account that the background setting is identical, it looks like they simply altered the lighting slightly between the time that Riker and Worf walk into the lift and then walked out again.
...
- 652k
69
votes
Accepted
How was this shot of River Tam on the ceiling managed in Serenity?
It would appear that Summer Glau was lifted into position and is able to sustain that pose because she's extremely flexible. She was, however, given additional support from a hook that was attached to ...
- 652k
68
votes
Accepted
Why was Hitchhiker's Guide censored?
According to Adams, because kids were reading it
As recounted in Hitchhiker's Guide, by M.J. Simpson:
"I think what happened was my U.S. publisher was unhappy about using
the word "fuck" because ...
- 115k
66
votes
Accepted
2001: A Space Odyssey's use of the song "Daisy Bell" (Bicycle Built for Two); life imitates art or vice-versa?
Actually it was Arthur C. Clarke who knew of the work and was inspired by it
Who can forget HAL being reduced to drivel while singing composer Harry Dacre’s 1892 classic standard “Daisy Bell (Bicycle ...
- 50.3k
65
votes
Accepted
How did they film the Invisible Man being invisible in 1933?
The short documentary The Invisible Man - Revealed! provides details of how they achieved the invisibility effects. For shots where the character was partially clothed they filmed the actor, Claude ...
- 9,713
64
votes
Accepted
What is JK Rowling "bad" at?
She is bad at returning library books
Question: Did you use the library a lot as a child?
J.K. Rowling responds: Yes, I loved the library, though I was very bad at returning books on time. I once ran ...
- 652k
64
votes
Accepted
Was the Twin Pines Mall scene at 1:15am for in-universe or out-of-universe reasons?
In the 4th draft of the screenplay, dated Oct 1984, the experiment takes place at 1AM:
MARTY: What's up, Doc?
BROWN: One a.m., right, Marty? You're gonna be there, right? Twin Pines Mall.
MARTY: Yeah,...
- 30k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible