MovieChat Forums > Retroactive (1997) Discussion > Simple question, but the answers might b...

Simple question, but the answers might be tough...(SPOILERS)

posted 18 years ago by LWhite54
9 replies | jump to latest

1) In the original run-through, the Mexican guy got a flat tire and didn't make it to the store on time. The flat tire seemed inevitable since it happened even when the therapist was driving the car. How come he was able to get there in time to be killed for the ending?

2) How come Rayanne's gun jammed the first time she tried to shoot Frank? But, in the ending, she was able to shoot the hell out of him, with multiple hits.

3) Shouldn't the kid have been aware of having been sent back in time, even though he didn't go along for the ride during the last time jump? The one time that he did go back, he 'woke up' just before they got to the station. Since there was nothing anytime along to way to slow them down, during any timeline, he should have jumped into the car again before it got to the station. He showed no indication of awareness in the final scene, when his father just avoided the store/station all together. It didn't really matter then, since they would have been safe anyway.

4) Who shot who, in the ending? Leaving aside the fact that the Mexican guy shouldn't have gotten there at all, that is. Everyone had their gun in their hand.

5) Karen wasn't the least bit surprised to see that everyone was dead at the end, except Rayanne? It seems to me that there was no reason for anything different to have happened than what happened the original time. Karen passed up the offer for a ride and only said, "Now you take care of yourself, lady.", to Rayanne before they drove off. How the hell was that supposed to enact any kind of change? Somehow, it seemed to magically do a lot, including preventing a blowout in the red pickup truck.

6) Did Frank only go back once? That's what I thought, originally, but then how did he know how to get into the facility? He told Brian that he had showed him how, and Brian seemed shocked. Was there a jump that wasn't show?

7) What did Karen say to the cop near the ending that sent him off with siren blaring? And how did that idiot cop avoid shooting himself in the foot at any time during this movie? Geez, he seemed like the slowest acting police officer, ever! During one jump back, Karen and Frank are struggling in the middle of the road for a gun, the cop is standing there, but he never pulls his own weapon out? He became an easy target when Frank gains control of the gun.

I actually liked this movie, though, in spite of what seemed like flaws to me.

Layback
There are no stupid questions. Just questions from stupid people.

[–] samspade79 18 years ago

6. Frank will have gotten the code from the first time he went there when he had them as hostages. Then when he went back in time he will have remembered it, but the others will have forgotten that reality.

[–] mike_cable 17 years ago

2. Maybe the gun was knocked or thrown in either time, that caused it to act differently.

4. Wasn't it Frank? He went to collect his money and found out about the affair.

7. She probably said that a crazy man just went by and he had a gun and had taken a lady hostage, etc. Perhaps the cop called for backup (if he had grown a brain). But yeah, he was one of the dumbest cops in the film. That road-side struggle is hilarious.

[–] mike_cable 17 years ago

I also wondered, how did Frank know that the kid was hidden in the freezer thing? He asked the therapist where he was and she never told him (that we saw). So maybe she did, but given her strong character, I don't think she would have.

[–] Master_X_3_1_1 16 years ago

1) Perhaps the tire is triggered only if the red truck has to pass the caddillac? Some minor difference resulting from not having to change lanes?

3) I think if that were the case, then she would have noticed being sent back at the very beginning of the film. So I don't think that the machine works with all jumps having a cumulative effect like you said. Probably best not to think of the logic of any time travel situation too closely though, or you could hurt your brain.

"No man is just a number"

[–] tricklebrook 14 years ago

7) Maybe she also told him he had contraband (the chips).

[–] hnt_dnl 13 years ago

3) The kid wouldn't be aware for the last time jump because only Karen and Brian went back, and they went back 60 minutes, before any of all the previous events in any of the timelines happened. He would only have remembered if they had gone back to a lesser time.

[–] FriedEggMan 13 years ago

5) Well Karen was not in the car with Frank. I'd say that was a BIG difference. She may have had a calming effect on either of the other two. Without Karen, Rayanne might have gone into the store with Frank. Who knows. I don't think what Karen said to Rayanne would have had any influence on what happened.

[–] MrBelette 12 years ago

6) Only the kid went back in time, Frank just wait in the building for Karen and Brian to come back from the past.