Most disliked plot holes in movies you like?

rossc007 · 28-11-2011 08:08PM

Tim Burtons Planet of the Apes has to be the Grand Canyon of plot holes, the only thing worse than the ending is people trying to explain it. Even Burton refuses to explain it, he says it was setting up a sequel.... :mad::mad::mad:

Mickeroo · 28-11-2011 08:10PM

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

How does Andy put the poster back on the wall once he is inside the tunnel in The Shawshank Redemption?

Easy, only loosen the two bottom corners?

Tipsy McSwagger · 28-11-2011 08:13PM

Mickeroo wrote: »

Easy, only loosen the two bottom corners?

The poster was flat against the wall.

Rumple Fugly · 28-11-2011 08:23PM

Average-Ro wrote: »

We don't actually:)

Superman didn't travel back in time, he reversed time. The difference is that there's always only one Superman, he controls time like a DVD, fast-forwarding or rewind AROUND him.

So he let all those people die when the dam burst so he could save Lois instead...pussy whipped!

28-11-2011 08:49PM

Some of these may in fact just be lazy writing and some are explained in deleted scenes but some remain pretty big plot holes.

Air Force One - At the start where the baddies "infiltrate" the building they are all dressed in black so as to blend in, so why do they use white parachutes.

Gremlins - If you can't feed them after midnight, what time can you feed them at again. And does this change depending on the timezone they are in?

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - When Indy falls through the letter J during the spelling game he grabs onto the letter Y which is also not part of the word Iehovah.

Ocean's 11 - How did they get the bags of flyers into the vault in the first place.

Avatar - Michelle Rodriguez disobeys direct orders from her superior and there are no repercussions. I'm pretty sure that would get her some time in the stockade if not a court martial.

Batman Begins - Over a few weeks a nerve toxin contaminates the entire water supply of Gotham and then a giant microwave emmiter is used to vaporizer all the water and unleash the toxin. Arent humans 75% water, would it not have had an effect on them as it caused pipes to burst and what of all the people who drank water in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Speaking of the Batman franchise, while rewatching the original Burton film yesterday I noticed that in the final scene where Batman confronts the Joker telling him how he killed his parents the Joker responds that at the time he was a kid. Either he knows Batman's secret identity or else it's not the first time some masked vigilante has came after him for vengeance. Or else it's his standard reply to the situation.

Minority Report - The precogs can supposedly predict the future but nothing they ever see comes to pass. If they were to really be predicting the future then surely they would see the people being arrested and not in fact committing the murders. Even if you consider that they may be telepathic and can see what people intend to do this falls apart when you realise that the entire film hinges on Cruise committing a murder but not one he had planned.

Transformers - If the Decepticons can hack the worlds most advanced military satellites why cant they simply set up a PO box and bid on Sam's grandfathers glasses when he has them for sale on ebay. Would have made everything so much easier for their plans to destroy the world.

E.T. - If E.T. can make a bike fly why doesn't he use his ability to fly when he's being hunted down at the beginning.

The Sixth Sense - Why do all the other ghosts spend their time reliving their deaths but Bruce Willis is able to go about his days as he normally would have. What sort of messed up life was he living in the run up to his death that he can go about his days and never once get curious or wonder why the only person that acknowledges his existence is a kid.

Planet of the Apes (remake) - If the apes and humans are descended from those on the space station where in God's name did all the horses come from? Either there was a space station with just horses or the film is in fact set on the Planet of the Horses.

Jurassic Park: The Lost World - How did the T-Rex escape from the cargo hold, kill everyone and then get back inside the cargo hold.

Dotrel · 28-11-2011 09:17PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - When Indy falls through the letter J during the spelling game he grabs onto the letter Y which is also not part of the word Iehovah.

"The second challenge is the Word of God. Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed."

So basically only the wrong letters that Indy touched with his feet would break. He could do what he liked with his hands and the rest of his body.

(If he'd been smart he'd would have just done a handstand across)

jpfahy · 28-11-2011 09:27PM

Gladiator: Russell Crowe rides night and day back from Germania to his home estate. He arrives to find that it has been ransacked and burned and his family slaughtered. WTF? Did his enemies phone ahead or send an email to the local army unit that they were able to do all that before he arrived??
Ruined the film for me (along with the s****y CGI)

Sad Professor · 28-11-2011 09:59PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Minority Report - The precogs can supposedly predict the future but nothing they ever see comes to pass. If they were to really be predicting the future then surely they would see the people being arrested and not in fact committing the murders. Even if you consider that they may be telepathic and can see what people intend to do this falls apart when you realise that the entire film hinges on Cruise committing a murder but not one he had planned.

It's years since I watched Minority Report, but is that not the whole point of the film and the reason why the Pre-Crime unit is disbanded at the end? The precogs see *a* future not the *the* future. Everyone has a choice and it's ridiculous to convict someone for a crime that they haven't committed yet, but which some bald chick in a bath says he is going to do.

jpfahy wrote: »

Gladiator: Russell Crowe rides night and day back from Germania to his home estate. He arrives to find that it has been ransacked and burned and his family slaughtered. WTF? Did his enemies phone ahead or send an email to the local army unit that they were able to do all that before he arrived??

Were they not already well on their way to his home by the time he found out? Plus the time it took the guards to take him out to execute him.

mikhail · 28-11-2011 10:03PM

Dots1982 wrote: »

In Drive at the start of the movie, the driver completes a getaway job
with a normal car that was tuned up to have 300 bhp which he abandons at the end of the chase.

Surely the cost of the car and the money gone into the kit means any money made from the getaway work is not worth it.

That depends on how much he charges!

I guess you could speculate that he could

pick up the car the next day (the cops hadn't actually found it, and by parking it when and where he did he pretty much guaranteed they never would)

, though of course that entails a certain level of risk.

28-11-2011 10:14PM

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's years since I watched Minority Report, but is that not the whole point of the film and the reason why the Pre-Crime unit is disbanded at the end? The precogs see *a* future not the *the* future. Everyone has a choice and it's ridiculous to convict someone for a crime that they haven't committed yet, but which some bald chick in a bath says he is going to do.

It's been years since I watched it, was just reminded of it earlier today when I saw the Blu-Ray in town. I think the biggest problem is how they plot is set in motion when they see Cruise's character committing a premeditated but he hadn't planned any murder. If I recall correctly they only murder they actually see that comes true is ignored as the killer commits it in a manner identical to a past murder and as such the precogs ignore it as they think it's a ghost in the machine, an old memory brought back. But then would there not still be one of the murder balls as it would only erase the images from their mind and not the system.

I really must watch it again, think I'll pick it up next time in town as I remember really liking the film in spite of it's flaws.

tony1kenobi · 28-11-2011 10:22PM

Average-Ro wrote: »

Think about it, they knew Marty for a week in 1955.

30 years pass by the time Marty is that age again, a lot of time for the face of someone you knew only for only a week to fade from your memory slightly.

They would have seen Marty from the day he was born, growing up into that person, his face changing.

Not the strongest argument I admit. In fact, for a trilogy about changing timelines, the Back to the Future movies did a good job of keeping the number of plotholes low.

Near the start of the first Back to the Future film Lorraine tells the story of how she and George fell in love at the dance.So when you throw in "my son the awesome time traveller" I think she'd remember and add it to that story.

panevthe3rd · 28-11-2011 10:28PM

Ok, not a film I liked but in Final Destination 3 (I think). The one with the rollercoaster as the big catastrophe that sets up the movie.

In the premonition for the accident, the main cause of the accident was a fella dropping his camera on the tracks during a loop. The camera gets caught and sets off the chain of events that kills everyone.

Problem is that the guy who drops the camera gets off of the rollercoaster after the girl has the premonition and freaks out. Therefore he never drops his camera but somehow the accident still happens.

Again, not really a film thats supposed to be thought about but it ruined a bad film for me.

Sad Professor · 28-11-2011 10:49PM

Deleted User wrote: »

It's been years since I watched it, was just reminded of it earlier today when I saw the Blu-Ray in town. I think the biggest problem is how they plot is set in motion when they see Cruise's character committing a premeditated but he hadn't planned any murder. If I recall correctly they only murder they actually see that comes true is ignored as the killer commits it in a manner identical to a past murder and as such the precogs ignore it as they think it's a ghost in the machine, an old memory brought back. But then would there not still be one of the murder balls as it would only erase the images from their mind and not the system.

Yeah, actually I remember the red ball thing being a problem alright. That was probably something Spielberg threw in to make things clearer to the audience but he didn't think it through properly. The film's biggest plothole though is how Anderton was still able to get into the precog division using his old eyes. His access would surely have been revoked.

I still think it was an excellent script by Scott Frank, light years better than the earlier draft that Spielberg was prepared shoot before Cruise got delayed on EWS. But like most of Spielberg's films, it suffers from the feeling that the production was a rush job.

28-11-2011 10:56PM

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, actually I remember the red ball thing being a problem alright. That was probably something Spielberg threw in to make things clearer to the audience but he didn't think it through properly. The film's biggest plothole though is how Anderton was still able to get into the precog division using his old eyes. His access would surely have been revoked.

I still think it was an excellent script by Scott Frank, light years better than the earlier draft that Spielberg was prepared shoot before Cruise got delayed on EWS. But like most of Spielberg's films, it suffers from the feeling that the production was a rush job.

If I recall correctly his wife or someone else used his eyeballs to gain access to the station while he was in the cell.

krudler · 28-11-2011 11:22PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Jurassic Park: The Lost World - How did the T-Rex escape from the cargo hold, kill everyone and then get back inside the cargo hold.

iirc there was meant to be a deleted scene where it was raptors that killed the boat crew not the T-Rex, its also pretty stupid that a gigantic dinosaur that makes the ground shake tiptoes around a suburban neighbourhood on an early evening and NOBODY sees it, they make it look like its in the dead of night but later on when its running around a bustling street with buses running, a video store open and people all over the streets it kinda ruins that.

The Lost World has tons of stupid plot holes, Peter Stormare walks 20 feet falls down a hill and gets "lost" and never once thinks to fire the massive rifle he has with him to attract attention. then Julianne Moore is wandering around wearing a jacket covered in baby T-Rex blood after just telling us that the parent Rexes will actively seek out their young, then acts surprised whenone wanders (again silently) into the camp for a peek later on.

stupid movie.

Average-Ro · 29-11-2011 12:29AM

tony1kenobi wrote: »

Near the start of the first Back to the Future film Lorraine tells the story of how she and George fell in love at the dance.So when you throw in "my son the awesome time traveller" I think she'd remember and add it to that story.

Near the end of the movie, after Marty gets back to the present and sees his "new" parents; they say that if it wasn't for Biff they would never have got together. No mention of "Calvin".

Shows they see Biff as the reason they got together, not the strange kid they only knew for a week.

hidinginthebush · 29-11-2011 12:35AM

Paparazzo wrote: »

2001 is the exception. Think I remember reading that they were going to do the same for Alien, but they thought it was better with sound.

Something similar happened on sunshine, where they had Prof. Brian Cox (of BBC fame) as a scientific consultant. They came to the same conclusion that the subtle sound effects made the film much better than the complete silence of space, call it artistic license.

FlashD · 29-11-2011 12:35AM

don ramo wrote: »

but past superman would never have to travel back in time cause present day superman already traveled back and saved lois thus giving past superman no reason to travel back, so then we have 2 supermans :D

:D

Yes, you are correct......2 Supermans!

Should have though of that

Time reversal is interesting but sure why didn't he just go the whole way back and get rid of LEx Luthor when he was a kid.

Sad Professor · 29-11-2011 12:43AM

Sound in space doesn't bother me. It's a movie. Sound is 50 percent of the experience. Loads of directors have set out to be "realistic" and go for complete silence in space only to think better of it. Abrams talks about having a brief flirtation with the idea on the commentary track for Star Trek as well. He ended up hiring Ben Burtt.

If you really wanted to explain it you could say that the sound you hear is actually the sounds of engines, etc as they sound internally. That was Ron Moore's rather flimsy justification for sound in space in BSG anyway.

hidinginthebush · 29-11-2011 12:48AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Gremlins - If you can't feed them after midnight, what time can you feed them at again. And does this change depending on the timezone they are in?

That always bothered me too!

Ocean's 11 - How did they get the bags of flyers into the vault in the first place.

They carried them in with them when disguised as the SWAT team.

Batman Begins - Over a few weeks a nerve toxin contaminates the entire water supply of Gotham and then a giant microwave emmiter is used to vaporizer all the water and unleash the toxin. Arent humans 75% water, would it not have had an effect on them as it caused pipes to burst and what of all the people who drank water in the weeks leading up to the attack.

Agree with that one!

The Sixth Sense - Why do all the other ghosts spend their time reliving their deaths but Bruce Willis is able to go about his days as he normally would have. What sort of messed up life was he living in the run up to his death that he can go about his days and never once get curious or wonder why the only person that acknowledges his existence is a kid.

Well Bruce Willis didn't know he was dead, and we see that he thought his wife was mad at him and that broke them up. The other ghosts don't know they're dead either, but maybe they've been dead so long they can't go about living their normal lives?

Podge_irl · 29-11-2011 12:51AM

jpfahy wrote: »

Gladiator: Russell Crowe rides night and day back from Germania to his home estate. He arrives to find that it has been ransacked and burned and his family slaughtered. WTF? Did his enemies phone ahead or send an email to the local army unit that they were able to do all that before he arrived??
Ruined the film for me (along with the s****y CGI)

The Romans would have had relay posts where you could pass a message to a new rider on a new horse. They could travel much quicker then one man with only two horses could ever do.

Nervous Wreck · 29-11-2011 03:22AM

Deleted User wrote: »

It's been years since I watched it, was just reminded of it earlier today when I saw the Blu-Ray in town. I think the biggest problem is how they plot is set in motion when they see Cruise's character committing a premeditated but he hadn't planned any murder. If I recall correctly they only murder they actually see that comes true is ignored as the killer commits it in a manner identical to a past murder and as such the precogs ignore it as they think it's a ghost in the machine, an old memory brought back. But then would there not still be one of the murder balls as it would only erase the images from their mind and not the system.

I really must watch it again, think I'll pick it up next time in town as I remember really liking the film in spite of it's flaws.

He hadn't but someone else had.

Zillah · 29-11-2011 03:39AM

jpfahy wrote: »

Gladiator: Russell Crowe rides night and day back from Germania to his home estate. He arrives to find that it has been ransacked and burned and his family slaughtered. WTF? Did his enemies phone ahead or send an email to the local army unit that they were able to do all that before he arrived??
Ruined the film for me (along with the s****y CGI)

They could have sent a message by pigeon. Or boat. Or along nice straight Roman roads that a fugitive general couldn't use.

Anyway, most people in this thread don't seem to know what a plot hole is.

"I didn't empathise with the protagonist, what a plot hole!"

foxyboxer · 29-11-2011 10:13AM

In Kill Bill, The Bride is kicking the asses of the Crazy 88's with a Samurai sword.

In my head I'm going "Why doesn't someone just shoot her FFS!!"

johnny_ultimate · 29-11-2011 10:17AM

Again, people seem to be forgetting that the simplest explanation is often the correct one.

'Because it's awesome. That's why'

Mickeroo · 29-11-2011 12:40PM

foxyboxer wrote: »

In Kill Bill, The Bride is kicking the asses of the Crazy 88's with a Samurai sword.

In my head I'm going "Why doesn't someone just shoot her FFS!!"

No self respecting samurai would shoot another warrior in the heat of battle ffs! :pac:

29-11-2011 01:05PM

krudler wrote: »

iirc there was meant to be a deleted scene where it was raptors that killed the boat crew not the T-Rex, its also pretty stupid that a gigantic dinosaur that makes the ground shake tiptoes around a suburban neighbourhood on an early evening and NOBODY sees it, they make it look like its in the dead of night but later on when its running around a bustling street with buses running, a video store open and people all over the streets it kinda ruins that.

The Lost World has tons of stupid plot holes, Peter Stormare walks 20 feet falls down a hill and gets "lost" and never once thinks to fire the massive rifle he has with him to attract attention. then Julianne Moore is wandering around wearing a jacket covered in baby T-Rex blood after just telling us that the parent Rexes will actively seek out their young, then acts surprised whenone wanders (again silently) into the camp for a peek later on.

stupid movie.

I recall the deleted scene but it actually creates and even bigger and more illogical plot hole. It's a ridiculous film with so many problems that it's almost mean to take it apart, kinda like poking fun at the fat cousin.

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

He hadn't but someone else had.

That right there sums it up, why then didn't the precogs see the person plotting the murder, surely their entire ability is hinged upon the ability to see when someone is plotting a murder.

Ellian · 29-11-2011 02:35PM

This may not count as a plot hole but The Usual Suspects

I am convinced that Keaton and not Verbal is Keyser Soze because the whole movie makes no sense otherwise. My argument would be that there was no 93 million dollars of coke - there was only the one guy who could identify what Keyser Soze looked like and the whole coke thing was just a cover so Keyser Soze could whack him. Why would Keyser Soze go to all that trouble and then sit in an interview room with Agent Kujan and tell a bull**** story that Kujan will realise is bull**** the very second he turns around. Because Kujan has been insisting that Keaton is alive, faked his own death before, he is not buying it, UNTIL he turns around and then mentally pictures Keaton getting shot - he believes that Verbal is Keyser and Keaton is dead. So my take is that Verbal was working for Keaton - they faked the whole shooting thing knowing the witness was there and it was all a set up to hide Keaton - or if you like to convince the world that he didn't (no longer) existed.

DirkVoodoo · 29-11-2011 02:36PM

I was a big fan of the Raimi Spiderman movies. Unfortunately, the horror that was number 3 sort of tarnished the rest of the trilogy for me. Even before that though, Spiderman 1:

Peter Parker is a struggling student, we see him compete in a wrestling match in a pretty awful homemade costume to earn cash, he struggles with jobs in college to pay rent and bills, in the second one he can't even afford the rent...

...so where did he get the costume from?

I know we had to see him in the iconic spiderman costume, but the fact he just appears in New York city with a very elaborate and expensive looking suit just plain irks me. In the second movie he says he made it himself? Pretty big leap in skills there Pete, going from a crude print on a red jumper to a full silk screen printing, custom boots and intricate webbing detail.

I call plot-hole because it was made clear in the story that Peter's costume was home-made. How on earth does a struggling student make something that clearly took an entire movie costume department to produce. Yes, I would have been happier with something a little more "rough around the edges".

Easy Rod · 29-11-2011 02:51PM

Ellian wrote: »

This may not count as a plot hole but The Usual Suspects
I am convinced that Keaton and not Verbal is Keyser Soze because the whole movie makes no sense otherwise. My argument would be that there was no 93 million dollars of coke - there was only the one guy who could identify what Keyser Soze looked like and the whole coke thing was just a cover so Keyser Soze could whack him. Why would Keyser Soze go to all that trouble and then sit in an interview room with Agent Kujan and tell a bull**** story that Kujan will realise is bull**** the very second he turns around. Because Kujan has been insisting that Keaton is alive, faked his own death before, he is not buying it, UNTIL he turns around and then mentally pictures Keaton getting shot - he believes that Verbal is Keyser and Keaton is dead. So my take is that Verbal was working for Keaton - they faked the whole shooting thing knowing the witness was there and it was all a set up to hide Keaton - or if you like to convince the world that he didn't (no longer) existed.

Que?

Most disliked plot holes in movies you like?

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