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Favorite Movie Plotholes

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tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
I've watched many a share of movies in my time, as I assume alot of the participants on this forum have, and in that time there's been many moments where I've just sort of gone 'eh?' to some of the rediculous plot inconsistencies I've witnessed. One of my favorites would have to be...

In the first Superman movie, our dear Kae-El is unable to fly fast enough to stop the two nuclear missles launched by Lex Luthor, yet he is somehow able to fly fast enough around the Earth to cause it to SPIN BACKWARDS ON ITS AXIS.

If you've got any gems similar to the above from any movie, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.
 

DaveH

Member
I think we should qualify what is and isn't a plot hole.

Filming, technical, spelling, drawing, etc. gaffes are not considered to be plot holes, merely mistakes in the medium. Choreography should be viewed the same way. If there is a significant plot element to the action, it can be analyzed, otherwise it will be accepted as an action movie convention or staple, especially if the choreography or direction was by someone other than the primary Director. Presently non-existent or seemingly impossible technology or science is not considered a plot hole. The absence of information is not always a plot hole... just because you don't see a character go to the bathroom doesn't mean they never do.

I'd say a plot hole is when an element of plot contradicts and existing element of plot.
 

BojTrek

Banned
How can Darth Vader die in Return of the Jedi and come back in next years Revenge of the Sith movie... he died damnit...
 

Mr Gump

Banned
I cant remember the exact details but the knife scene in the butterfly effect when young ashton is found by his mother with the knife BEFORE he realises he can go back in time to change the future.
 

DaveH

Member
Mr Gump said:
I cant remember the exact details but the knife scene in the butterfly effect when young ashton is found by his mother with the knife BEFORE he realises he can go back in time to change the future.

In the same film, most of the time no one sees or knows anything has changed, but in prison his cellmate does.
 
I could say that Leonard in Memento being able to recall his condition and function with it only because of the "Remember Sammy Jenkis" tattoo is an example. He would most likely end up in a hopsital for the rest of his life, rather than independently seeking his wifes revenge.
 

GIR

Banned
Jurassic Park 2, I hated it so much I'm sure there's plot holes in it, I know I sure did feel stupider after watching it. Just gotta love the way that vibrating glass of water thing translates over to a large puddle too, pure genius, the art director should get an Oscar or something for that job.
 

Boogie

Member
BojTrek said:
How can Darth Vader die in Return of the Jedi and come back in next years Revenge of the Sith movie... he died damnit...

wait for it........




wait for it...........















Because Lucas is a hack.

Edit: oh, misread what Bojtrek actually wrote. But Lucas is still a hack.
 
DaveH said:
Highlander series.

A winner is you!

I'm not being sarcastic either. Especially considering that Christopher Lambert will be taking on the role of Connor Macloud in Highlander: The Source.
 

DCX

DCX
My favorite: Terminator- Aparently John Conner sent Reese back in time to protect his mom, Sarah. Well it's funny becuase in the movie Reese get's her pregnant with..*drum roll* John!!!!! How in the world was this allowed to go through?!?! John shouldn't exsist to begin with...a HUGE paradox, Doc Brown would be disappointed :)

DCX
 

Rlan

Member
The Evil Dead.

Every movie changed what happened in the end of the one before, now THAT'S a plothole fixer-upper!

I enjoyed ED2's ending rather than AOD's beginning too.
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
Team Rancid said:
I could say that Leonard in Memento being able to recall his condition and function with it only because of the "Remember Sammy Jenkis" tattoo is an example. He would most likely end up in a hopsital for the rest of his life, rather than independently seeking his wifes revenge.

despite having his condition, he was able to manipulate his memories to an extent, the whole point of creating new memories through repitition
 

DCX

DCX
teiresias said:
I'm failing to see the plothole DCX.
?? follow me...John(Sarah's son) sends Reese back through time to protect her, Reese get's Sarah(John's mom) pregnant with John. How could Reese be John's dad without any of them knowing, especially when it was the first time they went back in time. John shouldn't exsist. Am i the only seeing this? I know i'm the only to care (pre-emptive strike)

DCX
 

Guzim

Member
In Rocky IV his son is 8 years old, but in Rocky V, which takes place a week after Rocky IV, his son is 13.
 
Almost ALL of the LOST IN SPACE movie

Why is it in the future world the spaceship has moved a good chunk of distance geography wise when it supposebly couldn't move at all. It should be in the exact same place it was before...though of course then we couldn't have the blob thing they have to go into or whatever.
 

BojTrek

Banned
BojTrek said:
How can Darth Vader die in Return of the Jedi and come back in next years Revenge of the Sith movie... he died damnit...

Basically, I wish they never did a "prequel" - I love the future... I would have loved to watch Luke, Leia, Han and group get older than watching baby Darth Vader...

I hate "prequels"!
 
DCX said:
?? follow me...John(Sarah's son) sends Reese back through time to protect her, Reese get's Sarah(John's mom) pregnant with John. How could Reese be John's dad without any of them knowing, especially when it was the first time they went back in time. John shouldn't exsist. Am i the only seeing this? I know i'm the only to care (pre-emptive strike)

DCX

It is because the Terminator movies don't work like Back to the Future. The timeline is consistant throughout. What happened always happens and never splits into a paradox. The question is then, how does such a thing happen and the answer may be that past present and future are all happening simultaneously in direct relation to one another.
 
MrPing1000 said:
Terminator and the no future guns

They explain the no future guns in the first 2 movies. The only way a weapon could get through if it were surrounded by living tissue. Hence the reason why the Terminators were able to go back in time. Reese could have brought a plasma rifle back with him had he buried it inside his body.
 

DCX

DCX
Warm Machine said:
It is because the Terminator movies don't work like Back to the Future. The timeline is consistant throughout. What happened always happens and never splits into a paradox. The question is then, how does such a thing happen and the answer may be that past present and future are all happening simultaneously in direct relation to one another.
Whatever makes you sleep at night ;) I understand that it doesn't have to follow the "rules" of other time movies but never have they tried to do something like having a father the same age as you and live in the same time period. I don't know it doesn't sit well with me.

DCX
 

DCX

DCX
Desperado said:
They say Minority Report has a big gaping plot hole...but I still love the movie.
I have to see it again, i know there's something that bothers me about the movie but i haven't figured it out yet.

DCX
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
Desperado said:
They say Minority Report has a big gaping plot hole...but I still love the movie.
Well, I always thought it was kind of silly that the building where Tom Cruise worked in didn't rig its security system to go on alert when his eyes came up in the eyescan. It seems like if they were after him that badly, they'd want to cover their bases in case he tried to get back in the building. The pre-cogs were also very under-guarded for being so instrumental in society -- Tom Cruise pretty much just had to put up with the lab technician yelling at him, and that's it.

I don't know if that's the hole you were talking about, but it's one that bothered me.
 

Goreomedy

Console Market Analyst
The last movie I saw that was ruined by plotholes, was Minority Report.

The biggest for me, out of maybe a dozen:

1. Precogs can only see murder. It is said they do not read suicide. When Anderton has finally met Crow, he decides not to shoot him. He turns to leave, and Crow (wanting life insurance money to go to his family) jumps forward, grabs the gun, and forces it to go off. The "murder", besides being a pre-meditated setup by Von Sydow, actually ended up being Crow's suicide. Something precogs can't see.

2. Why did Anderton have his eye surgery, if he was just going to use his own eyes to get back into the facility to kidnap the Precog? And how did he still have security clearance? Even AFTER Cruise was locked up, his wife used the eyes again to gain entry to the cell block in which he was contained.

3. How could the Precog use her powers of foresight in the mall to help them escape, but not see the cops arriving to take Cruise away at his ex-wife's house... until it was too late?

Edit: Wow, none of those MR replies were here when I clicked reply. I guess I wasn't alone. :)
 

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
Goreomedy said:
2. Why did Anderton have his eye surgery, if he was just going to use his own eyes to get back into the facility to kidnap the Precog? And how did he still have security clearance? Even AFTER Cruise was locked up, his wife used the eyes again to gain entry to the cell block in which he was contained.

Well, if that department's IT staff is similar to today's, they were probably overworked and already had like 200 service requests to take care of BEFORE that one and just hadn't gotten around to it. ;)

Goreomedy said:
1. Precogs can only see murder. It is said they do not read suicide. When Anderton has finally met Crow, he decides not to shoot him. He turns to leave, and Crow (wanting life insurance money to go to his family) jumps forward, grabs the gun, and forces it to go off. The "murder", besides being a pre-meditated setup by Von Sydow, actually ended up being Crow's suicide. Something precogs can't see.

Actually, I think that one is explained by the pre-cogs prediction of the future not actually being definite. That is, if you see what the pre-cogs have predicted before the event actually occurs, you can change its outcome. Originally, Anderton WAS going to kill Crow, but upon the confrontation and having known what the pre-cogs predicted, he had a change of heart. It's similar to the movie's conclusion, when the pre-cogs predict Anderton's mentor (his name escapes me) murdering Anderton, but when Anderton confronts him, he changes his mind and offs himself.
 

DCX

DCX
Goreomedy said:
The last movie I saw that was ruined by plotholes, was Minority Report.


2. Why did Anderton have his eye surgery, if he was just going to use his own eyes to get back into the facility to kidnap the Precog? And how did he still have security clearance? Even AFTER Cruise was locked up, his wife used the eyes again to gain entry to the cell block in which he was contained.
So those robot spiders could read his eyes.

DCX
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
?? follow me...John(Sarah's son) sends Reese back through time to protect her, Reese get's Sarah(John's mom) pregnant with John. How could Reese be John's dad without any of them knowing, especially when it was the first time they went back in time. John shouldn't exsist. Am i the only seeing this? I know i'm the only to care (pre-emptive strike)
It's clear as day what you are talking about and have problem with, but believe it or not, such thing would theoretically be possible. I was reading an analysis of this by some physician and he said that such scenario would be plausible according to some of the possible physics models (obviously, given the subject, he admits that there's no way to prove it either way as we know next to nothing how time travel would be working, or if it's indeed physically possible)

Actually, I think that one is explained by the pre-cogs prediction of the future not actually being definite. That is, if you see what the pre-cogs have predicted before the event actually occurs, you can change its outcome. Originally, Anderton WAS going to kill Crow, but upon the confrontation and having known what the pre-cogs predicted, he had a change of heart. It's similar to the movie's conclusion, when the pre-cogs predict Anderton's mentor (his name escapes me) murdering Anderton, but when Anderton confronts him, he changes his mind and offs himself.
Pretty much what he said. The fact that the outcome can be changed, is the whole point of police being involved, and saving lives of people who would otherwise be murdered. Goreomedy, I don't think that was a plot hole.
 

Gek54

Junior Member
Warm Machine said:
They explain the no future guns in the first 2 movies. The only way a weapon could get through if it were surrounded by living tissue. Hence the reason why the Terminators were able to go back in time. Reese could have brought a plasma rifle back with him had he buried it inside his body.

If they can put living tussue arounnd a robot then they could have put tissue around a weapon or make a fat looking robot with a belly full of guns.
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
Gek54 said:
If they can put living tussue arounnd a robot then they could have put tissue around a weapon or make a fat looking robot with a belly full of guns.

given the well stocked gun store down the street, they must have deemed it not worth it to stash guns in his body... kind of like sega not putting Sonic CD on the mega collection.
 

SKluck

Banned
Mr Gump said:
I cant remember the exact details but the knife scene in the butterfly effect when young ashton is found by his mother with the knife BEFORE he realises he can go back in time to change the future.

I don't think this is a plot hole. Remember when he was talking to his father? He blacks out and wakes up to his father choking him. That ONLY happens because he 'goes back in time' and talks shit to his dad.

It's true for every time he blacks out. A paradox, it is all done on purpose. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy type thing.
 

DCX

DCX
levious said:
given the well stocked gun store down the street, they must have deemed it not worth it to stash guns in his body... kind of like sega not putting Sonic CD on the mega collection.
LMAO

DCX
 

DCX

DCX
Marconelly said:
It's clear as day what you are talking about and have problem with, but believe it or not, such thing would theoretically be possible. I was reading an analysis of this by some physician and he said that such scenario would be plausible according to some of the possible physics models (obviously, given the subject, he admits that there's no way to prove it either way as we know next to nothing how time travel would be working, or if it's indeed physically possible)
Are you kidding me???? Hmm...plant a seed, a rose let's say...rose grows up...rose give someone a tulip seed...go back in time before the rose seed was planted...replace with tulip seed rose gave you...plant it instead...so now we have a rose and a tulip existing? Or just the tulip? Or neither because it's impossible for this to happen!!!

DCX
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
DCX said:
Are you kidding me???? Hmm...plant a seed, a rose let's say...rose grows up...rose give someone a tulip seed...go back in time before the rose seed was planted...replace with tulip seed rose gave you...plant it instead...so now we have a rose and a tulip existing? Or just the tulip? Or neither because it's impossible for this to happen!!!

DCX

I think it's as possible for that to happen as it is for time travel to exist ;)
 

Brendonia

"Edge stole Big Ben's helmet"
There was one thing that has always bothered me about Minority Report.

Underlying the whole movie is that Precrime is trying to go national. If the pre-cogs can only see within a hundred mile radius, which was said in the movie, how could Precrime possibly go national?

Are there more pre-cogs? The old woman (forget her name) who was the mother of Precrime said that almost all of the children that were the kids of neroin addicts died and they could only save a few. Are they just keeping those ones lying around in case it goes national or what? It's not like more are going to come around because they fixed the neroin so that those birth defects didn't happen.

I don't know if this is a plot hole or what but it's always annoyed me.
 

Guzim

Member
Here's my favorite movie goof of all-time. The kid in Rumble in the Bronx play a Game Gear game without the game!
 

DCX

DCX
SteveMeister said:
I think it's as possible for that to happen as it is for time travel to exist ;)
lol I suppose, well hell why are we even doing this as none of this matters anyway, it's fake, a movie, fantasy!! LOL Thanks Steve, you made me see the error of my ways :)

DCX
 

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
Guzim said:
Here's my favorite movie goof of all-time. The kid in Rumble in the Bronx play a Game Gear game without the game!

never played a Game Gear myself, but if it was really more or less a Master System wasn't there some hidden game on the Master System if you didn't put a cart in?
 

DCX

DCX
Guzim said:
Here's my favorite movie goof of all-time. The kid in Rumble in the Bronx play a Game Gear game without the game!
Yeah..with Pac-Man like sounds.

DCX
 

OmniGamer

Member
DCX said:
Are you kidding me???? Hmm...plant a seed, a rose let's say...rose grows up...rose give someone a tulip seed...go back in time before the rose seed was planted...replace with tulip seed rose gave you...plant it instead...so now we have a rose and a tulip existing? Or just the tulip? Or neither because it's impossible for this to happen!!!

DCX

Maybe if you exist outside of time, then time isn't linear
 

DCX

DCX
Ok, i got one for you guys. If my mom/your mom got pregnant with someone other than your father, will you..still be you? Or would you never exsist becuase you are only you becuase of everything that has happened before you. Or would you still be you, but look different? I say we wouldn't exsist.

DCX
 

DaveH

Member
It's not a true plot hole, but to me, the idea that the pre-cogs would ever be used for benevolent purposes surprised me... and that they were completely set free at the end. The ability to forsee the future (even if not 100% accurate) is extremely useful in other areas as well. Frankly, I would have expected the entire thing to become a black op, but even without that, you could keep the pre-cogs near a prison with capital punishment, then always kill the inmates near a newspaper, stock report, or whatever. That way, you could prevent the day's disasters (if benevolent), or control the economy, etc.
 
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