Making a movie is a lot like building a house of cards. If you aren’t careful when you’re building the foundation, the whole thing is liable to come toppling down.
Oversight can be a crippling thing to a film. It can shatter the constructs of reality in an instant.
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To better prove my point, here are 10+ plot holes that ruined movies.
1. Microwave emissions in *Batman Begins*.
The climax of Batman Begins involves the Dark Knight stopping a runaway train with an active microwave emitter before it can reach Gotham’s water supply.
If the emitter was active, how did it not destroy everything on its way to Wayne Tower?
Also, if the drugs were already in the water supply, wouldn’t boiling water make you go insane?
In the film, they need the microwave emitter to vaporize Gotham’s water supply. That’s how they disperse the toxin. But Scarecrow confirmed that the drug had been in the water for weeks!
Did no one in Gotham make a pot of tea during that time?
2. Put the blame on *Gravity*.
In Gravity , George Clooney’s character detaches himself from a tether so that Sandra Bullock may live.
But if he’d just given the tether a little tug, he could’ve floated back to the ship! It’s physics !
And another thing, how did Sandra Bullock manage to have perfectly shaved legs in space?
I mean, wouldn’t that get left behind?
Who enjoys having to shave their legs on this planet, let alone in outer space?
3. Indy didn’t do anything in *Raiders Of The Lost Ark*.
After being captured by the Nazis, Indiana Jones realizes the Ark is too powerful to be looked upon with human eyes. He turns away at the last minute and the Nazis start to melt.
He could have stayed at home and nothing would have changed. The Nazis still would have been killed in the exact same way.
While we’re on the subject, how could such a power be affected by a person shutting or opening their eyes?
The Ark literally melts hundreds of soldiers in an instant.
How does it make any sense that by simply closing your eyes, you’d save yourself from that fate?
4. How did Andy hang his poster in *Shawshank Redemption*?
Alas, one of the greatest twists in cinema history utterly spoiled by basic logic.
If Andy Dufrane was inside the tunnel, how could he have re-hung the poster?
5. Daniel’s crane kick was totally illegal in *The Karate Kid*.
At the beginning of the match, the referee explicitly says “No hits to the face.”
Yet Daniel wins the match by pulling off a miraculous crane kick that hits Billy square in the mouth.
6. That T-Rex appeared out of thin air in *Jurassic Park*.
Remember when Dr. Grant and the kids are cornered by the two Velociraptors? At the last moment, a giant T-Rex snatches the leaping lizard right out of the air and saves the day.
Where did the T-Rex come from? The room was empty just moments ago!
7. Why do the cars have doors and seats in *Cars*?
It seems like a pretty obvious question, but the more you think about it the less it makes sense.
If there are no humans in the Cars world, why include space for them at all?
8. If the phones are down, how does Kevin order his pizza in *Home Alone*?
A crucial plot point in Home Alone involves the phone lines being disconnected in a storm. That’s what knocks out the alarm clocks and it’s why Kevin’s parents can’t simply call the house to check on him.
So how does Kevin order his pizza?
9. What happened to the hostages in *The Dark Knight*?
When the Joker crashes Bruce Wayne’s party, he ends up throwing Rachel Dawes out the window. Batman dives to save her, but what happens to the rest of the hostages?
Does he simply leave them to the Joker?
10. Don’t Marty’s parents recognize him in *Back To The Future*?
When Marty goes back in time to 1955, he goes by the name Calvin Klein to his parents.
Weren’t they at all curious when they had a son who looked identical to their old friend?
11. Couldn’t they have picked a better year in *X-Men: Days Of Future Past*?
How does it make any sense at all to send Wolverine to the 1970s, a time when Xavier and Magneto are enemies and Mystique’s whereabouts is unknown?
They were all under the same roof just a few years earlier!
12. The Marauder’s Map in *Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban*.
The Weasley brothers introduce Harry to the Marauder’s Map. It’s a magical piece of parchment that shows the location of everyone in Hogwarts.
Why didn’t they notice Ron was sleeping with Peter Pettigrew every night?
13. Bruce Wayne’s trade in *The Dark Knight Rises*.
A crucial plot component in The Dark Knight Rises is that Bruce Wayne is broke. Bane’s people essentially hacked him and sold off all of his stock.
This was a known terrorist attack. They would have frozen all trades immediately.
14. Why does everyone just commit murder in *The Purge*?
If all crime is legal, why does no one try to commit fraud or hack someone like Bill Gates for example?
Murder seems kind of short-sighted when you can empty someone’s bank account and be on a beach in Hawaii the next day.
15. How did Austin get that cart completely sideways in *Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery*?
Remember the scene in Austin Powers where he’s trying to do a 3-point turn with the cart and he manages to get it stuck completely sideways between the two walls?
Explain the logistics behind that one. Somebody, please?
16. Does the monster from *Jeepers Creepers* stamp license plates?
I mean I guess he’d have to, right? The only other solution would have been to mosey on down to the DMV and order a custom license plate.
He also has a great sense of humor for a monster. I love a good pun.
Furthermore, why does he drive at all if he’s got wings?
I suppose it helps to not get noticed while on the hunt, but to that point: why hide?
If nothing can kill it, wouldn’t it be more logical to attract as many people as possible during the short time that it’s permitted to walk the earth?
17. Pretty dumb for a smart guy in *Limitless*.
The whole plot of Limitless revolves around Bradley Cooper unlocking all of his cognitive potentials.
If that’s the case, how could he have forgotten to pay the drug dealer back?
18. Palpatine’s return in *Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker*.
Star Wars fans couldn’t wait to fill theaters and witness the conclusion of The Skywalker Trilogy.
Unfortunately, it was riddled with plotholes. The only explanation offered in the film for Palpatine’s return was
“Somehow, Palpatine has returned.” Not even joking.
19. Selective hearing in *A Quiet Place*.
If the monsters’ sense of hearing is so acute that it can hear the faintest of whispers, how did the entire family not get ripped to shreds the first time someone accidentally farted or coughed in their sleep?
20. How did Biff make it back to 2015 in *Back To The Future II*?
After stealing the sports almanac from Marty, Biff goes back in time and gives it to his younger self.
He then somehow manages to get back to 2015 to put the time machine back. However, the act of him going back in time would have erased the current timeline.
21. Why not use Cerebro on someone else in *X-Men*?
In the first X-Men film, it’s explained that Cerebro doesn’t work on Magneto because of the helmet that he wears.
Which is fine, but why not just use it to track Mystique, who is always with him?
22. Why didn’t the glass slippers change in *Cinderella*?
If the enchantment ends at the stroke of twelve and everything that was once bewitched returns to its original state, wouldn’t Cincerella ‘s glass slippers have disappeared?
How does that make any sense?
23. Couldn’t you have just destroyed your half in *Tomb Raider*?
The whole plot revolves around two halves of a magic artifact. If they are joined, they create a deadly weapon. Lara finds the first half early in the film but spends the rest of the film looking for the other piece.
Just destroy your half, Lara! Problem solved.
24. Where did the bags come from in *Ocean’s Eleven*?
The final act of Ocean’s Eleven is practically flawless. Practically, but not completely. Remember how they sneak the money out in those giant black duffel bags at the end?
How did those get inside the vault?
25. How come Buzz freezes like the other toys in *Toy Story*?
In the first Toy Story film, Buzz Lightyear doesn’t believe that he’s a toy. As far as he’s concerned, he’s a full-fledged member of Star Command.
If that’s the case, why does he freeze every time Andy or Andy’s mom comes into the room?
26. Why did Vader never seek out Luke in *Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope*?
Vader is one of the most powerful Jedi and Sith Lords that ever was. How could Luke have gone his entire life completely undetected by his father?
He could always sense him from this point onward, but not before?
Luke wasn’t even that hard to find!
It’s not like Obi-Wan tried all that hard to keep his location a secret anyway?
He dropped Luke off on Tatooine (Vaders home planet) with Luke’s uncle, Owen (Vader’s stepbrother).
