Plot holes exist even in the greatest films. Along with those nagging questions that remain open and illogical reasoning, debates amongst fans have become rife with such flaws. However, great stories, memorable characters, and stunning visuals can cover such flaws. Whether it is the complication around time travel in Avengers: Endgame or an unexplained survival plan in Titanic, these films take our attention away from narrative gaps. Here are 20 classics with glaring plot holes that we happily forgave, proof that sometimes sheer cinematic magic triumphs over logic.
1) The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The sudden arrival of the Eagles to save Frodo and Sam at Mount Doom creates a major plot hole. If the Eagles could go as far as Mount Doom, why weren't they used earlier on to carry the Ring to Mordor? It is not explained, so the rescue looks like a device in the plot. Others believe that riding the Eagles would have prompted the attention of Sauron; however, this is never satisfactorily explained. Although the movie's themes of perseverance overpower this gap, it still leaves a huge logical hole that has been a topic of discussion for fans since the day it was released.
2) Toy Story
One of the main plot holes made in Buzz Lightyear's perception of being a real space ranger is the fact that the toys freeze whenever humans are present while Buzz doesn't as if he were not cognizant that he too happens to be one. How come he acts like all the other toys when there are humans? The inconsistency makes the plot challenging to follow, but the emotional and nostalgic elements of the movie make this oversight forgivable. In what might be a minor issue in an otherwise heartwarming story, the lack of logical consistency is still very noticeable as a flaw.
3) The Dark Knight Rises
Indeed, one of the greatest plot holes in The Dark Knight Rises is how Bruce Wayne gets back to the city after he escaped the prison. It does not bring into question the way he'd get back, nor how he'd enter the city, which is under martial law. The movie lets the viewer assume how he made it but never reveals how. This leaves a big plot hole and creates an unrealistic transition in Bruce's miraculous recovery and dramatic return to save Gotham. Another very evident plot hole includes how Bane trapped so many policemen underground for so many days. The main question is, how did they survive for so long, and when they escaped how were they clean-shaven and their uniform neatly pressed?
4) A Quiet Place
In A Quiet Place, the family lives on Earth where murderous creatures hunt for their prey by sound. The question, therefore arises: how have they managed to stay alive for so long without making any noise? The movie presents several instances of normal human activities that could easily alert the creatures, such as coughing or sneezing. Moreover, why not live near a loud waterfall where the sound would drown out any noise they make? While the tension and suspense, at times gripping, drive the plot, there are unanswered questions regarding how the family manages day-to-day survival in such a fluidly conceptualized world.
5) The Karate Kid
The climactic fight scene sees Daniel LaRusso's crane kick narrowly ruled legal, while it breaks the rules of the tournament itself; specifically, kicks to the head are forbidden, yet this is never applied in the end. The movie never covers either the mechanism or the reason such a disallowed manoeuvre is permitted. It's an important dramatic moment in the film, but it's also a bad plot device. Despite this, the emotional trajectory of Daniel's development and the underdog victory is convincing enough to let people overlook this glaring contradiction in the rules governing the story.
6) Avengers: Endgame
The biggest plot hole appears in Avengers: Endgame, and that is with time travel mechanics. The ending of Captain America, returning in time, decides to retire and spend the rest of his life with Peggy Carter, which creates a conflict. If Cap creates an alternate timeline by staying in the past, how does he get back to the main timeline as an old man? The film does not explain this, and it directly goes against the rules of time travel previously established in the film. So strong is the emotional payoff for fans, however, that many forget this glaring time paradox that was never resolved.
7) Independence Day
On Independence Day, the end requires the humans to upload a computer virus to the alien's high-tech system, disabling their ships. The question is: how can Jeff Goldblum's character, who knows nothing about alien systems, create a virus that would be compatible with alien technology that is so advanced? It makes the resolution farfetched and illogical. Exciting though the action-packed finale of the film is, this plot hole weakens the logic behind the final victory, stretching the viewer's suspension of disbelief too far.
8) Halloween
Certainly, supernatural hardiness is the biggest plot hole in Michael Myers: shot multiple times and lives through it. Then, following a second-story window's plunge, he disappears into thin air and reappears without further explanation. Regardless of which explanation is used to describe Michael's physical state, it leaves a gap in the logic of the film. While his mystery adds to his reputation, this supernatural resilience stands in contrast with all the more earthy elements of the movie, making such unexplained survival a major inconsistency of the plot.
9) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The Re-emergence of Emperor Palpatine: While raising the concern of how he returned, after Return of the Jedi, to the world, the film did not elaborate on the fact of how he managed to escape from his dying bed. It didn't explain how his entire fleet of Sith was hidden for decades without trace. This is a massive plot hole that partially undermines the original stakes of the trilogy and raises the whole return of Palpatine as being contrived and rather not organic.
10) Back to the Future
In Back to the Future, Marty McFly's parents have never seen him, and they do not at all recognize him when he visits their younger because he played the role of getting them together. The movie does not explain why they would not remember the boy who played such a big role in their lives. It thus leaves an evident plot hole that is never tackled. While the fun of the time travel premise was exciting and entertaining, it made this inconsistency difficult to believe for the time travel mechanics, although forgivable for the charm and humor of the movie.
11) Die Hard
Hard Die contains a bunch of plot holes concerning John McClane's survival. He is injured several times in the course of the film, but with a seemingly supernatural ability to recover himself, dodges bullets and eliminates heavily armed terrorists with little trouble. The film does not explain how he could overcome his injuries and exhaustion so easily, so his survival in such an intense situation seems more and more impossible as time goes by. Although action and tempo can keep the viewership interested, the miraculous survival of McClane creates quite a gap in the otherwise solid reality-based narrative of the movie.
12) Monsters University
What's more, in Monsters University, Mike and Sulley meet college, contradicting the continuity set by their backstory in Monsters, Inc., which places them as the best buddies for years. Continuity error creates a plot hole in the timeline with it saying they had another history before college. While being a beautiful addition to the friendship, inconsistency in the storyline with the original movie establishes the fact that the story has merely played favorites with entertainment over the established background story. However, the humor and warmth of their relationship redeem the oversight.
13) Titanic
The famous "door" debate from Titanic includes one of the major plot holes: why couldn't Jack fit on the door with Rose? The film failed to address why Jack couldn't share the piece of wood with her, which left many to point out the erroneous nature of space that could easily be occupied by both of them. While this scene is pivotal for the plot drama, it does end up leaving a pretty gaping logical hole, which stays the course of fan debate.
14) Gravity
Gravity has several logical errors, especially in the space survival of Dr. Ryan Stone. The movie is not close to the reality of survival in the space. For example, Stone detaches from the tether of Kowalski in a very non-realistic manner, and what science survives for Stone in these conditions is not even close to being real. The film's space depiction is beautiful but scientifically incorrect, which makes the survival scenes harder to accept as plausible. Despite its stunning visuals, the scientific inaccuracies create a major plot hole within a narrative otherwise gripping.
15) The Shawshank Redemption
The perfect coincidences through which Andy Dufresne escapes in The Shawshank Redemption make his getaway improbable. It does not clarify just how Andy would attach that poster so perfectly to cover his hole or how he crawls through the tunnel without guards noticing him. These details make it oddly smooth for Andy's escape, even though they give high emotional rewards for his freedom. While it doesn't do much to impede the film's impact, the simplicity of his plan is the biggest plot hole that stands out.
16) The Hunger Games
In The Hunger Games, the Capitol launches brutal tactics to keep control over children who are forced into fighting in an annual event. Why would they establish such a risky, volatile system that throws open the possibility of rebellion? This would seem to encourage people in the districts to defy rather than frighten them. Thus, it seems illogical that their system of control would have any results other than uprising rather than submission. In this film, the story revolves around Katniss, but the miscalculation of the logic in the Capitol remains a glaring issue in the background of political commentary.
17) Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice
One of the biggest plot holes in Batman v Superman is regarding the fabled "Martha" scene. The whole movie leads up to Batman saving Superman once he discovers that the name of his mother is the same as the name of Superman's mother. It just doesn't make sense when such great animosity has been exhibited on both sides throughout the entire film; it further emphasizes the inconceivably complex plan hatched by Lex Luthor to pit these two heroes against each other. If he was to kill Superman, there were even easier ways. The film's visuals are stunning, but these illogical scenes somehow reduce the authenticity of the plot.
18) Sharknado
After all, the premise for Sharknado - a freak hurricane laced with sharks - is just plain not right. The filmmakers failed to address how the sharks are surviving inside the tornado or how the storm would send the sharks plummeting from the sky in the first place. Its ridiculousness is part of what makes the film, and yet at the same time, its illogicality is too great to ignore. While the acting and over-the-top action makes it an entertaining watch, the plot is purely not taken seriously.
19) The Matrix
In The Matrix, one significant plot hole is that Neo is freed from the Matrix and then realizes that the world he has known is a simulation. In the movie, it is not explained why the machines allow humans to have a choice in taking the red pill, neither do they explain how they prevent the humans from choosing the blue pill and remaining in the Matrix. This is a contradiction that creates confusion about free will in the context of the dystopian world in this film, the nature of which remains largely unexplained but is crucial to the plot.
20) Interstellar
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Creating a huge plot hole, interstellar is so wrong about representing time dilation. The movie suggests to us a plan that is close enough to the vicinity of a black hole by slowing down time but the effects are so exaggerated than what science predicts. In effect, the idea that 7 years pass per hour on the planet is unimaginable given what physics would say. For example, the movie also failed to explain how Cooper could survive black-hole gravitational attraction against the known scientific facts. Though it has striking visuals and emotive narration, given its flaws in terms of science, the story is difficult to swallow.
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