# Movie plotholes only losers would pick out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747 "2005-07-16T02:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/81 "2005-07-18T18:44:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by nivlac > The one math goof that always makes me cringe in movies is what the Scarecrow said after he got his “brain” (alright, it was only a diploma) from the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. He completely butchered the Pythagorean Theorem. When the geek in me points this out to anyone who’s watching the movie with me, all I get is a “So what?”. Oh well. > > “The square of the hypotenuse of an Isocoles triangle is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides.” > “That’s a right triangle, you idiot.” > “D’OH!” It’s even worse than that – IIRC, he talks about the “square _roots_”, not the _squares_ of the sides. What do you want? Oz is probably in some non-Euclidean universe anyway. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/82 "2005-07-18T20:03:49Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > In **Die Hard 2** , the controllers at the airport are desperate to find a transmitter so they can communicate with the planes waiting to land. They even get ambushed trying to get to the communications center at the new terminal being constructed. > > Uh, guys, every plane parked on the ground at your airport, from a 747 to a Cessna, has a transmitter on it. Don’t get me started on Die Hard 2. I’m still annoyed by the fact that, despite being on the East Coast, which has a lot of Airports withen a realtively short distance of each other, Dulles is the only place they can land. Apparently every other Airport withen a couple hundred miles is closed down, and so even though those planes can continue to circle for hours, they can’t fly to Baltimore, Phildelphia, Richmond, etc. Hell, there’s a number of military airports nearby, which would likely open their runways to planes considering the terrorist attack. Andrews and Langely AFB are both rather close, and I know that Andrews can handle planes as large as a 747. Worst Die Hard Ever. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/83 "2005-07-18T20:10:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s even worse than that – IIRC, he talks about the “square _roots_”, not the _squares_ of the sides. > > What do you want? Oz is probably in some non-Euclidean universe anyway. Every time I watch that movie, I’m always bugged by the fact the Lion says “What makes the sphinx the 7th wonder?” Other then the fact the Sphnix doesn’t exist in OZ, it’s also not a wonder of the world. The Pyramids are, the Sphinx isn’t(At least, not on the traditional list of 7 wonders). ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/84 "2005-07-18T20:17:20Z")
The entire bus-driving-through-the-city sequence in **Speed,** just because I know the neighborhoods involved and that the route taken in the movie involves several well-hidden matter transporters (“That’s _not_ the offramp at Western! Hey, how’d you get to El Segundo so fast?!”). I hear **Falling Down** has a similar problem. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/85 "2005-07-18T20:30:09Z")
Man, a thread on the flaws in _Die Hard 2_ would run to four pages, at least. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/86 "2005-07-18T20:34:23Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > The entire bus-driving-through-the-city sequence in **Speed,** just because I know the neighborhoods involved and that the route taken in the movie involves several well-hidden matter transporters (“That’s _not_ the offramp at Western! Hey, how’d you get to El Segundo so fast?!”). > > I hear **Falling Down** has a similar problem. Of course, the same thing happens in **Lethal Weapon** , among countless others. The hero starts at one intersection, rounds a corner, and is 3 miles away. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/87 "2005-07-18T20:48:46Z")
In _Bird on a Wire_, Goldie Hawn (I think) takes the ferry from Detroit to Racine, Wisconsin. That must be one \*\*\*hell \* \*\* of a fast boat. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/88 "2005-07-18T20:59:13Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Of course, the same thing happens in **Lethal Weapon** , among countless others. The hero starts at one intersection, rounds a corner, and is 3 miles away. 😃 One of the definitive examples is **Bullitt**. Steve McQueen’s chase scene in his Mustang was one of the first and best chase scenes ever in cinema, but the chase, as shown in the film, was geographically impossible in San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/89 "2005-07-18T21:48:02Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Don’t get me started on Die Hard 2. I’m still annoyed by the fact that, despite being on the East Coast, which has a lot of Airports withen a realtively short distance of each other, Dulles is the only place they can land. > > Apparently every other Airport withen a couple hundred miles is closed down, and so even though those planes can continue to circle for hours, they can’t fly to Baltimore, Phildelphia, Richmond, etc. > > Hell, there’s a number of military airports nearby, which would likely open their runways to planes considering the terrorist attack. Andrews and Langely AFB are both rather close, and I know that Andrews can handle planes as large as a 747. > > Worst Die Hard Ever. Not to mention that the pay phone Willis’s character uses in the Dulles airport says “Pacific Bell.” Actually, when you think about it, placing D.C. on the West Coast _would_ make a detour to BWI, etc., rather inconvenient now, wouldn’t it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/90 "2005-07-19T17:02:33Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Not to mention that the pay phone Willis’s character uses in the Dulles airport says “Pacific Bell.” Actually, when you think about it, placing D.C. on the West Coast _would_ make a detour to BWI, etc., rather inconvenient now, wouldn’t it? 😉 Well I live in Illinois and my ILEC is Southwestern Bell so it’s not inconcievable. I’m not saying it’s accurate, just possible. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/91 "2005-07-19T17:24:19Z")
> [@](#): > > One of the definitive examples is Bullitt. Steve McQueen’s chase scene in his Mustang was one of the _first and best chase scenes ever in cinema_, but the chase, as shown in the film, was geographically impossible in San Francisco. If you really think that the chase scene in **Bullitt** is one of the first in cinema you need to watch more of the preceding 70 years’ worth. Start with Buster Keaton’s **The General** (although that certainly isn’t the first, either). ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/92 "2005-07-19T17:54:35Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > “The square of the hypotenuse of an Isocoles triangle is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides.” > “That’s a _right_ triangle, you idiot.” > “D’OH!” I thought this was intentionally wrong. The wizard didn’t change anyone, he just made them feel they were brave, had a heart or were intelligent. So it was fully in character that the scarecrow would get Pythagorus wrong, just now due to his confidence gained from the Wizard it is no longer a disabling problem. For a loser plothole, Spongebob Squarepants the Movie. Spongebob is clearly wearing y-fronts before assembling and putting on his square pants, but when the squarepant back fails his bum is clearly visable. Either the y-fronts dissapeared, or else he is wearing ass-less undewear (the perv). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/93 "2005-07-19T18:20:58Z")
**HPL** , **Bryan Ekers** and **Shayna** , _Die Hard 2_ had its problems, but I can suspend disbelief for some of them. The logo on the pay phone is just a continuity problem. As for the planes not diverting to other airports, I’ll have to watch it again. Don’t the real controllers put the planes into holding patterns? (They contact a few on their in-flight phones and those planes divert to alternate airports.) The bogus controllers must have just told the others to keep holding, and by the time they find out what’s really going on, they are too low on fuel to go anywhere else. But the transmitter thing is just utterly, utterly blatant. Dude, it’s an airport, the place is crawling with transmitters. And if by some miracle there are no planes on the ground, haul your ass down to Radio Shack. And the biggest problem with _Die Hard 2_ is this: In the first movie, Bruce Willis was the lone hero because he was trapped in the building. There were unexpected twists, the bad guys were smart but Our Hero was smarter. And like most sequels, the producers wanted to recapture what (they thought) was the successful formula from the original; but the only way to make Bruce Willis the lone hero again was to make all the other good guys completely incompetent. Watching stupid people doing stupid things is not a good way to build up suspense. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/94 "2005-07-19T18:27:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I’m sure everyone from NYC noticed this one, but in **Down with Love** the UN Building is shown as being across the street from Grand Central Terminal. Umm…that was done on purpose, for the comedic implications. The whole story was a sendup of the Doris Day / Rock Hudson films, and the director intentionally made things silly like that as part of the spoof (he even mentions his thought process on that scene in the ‘making of’ documentary on the DVD) ---
**Author:** ![tristessa\_home](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tristessa\_home](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tristessa_home)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/95 "2005-07-19T18:56:53Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > It adds to the thrill, knowing that you might get caught. Morally, I see the problem re- doing it in the same house, etc---- and how wrong it is. but tos quote is WHY peoplle do it in the first place. Usually has nothing to do with the spouse— respectfully, or otherwise. It’s about sex, thrilling “take me in the mud” kind of sex. lol. been there… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/96 "2005-07-19T20:20:12Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > And the biggest problem with _Die Hard 2_ is this: I’m not sure I could isolate it down to one, but you have a point: > [@](#): > > but the only way to make Bruce Willis the lone hero again was to make all the other good guys completely incompetent. Watching stupid people doing stupid things is not a good way to build up suspense. When Brucie-boy decides to demonstate the blank Uzi rounds by emptying a clip in the airport police station, you’d’ve though someone would’ve just shot his ass clean off. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/97 "2005-07-19T21:01:46Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > For a loser plothole, Spongebob Squarepants the Movie. Spongebob is clearly wearing y-fronts before assembling and putting on his square pants, but when the squarepant back fails his bum is clearly visable. Either the y-fronts dissapeared, or else he is wearing ass-less undewear (the perv). Spongebob? You mean the one that has campfires and rainstorms underwater? Where a fish has to climb an underwater fence instead of swimming over it? I was pointing out ridiculous plot holes in it to my son and he said, “Dad, it’s about a talking sponge that wears pants. What do you want?” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/98 "2005-07-19T21:07:55Z")
> [@Turing Complete](#): > > I’m actually a high-school dropout. No really, I am. [dripping with ennui] It’s been done. [/dripping with ennui] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/99 "2005-07-19T22:32:56Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > The entire bus-driving-through-the-city sequence in **Speed,** just because I know the neighborhoods involved and that the route taken in the movie involves several well-hidden matter transporters (“That’s _not_ the offramp at Western! Hey, how’d you get to El Segundo so fast?!”). Yeah, but a bus successfully jumping a several-foot gap (with no elevation differential) in the middle of an elevated highway? No problem. I especially like how the nose of the bus was higher than the rear after it launched itself into the air. What did they do, pop a wheelie? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747/100 "2005-07-20T07:47:39Z")
The bus-jumping physics doesn’t count because that’s a plothole _everyone_ could see (not just us El Lay resident loser nerds 😉 ). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-plotholes-only-losers-would-pick-out/312747.md?page=6)