Top Five Brutally Bad Plotholes in Quality Movies: Let's Compile a List

Cafe Society
141

Can TV episodes be included in the list of plotholes?

I thought the last episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was a great way to end the series, but it did have a massive plot hole.

[spoiler]Basically, the whole plot revolves around Picard traveling between three different time periods due to the manipulations of Q. In the past and present time periods they discover an “anti-time anomaly” which they scan with some sort of “inverse tachyon pulse”. For some reason, the anomaly is larger in the past than in the present. In the future, Picard also scans for the anomaly in the same way, but finds nothing, and everyone thinks he’s lost his marbles.

Picard eventually realizes that they created the anomaly by scanning for it in the three different time periods. It’s larger in the past than in the present because it’s “anti-time”, meaning it grows backwards in time. The reason it doesn’t appear at all when they scanned for it in the future is because they only just created it with that scan.

The ship in the future races back to the place where they performed the scan, and sure enough, there’s the newly formed anomaly. Picard is vindicated! Q tells him that in understanding the paradox he’s passed his test and proven that humanity can grow beyond it’s limitations.

See the problem? The whole point was that the anomaly grows backwards in time. And yet, in the future timeline when they return to the site where they just created the anomaly, there it is! They shouldn’t have seen it unless they went back there before they created it.

It wouldn’t be such a big flaw except that the whole point was Picard had supposedly proven to Q that he could grow beyond thinking of things in terms of linear time, and yet when he tells them to turn the ship around and go back he’s actually still thinking linearly. Otherwise, he’d know that there’d be nothing there to see.[/spoiler]

142

[QUOTE=Smeghead]
All this talk about The Matrix, and no one’s even casually mentioned the idiotic “using humans as a power supply” thing? I know, it’s been done to death, and everyone already knows about it, but still. It’s such a giant elephant in such a tiny room that it has to at least be commented upon.
[/QUOTE]
I wonder why they didn’t have Morpheus hold up a computer chip rather than a battery. Seems a bit more plausible to use humans as processors for problems machines aren’t good at.

There’s also the explanation that maybe Morpheus just doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

[QUOTE=Jenny Haniver]
What about the big plot hole in the first BTTF movie? The plan to get Marty Back To The Future hinges on Doc knowing exactly when lighting will strike the clock tower…but actually the information he has only gives him a window one minute long, as the clock has no second hand and, as seen when the Doc is messing with the cables, the minute hand only moves once per minute, not in a slow progression to the next minute.
[/QUOTE]
I always thought they should’ve had the hook on the back of the car attached to a long coil of wire. This would give a bit of leeway for getting the timing of the lightning right, and also explain why Marty hits the cable at the right time even though he leaves well after the alarm clock tells him to.

143

[QUOTE=tim314]

Well, based on the tiny bit of movement in the chess piece at the end, it seems the cure might not have even really worked on Magneto (not permanently, anyway). But of course the X-Men didn’t know this, so that doesn’t explain why they didn’t try to cure her. I’m actually mostly posting to mention a suggestion I read somewhere (can’t remember where) that instead of Rogue taking the cure, there should have been a scene of her and Bobby kissing which then panned down to Leech sitting under their bed with headphones on. That would have been a thousand times better, IMO. I get that the director felt that realistically no one would be stupid enough to keep such crappy powers as Rogue had, but in the context of the “mutants as oppressed minority” metaphor the ending as written is basically equivalent to a gay person taking a pill to make them straight, or an African-American taking a pill to become white. Blech.

Speaking of X3, I was pretty stunned when I rewatched it on HBO recently and discovered that Shadowcat is the girl from Juno.

Regarding Wolverine’s pants: perhaps they’re made of unstable molecules? :wink:
[/QUOTE]

[spoiler]Not only was it a betrayal of the theme of the X-Men in general (it’s okay to be different), it betrays the basic themes of superheroes in general, which is that, if you have these incredible powers, you use them to help people, even if that’s hard or unpleasant for yourself. Rogue decides to get the “cure” and abandons her friends (who have frequently put their lives on the line to save her) to fight Magneto without her, because she wants to be able to mash faces with a cute boy.

On top of that, it also blows the payoff that most fans had been expecting for the last two movies, where movie-Rogue finally transforms into super strong, super-tough, ass-kicking comic book-Rogue. What they should have done is kept the scene where Rogue is outside the clinic, contemplating getting the cure. Keep her offscreen (as they did) until the fight at Alcatraz, so you don’t know if she got it or not. Then, when it looks like Juggernaut is about to slaughter some friendly mutant (Probably Iceman, for maximum dramatic effect), have Rogue show up out of nowhere, drain his powers, and then have her start kicking ass on the remaining evil mutants using Juggernaut’s superstrength and invulnerability. It could have been an epic badass moment in a movie that was sorely lacking in such.

Plus, as you point out, they could have still end the movie with kissy-faces so long as Leech is nearby.[/spoiler]

And after that bought of Geek Rage, I need to go buy another pair of stretchy purple pants, as these ones are all torn up again.

144

[QUOTE=Jenny Haniver]
What about the big plot hole in the first BTTF movie? The plan to get Marty Back To The Future hinges on Doc knowing exactly when lighting will strike the clock tower…but actually the information he has only gives him a window one minute long, as the clock has no second hand and, as seen when the Doc is messing with the cables, the minute hand only moves once per minute, not in a slow progression to the next minute.
[/QUOTE]

Now this BttF plothole I actually agree with, or at least I agree that it was a major weakness in their plan. Of course, that was the only information they had, so it was Marty’s best shot at getting back to the future. I have long thought that in Doc’s place, I would have used a long cable to attach the hook to the power coupling, just as borschevsky said. Maybe there was some technobabble reason that it wouldn’t work, but they never even mentioned the idea. They just got lucky.

145

[QUOTE=Balance]
Now this BttF plothole I actually agree with, or at least I agree that it was a major weakness in their plan. Of course, that was the only information they had, so it was Marty’s best shot at getting back to the future. I have long thought that in Doc’s place, I would have used a long cable to attach the hook to the power coupling, just as borschevsky said. Maybe there was some technobabble reason that it wouldn’t work, but they never even mentioned the idea. They just got lucky.
[/QUOTE]

Well…there was the END OF THE ROAD right there. At best, Marty had another ten feet he could travel. I don’t know how long the road went in the other direction, but it was a city street, so odds are not that long before it ended, or perhaps another car would have turned onto the road.

146

[QUOTE=Balance]
Now this BttF plothole I actually agree with, or at least I agree that it was a major weakness in their plan. Of course, that was the only information they had, so it was Marty’s best shot at getting back to the future. I have long thought that in Doc’s place, I would have used a long cable to attach the hook to the power coupling, just as borschevsky said. Maybe there was some technobabble reason that it wouldn’t work, but they never even mentioned the idea. They just got lucky.
[/QUOTE]

I always thought “why bother with doing this in the middle of the city at all?” Head out to the country and attach a long antenna and you can drive 88 under any number of storms for as far as you want. Heck, Dr. Brown is supposed to be a brilliant scientist! He can figure out how to make the car more attractive to lightning on it’s own without some complicated setup. Eventually they’ll get struck by lightning naturally - why go to the lightning when you can bring it to you.

Speaking of BTTF, in part 3 the Delorian Doc Brown went back to in 1885 should have had some gas in the tank. Why not use that to give the Delorian Marty came back in enough gas just to get up to 88 and be on his way?

147

[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy]
I absolutely love Dirty, Pretty Things–the way it’s written & acted, and the way it burrows into issues of race and class in the underground world of refugees working in the dregs of London society. So it’s always a little painful that the entire plot hinges on the dubious urban legend of illegal trafficking of human organs.
[/QUOTE]

Oh man, I totally hate fictional movies where things happen that have never really happened. :wink:

148

Why didn’t Frodo just fly one of those giant eagles straight to Mount Doom in the first place?

149

[QUOTE=Chimera]
Why didn’t Frodo just fly one of those giant eagles straight to Mount Doom in the first place?
[/QUOTE]

Because if he was in line of sight to the tower Sauron would blast him with hate beams.

Also a Nasgul on a dragon would fly up and gaffle him.

150

[QUOTE=Chimera]
Why didn’t Frodo just fly one of those giant eagles straight to Mount Doom in the first place?
[/QUOTE]

Because there had to be a certain amount of stealth. If Sauron had seen someone flying in, he could have sent the Fell Beasts after them.

Although, it raises the point … in the movie version at least, the eagles were able to subdue the beasts in one of the battles, so considering that your point may still be valid.

151

[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach]
..which would explain why there was all the crazy smoke and a beat-up-looking Biff exiting from the car in 2015.

[/QUOTE]

The reason Biff looked like that when he exited the DeLorean in 2015 is because, shortly thereafter, in a scene that was cut from the movie, he vanishes from existence. Seems he died prior to 2015 in the alternate timeline he created.

152

[QUOTE=Yumblie]
In a documentary or commentary, I remember one of the writers saying that bringing Jennifer along was a decision they came to regret. The first movie was written to be self-contained, so they didn’t really think about what would happen after the ending. Once they got around to writing the sequel, they realized they wrote themselves into a corner and didn’t know what to do with Jennifer. I suppose it turned out all right in the end though.
[/QUOTE]

If the first movie was supposed to be self-contained, why did it say “To Be Continued” at the end?

153

Doc would have undoubtedly drained the gas tank before burying the DeLorean in the mine, and taken great care to get all the fuel out of the fuel lines and engine. Do you know what would happen to gas after 70 years?

154

[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley]
If the first movie was supposed to be self-contained, why did it say “To Be Continued” at the end?
[/QUOTE]

That was added later.

Cite: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/trivia

155

[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley]
Doc would have undoubtedly drained the gas tank before burying the DeLorean in the mine, and taken great care to get all the fuel out of the fuel lines and engine. Do you know what would happen to gas after 70 years?
[/QUOTE]

Exactly! And Doc being Doc he would keep what he drained.

156

Not sure if it counts as a movie ,but I gotta mention The Stand.

“Captain Tripps” is a slow death, yet in the mini-series we see people that died while playing Ping-Pong and tending to their fields on a tractor,I’m sure there are other death scenes similar ,but can’t think of any right now.
Also, when the power is turned back on in Boulder, we see a blender spew its contents across the kitchen.Ok,I am near death,but a margarita sure does sound good right now.

157

[QUOTE=Frazzled]

Speaking of BTTF, in part 3 the Delorian Doc Brown went back to in 1885 should have had some gas in the tank. Why not use that to give the Delorian Marty came back in enough gas just to get up to 88 and be on his way?
[/QUOTE]

I’m pretty sure this is addressed in the movie - Doc drained the gasoline before putting the car in the mine, since it would have to sit there for 70 years. I guess he didn’t keep the gas?

158

[QUOTE=Chimera]
Why didn’t Frodo just fly one of those giant eagles straight to Mount Doom in the first place?
[/QUOTE]

The Eagles (capitalize!) are not at Gandalf (or even Galadriel’s) beck and call. They have to be asked, and and they may well say no. I imagine there was such a request, and the conversation went something like this:

Gandalf & Elrond: Hey, Gwahir, thanks for coming so quickly. Landroval, nice to see you too, we need a favor–
Gwahir & Landrovl: “We” being?
G&E: Um…the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. That is, the Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, and Men.
G&L: What about the Ents?
G&E: We haven’t heard from them. I hear Comcast’s having system problems in Fangorn, and they went with the 3 for $33 plan, can’t get ahold of them anyway.
G&L: Okay, just wondering. What’s up?
G&E: Well, you need to carry a couple of our guys over to Mount Doom so he can drop Sauron’s evil ring into the fires of Mount Doom. It shouldn’t take mroe than–
G&L: Hold on. Question. Why do “we” need to do this.
G&E: Um, because otherwise the Dark Lord will conquer all of us.
G&L: No, he’ll conquer all of YOU. WE wil be heading back to Valinor. So WE fail to see how this is our problem.
G&E: But aren’t you supposed to act to protect the free peoples?
G&L: No, we’re supposed to protect the lesser kelvar from abuse by the Children, adopted & otherwise, of Iluvatur. I mention this because you’re eating a ham sandwich and I’m pretty sure the pig did not volunteer.
G&E: Don’t you eat sheep?
G&L: We are vast and contain multitudes, and thus are comfortable with bits of hypocrisy. Anyway, the point is that our job is to protect lesser creatures from over-exploitation of the Children–
G&E; What does “over-exploitation” mean?
G&L: Whatever Manwe says it does. Stop interrupting. Anyway, helping out you Children is allowed but not mandatory–
G&E: But we’d really appreciate it.
G&L: You really appreciated getting a ride from Orthanc, but you never paid us.
G&E: You said you wanted 12,000 sheep.
G&L: Yes?
G&E: We don’t have 12,000 sheep right now. Can we have a few months?
G&L: So you’re asking us to take on a new job, before getting paid for the old job, while eating one of the creatures it is our main job to protect. Do we have that right?
G&E: Maybe we should take this up with Manwe.
G&L: Maybe you should. It’s not that we’re rooting for Sauron–it’s just that, well, aren’t the Children supposed to be handling these things themselves? Part of the growing up process?
G&E: We’ll talk to Manwe. Can you stick around for a while?
G&L: No, we’ve got so much shit to do this year it’s not funny. But if you need us, call Galadriel. She always knows where we are.

159

aaaand I’m late to the BTTF gasoline issue.

So, I’ll bring up a new one: in Ocean’s Eleven, the first set of bags that come out of the vault (before the SWAT team goes in) turn out to be filled with flyers for hookers instead of money, so Danny & Co. can steal all the money instead of half. But how did the flyers get into the vault?

160

[QUOTE=Chimera]
Why didn’t Frodo just fly one of those giant eagles straight to Mount Doom in the first place?
[/QUOTE]

The Eagles were not very close to the bipedal races; you couldn’t trust whistle one up like a taxi.

Gandalf could, because Gandalf can talk to moths.