Great movies tell great stories. Great stories have many moving parts. When that’s the case, there are plenty of opportunities for unintentional mistakes that make it past writers, directors, editors, casts, and crews. Sometimes, it remains unnoticed until the movie hits theaters. Other times, it takes a digital release to spot the issue. Either way, plot holes are everywhere. Even the best movies have them.
Many of these films are at the top of the industry. From iconic releases to blockbuster hits, storyline mistakes are a part of filmmaking. With many, once you see it, it can’t be unseen. Want to see for yourself? Take a look. These are 15 movies with the biggest plot holes.
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15 The Shawshank Redemption Poster Problem
Columbia Pictures
We kick things off with a literal hole. Andy Dufresne knew he had to escape from prison and find his Shawshank Redemption. Not only was he innocent, but the torment by the evil warden and the sinister “sisters” was sure to be his downfall. When he asked his pal, Morgan “Red” Friedman, to get him a ball-peen hammer, he assured him that escaping with it would be a silly thought. After all, the hammer was tiny. It would take years to bust a gigantic hole through the cell wall and into the sewer system. Yet, that’s what Andy did. With one small hammer, he smashed an enormous opening into the concrete and crawled his way to safety. It seems unbelievable. Even more unbelievable? That’s not the plot hole.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
When the escape tunnel was discovered by Warden Norton, we are treated to a Scorsese-esque reveal, watching through the hole as the poster over it was removed. The issue? How did Andy crawl through the opening and reattach the poster from the outside?
14 The Karate Kid’s Illegal Crane Kick
Delphi II Productions
It is one of the most famous plot holes in history. In The Karate Kid, Daniel LaRusso wins the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament by kicking Johnny in the face. Essentially, the hero of Hill Valley breaks the only rule in the entire tournament. That’s it. Yet, he wins.
It’s been a source of snarky observation since the movie’s release in the 1980s. Referenced in pop culture and the Cobra Kai Netflix reboot, Daniel’s kick has been explained by a myriad of excuses. None, however, do it justice. The Karate Kid cheated. That’s why Johnny got his own series.
13 Back to the Future Paradoxes
Universal Pictures
Fans love Back to the Future so much that they will recognize every single plot hole and still embrace it. This franchise is beloved for the fantastic story it tells and the nostalgia it evokes through several decades. It’s proof that “haters” can’t drag down a wonderful movie.
So, what plot holes are in Back to the Future? Well, how about the gasoline that was sitting in the second DeLorean in 1885 that could have been siphoned out in the third movie? Why didn’t Doc go to the Western Union and change his note to ask Marty to bring back gasoline? Didn’t Lorraine and George recognize their son as the boy who united them in high school? Did she freak out when her kid resembled the guy she was in love with in 12th grade?
There’s a lot to process in this one. Maybe it’s best to just sit back and enjoy it. Don’t ask why George hired the man who tried to violate his wife to wash his car and interact with his children. You ask too many questions.
12 Armageddon Trains the Wrong People
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Picture it. You’re NASA. You know that an asteroid is coming to the Earth. You need to destroy it. Pick the scenario that seems easier. The first choice is to take established astronauts, who have been vetted and trained in the elite space force for exploration, and have a skilled team of deep-core drillers teach them how to drill. Then, send the drilling-trained astronauts to save the world. Case closed. Or…
Hire a bunch of deep-core drillers, many of whom seem mentally unstable and with addiction issues, to fly to the middle of outer space and do the job that they only do on Earth. After all, it’s easier to teach the Bad News Bears how to go into outer space than to teach geniuses how to drill. You can’t make an omelet without cracking some deep-core drillers.
11 Gravity Falls
Warner Bros. Pictures
When you make a movie about astrophysics, you’re going to get some upturned eyebrows. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock know this firsthand. The 2013 movie Gravity, while a fun film, has been battered by science fans for over a decade. The most common critique? The damaged communication satellites should have been in orbits too high to be affected by the debris. According to those who know, the Russian missile strike would have sent most of the remnants up and down, rather than remaining in orbit. It should not have been a threat to the telescope.
It is just one of a slew of physics issues in the film. According to astronaut Michael Massimo, the biggest problems were the smallest details, like the jetpacks. “To have the movie astronauts Matt Kowalski (Clooney) and Ryan Stone (Bullock) zip over to the space station would be like having a pirate tossed overboard in the Caribbean swim to London,” Massimo told Gizmodo.
10 A Quiet Place, Bad Neighborhood
Paramount Pictures
A terrifying tale of monsters who stalk based on sound; A Quiet Place is the type of film you need to watch to understand. The family lives a life of near-silence as aliens without faces listen for their terror. It costs them family members and happiness.
While there have been small questions like how would the family place their sound traps around the perimeter of their home without making noise initially when putting them out, there is one even more glaring one that Reddit came together to make some noise about. Given that there’s a waterfall in the area — so loud that the family can freely talk while it roars near them — why didn’t they just move there? Why build a home in the middle of the silent forest when you can literally live next to the only thing that muffles you? Bad move, Jim Halpert. Some families deserve to be eaten.
9 The Lonely Citizen Kane
RKO Radio Pictures
It’s one of the most famous lines in any movie. “Rosebud,” the last words of the titular Citizen Kane, were debated and deconstructed by everyone in the film. It’s the entire point of the movie and the big hook that most remember. Without this call for his childhood memory, the movie has no purpose.
The biggest question for the characters in Citizen Kane should not be what it means. It should be how they even know he said it. Kane uttered the words all alone with no one around. Yet, through the magic of movies, it’s all they can talk about.
8 Beauty and the Beast A/S/L?
As each rose petal falls, the Beast in Beauty and the Beast heads one more year to his 21st birthday. It is then that he will forever remain hairy and scary. Yet, in the song “Be Our Guest,” his trusted candle sings about how it’s been “ten years” since the spell was cast. Do the math. He’s not 21, and he’s been a monster for ten years. That would make him a boy at the time of his curse.
Yet, there’s a painting in the castle of him as a grown man. How is that possible? On top of it, Teacup Chip is markedly younger than ten. Was he born a cup? How does that work? What is happening in this castle? No one use the silverware.
7 The Butterfly Effect Prison Proof
Film Engine
The Butterfly Effect is like Back to the Future with less love. People enjoy the story, but the plot holes get put through a bit more scrutiny. Like the Michael J. Fox time travel tale, Ashton Kutcher’s opens itself up for some questions given the paradoxical adventure it tells. There are a number of questionable moments, but there’s one that most fans caught a plot hole red-handed. After spending so much time illustrating how one small change in the past can drastically alter the future, they undo it all in one prison scene. In an attempt to prove his powers to a cellmate, Kutcher goes back in time and stabs his own hands as a child. He then returns to show the Doubting Thomas his scars.
Yet, nothing else was affected? Did he encounter no new people during his healing process? There were no activities or jobs he had done originally that he could no longer do because of his injury? Life went on as normal after stabbing himself, but a random sneeze in 1995 can change the planet?
6 The Hangover Rooftop Vacation
Legendary Pictures
In Casino, Ace Rothstein illustrated Vegas culture to a tee. He pointed out all the people on the floor who were tasked with watching one another for cheating. According to Ace, the trump card was the video cameras. The eye in the sky, he said, was watching us all. This was set in 1975.
In 2009, however, a man can spend days on a Vegas hotel roof, and no one sees him. He just lives there. No cameras. No security. Nothing. Good to know if you’re low on cash in Las Vegas that you can live for free on the roof. Never mind that his friends never check the last location they remember being in before setting out on a Galifianakis adventure. It’s kind of a mess, but at least there’s a monkey in The Hangover.
5 Ant-Man Heavy, Ant-Man Light
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Which is it? Is Ant-Man super dense due to his Prym Particles to the point that he cracks bathroom tiles, or is he light enough to land on the back of an ant without causing damage? The on-again/off-again power of the teeny little superguy has long annoyed diehard fans.
A Reddit user helped people understand a possible solution to this Ant-Man issue in 2020. “Whether Pym Particles keep or displace the mass is dependent on the user’s thoughts,” the user explains, “and that’s why their impact alters depending on what that person is using them for.”
4 Kate and Leopold Hot For Grandma
Miramax
Did you see the 2001 movie where Meg Ryan has a romantic relationship with her own grandson? It was in theaters. They didn’t mention it on the poster, but that’s totally what it’s about.
The movie, Kate and Leopold, was not meant to be as salacious as it turns out. The time travel tale (yes, that again) provides one of the most unintentional shocks in movie history. Ryan leaves her boyfriend, Hugh Jackman, to fall for a man from the past. The man, as it turns out, is the ancestor of Jackman. Then, before the film ends, Meg is pregnant…which means that Jackman is her own grandson.
3 What Does Bruce Willis Do During the Rest of His Day in The Sixth Sense?
Hollywood Pictures/Spyglass Entertainment
Spoiler alert. Bruce Willis is dead. The film, The Sixth Sense, is over 20 years old. You should have seen it by now. Get out there. Live life. That’s the point of the movie. When Willis’ ghostlike presence is revealed at the end, it flashed back through moments in the movie. You see how his dinner with his wife is not quiet and cold. He’s simply not there. The same can be said about his silent sitting with Haley Joel Osment’s mom when the boy enters the room.
The only question? How did he arrange these meetings? Why was his widowed wife sitting alone at a fancy restaurant before leaving disgustedly? Why was Toni Collete sitting in silence and creepily waiting for her son? How did Willis arrange his life with no one talking to him and not realize he wasn’t interacting with anyone? When the kid said, “I see dead people,” Willis should have said, “I know.”
2 Beard of Steel
How does the Man of Steel shave his beard? Chainsaw? Lasers? Shotgun? It’s long been a debate among comic book fans and, when the Superman story Man of Steel was released, the argument was reignited. How does the Kryptonian Hero handle his facial hair? Is it even possible?
With some claiming he doused a blade with microscopic kryptonite and others firmly opposed, it’s a question that few can say for sure. Yet, the appearance of Clark Kent with both a baby face and a scruffy definitely presents more questions than answers.
1 Cinderella’s Slipper Stays Glass
Walt Disney Studios
Cinderella was essentially a servant to her stepmother and sisters. When her fairy Godmother granted her a night of decadence until midnight, she made herself clear. When the clock strikes 12, all items transformed through magic will turn back to normal. That includes her carriage, dress, and glass slippers. Oh, wait…
If that’s the case, then how did the slipper left behind for the Prince to find remain a slipper? Shouldn’t he have found the slipper socks or whatever they were when the Godmother did her Bewitched gimmick on them? How did this one item, out of all of them, remain?
