When movies weave tales of government conspiracies, elaborate heists, or mind-bending time travel,
audiences know that not every twist or turn will be spelled out in detail.
But sometimes, a film goes too far, introducing unclear plot points, breaking their won rules,
or simply hoping viewers won�t think too hard about what they�ve just seen.
Here are ScreenRant's 10 Movie Plot Holes and Paradoxes.
10 Movie Plot Holes & Paradoxes
Inception
Inception takes a leap into fantasy with its science of �dreams within dreams,� but
sets out some clear rules.
For instance, it�s explained that the sensation of falling will cause any sleeping person
to snap wide awake.
The rule is put to use in the film's climax, as the team of heroes descends through multiple
layers of dreams, ending at an arctic fortress.
Their only way out?
Using synchronized �kicks� to pull them back to the real world, one dream at a time.
But hold on: the final sequence of drops defies the earlier rule, showing that a kick inside
of a dream will snap the person out of it: the collapsing fortress first, then the elevator
stopping in the dream above.
Some confused editing may be to blame for breaking the film's simplest rule.
But if that�s the case, what reason would there have been to blow up the fortress at
all?
Back to the Future � Part 3
In Back to the Future, time travel requires two things: a flux capacitor, and enough gas
to hit 88 miles per hour.
But when Doc Brown's and his DeLorean time machine are struck by lightning at the end
of the second movie, he winds up stranded in the year 1885.
That's ok, because he has a plan: send Marty a letter with directions to find and repair
the stashed car, so he can rescue him from the past.
Marty does just that in the next film, but ends up tearing a gas line, emptying the car�s
tank.
With no gas stations in the Old West, the pair�s fortunes go from bad to worse.
But we have to ask: why wouldn�t Doc just retrieve gasoline from the DeLorean he'd recently
stashed in the mine?
Even if its tank was ALSO empty, running an engine on kerosene would surely be easier
than building a time machine.
In fact, California�s oil rush meant gasoline would have been available - and since it was
considered a worthless by-product at the time, it would�ve been cheap, too.
Ocean�s Eleven
The film is essentially one big lead-up to a brilliant heist, stealing money out from
under a casino owner�s nose.
When the vault is broken into, the thieves demand that bags of cash be carried out by
the hotel�s own security � but when the money is tracked by the casino�s men, an
explosion reveals the money was never there in the first place.
Meanwhile, the thieves - disguised as a SWAT team - descend to the vault with bags in hand,
leaving more worthless fliers behind, and walking millions of dollars out of the casino
personally.
The only problem is that when stars Matt Damon and George Clooney first broke into the vault,
they did so empty-handed.
So where did the x-marked bags filled with fake cash come from?
Fortunately, director Steven Soderbergh even admitted there's no explanation, so don't
bother looking for one.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
While the first Jurassic Park proved dinosaurs and man don�t mix, the sequel went a step
further, bringing the creatures off of their remote island, and back to the mainland.
Things go wrong immediately, as a ship carrying an adult T-Rex violently crashes into its
port.
The crew is revealed to have fallen victim to the island�s dinosaurs, moments before
the ship�s cargo hold is opened, and the T-Rex escapes.
But what actually killed the crew?
It turns out a scene was planned in which a pack of raptors boards the vessel as it
leaves the island, but it was left out of the finished film.
The results of their attack remain, with nobody ever wondering if there are more killer dinosaurs
to worry about.
G.I.
Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Blockbuster films are rarely scientifically accurate, but G.I.
Joe: The Rise of Cobra tops them all, with one incredible oversight in its final act.
When the film's hero, Duke, is taken to the villain's underwater Arctic Base, the rest
of the Joes soon stage a rescue, kicking off a furious underwater battle.
As the villains escape, they trigger the base's self-destruct process, "blowing the ice pack"
above them as a last resort.
When audiences actually stop and wonder if they�ve ever seen ice sink, this plot hole
becomes ridiculously obvious.
Some over-the-top action is one thing, but claiming icebergs will sink like a stone is
truly unbelievable.
Transformers
There aren�t many rules when it comes to Transformers movies, but Autobot leader Optimus
Prime revealing his heroism in a climactic battle is an absolute must.
It seems to always fall on Optimus to save the day: digging deep, summoning courage,
and becoming laughably overpowered, revealing new weapons, abilities, and combat skills
that he has inexplicably chosen NOT to use up to that point.
Suddenly becoming an invincible soldier is silly enough, but Optimus has been upgraded
with new tech in multiple films, only to throw it away instead of using it to help save his
comrades� lives in the next movie.
Transformers Age of Extinction blew this inconsistency wide open.
After a devastating fight across the globe, Optimus suddenly reveals he�s been able
to fly the entire time!
Maybe he just has a terrible memory� but terrible writing seems more likely.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
In the post-apocalyptic future of X-Men: Days of Future Past, mutants are hunted to near-extinction
by an army of Sentinels.
These robots are able to absorb and share the superpowers of the mutants they encounter.
In the film, the captured mutant Mystique is offered as an explanation, with her shape-shifting
ability researched and incorporated into the Sentinels, allowing them to mimic other mutants.
The only problem is that Mystique's copycat powers are only cosmetic - she can look like
Wolverine, but can�t reproduce his healing factor � or his indestructible claws.
The real explanation can be found only in deleted scenes, revealing that Rogue � a
mutant able to literally steal other mutants� powers � had also been captured, and her
ability copied as well.
But the finished film never addressed the plot hole, leaving Mystique to supply powers
to the Sentinels that she never even possessed.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Few can forget the adventure of Will Turner and Jack Sparrow in Disney's Pirates of the
Caribbean.
In the film, the duo faces off against undead pirates doomed to walk the Earth for scattering
a chest full of cursed gold coins.
Having finally returned every gold piece, a drop of Will�s blood was all that was
needed to return their mortality.
Since they couldn�t be killed, it seemed strange for Jack to fire a useless bullet
into the film�s villain � until Will revealed that his blood had lifted the curse, cuing
the trickle of blood from the pirate�s fatal wound.
But the gold had clearly not been returned when Barbosa was shot, meaning only a wound
sustained after the coin was dropped should have had any effect.
Jack had been run through with a sword minutes earlier, so viewers are expected to believe
that the bullet was "close enough" - creating an unnecessary plot hole instead.
Star Trek
When the young Jim Kirk of J.J.
Abram�s Star Trek reboot takes his uncle's Corvette for a joyride, he chooses to play
a classic song for a classic car - "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys.
Confirming the group and its music to also exist in the Trek universe sent fans reeling,
since the band's other hit � �Intergalactic� � includes an explicit reference to Star
Trek character "Mr. Spock," and his signature �Vulcan nerve pinch�.
The obvious paradox was left unexplained, with Abrams shrugging off any deeper meaning:
"I wish I could say it was done on purpose, but it was not.
I just dig the song."
Abrams would double-down on the paradox in the film's sequel, with Kirk�s introduction
set to the sounds of a remix of the group�s single, "Body Movin�."
The Dark Knight Rises
When Bane and his henchmen launch their assault on the Gotham Stock Exchange in The Dark Knight
Rises, it isn�t money they�re after.
It�s revealed the next day that Bane forged a number of transactions in Bruce Wayne�s
name, bankrupting him overnight and sending his company�s stock into a spiral.
Lucius Fox informs Bruce that fraud �may be proven long term�, but for now, he�s
broke, and set to lose control of his company.
Bankrupting Wayne to inconvenience him is one thing, but implying that the government,
banks, newspapers and Wayne Enterprises board members would all witness Bane�s attack,
then believe Bruce threw his fortune away during that exact time frame is ridiculous.
Yet nobody questions that Bruce�s �crazy gambling� is to blame, and Bane�s entire
plan � and the rest of the film � hinges on this impossible-to-swallow twist.
Conclusion
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any of your favorite plot holes or paradoxes?
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