Great movies tell great stories. Great stories have many moving parts. When that’s the case, there are plenty of opportunities for unintentionalmistakes that make itpast 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.
Update August 09, 2025: This article has been updated to include even more films with massive plot holes, including a few recent films.
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 20 movies with the biggest plot holes.
20The Shawshank Redemption Poster Problem
We kick things off with a literal hole. Andy Dufresne knew he had to escape from prison and find hisShawshank 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.
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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?
19RoboCop’s Failed Logic Does Not Compute
RoboCopis one of the best films ever made by Paul Verhoeven, but it’s far from perfect. While there’s not much to pick on here, there’s a big failing in Murphy’s logic after he realizes Dick Jones, a bigwig in OCP, is behind criminal enforcer Laurence Boddicker. He has Boddicker on recordadmitting to being the hired muscle of the executive, which would have been enough for any regular police officer to place him under arrest had anyone seen the footage, which Murphy can show on any device using the plugin connection in his right hand.
Murphy’s failed logic drives him to arrest Jones without any backup. As expected, directive 4th activates, and he can’t arrest the high-ranking executive. Lucky this doesn’t interfere with his other functions as Jones freely admits to killing Bob Morton in front of him with Murphy recording the event, which leads him to face Jones again at the end of the film and finally get rid of him with the help of the old man, who fired him on the spot.
18Indiana Jones and Time Travel Don’t Mix
Where do we begin with this one?Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destinyis a flawed film in many ways, but the plot revolving around the McGuffin that drives the story doesn’t make much sense. Jürgen Voller wants the dial to travel back to Nazi Germany and get rid of Hitler to ensure a Nazi victory. He somehow manages to reunite the artifact and opens a wormhole, but this will only take him to the precise moment when Archimedes created the device.
This single sequence brings so many questions. Was Archimedes working on the dial at the precise moment when the Romans attacked?How did he know in the future that the dial would be found?Did he plant the dial with the sole intention of saving himself? Do these time vortexes open any other moment in history or only when two sets of users coincidentally activate them simultaneously in different periods? If you dig past that, there’s also the colossal plot hole about how Helena managed to bring back Indy after knocking him out, but that would require a separate entry.
17The Terrorist’s Big Plan in Die Hard is to Bring Heat on Themselves
Die Hardis one of the most beloved action films of the 80s and one that people revisit at a particular time of the year, even thoughBruce Willis stated it’s not a Christmas movie. While there are a few pressing plot points that can be easily overseen, one regarding the logistics of the terrorist doesn’t make a lick of sense. From the very start, we are led to believe the takeover of the Nakatomi Building is a hostage crisis, but the actual plan of the bad guys is to cut off the power in the building to open a vault and steal a lot of bonds.
The criminals seem unfazed after the FBI are made aware of their presence and decides to cut off the power grid in the building, thus enabling them to carry out their ploy. There’s one little problem, though. Hans Gruber and his henchmen didn’t make this hit unprepared, and it’s clearly stated they have access to explosives. Why not make a planned heist within a limited time stamp where they take out the power in the building themselves? There wouldn’t even need to create the hostage crisis, to begin with, and it would have eased their operation a lot!
16Why is Supergirl Weak in The Flash?
The Flashis another film taking a beating at the box office right now. It’s been hinted at multiple times in the DCEU that Kryptonians are vulnerable to Kryptonite and very little else. Blocking their access to the sun does not diminish their powers. We must highlight the final fight between Superman and Doomsday inBatman V Supermanto point out how the Man of Steel held his own against the monster at night.
When Barry and Bruce find Kara Zor-El locked up in Russia, she’s on her last legs, but there’s nothing to contain her natural powers. Not a speck of Kryptonite or a red light dampening her powers (as happened in the comic storyline with Kal-El), nothing at all.This shouldn’t have been possible. Sunlight does indeed power up Earth-bound Kryptonians, but negating them sunlight barely diminishes their abilities as something more would be required to contain them, such as Kryptonite or red sunlight.
15The Karate Kid’s Illegal Crane Kick
It is one of the most famous plot holes in history. InThe 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 theCobra KaiNetflix continuation, Daniel’s kick has been explained by a myriad of excuses. None, however, do it justice.The Karate Kidcheated. That’s why Johnny got his own series.
14Back to the Future Paradoxes
Fans loveBack to the Futureso 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 inBack 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.
13Armageddon Trains the Wrong People
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.
It’s hard to unseeArmageddon’s plot hole once it’s there. Even Ben Affleck, one of the film’s stars, questioned this decision in the DVD Commentary. As Ben quipped, ‘We can’t teach astronauts to drill in 8 months, but we’re going to teach our drillers to be astronauts in a week" (viaInsider).
12Gravity Falls
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 movieGravity,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 toldGizmodo.
A terrifying tale of monsters who stalk based on sound,A Quiet Placeis 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 the family would 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 thatRedditcame 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 move there? Why build a home in the middle of the silent forest when you’re able to literally live next to the only thing that muffles you? Bad move, Jim Halpert. Some families deserve to be eaten.
