Corrected entry: When Columbus goes into the first shop he props a fire escape door open saying "rule 22: when in doubt know your way out". This action contradicts his own rules as given the situation he's just given entry to the building to anyone including zombies. This could also be a stupidity.
BaconIsMyBFF
29th Oct 2018
Zombieland (2009)
13th Nov 2017
Eraser (1996)
Corrected entry: It's very, very convenient that the bad guys just happened to have an inside man at the FBI evidence depot ready to switch out the disc Lee made, when just hours before the bad guys didn't even know about Lee, until Donahue called for her.
Correction: A plot convenience is not a plot hole. A plot hole is something that cannot be logically explained by the film's story, and the villains having an inside man in the FBI evidence depot certainly does not fall under that definition. It's contrived but certainly not impossible.
3rd May 2016
Blithe Spirit (1945)
Corrected entry: In the beginning, Madame Macarti, talking to the spirits, says, "Is anyone there? One rap for yes and two raps for no." Well, if no-one is there, there will be no two raps.
Correction: This is meant to be a joke. The characters themselves are laughing at the absurdity of the medium.
10th Sep 2018
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011)
Stupidity: As the movie progresses, we see the deranged killer, Martin, collecting a dozen victims for his Human Centipede project and depositing the victims in a sealed chamber. Every time we see the victims, they are nude, face-down (always in the same positions on the floor), struggling and moaning and sobbing. However, their hands are only duct-taped behind their backs, and their ankles are duct-taped. There is nothing to prevent these victims from rolling over, sitting up, standing, and even assisting each other to escape. Yet they never change positions or attempt to escape.
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Suggested correction: The entirety of the film, save the opening and closing scenes, is intended to be a disturbed fantasy of Martin. As such, any inconsistencies or character mistakes such as this can be attributed to Martin's deranged mind. He is fantasizing about creating a centipede of his own and his fantasy is not detailed enough to include an explanation as to why his victims can't escape or help one another.
12th Nov 2016
The Running Man (1987)
Corrected entry: Why go through the trouble of even bothering to shut down the deadline with the code when they could have just destroyed the sensors making up the perimeter?
Correction: It is never explained how exactly the deadline works, and it is never shown how durable the sensors are. Also, the plan to get the code was itself fairly simple.
14th Apr 2005
Die Hard (1988)
Character mistake: An unloaded automatic pistol is much lighter and balanced differently than a loaded one. When McClane hands "Bill Clay" (Gruber) the empty pistol, a terrorist of Gruber's credentials should pick up on the odd balance (I notice that difference, and I very rarely even pick up a gun).
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Suggested correction: This presumes that a person can notice the difference between a fully-loaded pistol versus a pistol that is empty, which makes sense. However, it would be much more difficult for a person to tell that a gun is completely empty versus one that only has one or two bullets loaded. Since Gruber has no way of knowing his ruse didn't work, he doesn't believe McClane would have given him a completely empty gun. He obviously believes there is at the very least one bullet in the gun. He's not planning on getting into a shootout with McClane, he is just planning to threaten him and he certainly doesn't need a fully loaded gun to do that.
Suggested correction: It's easy to tell the different between the weight of a loaded vs. unloaded pistol, but given Hans had never held the pistol before, he had no way to compare the weight. Unless he regularly handled that particular model of pistol (unlikely, given his pistol is a completely different make and model) he would have no point of reference.
2nd Aug 2018
Trouble with the Curve (2012)
Corrected entry: The fact that Bo Gentry can't hit a curveball shouldn't automatically qualify him as a poor draft selection, as it's implied near film's end. His ability to recognize and hit curves would improve with the experience and training he would acquire in the minor leagues, particularly if working consistently with a hitting coach; it's literally in their job title to coach players who need help with their batting output.
Correction: The ending doesn't imply that Bo is a poor draft selection because he can't hit a curveball. The ending shows that Bo can't handle quality pitching at all. He can't connect with any of Rigo's fastballs either. Gus and Mickey could tell that Bo was not a good hitter and only seemed like he was because he wasn't playing against anyone as good as Rigo. The fact that he had trouble with the curveball at his level was the clue that tipped Gus off that his numbers were inflated. Bo isn't worth any major league pitching coach's time because there are far better prospects out there.
6th Apr 2017
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Stupidity: Early in the film, Peter Parker desperately wants to see Mary Jane's performance, but he is turned away at the theatre doors because he is a few minutes late. Defeated, Peter shuffles away and sulks. Seriously? Why couldn't Peter simply enter the theatre through a side door or the roof? He's Spider Man.
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Suggested correction: There's two things to consider here. First, a major theme of the film is Peter struggling with keeping his Spider-Man and Peter Parker lives separate. Peter makes every attempt to get to the show on his own, as Peter by riding on his scooter. Simply breaking into the theater after he has been turned away would ruin the idea that keeping his two lives separate is a struggle. It would instead imply the opposite, that Peter can simply use his powers to solve his problems whenever it's convenient. Secondly, the usher makes it clear that no-one is to be admitted after the show has started as this would disturb the guests and possibly the performers as well. Sneaking into the theater could very well ruin the performance and Peter obviously wouldn't want that.
If there's one thing we know about Spider-Man, it's that he is incredibly stealthy, often coming and going without any detection whatsoever. He could have easily accessed the building and watched the show from a secluded vantage and even met Mary Jane backstage afterwards. Certainly in this case, using his powers would be justified, given that it was more important for Mary Jane to know Peter attended the show, rather than simply giving up.
He doesn't want to do any of that, though. He wants to go to the show as Peter, with a ticket, sit in a seat with the rest of the people, enjoy the show, and see Mary Jane afterwards. He stops the car chase as Spider-Man after his scooter is wrecked and instead of web-swinging to the theater, which would have been much faster, he chooses to change back into his regular clothes and drive the criminal's car. Sure, he certainly could have used his powers to get into the theater but the point is he doesn't want to. The fact that he chooses not to use his powers and instead deal with the consequences of hurting Mary Jane's feelings is the entire point.
And besides he'd probably get kicked out of the theater if he was caught.
26th Feb 2017
Fright Night (1985)
Stupidity: When Charley goes to Evil's house, he asks him how to protect himself from vampires. Since Charley is such a huge fan of Fright Night and watches it all the time, he should already know everything to protect himself from Jerry.
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Suggested correction: Being a fan of horror films in general and watching Fright Night on TV doesn't necessarily give someone expert knowledge of how to fight vampires. In fact, not every vampire movie is consistent with rules (including this one) and it is far from stupid to consult a friend who knows more than you about the subject. Think about it like this: If you watched every comic book movie that was made and every TV show based on comic books, then found out Galactus was real and you had to fight him, you wouldn't ask your friend who was a comic nerd for advice?
20th Feb 2018
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Plot hole: The idea that Marlow would simply take a taxi to his wife's address after being missing in action for thirty odd years is stupid beyond belief. He was on a ship sailing from the central Pacific for days and those ships have radios! The US military would have known he was coming. Someone, somewhere would have notified the authorities that a US serviceman long thought dead was actually alive and on his way home and his wife and son would have been there on the docks to greet him, not standing slack-jawed in the kitchen dropping trays of drinks on the floor when he turned up! What would have happened if she had remarried? Or moved house? Or she was dead? Don't tell me the US military didn't know he was coming - he is wearing a brand new uniform, clean and pressed.
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Suggested correction: The implication is that Marlow went through an extensive debrief and nobody had contacted his family until the debrief had concluded, based on the top secret nature of the mission. As you say, the fact he has a brand new uniform suggests that he has contacted the US Military prior to ever contacting his family. The fact that his wife would have moved and re-married is irrelevant, he still would have made an attempt to contact her so he could see his son.
And they wouldn't have contacted her after the debrief had been completed? What utter nonsense. Allowing him to just turn up on the doorstep without notifying his wife first is an utterly irresponsible and even dangerous act. She could have fainted with shock or even had a heart attack. She would absolutely, definitely, 100% carved in stone, been advised of her husband's survival and return.
Since we know very little about the completely fictional organization Monarch, we obviously cannot say they would "carved in stone" do anything. In order to be a mistake in the movie, it would have to be something that is impossible. A secret government organization that doesn't even exist in real life not behaving the way the real military would is not impossible. At least not by the rules set forth in the film. It's perhaps improbable but it is most certainly not impossible.
It is an inviolable, carved in stone, fur lined, ocean going, top of the list rule that the next of kin are immediately advised of the change of status of military personnel. MIA, now confirmed dead? They'd be the first to know. MIA, now confirmed to be alive, same outcome. His wife would know he was on that ship coming home.
This is true in real life but in the fictional world of the movie Monarch is a secret, government agency that has some degree of control over the military. You can't apply the same rules as in real life in this situation.
13th Jun 2007
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Plot hole: The only reason the terrorists' plot can work is that the airports around Dulles are all closed to landings because of the violent snowstorm. If there were no storm, the pilots of the airliners in the holding pattern would simply divert to nearby airports when they started running low on fuel. If they were able to do that, the whole plot would simply fall apart. How were the terrorists able to count on the storm happening on the very day General Esperanza's flight was due to land? They didn't have any influence over the date of his flight. How did they know the storm would be so bad that all airports would be closed - except Dulles? I don't think they had any way of predicting the weather quite that accurately, and If the storm hadn't hit or had been even slightly less severe the pilots of the stranded airliners could easily have diverted to any one of half a dozen alternate landing sites, including a nearby Air Force base. They could do this without consulting or even contacting air traffic control. The whole plot falls apart from there - no hostages, no leverage, and who cares what happens to the people on Esperanza's plane? They'd have it shot down as soon as they knew Esperanza had killed the pilot and taken over the flight.
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Suggested correction: The terrorists in the film planned extensively for this operation, but the storm occurring may have just been a coincidence for them. They may also have had the plan waiting for a perfect opportunity, like a snowstorm. In the beginning of the movie, there's a news story on while the Colonel is exercising nude. The story says Esperanza's extradition has been long and drawn out, until a phone call from..." and he cuts the TV off. Given his connections, Colonel Stewart may well have been able to arrange a State Department call the week of a predicted snow storm. Esperanza's adherents may also have been able. Another scenario they may have had is to take the Air Traffic Controllers hostage (as they did) and have the other aircraft diverted for a supposed emergency, but the snowstorm worked out. Whatever the case, that element of the plot is an interesting discussion, not a mistake.
If the storm hadn't hit the pilots of the stranded airliners could easily have diverted to any one of half a dozen alternates, including a nearby Air Force base. They could do this without consulting or even contacting air traffic control. The whole plot falls apart from there - no hostages, no leverage, and who cares what happens to the people on the Esperanza's plane? They'd have it shot down.
That bothered me too when I first saw this in theatres. The chances of it snowing in D.C. on any particular day are pretty low, and the plan falls apart without it. The only way to 'fix' this is to assume that when the film was originally written, it was set in New York City. This makes more sense thematically...with the original set in Los Angeles. But at some point, probably late in the production, they changed it to D.C. for some reason, and made it fit as best they could.
The snowstorm was not part of the plan. Early on when the group of terrorists is sitting around the table about to exchange the package, Cochran is listening to a weather report and states that a huge storm is approaching, which makes the other men smile and one of them responds "God loves the infantry." The terrorists could still crash planes without the snow storm because they could impersonate the tower. The planes that are circling overhead are the planes that didn't have enough fuel to be diverted to another airport and that has nothing to do with a snow storm. The blizzard was simply fortuitous for the terrorists.
The airliners we see could easily glide to any one of seven nearby airports from the airspace over Dulles, let alone fly there when fuel began running low.
That is a separate issue (and is indeed a mistake in the film) that doesn't really have anything to do with the blizzard. This film acts as if Baltimore Washington International or Richmond International Airport don't exist.
And since they do, it is both a plot hole and a factual error. If they had called their fictional airport Springfield International, fine, but they didn't. They identified it as Dulles International which is within easy flying - or gliding - time to half a dozen other airports.
This is possible that other airports were closed due to bad weather.
Which necessitates the terrorists knowing that! They had to know the storm was coming for their plan to work. The stranded airlines could easily have diverted to an alternative even if that meant gliding, and they could do so without consulting air traffic control.
The terrorist obviously knew that. They are very arrogant and planned everything very accurately. They knew that other airports are closed because of the bad weather.
The airports were closed AFTER Esperanza's flight took off. The storm is an essential part of the terrorist's plans. Storms like the one we see can can diminish very rapidly or veer away from their original course (I have seen both happen) and cannot, ever, be counted on to the meticulous extent the terrorists do.
20th Mar 2018
Eraser (1996)
Corrected entry: There is absolutely no reason for the cabin shootout scene. The bad guys already know that Krueger is hiding Leigh, instead of a pointless shootout and five dead guys the bad guys could have simply forced Krueger at any point to tell them where she is or send a few men to tail Krueger to her.
Correction: Kruger would never have given up Leigh's location under threat, and without any leverage over him DeGuerrin has nothing to threaten him with anyway. This is why DeGuerrin goes to great lengths to stage an assault on the cabin by hiring mercenaries to attack his witness, only to double cross them in the end. If everything had gone to plan, they would have made contact with Leigh after the cabin raid and DeGuerrin would have simply found a way to kill her, Kruger, and Monroe. The only problem with this plan is that Kruger doesn't trust DeGuerrin after their conversation on the plane and purposefully gives him the wrong city. The cabin shootout most certainly did serve a purpose, and that purpose was to trick Kruger into unwillingly breaking his own rules.
16th Aug 2016
Speed (1994)
Corrected entry: "Supercop" Jack somehow never thought to have his boss cut power to the third rail (after slowing the train down rather than speeding it up), which would have stopped the train that was speeding near the end of the film.
Correction: Jack has no means to contact Mac. The radio in the train is damaged after Payne shoots the conductor and Jack didn't bring a radio or phone with him.
28th Sep 2016
The Running Man (1987)
Stupidity: At the prison yard, when Weiss overhears that the sonic deadline was being deactivated to let new prisoners in, he manages to look at the deactivation code. The guard sees Weiss looking at the code and switches the computer off. If he had changed the code and informed another guard, none of the prisoners would have escaped.
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Suggested correction: The prison riot happens mere minutes after this. We don't know what it takes to actually change the password and whether or not the guards have the authority to do so. The real stupidity is why the guards would be using portable computers in full view of the inmates when they could easily walk on the other side of the deadline to do so.
27th Aug 2001
Jurassic Park (1993)
Corrected entry: In the scene where Sam Neill and the little boy are climbing down the tree, the car keeps crashing down a few branches at a time behind them. Why are they in such a hurry? If the car is falling in such a straight line, wouldn't it be easier to climb around to the other side of the tree, where they would be safely out of danger? (01:14:00)
Correction: If you pay attention, as they are climbing down the tree there are no branches within reach that aren't in the path of the falling truck. They would have to go out to the ends of the branches to climb around and that far away from the trunk the branches might not hold their weight. The quickest, safest way down is to outrun the falling truck.
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Correction: Bear in mind the first part of the rule: "When in doubt." He's talking specifically about when you enter a building and you are unsure if zombies are already inside. This doesn't contradict specifically any of Columbus' other rules. He explains that when entering an unknown location, it is best to have a clear exit planned in case you have to flee. In his mind, based on his experience, it is a good idea to leave a door slightly propped so it is easy to open (no door knobs, latches, or anything needed) in case you have to escape quickly. The risk of letting zombies in is outweighed by the benefits of having an easy, quick exit. Once he is certain the building is secure, he would then close the propped door.
BaconIsMyBFF