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.
Plot hole: They found seminal fluid left in Caroline Polhemus. Why didn't they subject it to DNA testing, which would have been a powerful indicator of Sabich's guilt? Fertility (or otherwise) has nothing to do with it - as well as non-motile sperm (which contain DNA anyway) the seminal fluid would contain discarded skin and blood calls in abundance. DNA testing was first used in a criminal case in 1985 and was in fairly common use by 1988.
Plot hole: At the end of the film, we see Edward carving ice sculptures in his mansion. How did he get the ice up there? First of all, it takes place in a warm climate and I didn't see a freezer up there in the castle. He couldn't have gotten ice from town because firstly he had scissors for hands and couldn't have gripped the ice. And, even if by some miracle he could, he wouldn't be able to buy any from town because everyone in town but Kim was convinced that Edward was dead, she told everyone that they killed each other. And Kim didn't bring it to him because she told her granddaughter in the end that she never saw him again after that night. So where did he get that ice?
Plot hole: I have never seen a Daytona 500 race where the winner is immediately left completely alone and is able to walk over to his crew chief who is still at the pit wall and hold a quiet conversation.
Plot hole: When Hauser/Quaid returns to Mars, some of the people that knew him before as Hauser call him Quaid. (00:45:40)
Plot hole: Peyton had his face burned in the explosion. In fact, he basically lost his lips, so he should not be able to talk very easily. While he could probably learn to speak normally again through other movements with his mouth and tongue, he does so too quickly to make logical sense. And his uncanny ability to almost perfectly mimic his enemies could probably be learned over time, but again is too quick to make sense.
Plot hole: Detective Mason Storm has been in a coma for a number of years, so how is it that on the day he awakens from the coma, he not only has the strength to move his bed down corridors, but also knows the layout of the hospital?
Plot hole: Although Marty rips the fuel line, not all the fuel would have drained out of the tank. Only the fuel that was already in the fuel line would have leaked out, meaning it could simply be patched, bled and the engine would run without a problem.
Suggested correction: A cut fuel line could absolutely drain the tank. Even if not a direct route with respect to gravity, it could still create a siphon effect and drain the tank.
Plot hole: When Carl is helping Molly out after Sam dies, he manages to find Sam's address book in a box, which he needs to launder the money at the bank. So why does he need to convince Molly to take a walk outside so Willie can break in the apartment and steal it? Carl knows which box the address book is in, and could have easily stolen it earlier when Molly was not in the apartment.
Suggested correction: Carl couldn't have stolen the address book earlier; it's possible he didn't know where it was, and he had to use the visit as an excuse, or it's possible he knew where it was but was thwarted because Molly wouldn't ever give him a chance to steal it, since she wasn't leaving the apartment. And he couldn't steal it later, because Molly wasn't leaving the apartment. His only chance was to lure Molly away so that Willy could come in and get it.
Since he worked at the bank with Sam, he could, without raising any red flags, simply ask to copy a few numbers from the book. Also, while he was walking with Molly, how did he contact Willie and tell him to go in? They didn't have texting back then. And how did he not know Molly had come back, if she had been walking with him? Other than the obvious, fourth-wall-breaking excuse that he didn't want us to know he was the villain yet.
Plot hole: Cindy manages to pick Crisp out of a line-up even though she was hidden in a box and didn't see him, she only heard his voice. But even with that, he isn't asked to speak during the line-up.
Plot hole: When Carmine tells Clark about the job he wants him to do, he tells Clark to deliver a package for a "Larry London." Once at Larry's home, they are greeted by Edward, who lives with Larry. Clark and Steve introduce themselves and ask if he is Edward, to which Edward replies he is. Only problem is Edward is never mentioned by Carmine or anyone else, so how do Clark and Steve know about Edward? (00:20:00)
Plot hole: When the clerk is scratching the lottery tickets for the robber, when he scratches the second ticket he only scratches off two out of three numbers on the ticket, but still says it's not a winner.
Plot hole: Hayes continues his harassment by calling the police and provokes Drake into assaulting him. When the police come and sees Hayes injured, they take Drake away immediately without asking any questions or investigating. No law authorities would ever take away someone with mere assumptions or without investigating, regardless of a history of Drake trying to force Hayes out by shutting off the utilities. Completely unrealistic.
Plot hole: Roberta asks Jack to drive her car from the port to the casino to smuggle a transmitter through the checkposts. Since her links to the revolution were known to the authorities, and the chances that her car would be checked were much higher than with Jack's (which eventually also happened) it would have made much more sense if he had transported the transmitter in his own car. (00:08:00)
Plot hole: In the factory we see the machine that adds the hair to the Dolls it "punches" the doll at standing level. Andy hits the reverse button and they watch a doll go backwards. A few moments later Chucky appears on a cart and now the machine "punches" Chucky to the cart. 2 Errors -1 How did Andy and Kyle not see Chucky on the cart right in front of them. 2. What made the machine go low enough to stick Chucky to the cart.
Suggested correction: 1. Andy and Kyle were looking away, hence they didn't see Chucky. But then, Kyle turns and sees him. 2. We are to presume that the punch machine goes down until it is stopped by the doll it's meant to be "punching" into. So, it just descended until it reached Chucky and the platform he's on. (Additionally, the machine also seems to be malfunctioning given it goes into a sort of overdrive.)
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.
BaconIsMyBFF
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.
BaconIsMyBFF
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.