Sometimes, no matter how good a movie is, there comes a moment where you momentarily snap back to reality and it suddenly dawns on you, “hold on, that makes no sense!”. It can be a gaping plot hole or simply a ludicrous decision taken by a character, but these baffling movie moments always seem to prompt considerable discussion.
A number of those listed here are fairly well documented, though I have left out a few of the more infamous examples. Who shot Nice Guy Eddie? Who heard Charles Foster Kane say Rosebud in the first place? Why does James Bond go around telling everybody his real name? I’m sure there are many more which warrant a place on the list too which didn’t quite make the cut.
So without further ado, here are my seven baffling movie moments.
7. The Rock
Obviously a 90’s action romp with Nic Cage in the lead is not expected to be a bastion of common sense and logic but there’s one particular moment that always baffles me. Former convict Mason (Sean Connery) is the only man to have ever escaped from Alcatraz and so is recruited by the army to break a crack team back into the prison in order to stop Ed Harris being really, really mental. To get them into the prison, Mason must at one stage crawl through a flaming tunnel which he tells us he got through before by timing the exact moments of the flames and rolling through accordingly.
Incredibly dangerous business this escaping lark. He could be incinerated in a moment. It takes all his skill and patience to pull this daring escapade off. Then he very helpfully opens up a door and lets the rest of the team in. Wait…what? He opens the door? Why didn’t he use the door the first time! Let’s leave aside the fact that it is seemingly a pointless door to nowhere for now and focus on the stupidity on display here. Rather than kick open a conveniently place door and simply stroll to freedom back in the 1960’s, Mason opted for the far more dangerous ‘flame tunnel’ option instead. No wonder he got recaptured, the man is clearly simple.
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12 Comments
Anakin/Vader didn’t know they were alive – they buried Padmé still looking pregnant.
This was a cool article. keep them coming..
I do have some issues with some of your complaints.
Independence Day – The reason they are able to communicate with the mothership is through binary code aka Math.. Math is the universal language so its plausible he could program a code to communicate with their programs. Its a stretch but its at least plausible.
LOTR – The reason Aragorn can’t wield the ring is because the rings influence is too great and man is too weak. Hence why a man cannot wield it.
Harry Potter – According to my Wife Hermoine was told to use it wisely as it causes wizard to go mad or something like that.
Indy 4 – I know this wasnt on the list but you mention it in your article. This movie was a wreck and it deserves all the crap it gets. To be fair the nuclear proof fridge was made of lead. Which is commonly used to protect from radiation.. This too is a stretch and a lazy one at that but still it was addressed in the movie..
You know Aragorn couldn’t carry it because men are weak to resist the corruptable power of the ring. The eagles were also very private and don’t really want to get involved. The theory being that Lord of the Rings had a lot of inspiration from Tolkiens experiences in world war 2, so the eagles are like the united states, swooping in near end(relative) to help save the day
This is not a plot hole. The Eagles are the representatives of Manwe in Middle Earth. As mentioned in the link in the accepted answer.
I am surprised that this argument comes up as often as it does, because I am aware of no textual support for this idea. The eagles quite frequently involve themselves in the fight against Sauron (or against evil in general):
They rescue Bilbo, Thorin, & Co. from the orcs and wolves. They participate in the Battle of Five Armies. They rescue Gandalf from Orthanc. They rescue Gandalf again from Zirak-Zigil. They directly attack the flying Nazgûl during the last battle. They fly into Mordor to rescue Frodo and Sam. Given all this heavy involvement, it would be extremely surprising if the Valar specifically prohibited the eagles from flying the Ringbearer into Mordor. Tolkien nowhere mentions such a prohibition.
The only support I can see for this argument is very indirect: namely, that the eagles are said to be the representatives of Manwë, and in the Third Age, Manwë is maintaining a policy of the Valar not intervening directly in the affairs of Middle-Earth. But the eagles do often intervene in the struggles of Middle-Earth, and there’s no indication that they were under some restriction in this case. If the eagles were prohibited from being involved directly in the struggle against Sauron, we might expect that they would have withdrawn to Valinor long ago rather than remain in Middle-Earth.
If you look at the involvement of the Eagles it is very similar to the involvement of the Istari. The Istari are Maia sent to Middle Earth as guides and to provide some help in countering the great powers of those who had fallen. They are not allowed to solve the problems of Middle Earth, only to guide and aid those who are solving those problems. The Eagles play a similar role. Both are forces of the Valar — who, after the first age that destroyed vast swaths of Middle Earth, vowed never again to interfere directly in the affairs of the mortals of Middle Earth — and both aid those fighting Sauron. But only where the mortals of Middle Earth could not over come the foe on their own.
The ring is a foe that the mortals of Middle Earth could overcome. And in a way, it is the one foe they must overcome on their own. The Gandalf guides them to this realization and helps them figure out the “how”. But he will not defeat the foe itself.
Gandalf aids them by defeating a peer who had fallen, against which none of them could stand (the Balrog) and by helping to counter the movements of one of the Istari who had fallen. The Eagles aid them by providing some mobility and countering forces of the enemy when they take to the air, the realm of Manwe, which mortals are not truly supposed to enter.
All of these actions are consistent with the way the Valar are willing to aid those of Middle Earth. However, flying the ring bearer to Mordor is not consistent with them. That would be direct involvement and solving the one problem that those of Middle Earth need to solve themselves — their lust for power at the expense of Middle Earth itself.
The reason for Episode III is that Obi-Wan probably wagered that Vader would never want to return to that planet. That was the planet where he lost his mother, and where he lived the first nine years of his life in slavery. So even if he saw through the ruse and suspected something was up, he would never want to back there again and would probably take his chances so long as nothing overtly obvious popped up. And in fact, he doesn’t. There’s a scene in one of the comic books where stormtroopers capture the Lars and Vader orders the execution of Owen and Beru for what they allowed to transpire in the past, but even there he does it in the sanctuary of his ship from orbit. He doesn’t set foot on the planet itself. Tatooine has some bad memories for Anakin, and he seems extremely reluctant to go there despite being a fearsome Sith Lord. Obi-Wan also knows: Vader is a slave of the Emperor. If the Emperor doesn’t order him to go there, Vader ain’t doin’ it! Tatooine also seems to have limited contact with the outside universe, in terms of the moisture farmers. If the name Luke Skywalker is unknown to the galaxy outside of the planet, Vader isn’t going to hear about it. He only does so after the Yavin IV attack.
But yeah, jms has the other main reason. ;)
The most stupid thing in independence day was the idea of our planes outrunning and outgunning the alien crafts. I almost walked out of the theatre. Can one even imagine a modern jet in a dogfight with a world war 1 plane, and yet the scenario is even more absurd.
I’ve got several about Independence day, but I’ll just name a few:
1.Alien shield technology can stop bullets and missiles, but not a parachute or a man putting a Coke can on it .
2. Why does a jet have a braking chute on it anyway?
3. An Apple computer, which is barely compatible with Earth technology is fully compatible with alien tech….which would mean that Steve Jobs was actually an alien.
In “The Rock” I don’t think Mason opens the door because on the side the marines are on it is locked, but on the other it isn’t.
Raiders of the Lost Ark – German U-boats and in fact all submarines during World War II were not subs in the same sense as they are today. Today subs travel underwater continuously and only surface to pull in to port pretty much. But, back then, they were more like boats that were capable of submerging. That is, they never really submerged unless they needed to be stealthy, such as attacking an enemy ship. It does appear that they actually submerge in the movie but it was not likely for very long. Plus as their are no windows on u-boats, the periscope would be frequently used even when on the surface. So, it is somewhat far-fetched but still within reason that Indy could have made the trip by hanging on to the periscope as is speculated
I remember reading the Raiders novelization back in ’81. In the middle of the paperback there were photos of the movie, including one with Indy holding on to the sub’s periscope and the other venting tubes (or whatever they’re called)…
In response to AdventLegion:
Yeah, the braking chute error is really bad. Hornets have a dorsal braking flap for runway landings and an arrestor hook for carrier landings.
But as to the issue with the shields, i think it is plausible that they are designed for absorbing high velocity kinetic energy (and probably beam-type energy) so while it would stop a bullet, one could just sit a can on the ship since the shield will only stop or slow something traveling at a very high rate of speed but allow low-velocity penetration, like a reverse of the Holtzman Field generators in Dune.
For the Time Turner in HP3: Sure they could go back in time with that ting, but 3 turns, as in the movie, goes back 3 hours. One would have to spin their Time Turner a lot of times to go back years. You could still do it, but it would take you forever.