10 More Infamous Movie Plot-Holes (Solved By Fans)
7. How Did Andy Reattach The Poster? - The Shawshank Redemption
The Plot Hole:
When Andy (Tim Robbins) escapes Shawshank through a tunnel he dug out of his cell, how does he manage to reattach the Raquel Welch poster to the wall while being inside the tunnel?
After all, given that Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) reveals the tunnel by throwing a rock at the poster, in turn tearing a hole in it, it's fair to assume that the poster is safely fastened back to the wall.
The Solution:
An anonymous user on Stack Exchange handily figured this one out.
Firstly, on closer inspection Andy only ever appeared to secure the poster at the top, meaning all he had to do was lift the poster up, climb in the tunnel, and then let it flap back down as a result of gravity. Risky? Absolutely, but plausible.
And for anyone doubtful that Norton's throw could produce enough force to pierce a poster that wasn't fully secured to the wall, the same viewer conducted a field test, throwing a stone at a poster that was secured only at the top.
In this exercise, the stone easily penetrated the poster despite it not being taped down at the bottom. There you go.