10 Movie Details That Aren’t As Important As You Think

These moments had absolutely no bearing on the overall plot of their films.

Spider-Man 3 Gwen Stacy Bryce Dallas Howard
Sony Pictures Releasing

Movies love to hide little details in the background to get audience's minds racing.

Nods to original source material, foreshadowing of future events, in-jokes and meta references, these can all be found hidden away in certain shots and are designed to reward ultra-observant viewers.

Sometimes though, it doesn't pay to be observant. Sometimes a detail is just a detail and nothing more.

Purposefully or accidentally, filmmakers can include details that appear to be integral to the movie's plot but are completely superfluous. These can be subtle background hints, character names, or even entire storylines that just drop off midway through the film.

Whilst its often the case that details like this are just forgotten about, a movie can include details that don't matter to serve as a sort of red herring or to prove a point about something the director feels society cares far too much about.

From the tiniest titbit to the biggest supposed plot point, the following movie moments all appeared to be far more important than they actually were. Some have led to widespread fan discussion, whilst some were only picked up by hardcore audiences.

Regardless of who saw it, they all have something in common - none of them actually mattered.

10. Kelvin - J.J. Abrams' Back Catalogue

Spider-Man 3 Gwen Stacy Bryce Dallas Howard
Paramount Pictures

We'll start with a relatively harmless one; a running motif through the films of J. J. Abrams.

Fans of the Lost creator's movies will have noticed the name "Kelvin" crop up across his filmography. It's in the first Star Trek, the third Mission: Impossible, and his 2011 science fiction flick, Super 8.

But what could it all mean? Is it a sign that all of Abrams' films are connected? Is it a reference to unit of measurement, used to determine absolute zero? Well, no. It's much simpler and nicer than that.

We actually have to go back to one of his films to find the answer. Super 8 is named after the Super 8 camera, which was the amateur filmmakers camera of choice in the 1970s and '80s.

Abrams himself was the owner of a Super 8 and credits the camera with beginning his obsessions with directing. That camera was given to him by his grandfather, Harry Kelvin, and Abrams has included his name across his projects as an homage to him.

So no, not an ultra-complicated secret universe. Just a grandson paying a sweet tribute to his hero.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.