Best fantasy movie plot holes of 2004

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban picture

Plot hole: Harry never notices that the name "Peter Pettigrew" appears on the Marauder's Map, right next to "Ronald Weasley." Way beyond a character mistake, as there's no way that wouldn't be cause for interest. If nothing else, Ron's brothers who had the map for years before giving it to Harry, would most certainly have wondered why their brother was sleeping with a person named Peter Pettigrew.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: JK Rowling explained why Ron's brothers didn't wonder why Ron was sleeping with a man named Peter Pettigrew. Here is the link: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/11447/why-couldnt-harry-or-anybody-else-see-peter-pettigrew-aka-scabbers-on-the-marau.

jon snow

More Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban plot holes
The Butterfly Effect picture

Plot hole: When Evan is in jail with the religious prisoner trying to get him to help him get his journals back he goes to the scene where he is drawing that homicidal picture in kindergarten, but he gets up and puts the spikes that holds documents through his hands, creating a stigmata-style scar. The religious guy in the cell with him is so amazed because of this he thinks Evan is a prophet and he decides to help him. If Evan had gone back in time and got those scars on his hands, he would have changed the original timeline and would have arrived in jail with those scars the whole time. Some people try to correct this using the "If I can create scars, then can I fix them?" statement Evan made to defend the mistake and suggest he can create instant scars but he was using the word "scars" to refer to the negative events; not literal scars on his body. The scar he got when he burned himself in the past didn’t magically appear on him the moment he returned from the past; it became part of a new, slightly altered timeline (just like the scars on his hands should have been) and it let him know he can change history.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This isn't necessarily a correction so much as a possible explanation. It's possible that the religious inmate (I think his name was Carlos) just simply didn't see the scars on Evan's hands when he first came to the prison in the timeline where he got the scars or Evan knew to hide them in the scar timeline (due to the fact that it was the sole purpose of him going back) and due to his fanaticism he didn't question him a second time.

Nope, after jamming those things in his hands Evan simply came into the prison with the scars already on his hands and would have never thought of showing the religious guy his powers using that particular moment in the past to convince him, or doing what he did a second time as he already had done it. It doesn't matter if the religious guy didn't see them before, they won't be the object of Evan convincing him. He would have had to try it some other way, each and ever time. That how this time travel works and its definitely a plot hole that it worked as it did, whilst it shouldn't have. Of course, it's a time travel movie and they never make sense.

lionhead

Additionally, the inmate was looking at Evan's palms when Evan traveled back, and when he returned to the present, the inmate remarked that the stigmata marks came out of nowhere.

Phaneron

More The Butterfly Effect plot holes
Thunderbirds picture

Plot hole: Near the end of the film, the crippled Thunderbird 5 is about to catastrophically re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up. Predictably, the younger Tracy brother restores control, saves Thunderbird 5 and all on board. A few seconds later, a computer announces that Thunderbird 5 has resumed a geostationary orbit (such orbits are only possible at an altitude of 400km) My point? Pulling out of a fall, climbing 370km in a few seconds, and then stopping dead 400km up would have required such a massive acceleration/deceleration that everyone on board would probably have been pulverized, even if it were possible for a badly-damaged space station to move that fast.

More Thunderbirds plot holes
Shrek 2 picture

Plot hole: It is apparent that Shrek and Donkey have never traveled to the land of Far Far Away, yet Donkey immediately recognizes the "old Keeblers' place" when he should have no idea where it is or what it looks like.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Donkey only thinks it's the "old Keebler's place." Puss in Boots then corrects him and says it's the Fairy Godmother's cottage.

zenee

More Shrek 2 plot holes
Ella Enchanted picture

Plot hole: Breaking the spell should have been quite easy for Ella to accomplish. All she needed to do was have someone like Mandy or Areida command her to never follow another command again, and the spell would have been broken.

Mike Lynch

More Ella Enchanted plot holes
13 Going On 30 picture

Plot hole: Why would Matt sign over the rights to his pictures with Lucy, when he later tells Jenna that he hasn't believed a word Lucy says since High school? (01:15:00)

More 13 Going On 30 plot holes
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events picture

Plot hole: During the play Klaus climbs up the side of the building to save the baby. He gets up and finds out Olaf burned their home with a giant magnifying glass. Later, Klaus uses the magnifying glass to burn the marriage certificate. This is impossible because the device couldn't have possibly been facing or forced to face the stage. The magnifying glass was on the other side of where Klaus climbed up and when he was climbing up he was facing the stage.

More Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events plot holes
The Librarian: Quest for the Spear picture

Plot hole: The plot that a piece of the Roman spear that pierced Christ ends up in a hidden Mayan temple in the Amazon (which is nevertheless still full of gold etc.) makes no sense.

Jacob La Cour

More The Librarian: Quest for the Spear plot holes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.