MetaChat - Three plot holes that aren't

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16 August 2010

Three plot holes that aren't Just because this bugs me.→[More:]

Lord of the Rings. The giant eagles cannot just fly the Ring to Mordor, since Sauron has both an Eye and an Air Force of black riders mounted on leathery-winged creatures from the depths of time. The airspace only becomes safe after the Ring has been destroyed along with its portion of Sauron's power.
The Village. No, there's no magical medicine that can heal a wound. But there is a near-magical medicine that can help with an infected wound. It's called an antibiotic, and even minor infections can be lethal without one.
Inception. It's clearly and slowly explained that Cobb is temporarily safe in Paris because of the bureaucracy of the extradition process. But there is still an extradition treaty so he can't just fly his kids there permanently. (Cobb also asks his Dad to take the kids presents, so it's not a mystery that Michael Caine is already in America when he arrives).

These keep coming up as plot holes, but they're just not!

post by: TheophileEscargot at: 05:32 | 11 comments

he he, I just did the Inception plothole on twitter. GUILTY, I AM! But I only did it because Leonardo makes the best face.

posted by dabitch 16 August | 05:53

Heh, it's the Lord of the Rings one that bugs me most, even though it's been ages.

posted by TheophileEscargot 16 August | 06:17

I handled the Inception one over on MeFi.

≡ Click to see image ≡

And anyone still spouting the Eagle thing about LotR simply didn't pay attention. One does not simply FLOCK into Mordor.

posted by Eideteker 16 August | 08:08

aaack! That's the one i posted to my twitpic this morning! I received it via email! :) It's spreading like wildfire!

posted by dabitch 16 August | 08:16

Yeah, that Inception macro made me LOL.

posted by grapefruitmoon 16 August | 08:21

There was one that bugs me. Date Night with Tina Fey centered around some info on a USB drive that they finally access via a Kindle. But from what I saw, a Kindle does not have a USB port. Or am I wrong about this?

posted by danf 16 August | 08:23

A LOTR plot hole that still gnaws at me: in that last climactic battle, just before the ring is destroyed, when Aragon and the army ride up to the gates, and then are surrounded, and then Aragon turns around and says "For Frodo" and runs forward with everyone running behind him--

where did their horses go?

posted by VeritableSaintOfBrevity 16 August | 09:53

VeritableSaintOfBrevity, there are several plot holes in the movies in places where Jackson and company messed with the books. But the horses/running problem, for example, doesn't come up in the book version of Return of the King.

Moral: leave the plot alone, Peter!

posted by bearwife 16 August | 10:45

In Green Card there's a plot hole about Gerard Depardieu going to France during the time his immigration status is under scrutiny. That couldn't happen - if he'd left the US he wouldn't have been allowed back in again.

posted by Senyar 16 August | 13:34

(LotR nerdery follows)

The books didn't have so much of the Eye or the leathery beasts. Still, couldn't the Eagles run decoy missions? Fly at night? What about just carrying them down to Gondor? These giant eagles seem pretty darn underutilized.

I think this particular plot hole is best spackeled over by assuming hat the eagles have a more complex kind of relationship going on with the struggle against Sauron. They're not merely willing tools, like Shadowfax.

For example, they could have had just slightly more of a "sucks don't it, good luck little guys!!" deal, like Tom Bombadil and the Ents, or other people in the world who have half a mind to let the world go to shit because such is fate. The movie did not show that side of LotR much. (Failure to portray the central theme of the books properly is one of the reasons I think they are stinky turd movies.)

Or they couldn't be trusted to carry the ring. Or maybe they were busy tracking and distracting and it just didn't get shown. And/or logistical stuff like they live out in the boonies and are always obnoxiously late and flakey -- sorry dudes we meant to give you a lift down the Anduin but we were off getting giant worms, it's cool you made it anyway. Giant fucking eagles probably don't attend many strategy meetings.

posted by fleacircus 16 August | 20:24

just before the ring is destroyed, when Aragon and the army ride up to the gates, and then are surrounded, and then Aragon turns around and says "For Frodo" and runs forward with everyone running behind him--

where did their horses go?

The extended version clears that one up.

posted by danf 27 August | 16:43

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