Plot holes are infuriating. A badly thought-out chain of events can throw you out of the most highly enjoyable movie, and once you've spotted it, it's always there, like a sore tooth you can't stop prodding with your tongue.
But all isn't lost! Sometimes those plot holes that were bothering you don't turn out to be plot holes at all…
1. Star Wars
Plot hole: Why doesn't Darth Vader recognise his old droids R2-D2 and C-3PO?
Solution: He doesn't properly encounter R2-D2 at all in Episodes IV-VI, and only comes anywhere near C-3PO when the droid has been dismantled in Cloud City and is stuck on Chewbacca's back. And even if he didn't fail to pay attention to some complaining, broken robot when he's busy crushing his Rebel enemies, who could blame him for not stopping to chat with the odious protocol droid? Besides, there's at least one very similar (silver) droid there already, so maybe C-3PO is a standard model.
2. Avatar
Plot hole: Humans can't breathe properly on Pandora, but the lack of oxygen doesn't stop the explosions from being huge.
Solution: This is based on some false assumptions. Pandora's atmosphere isn't problematic because of a lack of oxygen, but actually the high levels of poisonous carbon dioxide. There is still plenty of oxygen to allow for James Cameron's characteristic explosions.
3. Toy Story
Plot hole: If Buzz Lightyear doesn't believe he is a toy, why does he freeze like the rest of them when humans walk into the room?
Solution: Buzz is a space ranger who travels the galaxy and has encountered many strange races. Thus he is a master of assimilating into alien cultures. So when the toys freeze in the presence of the terrifying giants who stalk the land, he does what they do to remain safe.
4. Home Alone
Plot hole: When Kevin's family realise that he's missing they try to phone him, but the line is dead thanks to a tree falling on local power lines during a storm. So how is he able to call Little Nero's Pizza later in the movie?
Solution: A Reddit user (who could remember back as far as the dark time when we all used landlines) theorised that the accident might have knocked out long distance calls but not local ones. This was later confirmed to The Huffington Post by an AT&T executive.
5. The Shawshank Redemption
Plot hole: How did Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) reattach the poster of Raquel Welch over his secret hole when he escaped?
Solution: The poster was only attached at the top, so he just let it flap down behind him. The poster is clearly much bigger than the hole (and appears to be very sturdy), so would have held firmly over the opening when Warden Norton threw the rock through it. It's not rocket science, guys. Still doesn't explain how he managed to stay in the same single-occupancy cell for 20 years without a single person leaning on the poster, but hey-ho.
6. Jurassic Park
Plot hole: How did the huge T-Rex manage to get inside the very cosy visitors centre?
Solution: No squeezing through small doors or breaking down walls was required. If you pay close attention, you will realise that the building was still under construction, with a convenient hole in the wall perfect for tyrannosaurus ingress.
7. Lord of the Rings
Plot hole: Why don't the eagles just fly the Ring over to Mordor and drop it in the fires of Mount Doom?
Solution: There's a lot to unpack here. Firstly, the entire mission to destroy the One Ring is a stealth mission. Sauron is the kind of megalomaniac who would expect them to try to use the Ring against him – the Ring's modus operandi is seducing and destroying strong men. We don't know exactly what Gandalf planned to do with the Ring after the Fellowship passed through Moria, but when the party is separated, many of Aragorn's following actions involve distracting Sauron while Frodo and Sam sneak into Mordor.
Flying eagles would hardly have been a sneak attack, and the powerful sorcerer and his army of flying ring-wraiths are unlikely to have sat back while the birds flounced into his home territory (while carrying a ring that is getting heavier and heavier as it nears the mountain). Presumably, the eagles were only able to enter Mordor safely once Sauron was dead.
