MovieChat Forums > Flightplan (2005) Discussion > 28 Major plot holes - please add others

28 Major plot holes - please add others


I know that there are already several threads here mentioning plot holes but there are, amazingly, people who still seem to think this is a good film and people complaining about said plot holes are missing the point.

It's true that there is many a good film with one or two holes in the plot, sometimes even gaping ones. But they always allow for the suspension of disbelief.

This turkey has the plot holes coming so thick and fast that even if you continually adjust your disbelief level you just cannot see the film making the slightest sense.

Here is a composite list of all the plot holes I noticed and a few that others have spotted. Please add any more that you know of.

1) Get husband onto roof of building

2) Push him off without anyone seeing

3) Know in advance exactly where the body will be taken

4) Risk involving the morgue director in the plan

5) Know which flight the coffin will travel on

6) Ensure marshal gets assigned to that flight

7) Ensure girlfriend gets assigned to that flight

8) Get explosives into a coffin for which you don't know the combination

9) Rely on a woman and child getting on board without anyone noticing the child.

10) Rely on the child not speaking to anyone, not making any noise, not asking for anything.

11) Rely on their being empty seats on the packed inaugural flight of a new aircraft type

12) Rely on the mother taking the child to lie on those seats

13) Rely on no one seeing the child's removal

14) Rely on no one noticing a man putting his hand into a sleeping woman's trousers

15) Rely on mother going ballistic rather than just calmly talking to people and making requests

16) Somehow manage to get the computerised check-in systems to 'forget' the girl

17) Rely on the mother not requesting the airport authorities check the inevitable CCTV footage

18) Rely on the corrupt stewardess being the one assigned to search the section with the kidnapped child

19) Rely on the captain/airline contacting the morgue (to ask what?) rather than the hospital or police and thus get the fake information

20) Rely on no one, immediately on hearing of the child's death, asking why her coffin is not on board

21) Rely on the mother escaping and opening a coffin that she believes is sealed when there are dozens upon dozens of other luggage containers in the hold

22) Rely on the authorities agreeing to the ransom without talking to the so-called terrorist

23) Rely on them actually transferring the money - how would an alleged terrorist have known if it had been transfered

24) Finding a way to get the money when the authorities knew exactly where it was

25) Rely on the exploding child leaving no trace with an amount of explosive so small it didn't even hurt two people who were no more than ten metres away when it went off. That would not happen.

26) Expect someone with no explosives training to know that the explosives present were of such low power that they would be safe no more than 10 metres away

27) Have corrupt stewerdess remain on plane (necessary to distract Kylie so that the marshal could free and arm himself). How would that have been explained later? Why would she even have remained?


Plus:

Kyle was a propulsion engineer. You know, those big things with the spinny insides that hang down from the wings on pylons. There is no way that would have given here any detailed knowledge of the aircraft internal layout, electrical systems or avionics.



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Rely on the authorities to not do any background check on the apparent woman terrorist before giving in to her demand and finding that her daughter was never killed and is on the plane and passing that info to the captain..

Rely on the captain and authorities to not suspect why the woman suddenly don't want to talk to anyone else but the air marshal when minutes back she was all over the plane.

Rely on the bad guy to ignorantly turn his back to her while she reaches for a fire extinguisher.

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I certainly agree with the "Infamous 27" plot holes. I have to say I was still drawn in by the suspense factor of the missing child search, the gaslight interlude, and other questions posed by the circumstances, but it is hard to stay in the moment when you are constantly asking yourself how in the world the antagonists could possibly have thought up such a ridiculous plan to, as you mention, rely on.

My biggest problems were that she might not have decided to take her husband home to bury him, or she could have had him cremated, or the body could have been on a different flight. Shoot, she could have decided to take a completely different airline home. Then the whole stewardess accomplice thing and everything that relied on it goes away.

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I was a bit bored after they showed the girl and her bag in the nose of the plane when the marshall planted the bombs.

I was also wondering where in the world would they get a casket with an electronic lock. Most just lock with bolts that have a special key/wrench. It would not be possible to open one on a plane.

Wouldn't the exposives still be detectable by dogs?

Killing the husband was no guarantee of an acsessable casket on the plane. I agree.


Think of the original Oceans 11 where the loot is cremated with the wheelman.

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i dont get why people keep on explaining to these apparently massive stupid people who dont want to believe that this movie had great number of huge plot holes, and so was a really crap movie and total waste of time - for all we know this person could be the writer of this movie itself and is just trying to save some face   

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Every movie has a tonne of plot holes. Literally every movie ever. If you're noticing them, it doesn't mean the film is bad per se, just that you personally aren't enjoying it.

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Nope.

I enjoyed it a lot but that didn't stop me noticing a fair few plot holes as it was showing, and a lot more thinking about it afterwards.

What's remarkable about this film is the sheer number of absurd plot holes linked with the fact that it's still pretty enjoyable.

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