When movies weave tales of government conspiracies, elaborate heists, or mind-bending time travel, audiences know that not every twist or turn will be spelled out in detail. And as bold science fiction and comic book superheroes have taken over the box office, the suspension of disbelief is almost a given for any modern blockbuster.

But sometimes, a film goes too far, introducing unclear plot points, failing to answer the obvious questions, or even occasionally breaking the rules they themselves established. Whether the filmmakers thought the issues minor, or simply hoped viewers wouldn't think too hard about what they've been told or seen for themselves doesn't change the fact: plot holes can't all be explained away.

With that in mind, here is our list of the 10 Big Movie Plot Holes and Paradoxes.

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Inception Kicks Off

Movie Plot Holes Paradoxes Inception Kick

Inception takes a leap into fantasy with its science of 'dreams within dreams,' but sets out some clear rules. For instance, it's explained that the sensation of falling - into a tub of water, or out of a chair – will cause any sleeping person to snap wide awake. The rule is put to use in the film's climax, as the team of heroes descend through multiple layers of dreams, ending at an impenetrable Arctic fortress. The team's only way out? Using synchronized 'kicks' to pull them back to the real world, one dream at a time.

But hold on: the final sequence of drops defies the earlier rule, showing that a kick inside of a dream will snap the person out of it: the collapsing fortress first, then the elevator stopping in the dream above. Some confused editing may be to blame for breaking the film's simplest rule. But if that's the case, what reason would there have been to blow up the fortress at all?

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Back To The Gas Station

Movie Plot Holes Paradoxes Back to the Future

In Back to the Future, time travel requires two thing: a flux capacitor, and enough gas to hit 88 miles per hour. But when eccentric genius Doc Brown (and his DeLorean time machine) are struck by lightning at the end of the second movie, he winds up stranded in the year 1885. Marty, despite Doc telling him (via letter) to not go back in time after him, manages to repair the stashed car in the year 1955. Marty does just that in the next film, but ends up tearing a gas line, emptying the car's tank. With no gas stations in the Old West, the pair's fortunes go from bad to worse.

But we have to ask: why wouldn't Doc just retrieve gasoline from the DeLorean he'd recently stashed in the mine? Even if its tank was ALSO empty, running an engine on kerosene would surely be easier than building a time machine. In fact, California's oil rush meant gasoline would have been available - and since it was considered a worthless by-product at the time, it would've been cheap, too.

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Ocean's Eleven's Magic Money

Movie Plot Holes Paradoxes Oceans Eleven Vault

All its style aside, Ocean's Eleven is essentially one big lead-up to a brilliant heist, stealing money out from under a casino owner's nose. When the vault is broken into, the thieves demand that bags of cash be carried out by the hotel's own security – but when the money is tracked by the casino's men, an explosion reveals the money was never there in the first place. Meanwhile, the thieves - disguised as a SWAT team - descend to the vault with bags in hand, leaving more worthless fliers behind, and walking millions of dollars out of the casino personally.

The only problem is that when stars Matt Damon and George Clooney first broke into the vault, they did so empty-handed. So where did the x-marked bags filled with fake cash come from? Fortunately, director Steven Soderbergh even admitted there's no explanation, so don't bother looking for one.

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The Lost World's Lost Crew

Movie Plot Holes Paradoxes Lost World Jurassic Park

While the first Jurassic Park proved dinosaurs and man don't mix, the sequel went a step farther, bringing the creatures off of their remote island and back to the mainland. Things go wrong immediately, as a ship carrying an adult T-Rex violently crashes into its port. The crew is revealed to have fallen victim to the island's dinosaurs, moments before the ship's own cargo hold is opened, and the T-Rex escapes.

But what actually killed the crew? Apparently a scene was planned in which a pack of Velociraptors board the vessel as it leaves the island, but was left out of the finished film. The results of their attack remain, with nobody ever wondering if there were more killer dinosaurs they should be worrying about.

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G.I. Joe: Cobra Rises, Ice Sinks?

Movie Plot Holes Paradoxes GI Joe Ice Sinking

Blockbuster films are rarely scientifically accurate, but G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra tops them all, with one incredible oversight in its final act. When the film's hero, Duke, is taken to the villain's underwater Arctic Base, the rest of the Joes soon stage a rescue, kicking off a furious underwater battle. As the villains escape they trigger the base's self-destruct process, "blowing the ice pack" above them as a last resort.

When audiences actually stop and wonder if they've ever seen ice sink, this plot hole becomes downright laughable. Some over-the-top action is one thing, but claiming icebergs will sink like a stone instead of floating is truly unbelievable.

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Top 5 Plot Holes

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Optimus Finds Another Gear. And Another. And Another...

Movie Plot Holes Transformers Optimus Powers

There aren't many rules when it comes to a Transformers movie, but Autobot leader Optimus Prime revealing his heroism in a climactic battle is an absolute must. It seems to always fall on Optimus to save the day: digging deep, summoning courage, and becoming laughably overpowered - revealing new weapons, abilities, and combat skills that he has inexplicably chosen NOT to use up to that point.

Suddenly becoming an invincible soldier is silly enough, but Optimus has been upgraded with new tech in multiple films, only to throw it away instead of using it to help save his comrades' lives in the next movie. Transformers: Age of Extinction blew this inconsistency wide open when after a devastating fight across the globe, Optimus suddenly reveals that he's been able to fly the entire time! Maybe he just has a terrible memory… but terrible writing seems more likely.

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X-Men: Deleted Scenes of Future Past

X Men Days of Future Past Rogue

In the post-apocalyptic future of X-Men: Days of Future Past, mutants are hunted to near-extinction by an army of Sentinels – robots able to absorb and share the superpowers of the mutants they encounter. In the film, the captured mutant Mystique is offered as an explanation, with her shape-shifting ability researched and incorporated into the Sentinels, allowing them to mimic other mutants.

The only problem is that Mystique's copycat powers are only cosmetic - she can look like Wolverine, but can't reproduce his healing factor or his indestructible claws. The real explanation can be found only in deleted scenes, revealing that Rogue (a mutant able to steal other mutants' powers) had also been captured, and her ability copied. But the finished film never addressed the plot hole, leaving Mystique to supply powers to the Sentinels that she never possessed.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse Lifted?

Movie Plot Holes Pirates of the Caribbean Curse

Few can forget the adventure of Will Turner and Jack Sparrow in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, facing off against undead pirates doomed to walk the Earth for scattering a chest full of cursed gold coins. Having finally returned every gold piece, a drop of Will's blood was all that was needed to return their mortality. Since the pirates couldn't be killed, it seemed strange for Jack to fire a useless bullet into the film's villain, Barbosa – until Will reveals that his blood had lifted the curse, cuing the trickle of blood from the pirate's fatal wound.

The problem is that the gold had clearly not been returned when Barbosa was shot, meaning only wounds sustained after the coin was dropped should have any effect. Jack had been run through with a sword minutes earlier, so viewers are expected to believe that the bullet was "close enough" - creating an unnecessary plot hole instead.

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Star Trek's Spock Complex

Movie Paradoxes Star Trek Beastie Boys

When the young Jim Kirk of J.J. Abram's Star Trek reboot takes his uncle's Corvette for a joyride, he chooses to play a classic song for a classic car - "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys.

Confirming the group and its music to also exist in the Trek universe sent fans reeling, since the band's other hit – "Intergalactic" – includes an explicit reference to Star Trek character "Mr. Spock," and his signature 'Vulcan nerve pinch.' The obvious paradox was left unexplained, with Abrams shrugging off any deeper meaning:

"I wish I could say it was done on purpose, but it was not. I just dig the song."

Abrams would double-down on the paradox in Star Trek Into Darkness, with Kirk’s introduction set to the sounds of a remix of the group's single, "Body Movin'."

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The Dark Knight's Financial Folly

Movie Plot Holes Batman Dark Knight Rises

When Bane and his henchmen launch their assault on the Gotham Stock Exchange in The Dark Knight Rises, it isn't money they're after. It's revealed the next day that Bane forged a number of transactions in Bruce Wayne’s name, bankrupting him overnight and sending his company's stock into a spiral. Lucius Fox informs Bruce that fraud "may be proven long-term," but for now, he's broke and set to lose control of his company.

Bankrupting Wayne to inconvenience him is one thing, but implying that the government, banks, newspapers and even Wayne Enterprises board members would all witness Bane's attack, then believe Bruce threw his fortune away during that exact time frame is ridiculous. This kind of clumsy plotting is rare even in Nolan's more outlandish films, yet nobody questions that Bruce's "crazy gambling" is to blame, and Bane's entire plan – and the rest of the film – hinges on the impossible-to-swallow twist.

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Conclusion

Movie Plot Holes Paradoxes

That does it for our list of memorable movie plot holes - what do you think of our list? Did we miss any big plot holes or paradoxes you can name? Be sure to let us know in the comments.