12. How Did They Upload That Virus in Independence Day?
Everyone thinks Will Smith, epic fighter pilot, saved the world from aliens in Independence Day. Let’s be honest, though — it was Jeff Goldblum, elite computer hacker, who really won the battle. It was his computer virus that crippled the alien’s shield technology, finally allowing for crazy ol’ Randy Quaid to get his revenge and blow up one of the massive UFOs, turning the tide on the global battle.
A lot of people thought it was a completely bogus plot hole that a mid-90s Apple Powerbook would somehow be compatible with the advanced technology of the alien mothership. But if you listened closely in the first third of the film, you’ll remember that scientists at Area 51 explained to Smith that almost all modern technology was developed thanks to UFO that crashed at Roswell. In the ID4 universe, that specific event is fact, not a conspiracy theory. There’s even a deleted scene where Goldblum’s character makes a comment about the alien software having similar coding to his laptop, which it totally explainable given where the laptop technology came from.
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Source: Screenshot via 20th Century Fox
11. Why Didn’t They Keep Using The Time Turner in Harry Potter 3?
In the third Harry Potter movie, Hermoine finds herself making the use of a Time-Turner, a magical device that lets wizards and witches travel back in time. Naturally, she only used it to take an extra-heavy course load and cram in extra studying time. When Harry finds out about it, they use it to save Buckbead the hippogriff from execution and free Sirius Black. But why didn’t they ever consider using it for something really useful? Like going back in time and saving Harry’s parents or killing Voldemort as an infant?
Time travel in movies is always a tricky subject, and paradoxes are inevitably created. In this case, Harry Potter is not like Back to the Future. Changing something in the past does not alter the future. Instead, time is more linear. The Time-Turner only allows things to happen in the past that has already happened, which is why Harry and Hermoine were waiting for the distraction that saved Buckbeak before realizing that they were the distraction. And also why Harry was waiting for his father to come to save his future self from the Dementors before realizing he needed to do it himself.
Hermoine also warned that “bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time,” meaning that she was probably smart and responsible enough to never overuse the Time-Turner. Perhaps she even destroyed it or locked it away after the events of Prisoner of Azkaban so that it wouldn’t be abused.
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Source: Screenshot via Warner Bros.