History LoopholeAbuse / LiveActionFilms

* In ''Film/LordOfWar'', the Interpol Agent pursuing Yuri accuses him of exploiting a loophole in international arms trading laws by shipping military vehicles and their armament separately so they don't count as prohibited/embargoed heavy weapons.

---->'''Barbossa:''' Don't dare impugn me honor, boy! I agreed she'd go free and it's free she'll go! It was ''you'' who failed to specify ''when'' or ''where''.

* ''Film/InTheNameOfTheKing: A VideoGame/DungeonSiege Tale'' has, apparently, a requirement for the magi that they must serve a king for them to be able to use magic. [[EvilSorcerer Gallian]] reveals that the beastly Krug have no king, so he simply crowned himself as their king. Thus, he serves the best master he can think of - himself. The rules never specified it must be a king of humans or that the magus himself couldn't be king. Of course, it's also implied that only a madman like Gallian could have accepted such twisted logic enough to allow his powers to work. And Gallian doesn't deny that he has gone mad but actually uses his madness to boost his power.

* In ''Film/MonteCarlo2011'', Grace Bennett manages to infiltrate a high-class party with her friends because she happens to be an exact double to expected attendee Cordelia Winthrop-Scott. Although Cordelia attempts to accuse Grace of identity fraud when she returns, as well as the alleged theft of a valuable necklace that was meant to be up for auction (one of Grace's friends wore it and it fell into a bag), the inspector brought in to investigate the case dismisses her claims. As the inspector points out to Cordelia, she can't accuse Grace and her friends of kidnapping Cordelia or stealing the necklace when Cordelia is right here and the necklace is on public display, there's no distinct evidence of identity fraud as Cordelia can't prove when she was elsewhere and Grace was pretending to be her, and it's not a matter for the police if Cordelia is miserable about the situation.

----> '''Barbossa:''' First of all, returning you to Port Royal was never part of our negotiations or agreement, so I ''must'' do nothing. And secondly, you have to be a pirate for the Pirate Code to apply, and you're not. And thirdly - the Code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules.

---->'''Gibbs:''' "And how do you intend to harvest these ninety-nine souls in three days?"\\
'''Jack:''' "Fortunately, he was mum as the condition in which these souls need be."\\
'''Gibbs:''' "Ah. Tortuga, then?"\\
'''Jack:''' (Wipes slime on Gibbs) "Tortuga."
*** He tried it on Jones earlier in the film, but Jones wasn't having any:
---->'''Jones:''' "You have a debt to pay. You've been captain of the Black Pearl for thirteen years. That was our agreement."\\
'''Jack:''' "Technically, I was only captain for two years, then I was viciously mutinied upon."\\
'''Jones:''' "Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless! [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Have you not introduced yourself all these years]] as ''[[InsistentTerminology Captain]]'' Jack Sparrow?"
** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': RulesLawyer Barbossa knows the pirate's code so damn well, he's able to pull this on Jack, even going as far as to tell Jack's Dad on him, who happens to be the Keeper of the Code and [[DisproportionateRetribution scary beyond all reason]]. Jack makes Barbossa regret this by pulling a dragon right back on him.
** In the same film, Jack tries to invoke this with Jones, saying that their debt was settled when he was taken to the Locker, [[RevivalLoophole no one said he had to stay there]]. Jones didn't agree to it and took him prisoner.
** At the end of the film, this is how Jack finally manages to kill Jones once and for all: by stabbing his heart using a dagger that was presently held in the recently-deceased Will Turner's hand. This also has the benefit of preventing Jack from being forced to become the new captain of the ''Flying Dutchman'', as well as resurrecting Will as the new captain, since it was ''technically'' by Will's hand that Jones died.

* In ''Film/RoboCop1987'', the villain Dick Jones secretly programs a fourth directive into Robocop that prevents him from harming Omni Consumer Products personnel, which keeps Robocop from arresting him after revealing his involvement in the death of a rival colleague. Later, Robocop goes to a board meeting where Jones is, not to kill him because of the fourth directive, but to show damning footage of his wrongdoing. Conveniently, Jones had earlier told Robocop what exactly the classified fourth directive contains, and nothing in his programming is preventing him from spreading this information further. When Jones tries to take the CEO hostage, the CEO fires him. Since Jones was no longer employed at OCP, that meant the fourth directive no longer applied to him, which meant Robocop could finally give him his comeuppance by shooting him until he fell out of a window.
* Cain in ''Film/RoboCop2'' uses the same tactic on a subordinate who failed him. When his mistress protests that he said that he would only scare the guy while he's having him cut open with surgical tools, Cain flatly states "[[ExactWords Doesn't he look scared]]?"

* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' and the ''Film/StarTrek2009'' film, the ''Kobayashi Maru'' test. Starfleet actually had to add a "no reprogramming the simulator" rule after Kirk's shot at it, and according to the ExpandedUniverse, this kicked off a whole tradition of loopholing the scenario. Not only that, but it became an expectation of any student to find a way to beat the simulation with outside-the-box thinking.
* In the opening to ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', Spock cops to Kirk and Bones violating the [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]] by rescuing him in broad daylight before a primitive alien species, yet still argues the point that they wouldn't have been violating the ''wording'' of the Prime Directive had they not been detected. Because then the natives would never have known that the Enterprise crew had interfered with their development by saving them from extinction. Admiral Pike doesn't buy it, feeling the spirit of the law was more important, and Kirk ends up getting demoted off the captain's chair....temporarily, only to get it back to pursue Khan after Pike is killed.
** Later on, the ''Vengeance'' is bearing down on the ''Enterprise'' and turning it into swiss cheese. Carol races onto the bridge and begs to contact Admiral Marcus, who is not only captaining the ''Vengeance'' but also [[spoiler:her father and he wouldn't attack them if she was on board]]. Marcus' solution? Teleport her over to the ''Vengeance'', ''then'' keep shooting.

* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Heimdall is ordered by Loki to not activate the Bifrost for anyone. When Sif and the Warriors Three need to help Thor out on Earth, he sticks his sword in the controls and leaves, essentially leaving the keys in the ignition for them. Later, [[spoiler:he takes advantage of having taken an oath to obey ''the king''. When Loki, the acting king, fires him, Heimdall attacks, since he's no longer bound to obey him.]]
* Heimdall is good at this, doing it again in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', where it's his sworn duty to notify Odin of ''any'' crime against the throne. So he summons Odin to the Bifrost to report that he's committing treason, i.e. by luring Odin away from the palace and not reporting the treason Thor and the Warriors Three are engaging in.

* In ''Film/BlackPanther'', Okoye and the Dora Milaje are bound by honour and law to serve the throne, no matter their personal feelings about who happens to be sitting on it. When Killmonger usurps the throne, they are unhappy in the extreme but nevertheless carry out their duty... until T'Challa returns and reminds Killmonger that he neither yielded nor died and so technically the challenge is still active. When Killmonger refuses to honour this and sets his goons on T'Challa, breaking the rules of the challenge and voiding his claim, the Dora Milaje immediately pronounce him unfit to rule and to a woman turn on him.

* In ''Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor'' (and both remakes such as ''Film/{{Flubber}}''), the coach of the OpposingSportsTeam in a basketball match complains to the referee that the Medfield College team is obviously cheating somehow, but the referee refuses to make a call saying that "there's no rule that one team can't jump higher than the other!". When the "team that can jump higher than the other" is jumping higher than a human is physically capable of (as in they are inches away from hitting the rooftop), it's obvious that there is something funny going on. The Medfield team could also be accused of breaking [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_(basketball)#:~:text=In%20basketball%2C%20traveling%20is%20a,is%20replaced%20to%20the%20floor. excessive traveling rules]] with said super-jumping, ironically.

* ''Film/LoneStar:'' During the time of the flashback scenes, the county has an ordinance stating that only clubs and fraternal organizations can serve liquor. SaloonOwner Roderick Bledsoe gets around around this by declaring that his bar is a club, and that the membership admission is buying a drink every time a "club member" visits.

* ''Film/CherryFalls'': "A serial slasher who's targeting virgins? Ha, we'll all just throw an orgy and lose our virginity!" [[spoiler:Unfortunately for them, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome just because the kids found a loophole in the M.O. doesn't mean the killer would just pick up their ball and go home, and now they're all trapped in one place.]]]]

LoopholeAbuse in LiveActionMovies.