Best fantasy movie stupidity of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Elf (2003)

Elf picture

Stupidity: During the film's climax where Santa and his reindeer successfully ascend over Manhattan, the sleigh's rocket engine falls off and apparently is no longer needed. Isn't it rather risky (and foolish) to assume (or hope) that the other cities on his flight path have enough "belief power" to sustain him aloft for the rest of his journey?

More Elf stupidity
Ghostbusters: Afterlife picture

Stupidity: The whole movie happens for unbelievably convoluted causes. Despite their friendship and the simple fact that he still runs an occult shop (showing that he's not exactly insensitive to the past), Ray in years never spent a single moment to check on Egon's whereabouts, which he knew, or listen to him. The city has Shandor's name all over and any cursory investigation would have unveiled the connection. Assuming of course that Egon turned into such a lunatic he couldn't do the namedropping himself.

Sammo

More Ghostbusters: Afterlife stupidity
The Birds picture

Stupidity: When the birds gather in the schoolyard, Melanie runs in to warn Annie. Rather than calling the police or fire department for help and then shelter in place until aid arrives (which would take about ten minutes), they instead decide to make a run for it with the children, out in the open, getting attacked by the birds. As it's the 1960s, the schoolhouse presumably has a working phone.

raywest

More The Birds stupidity
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The missiles have a pretty decent head start as they are launched while Superman is still in captivity. When we see him catch up to the first one, we see that he is flying faster than the missile, but not by much. Just enough to catch up.

jshy7979

More Superman stupidity
Nightbreed picture

Stupidity: During the final battle, Gomm kills one of the rednecks by sticking his tentacles into the man's eyes. However, the entire scene is shot very sloppily. The man has his gun trained on Gomm for almost 10 full seconds, and just stands there while the tentacles come out slowly, Gomm laughs, and then the tentacles shoot forward. Given the amount of mayhem and creatures, there's no reason for the redneck to have not just shot Gomm during that period of time.

More Nightbreed stupidity
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace picture

Stupidity: There was no particular reason for Nuclear Man to take Lacy into the space in the first place.

More Superman IV: The Quest for Peace stupidity
Ghostbusters 2 picture

Stupidity: Everyone laughs off any reference to the supernatural and the Ghostbusters being any more than hacks. However, they drilled a hole that unveiled a literal river of pink glowing goo that is even brought up at the trial; nobody investigates its origin or acknowledges the fact, which is exceedingly absurd since it involves heavy pollution of the underground system of a metropolis.

Sammo

More Ghostbusters 2 stupidity
Avengers: Endgame picture

Stupidity: They make a big deal about how they've got the bare minimum of Pym particles left as Hank has been snapped away, but it never occurs to them to use their supply to jump back to a very safe time when Hank was around with a vast supply of them. They could bring them to their time and then have no end of attempts to get the stones without being on such a knife-edge.

Jon Sandys

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The problem is that they need to steal particles, and if they fail doing that, everything fails. They never thought of doing it that way because of that. Only when they failed in the past did they have to risk that, with again the possibility of failing. They couldn't take the risk to have their only chance of reversing what Thanos did fail because they want to be leisurely about it, ironically. They could do it in one go, that was the best bet and lowest in risk.

lionhead

More Avengers: Endgame stupidity
Casper picture

Stupidity: When Dr. James Harvey dies, there should be a body left behind in the manhole. After Kat and Casper revive him in his ghost form in the Lazarus, he comes out with a body (and clothing). One can assume that there are now two bodies of him, one alive and one dead. That would make an interesting article in the newspapers of the next day.

More Casper stupidity
Space Sweepers picture

Stupidity: When the crew think that Dorothy is a robot with a bomb planted in her and is capable of exploding, they begin to think that she is about to explode and attempt to dodge it. Rather than hide somewhere or take cover behind an area that may protect them, they just get down on the floor in front of them and cover their heads with their hands. If they thought the explosion was going to be as deadly as the one they saw on the news, this method of taking cover wouldn't be even remotely effective. (00:24:40)

Casual Person

More Space Sweepers stupidity
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi picture

Stupidity: Leia was carrying a handheld bomb. Yet she doesn't think to bring it with her later on while freeing Han.

Rob245

More Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi stupidity
A Cure for Wellness picture

Stupidity: During the movie, the bad guys keep the main character alive and free to roam the facility at will (even if they made him sign an incriminating form at the very beginning stating he's an inmate) doing absolutely nothing to restrict his freedom till the very end - he even retains personal effects like his broken Rolex and lighter, his wallet full of cash! He breaks into every forbidden area, picks up fights, damages property, escapes multiple times and 'corrupts' the person the whole facility is built for. He is worth absolutely nothing to them and has nobody waiting for him or that will look for him.

Sammo

More A Cure for Wellness stupidity
Mortal Kombat picture

Stupidity: Right before the movie's final battle, Sub-Zero taunts Cole with his wife's necklace and makes him chase him into a portal. Sonya was right next to Cole, and she did not come along with him. They had previously planned to take on Sub-Zero together, but apparently she just left him to chase Sub-Zero alone to an unknown location.

More Mortal Kombat stupidity
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth picture

Stupidity: When Joey is trying to escape from the Cenobites, she bumps into a man who calls her "Baby" and wonders where she's off to in such a hurry, possibly because he's looking for a booty call. The streets are literally on fire (there's a huge flame right next to the man) and buildings are exploding. Even if he's extremely horny, he should still be able to tell a woman doesn't want to stay around with so much chaos and destruction happening around them.

Phaneron

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The dude was probably high on various types of drugs and probably didn't even know where he was. Just a thought.

lionhead

Too high to recognize buildings exploding and fires bursting from out of nowhere, but not too high to recognize a woman in distress?

Phaneron

He didn't recognize much did he? Well, he saw she was female. But not really what was going on.

lionhead

He recognized she was off somewhere in a hurry. He also had a pretty instant reaction to seeing the Camerahead Cenobite.

Phaneron

More Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth stupidity
Moonfall picture

Stupidity: The protagonist is wearing normal boots atop a spacesuit while being on a moon mission. (01:37:11)

More Moonfall stupidity
More Sleeping Beauty stupidity
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves picture

Stupidity: The "keep everyone in the stadium" plan is foiled when gold is scattered around the outside and everyone leaves. The bad guys didn't consider locking the doors? Not least because once the terrifying sky tendrils descend and boiling red clouds start filling the arena, surely people would have started bolting for the wide open exits.

Jon Sandys

More Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves stupidity
Phantasm picture

Stupidity: When Jody traps Michael in his room, he does so by sticking a screwdriver between the the door and the jamb. This likely wouldn't accomplish much regardless, but it especially wouldn't work in this situation because the door opens into the room, so Michael could simply open the door and the screwdriver would fall on the ground.

Aaron Craig

More Phantasm stupidity
Evil Dead II picture

Stupidity: When Bobbi Jo sees Ash's severed possessed hand holding her hand, she freaks out and runs out of the cabin and then gets killed by possessed trees. While it's certainly natural for her to be terrified, why would she run AWAY from where all her friends are and go off by herself?

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: She is a civilian in a blind panic, and even people with actual training have done dumber in panics (e.g., choking firefighters run away from other firefighters who could help them). She also has no idea how dangerous the woods are at this point; she walked to the cabin just fine and only saw scary things inside it, so she thinks she'll be fine if she just runs from the cabin.

Anson Gordon-Creed

More Evil Dead II stupidity
Logan's Run picture

Stupidity: Why is it that runners wait until their 30th birthday to run, when they'll most likely get caught? It would make more sense if runners tried to escape to sanctuary weeks or months before their last day. This way, they could meticulously plan their escape without drawing attention to themselves.

Mike Lynch

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That wouldn't be particularly advantageous for runners. The computer system monitoring the city knows when someone is running regardless of their age and will dispatch the Sandmen to eliminate them. People who choose to run only do it as a last ditch effort, believing they will die on Carousel anyway so running is a risk some are willing to take. In the meantime it would be preferable to live out their guaranteed lifespan and enjoy the pleasures afforded to them by living within the city.

More Logan's Run stupidity

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.