Best sci-fi movie stupidity of all time

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

Alien Invasion picture

Stupidity: After Lyra and her friend escape from the alien and get into the car, they don't immediately lock the doors. A little later, one says, "He's coming. Lock the doors." They also leave the car's interior roof light on, making it easy for the alien to spot them. (01:06:55 - 01:07:32)

KeyZOid

More Alien Invasion stupidity
The Humanity Bureau picture

Stupidity: After Noah shoots the Humanity Bureau vehicle following them, they continue down the road and stop at an old abandoned building that still has some sort of running water in it. Lucas has to go to the bathroom so his mother just lets him wander off by himself to find a restroom. She doesn't go with him or make sure he's fine. And this is in an area where they know that most of the residents are hostile, and they are being chased by the Humanity Bureau. Noah even calls her out on the stupidity of her letting Lucas go by himself and she claims it's because he needed to do number 2 and that Lucas insisted and he's not a little kid any more... Which doesn't excuse the stupidity of the action of letting an 11 year old go by himself to find a bathroom in such a situation. And ultimately it does lead to him getting found by Agent Westinghouse. (01:08:30)

Quantom X

More The Humanity Bureau stupidity
Moonraker picture

Stupidity: After Corinne Dufour realises that Drax intends to have his dogs kill her, she inexplicably attempts to flee on foot, running right past the golf cart she arrived in. The golf cart would have given her more speed, range and protection, and would have been a much better choice for fleeing.

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

Suggested correction: Golf carts are very slow, and are open on all sides: the dobermans would've easily dragged her off it. The biggest stupidity here is that she should've fled to a crowded area with other people instead of the woods. Then again, she was panicking, and not thinking straight.

Jukka Nurmi

More Moonraker stupidity
Cosmic Sin picture

Stupidity: The "body armor" General Ford and others wear is very bulky and appears to be quite heavy with all the attachments (e.g, flashlights on shoulders). With the protective suit protruding perhaps 8", it would most likely restrict/slow movement, contrary to what soldiers need. Moreover, the body may be protected, but there's no protection for the face/head, leaving them exposed/vulnerable. Today's products tend to be lighter, thinner, and stronger, so would be expected in the future.

KeyZOid

More Cosmic Sin stupidity
Cloverfield picture

Stupidity: When the Woolworth Building collapses and the gang runs into the convenience store to take cover from the dust, Marlena was last seen behind Hud and with Lily, Rob, and Jason. Switch to everyone running from the dust cloud, Marlena didn't make it into the store. Upon exiting the store, the gang finds Marlena stumbling from nearer to the Woolworth Building meaning she would have had to run toward the dust cloud, through the screaming crowd which was running away from the building.

More Cloverfield 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
Resident Evil: Extinction picture

Stupidity: When Mikey is being attacked, the woman constantly shoots the 3 zombies in the body and back. Despite knowing that headshots are the only way to stop the infected. (01:01:40)

Ssiscool

More Resident Evil: Extinction stupidity
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 picture

Stupidity: Unless Snow has solid proof like pictures or video why should Katniss believe her main enemy's word that it was Alma Coin, not him, who killed those kids?

Rob245

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

Suggested correction: This is a question and not a stupidity. Katniss didn't just accept Snow at his word. Earlier Gale had mentioned an attack strategy to inflict maximum casualties on medics that matched the attack on the Capitol. Then Gale could not deny his part in Prim's death. All the evidence pointed to Coin being responsible as Snow suggested.

Bishop73

I appreciate responses here because it means you're reading stuff and that makes my day.

Rob245

More The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 stupidity
Gemini Man picture

Stupidity: Despite the fact that the villains know exactly where Brogan is for the better part of the movie thanks to a tracer, and that they display constantly that they are able and willing to hit with bold military operations even to the point of hitting an urban area overruling law enforcement (apparently Clay has authority to do that too), Brogan is able to get undisturbed back in the US through his friend's plane. Considering he was officially marked as a rogue agent and killed 8 DIA operatives, it's hard to see how Baron's plane could ever land on American soil after a long intercontinental flight.

Sammo

More Gemini Man stupidity
Captain Marvel picture

Stupidity: Project Pegasus is a billion dollar structure with no security guards besides the couple dudes Fury shows the badge to at the entrance, no video surveillance, and once SHIELD arrives nobody has to even open a locked door anymore.

Sammo

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

Suggested correction: First of all, Fury was allowed in as it's a government facility and he works for the government and as a SHIELD agent is allowed access. It's inside a mountain and they passed multiple security guards as they drove in, armed guards. Everything is thumb prints and cameras which was quite elaborate for that time. To say they lack in security is quite an understatement. SHIELD has quite some authority and can easily take control in the Pegasus project facility.

lionhead

You are right about the main entrance being truly secure both for guards and strategic position. The problem is that they are free to just roam the facility for an hour, blast through doors, not a soul in sight, no evidence of camera monitoring the inside of the structure, and once the gag of the pad is finished, no door requires it. Actually, funnily enough you can see a guard of the place opening the elevator for Fury and the supervisor, as if the thumprint scan was needed to even get into the elevator itself, but Keller then just walks into the archive just fine (from a different door than the one Vers blasted). There are keypads to exit places (for instance the hangar, when the agents in pursuit break through the door you can see a keypad on the wall) but only when it's convenient (Vers and Fury walked through that same door with no problem, not to mention the fact that the whole stairs seem to have none, which is funny for a place that has keypads both sides of doors).

Sammo

More Captain Marvel stupidity
Ghostbusters picture

Stupidity: It's mostly a fun absurdity, but it is somewhat contradictory to showcase the Ghostbusters being featured as the cover story of every major publication and news outlet, and yet to get help not only they put an ad on the newspaper, but a single person applies for the job (which is all it took for them to accept).

Sammo

More Ghostbusters stupidity
Deep Blue Sea 3 picture

Stupidity: Dr. Emma Collins and Shaw were in the water with Sally the Great White Shark. Emma put her right hand over Sally's nose and pushed her back. Sally swam forward and Emma pointed her index finger at Sally's nose then pushed her back again. Emma told Shaw, "If you stay calm and redirect" and "Don't try this at home" before Sally pushed Emma with her nose on Emma's stomach and rammed her into an underwater object. Emma was the instigator, goading a Great White Shark. Emma could have been killed. (00:05:10)

KeyZOid

More Deep Blue Sea 3 stupidity
Street Fighter picture

Stupidity: Chun Li, E. Honda, and Balrog should've known better than to try to kill Bison and Sagat. If they'd succeeded, then the hostages might've been killed as Ryu pointed out.

Rob245

More Street Fighter stupidity
The Martian picture

Stupidity: Very soon after Damon is stranded, one of the many satellites around Mars inevitably picks up the fact that he has moved various objects around his site, indicating that he's still alive. Yet it never occurs to him that this would obviously, eventually happen. In which case, his best option would be to simply spell out a message with debris and stay put instead of planning some 50-day journey.

roy sandefur

More The Martian stupidity
2067 picture

Stupidity: After Ethan "lands in the future", his spacesuit catches fire. He removes his glass head cover (so he can enjoy the smoke in his face?). Instead of following the well-known "drop and roll" technique for smothering/ putting out the flames, Ethan stood there and patted the flames on his wrists and legs with his gloved hands, but the flames were spreading. His next idea was to remove the spacesuit. After a short struggle getting it off, Ethan was no longer "on fire" - so now he dropped and rolled. (00:29:39)

KeyZOid

More 2067 stupidity
G.I. Joe: Retaliation picture

Stupidity: Roadblock aborted the launch, but all the satellites explode. That is one hell of a weird abort sequence...and interestingly enough no authentication of any kind is required to abort. (01:30:00)

More G.I. Joe: Retaliation stupidity
The Maze Runner picture Video

Stupidity: The creatures in the maze make it inside the living area after the gates open and some of the heroes hide in the corn field. While that alone isn't the smartest thing... one of them keeps a lit torch in their hand burning brightly at night while trying to hide from these creatures.

Quantom X

More The Maze Runner stupidity
Forbidden Planet picture

Stupidity: All of Robbie's circuits have been burned out as a result of Morbius ordering him to kill the Id monster. The crew only has 24 hours to get the ship loaded and a safe distance away from Altair IV before it explodes. But one or more of the crew spends the little time they have fixing Robbie, a very sophisticated piece of technology, who is working the controls at the end of the movie.

Mike Lynch

More Forbidden Planet stupidity
Piranha 3D picture

Stupidity: Jake throws Derek overboard to distract the piranha, then swims under the boat and doesn't get attacked, so why couldn't he just go downstairs the normal way and have Kelly swim over to him? They could have escaped a lot more easily.

brianjr0412

More Piranha 3D stupidity
Demolition Man picture

Stupidity: Dr. Cocteau's choice to unleash an enhanced Simon Phoenix without any way to restrain him is incredibly reckless and stupid. Even if Simon were to kill Eager Friendly, in the best case situation, you'd still have a madman with total computer access, martial arts knowledge, etc., that you would have no way to rein in. Sure, he can't kill Dr. Cocteau, but what would stop him from say, holding the city hostage or something? Why not add in a kill code or something to keep him in check?

Mlp1327

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

Suggested correction: Who says he didn't? Cocteau has put in mental conditioning compelling Phoenix to kill Edgar Friendly and make him unable to kill Cocteau. Who says he hasn't put in something that makes him kill himself after the deed is done? Or perhaps paralyze him so he can be put back on ice. It's just that Cocteau didn't count on the fact that his henchmen could kill him. He doesn't care about how dangerous he is, not until he has done the deed.

lionhead

Dr. Cocteau is a narcissistic egomaniac type that would see himself as a king or a god, even. And Simon is making him very angry. He even tells Simon, "you're beginning to be more trouble than you're worth..." Someone with an ego like Cocteau wouldn't stand for Simon's antics for very long. And would happily enjoy putting Simon back in his place by shocking, paralyzing, etc.

Mlp1327

But he first needs him to kill Friendly. Until he does that, he'll let him play. He still sees no danger to himself.

lionhead

More Demolition Man 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.