Best sci-fi movie stupidity of all time

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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

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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

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Escape From New York picture

Stupidity: When the duke approaches the wall at the end, Snake dives on him and briefly knocks him out. Snake could have easily grabbed his gun back and left the duke unarmed (or even just killed the duke there and then), but just gets up and runs, leaving it with him.

Gavin Jackson

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Evolution picture

Stupidity: No matter the reason, no scientist would allow Nadine to wear sandals into a cave.

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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

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The Last Starfighter picture

Stupidity: During the scene in which Grig and Alex share family photos, Alex goes to pull his wallet out of his back pocket while he's wearing his starfighter suit, which has no pockets, as can be seen when Alex walks towards Maggie after exiting the ship. (00:54:00)

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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Robocop 2 picture

Stupidity: Dr Faxx knew full well that Nuke was Cain's greatest weakness, but it never occurred to her to mention to the old man that holding a canister of it in front of him during the exhibition could have serious consequences. Not very bright.

Gavin Jackson

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Rocketman picture

Stupidity: Central to the plot is the layout of the Mars lander. There are no seats or any restraints of any kind in the lander, which is ridiculous. Spacecraft require safety belts in order to prevent astronauts from being injured during rapid course corrections. Additionally, ordinary rolling desk chairs would not be sent into space, and would certainly not be placed on a landing vehicle.

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Space Jam picture

Stupidity: This film portrays Michael Jordan and his family living in a relatively modest house in the suburbs. Jordan was one of the most famous people on the entire planet around the time the film takes place. Living in such an area would lead to a never-ending onslaught of overzealous fans, paparazzi, and even detractors.

Phaneron

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles picture

Stupidity: The Foot on the roof revive, yet they leave Shredder to fight the turtles alone instead of staying and helping.

Rob245

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You Only Live Twice picture

Stupidity: Bond had to take the elevator all the way down to the ground floor of Osato's office after opening the safe. The guards knew he was on the elevator. Why didn't they have several men ready to kill or apprehend Bond when he got off the elevator?

jbrbbt

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze picture

Stupidity: The Foot Clan knows that April O'Neil is an ally of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Since the Foot Clan hasn't been able to find the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for where they live a easy solution would be for them to go to April and ask where are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. An explanation is never given in the movie for why the Foot Clan never use that easy solution.

Athletic Jason

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Suggested correction: First of all, the Foot Clan at the beginning of the movie is disorganized. Secondly, upon Shredder's return, he plants a Foot soldier named Freddy into April's news crew in order to keep an eye on her and find out where the Turtles are. Then they change tactics when they discover there is still some of the mutagenic ooze around, which they then decide to use to create their own mutants to lure the Turtles out of hiding.

Phaneron

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Predator 2 picture

Stupidity: Harrigan leaves his partner's badge on his grave where anyone could take it and use it to impersonate a cop or abuse it in other ways. (00:50:15)

Jack Vaughan

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The One picture

Stupidity: In the Anubis universe, immediately around the time Lawless says, "Something's wrong," if you look closely, by Lawless, you see the two police officers behind Jet Li walk away to leave Lawless completely unprotected from behind. I understand it's a parallel universe, but that's some really bad police work to leave a prisoner wide open like they do.

Mlp1327

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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

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Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius picture

Stupidity: Jimmy and his friends aren't allowed by their parents to go to the opening of Retroland because it is a school night. What kind of amusement has its grand opening on a school night? It would make more sense commercially to open on a Friday or Saturday night.

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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

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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

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Exorcist II: The Heretic picture

Stupidity: I won't begrudge Father Lamont for instinctively grabbing for the first thing in reach to try to smother the box on fire (even if it is a pair of wooden crutches), but you'd think at some point he'd notice that he's just spreading the fire and making it much, much worse, but he keeps at it until the doctor finally returns with the extinguisher.

TonyPH

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