Worst "science" movie

[DreadPirateMurphy]

Lots of words have been written about films that stretch believability well past the breaking point. Non-sensical plots, stupid behavior by characters, etc., are all fairly common in film. What breaks it for me, though, is a film that purports to be set in "reality," yet gets even the simplist scientific principles wrong.

Note: I exempt superhero and fantasy films, since the stretching of the laws of physics is one of the basic premises of the genres. Critiquing X-Men for scientific plausibility is like saying Schindler's List could have used a laugh track.

The film that really has always irritated me was Armageddon. It is probably my least liked film of all time (and I've seen some really bad ones). I can't help but roll my eyes when I think of moon buggies armed with miniguns, timers that shut off when they lose radio contact, and asteroids that get angry at people. (Arguably, Independence Day has as many improbable events, but more of them might pass the 5-year-old test than the ones in Armageddon.)

So what are the worst SCIENCE fiction films of all time, i.e., films where science matters to the plot, but apparently not to the scriptwriters or director.

 

[Firebird]

Hmmm....so many to choose from

I'd have to probably say, "The Core". I laughed out loud watching that one. Super strong ships hull to withstand the heat and crushing pressure of the earth's core and then the crew goes outside of it while in the mantle. That's like climbing out a submarine at crush depth in a wetsuit. An insult to intelligence.

 

[Dagger75]

The Day After Tomorrow

Now I know how fast you have to run to out run cold.

 

[Zoatebix]

The Core is right up there with Dagger75's choice.

 

[JimAde]

Armageddon's gotta be near the top of the list.

Here's a site with all the movie physics stupidity you can take:
http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/

Enjoy

 

[Warrior Poet]

Whatever the crapfest with Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz (why, Rachel? WHY?!) with the hydrogen explosion that levelled Chicago was.

Also, The Saint, Val Kilmer version. Elizabeth Shue as a nuclear physicist (or whatever she was supposed to be). My brain devolved just listening to her deliver her lines about whatever science she was explaining as you would to a kindergardener.

Warrior Poet, Neanderthal

 

[Zoatebix]

And now I'm embarrassed because I missed that firebird mentioned the Core. Whoops!

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

The Black Hole.

In, though and out the other side indeed...

 

[cjdc1973]

Hrm, I misread the thread entirely and have absolutely nothing useful to add whatsoever...

My netiquette skills have become pathetically dull.

 

[sniffles]

Honestly, I'm having a hard time thinking of a science-related movie that had *good* science it it!!

Sigh. Someday I really want to see a movie set in space in which something explodes - silently, with no fireball. :\

[Edit] For worst science in a movie I've actually seen (though I regret it still): the exploding people on the surface of Mars in "Total Recall".