Absolute Zero (2006)
Disaster Movie
A Syfy Channel disaster movie based around the scientifically nonsensical idea of the Earth’s pole undergoing a magnetic shift and temperatures being reduced to absolute zero
Bad Science
Bad Science refers to principally science-fiction films that operate in flagrant disregard of basic science. It is worth here drawing a line between ignorance of science and handwave science. Handwave science involves some plot sleight of hand to get around known limitations. For example, science precludes travel faster than the speed of light or time travel (because of causality) but the genre gets around this with inventions such as warp drives and time machines and has created many great stories involving such.
The following is a list of common bad science errors in films. Bad science does not necessarily make for a bad film – Star Wars (1977) is a perfect example of a film remaining enjoyable despite numerous instances of bad science – although a failure to research the basics can often be a source of ridicule.
Bad science can include:-
– Sound heard in space
– Spaceships acting like airplanes and banking and flying in a vacuum
– Insta-clones where the cloning process produces duplicates of an individual with the same age and features even sometimes the same clothing as the donor
– Giant insects (insects operate on a pressure-based breathing system and wouldn’t be able to breathe), while most other giant animals would in reality be unable to support their own weight
– Miniature humans – when people are shrunken in size all the mass has to go somewhere
– Lightsabres ie. a physically coherent beam of light of fixed length
– Prehistoric stories featuring humans and dinosaurs co-existing when it reality they were separated by 64 million years
– Planets where aliens are encountered and prove to be humans that speak English without the use of any universal translators
– Spatial distances – such as rocketships conducting intergalactic voyages in a matter of days or the confusion of the differences between a solar system, a galaxy and a universe
– Action films that allow people to outrun explosions or break falls from great heights without damage
– The idea of a hollow earth
– Depictions of other planets of the Solar System with breathable atmospheres and Earth-like conditions
– Depiction of the asteroid belt where the rocks are at a clearly visible distance from each other
– Blatant misuse of scientific and technical terms thrown together as meaningless technobabble
Another Earth (2011)
Mirror Earth
An indie hit starring/co-written by Brit Marling that is a well-played mumblecore drama about redemption and loneliness. On the other hand, the central premise of a mirror Earth is preposterous science-fiction
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
Marvel Comics Miniature Superhero
The third of the films devoted to Marvel’s miniature superhero. This ventures into multiverse themes works well when it comes to introducing the MCU’s big new super-villain who ended up never happening
Atomic Rulers of the World (1965)
Japanese Superhero Film
The US release of several short Japanese films featuring the superhero Starman. Cheap and entertainingly absurd, filled with tatty superheroics and laughable science
Crater (2023)
Coming of Age Story on The Moon
A surprisingly better than expected film from the Disney Channel, a Coming of Age story set on The Moon about a group of kids who break out to go on a jaunt across the lunar surface
Damnation Alley (1977)
Post-Apocalyptic Trek
Disastrous adaptation of the Roger Zelazny novel where the story of a Hell’s Angel on a trek across the post-apocalyptic wasteland is recast with a G.I. and a girl and kid along for the journey, plus the addition of giant mutant cockroaches
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
New Ice Age/Environmental Disaster Movie
In another of his big budget disaster spectacles, Roland Emmerich embraces environmental concerns about Global Warming. Here he (unscientifically) imagines the abrupt onset of a new Ice Age worldwide
Deadly Skies (2006)
Asteroid Collision
Very low-budget film about an impending asteroid collision. Possibly the first LGBT disaster movie depending on which version you see
Deus (2022)
Space Expedition Finds Gateway to Heaven
This has distinct overtones of 2001: Space Odyssey and Event Horizon about an expedition to Mars to investigate a mysterious black sphere – only to find that it offers a gateway to Heaven
Doppelganger (1969)
Mirror-Reversed Counter-Earth
Gerry Anderson was best known for his puppet tv shows. This was his first film with live actors based around the absurd notion of a space expedition to a planet on the far side of the sun that is a mirror opposite of the Earth
Geo-Disaster (2017)
Disaster Movie
A disaster movie mockbuster from The Asylum that was intended to exploit the (non)-success of Geostorm. Directed by the writer of the Sharknado films
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Giant Monster Bash
One of fantastic cinema’s great titles bouts is a spectacular effects show. At the same time, it also has one of the single most ridiculous script I have ever come across in the entire time I have been running this site
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Giant Monster Bash
A follow-up to Godzilla vs Kong, this tries to offer more of the same but suffers another ridiculous script. This ended up being overshadowed by the acclaim that the Japanese-made Godzilla: Minus One received
Hologram Man (1995)
Holographic Villain/Action
SF/action film with a ludicrous premise about a future prison where criminals are turned into holograms. Joe Lara is one lone cop facing an escaped inmate in a hologram body
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Animation/Prehistoric Talking Animals
I hate the Ice Age films and their tediously extruded adventures. The opening sequence here and its ignorance of even basic science is the most inane thing in the entire series
Last Journey of Paul W.R. (2020)
Earth Endangered by an Oncoming Moon
French film about Earth endangered by an oncoming moon and how only one man can save the world
Mars et Avril (2012)
Expedition to Mars/Future Music Making and the Meaning of It All
Quebecois (French Canadian) sf film that offers up a beautifully designed vision of the future and some impressive effects … At the same time, it is sad to see so much artistry lavished on something that is completely nonsensical and utterly woolly-headed in terms of its ideas
Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
Giant Prehistoric Killer Sharks
Sequel to the Jason Statham starring killer shark film. The surprise is seeing cult director Ben Wheatley deliberately making a big, dumb film
Mold! (2012)
Deadly Mold Amok in a Laboratory/Gooey Meltdowns
Very cheaply made film about a deadly mold going amok at a laboratory, which is only notable for some gory meltdown effects and the filmmaker’s laughable lack of knowledge about contamination procedures
Moonfall (2022)
Disaster Movie/The Moon on a Collision Course With the Earth
Roland Emmerich returns to mass destruction with a film about The Moon on a collision course with Earth, which heads in some conceptually challenging directions
The Neptune Factor: An Undersea Odyssey (1973)
Submarine Adventure
Underwater adventure movie that tries to emulate 2001: A Space Odyssey, this has a bad movie reputation
Replicas (2018)
Scientist Clones His Dead Family
Whatever you want to say about his acting ability, Keanu Reeves represents a cool and has smarts in the projects he takes on. So when he takes a producing role as here, you feel it is a project you should pay attention to. Instead, the cloning film that he makes is absolutely laughable and should contend for an award for the SF film with the least plausible science in it
Restart the Earth (2021)
Earth Overrun by Plants
A Chinese attempt to make a Michael Bay mass destruction spectacular depicting an Earth that has been overrun by massive plant growth
Shark Side of the Moon (2022)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Another gonzo killer shark film from The Asylum, makers of Sharknado films, this features the entertaining absurdity of evolved humanoid Soviet sharks living on the Moon
Silent Running (1972)
Saving the World's Last Forest in Space
Classic SF film from effects man Douglas Trumbull, one that spins 2001: A Space Odyssey with a conservationist bent. Slightly loopy in terms of its science, the design and effects have a grandeur
A Sound of Thunder (2005)
Time Travel/Dinosaurs Amok/Ray Bradbury Adaptation
Adaptation of the classic Ray Bradbury time travel story is overblown as a ridiculous big-budget film filled with bad science where the original point of the story disappears in a script that makes no sense
The Stranger (1973)
Counter Earth
Essentially a tv movie version of the Gerry Anderson film Doppelganger in which an astronaut comes around to find he is on a Counter Earth. The premise, an alternate history of sorts, is nonsensical and even then the film abandons it soon in to become a variant on The Fugitive
Supernova (2005)
Solar Disaster
Disaster TV mini-series about the end of the world due to the sun about to go supernova. Cliche plotting, canned action scenes and bad science ensue
Survive (2024)
Catastrophic Reversal of the Earth’s Poles
A French catastrophe film where the Earth’s poles abruptly reverse, transforming what was ocean into a desert. A survival film that is based on a premise that is fundamentally scientifically absurd
Treasure Planet (2002)
Disney Animation/Treasure Island in Outer Space
Disney animated film that proved a flop, this lazily remakes Treasure Island set in space. The result is bad science-fiction with sailing ships in space, Ben Gumm as a malfunctioning robot and so on
Tron Ares (2025)
Adventures in Cyberspace
Tron was a genuinely groundbreaking work that predicted the idea of cyberspace. It is hard to describe how badly conceived this sequel is where we have gone to predicting the future to a fight over a glorified 3D printer
2012: Ice Age (2011)
Disaster Movie
One of several disaster movies set around the supposed year 2012 apocalypse made by The Asylum. Bad science abounds as a giant adrift glacier ends up creating a new Ice Age
Upside Down (2012)
Two Worlds with Gravity in Opposing Directions
The frustration of a film that has a scientifically nonsensical premise – two planets where gravity is oriented in opposing directions – that is also surprisingly imaginatively made. This creates some genuinely amazing visuals and designs of the two worlds and showing the people on them interacting
V (1983)
Alien Invasion
Very popular mini-series during its day (that was followed by a tv series) concerning the alien invasion and occupation of Earth, this has an utter banality that fails on almost every level – as human drama, science and even basic plausibility
The Wandering Earth (2019)
Moving the Earth/Mass Destruction Spectacle
Chinese attempt to make a Roland Emmerich-type mass destruction spectacle about the moving of the Earth. Much effects spectacle but the film suffers from plain absurd science
War of the Worlds (2025)
Alien Invasion/Modernised H.G. Wells Adaptation
An adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic alien invasion novel modernised into the era of mass data surveillance, social media and Amazon delivery drivers. Shot in the Screenlife process where the film screen becomes a computer screen