10 Dumbest Sci-Fi Movie Decisions (That People Survived)

Sometimes, an idiotic decision in a sci-fi movie ends up working even if it should have ended badly.

Aliens James Cameron
20th Century Fox

When it comes to people making stupid decisions in movies, Horror is often brought up above all else. It's true, horror movie characters are stupid, and their decisions often lead to their grisly deaths. On the other hand, science-fiction features just as many crappy decisions, but strangely, fewer deaths.

That's not to say people aren't getting killed in Sci-Fi movies all the time, and every so often, a bad decision leads to the death and destruction of tons of people. Still, there are those times when a Hail Mary not only keeps people alive, it can save the day!

These types of decisions can range from opening a door on a spaceship to create a vacuum or even going on a daring attack against something as large as a moon. Whatever the decision, it's often taken as a last resort, and while it should absolutely lead to a character's death, sometimes, it doesn't.

Sci-Fi movies have become famous for these types of decisions and workarounds, which probably wouldn't work in any other film genre. These ten decisions may have seemed pretty stupid after the fact, but in the moment, they were the only ones that could have been made.

10. Taking King Kong Back To New York City

Aliens James Cameron
RKO Radio Pictures

While there's an argument for calling King Kong a fantasy film, it's also considered to be science-fiction due to its theme of technology triumphing over nature. As a result, King Kong, though dated by today's standards, stands as a sci-fi movie, which features the dumbest decision anyone could make.

King Kong is all about a film crew's travel to Skull Island, where they encounter a gigantic gorilla the inhabitants of the island have dubbed Kong, and Kong is King. He takes the leading lady, and the film crew adventures to bring her back, which they do, though many don't survive.

Ultimately, they capture the beast, and instead of leaving it in its home environment, they throw it onto a ship and take it to New York City — the most populated city in the U.S. When someone captures a 30,000 lb. ape that enjoys stepping on and eating people, odds are, it's not a good idea to bring it to a city.

When he's revealed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World," Kong freaks out, grabs the same leading lady, and takes her to the top of the Empire State Building. He's killed, making him the only casually of the foolish enterprise, but by the laws of common sense, Kong should have trampled and killed the idiots who brought him there. It's a miracle any of them survived.

Contributor
Contributor

Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, writer, and game designer. Jonathan retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects. He writes for ScreenRant, CBR, NerdBastards, Listverse, Ranker, WhatCulture, and many other sites online. You can check out his latest on Twitter: @TalkingBull or on his blog: jonathanhkantor.com