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Lethal lapses in logic don't just happen in our world.
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00:00Sci-fi can be more captivating than any other genre.
00:03It provides the perfect realm for filmmakers to use familiarities from our world against
00:08us by pushing one element of our reality over the edge.
00:11At its best it can thrill us and keep us guessing while pondering the most fundamental questions.
00:17But at its worst it can be disastrous.
00:20Of all the sins sci-fi commits there are little less infuriating than a stupid character death.
00:26Films like these can ask a lot from audiences to keep up with in terms of plot and detail.
00:31The least we ask is in return is not to have our intelligence insulted by making us accept
00:35insane lapses of logic by the characters we're following.
00:39So with that in mind then I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 10 easily avoidable deaths
00:43in sci-fi movies.
00:4510.
00:46Andrew Fastback in World War Z
00:48Low as it may be zombie films still have a bar to clear to be considered believable.
00:54But for the most part World War Z gives a good account of itself in this area.
00:58Aside from one crucial moment though which lets it down.
01:01At this point humanity pinned all hopes for a cure on virologist Dr Andrew Fastback.
01:06So he heads to South Korea along with Brad Pitt's Jerry Lane and some military personnel.
01:11All armed and anticipating an attack from their flesh eating antagonist Jerry instructs Andrew
01:15to keep his finger off the trigger.
01:18That's sound advice as it's an essential rule to uphold if you want to carry a gun safely.
01:22Did the doctor follow this advice?
01:24Of course not.
01:25He starts running away in panic before slipping and falling over, shooting himself in the head
01:30in the process.
01:31You could almost forgive this stupid decision maybe as an attempt to demonstrate the importance
01:35of gun safety, or perhaps how manic situations lead to irrational actions from even the most
01:40intelligent people.
01:42Either interpretation however isn't quite enough to justify a death that somehow rendered a doctor
01:46more brainless than the zombies he was trying to cure.
01:49Number 9.
01:50Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace
01:54Putting it lightly, the Star Wars prequel trilogy is a point of contention amongst fans, with
01:59the Phantom Menace getting the brunt of the ire from fans.
02:02However, even its biggest detractors would praise the climactic showdown where Obi-Wan Kenobi
02:07and Qui-Gon Jinn valiantly go against Darth Maul.
02:11That is apart from one critical moment, Obi-Wan has just seen his master die and is presently
02:16hanging off a ledge with Maul towering just a few feet above.
02:20Having already used the force to push Obi-Wan over, certainly just repeating that move once
02:24more would finish the job.
02:26Indeed many options were available to him really.
02:29He could reach down and knock him off with his lightsaber or even drop it on top of him.
02:33And out of all of those, what does he pick?
02:36Well taking aimless swipes at him of course.
02:38His utter lapse in any common sense gave enough time for Obi-Wan to use the force to recover
02:43and take out Maul.
02:44Surprise, surprise.
02:45Number 8.
02:46The Whole World in Don't Look Up
02:49There are rare cases where writers meant for deaths to be easily avoidable.
02:53Yet just because the film's a satire doesn't automatically prevent the demise of virtually
02:57everyone on earth from appearing on this list.
02:59As a fascinating depiction of the ease in which greed and the media come together to obscure
03:03facts from the public, it had to be greed that drove the apocalypse.
03:07At this point, the best scientists have just successfully launched a mission to destroy
03:11a comet hurtling towards Earth.
03:13It all looked so hopeful until Madam President called it off, convinced that she could make
03:17money off the rare elements on the comet instead.
03:20Having consulted no one but a billionaire tech company CEO, you can see why this choice was
03:24ill-advised.
03:26While failing to consult any expert at all, it would have been far easier to let the professionals
03:30do their job.
03:31The film uses this to perfectly encapsulate how easily a bit of misinformation fuelled
03:36by greed can lead to rash decisions that do so much damage.
03:40Given that is the point, is this gripe a tad pedantic?
03:43Maybe, but no one gets a free pass for ignorance here, even if it was intended.
03:47Number 7.
03:48Robert Neville in I Am Legend
03:51There's a reason why debates about this film's conclusion persist.
03:54More in line with the source material, the alternative ending gives audiences a mental 180.
03:59It puts Robert Neville's motives into question and provides a refreshing shred of humanity
04:03to the Darkseekers.
04:05Explaining that Neville is as much of a threat to them as they are to him, Neville still gets
04:09to walk away knowing the cure.
04:11However, the theatrical cut's ending is more a traditional action movie finish.
04:15Neville instead sacrifices himself to save the cure, letting the others escape with it.
04:20It's not without some merit, it fulfils Neville's character arc by reuniting him with his family
04:25through his death once he's achieved his goal of finding the cure.
04:29If you intend to make this massive change to favour something familiar though, at least
04:33give Neville a great death.
04:35Unsurprisingly, they didn't do that, opting for Neville to blow himself and the Darkseekers
04:39up via grenade.
04:41If anyone forgot, grenades don't blow up immediately, providing time for a getaway before the explosion.
04:46How did no one think of this?
04:48It makes everyone look incredibly dumb for choosing this stupidly avoidable death over
04:52the superior alternative they had already shot.
04:55Number 6, Billy and the other three survivors in the mist.
05:00Here we have another instance of intentionally avoidable death, but its irony compounded a tragedy
05:05rather than added to satire as in Don't Look Up.
05:09Similar to I Am Legend, this concerns a different ending to the source material.
05:13However, the change proved so impactful that even Stephen King who wrote the original novella
05:18praised it.
05:19While driving off into the mist, things look bleak for the survivors.
05:23David's at the wheel having just learned the fate of his wife and is now only driving to
05:27see if they can get out of the mist.
05:29At this point the novella ends, but the film isn't done.
05:33Running out of fuel, the passengers come to a silent agreement.
05:36David mercy kills everyone, including his son, to spare them from suffering a worse fate outside.
05:42Since he's a bullet short of doing the same for himself, he exits the car to instigate
05:46his swift death.
05:48But instead he meets the arrival of the military and the dissipation of the mist.
05:53As they were mere moments away from safety and how easily David could have saved his son,
05:57this ultimate troll ending is the prime example of avoidable deaths executed effectively.
06:03Number 5.
06:04Lee Abbott in A Quiet Place.
06:07Now this might be a nitpick, but you have to call out when a film itself provides an unbelievably
06:11simple solution to the problem at hand.
06:14It focuses on a family living in a world ravished by monsters who hunt excellently based on sound
06:19alone.
06:20Their present sentences are protagonists to life in total silence, lest they get murdered.
06:26Nowhere was safe, right?
06:28Well actually we do learn about one place, a waterfall.
06:32It's so loud that it drowns out any noise you make while under it.
06:35Yes, it's only supposed to serve as a happy escape for Lee and his son Marcus, however
06:39we can't help but question why they haven't used this to their advantage, especially with
06:43Evelyn expecting.
06:44It may be impractical and a tad extreme to permanently move to the waterfall.
06:49You still desire a somewhat normal life, but it seems illogical not to set up a temporary
06:54camp here for Evelyn to spend the last few weeks in.
06:56After all, she could go into labour suddenly, upon which sounds are unavoidable.
07:00Unfortunately, this wound up happening while she was still in the house, setting events
07:05in motion leading to Lee's death, all due to profound lack of foresight.
07:09Number 4.
07:10Susan McAllister in Deep Blue Sea.
07:12You'd be wildly mistaken if you thought we'd give it a pass since test audiences demanded
07:17this reshoot.
07:18The demand made sense.
07:20Kill off Dr. Susan McAllister given her role in creating the rampaging sharks.
07:24The production handled this by having Susan sacrifice herself.
07:28She cuts her hand and jumps in the water to distract the final shark and so prevent it
07:32from escaping.
07:33Now this makes absolutely no sense.
07:36The most prominent flaw here is that she could have easily achieved this without jumping in.
07:40If she wanted to use blood so badly, she could have tried spreading it on the water's surface.
07:44If she wanted to be more precise, she could have even wet something in her blood and thrown
07:48it in.
07:49But the most egregious aspect of this decision is that she was a doctor who specialises in
07:53researching sharks.
07:55Undoubtedly, she must know several ways to distract a shark without resorting to something that
08:00unnecessarily risks her own life.
08:02It would have been part of her job.
08:04It would have been much more believable if she had slipped and fallen in the water.
08:07But, astoundingly, this isn't even the stupidest heroic sacrifice by diving.
08:11That's for our next entry.
08:13Number 3.
08:14Grandma Ruth in Dante's Peak
08:16As film veterans will tell you, one of the most run-of-the-mill tricks writers pull
08:20to redeem villainous or unlikeable characters is giving them a heroic death.
08:25Sure, there's a reason why this manoeuvre is so popular.
08:28Just ask Darth Vader.
08:29Of course, many take it too far, with writers or studios so desperate to go down this route
08:34that they completely ignore any opposing context.
08:37What this blindness results in is characters making the most illogical decisions purely
08:41for story-based reasons.
08:43Take Grandma Ruth in Dante's Peak.
08:45She was a thorn in our protagonist's side until she valiantly gave her life for them
08:50to make it through the acidic lake, dying of the injuries incurred in the process.
08:55Maybe her decision to jump into the lake to help push the boat into shore looked okay
08:58on paper, but again, context is critical.
09:02They were only a couple of metres away from the destination, rendering her sacrifice utterly
09:06pointless.
09:08Any remotely observant person would have certainly sat tight as doing anything else would be
09:12bonkers.
09:13Number 2.
09:14Toad in X-Men
09:16Still, if some characters were meant to jump into the water, Toad would undoubtedly be among
09:21them.
09:22Perhaps dated and cheesy by today's standards, X-Men is still a culturally important achievement.
09:27While entertaining enough, it sets a decent bar for its successors, paving the way for bigger
09:31and better things.
09:33One such cheesy moment, though, is the climactic showdown between Storm and Toad.
09:38Sure, everyone now groans at Storm's one-liner, and rightly so, but this distracts from the
09:42even more stupid part of the scene.
09:45Because nobody watching this film is paying attention to what Toad is doing.
09:48Hanging onto a railing via his tongue after being thrown from a window, he chooses to do
09:53nothing, which wouldn't be too bad until you consider two vital things.
09:57Firstly, it isn't that big of a drop, a hype most Olympic divers are comfortable doing.
10:02Secondly, he's above a river.
10:04If any mutant would be good jumping off into actual water, surely it'll be Toad.
10:09Number 1.
10:10Meredith Vickers in Prometheus
10:12There's always going to be one clear winner in this straight race.
10:16Yes, pun intended.
10:17In Prometheus, audiences watched plenty of characters making stupid decisions who came
10:22together to form the least competent fictitious space crew.
10:25Among them was a scientist who actively touched an alien creature that looked unquestionably
10:30hostile, and a geologist who was surprised they got lost, even though preventing this was
10:35the actual purpose he was on the mission.
10:37Of course, these paled in comparison to the ultimate idiotic move that would follow.
10:42Put yourselves in Meredith Vickers shoes. You're on an alien planet, and a ring-shaped
10:47spaceship is falling near you. As it crashes, it rolls towards you. With its shadow looming,
10:52you realise you're about to get crushed and need to run out of the way. Indeed, anyone
10:57with a functioning brain would run to the side, but not Meredith. She runs straight ahead, right
11:02into the path of the falling ship. It's made even worse once you notice she had a good
11:07few seconds to decide, and that Shaw survived by rolling to the side despite her falling over.
11:12The scene now lives in infamy as one of the most unintentionally comedic deaths in sci-fi
11:18history.
11:19And that concludes our list. If you can think of any that we missed, then do let us know
11:22in the comments below. And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap
11:26that notification bell. Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there at WhatCulture, and I can
11:31be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been
11:34Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.
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