Top 10 Dumbest Decisions in Disaster Movies
#10: Not Bringing More Astronauts on the Mission
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“Armageddon” (1998) The characters in Michael Bay’s “Armageddon” make plenty of bad decisions, but perhaps the most glaring one deals with the central plot of the film. Although sending drillers to stop an asteroid hurtling towards Earth certainly lends the film heart and tension, wouldn’t it have made more sense to teach astronauts drilling techniques, as opposed to teaching drillers how to be astronauts? And even if you needed drillers, why make them most of the crew? A lot of the problems the team encountered in space could’ve been solved or avoided with more nasa personnel. Maybe a training montage of astronauts taking notes about how to save the Earth would’ve made for a duller viewing experience?
#9: Leaving Shelter
“The Day After Tomorrow” (2004) “The Day After Tomorrow” documents a series of catastrophic events that lead to a new ice age. That said, would you listen to someone if they tried convincing you to go outside? A group of survivors are sheltering in place inside of the New York Public Library, when a large group decides to make a break for it, trying to find help. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Sam tries to convince them otherwise, but most ignore his advice. They pay the price for this decision, and are found later in the film by Dennis Quaid’s Jake and his colleague Jason, fatally frozen.
#8: Monkey Business
“Outbreak” (1995) Every disaster movie needs to start somewhere, with some boneheaded decision. In the case of 1995’s “Outbreak,” the bonehead in question has a name: Jimbo Scott. Scott smuggles a capuchin monkey into the United States, unaware that the creature is carrying a highly infectious, Ebola-esque virus. You can probably connect the pieces from here, as the monkey’s disease moves from one person to another, mutating, becoming airborne, and wreaking havoc across the country. It may hit a little too close to home in today’s climate, and it’s difficult to watch a movie like “Outbreak” now and NOT think of the obvious comparisons.
#7: Rooftop Party
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“Independence Day” (1996) On one hand, we admire the optimism required to face down something that, by all accounts, looks like alien invasion. Then again, maybe the attendees at the rooftop party in “Independence Day” should’ve seen the writing on the wall? Sure, we all hope that first contact with an alien race will involve parlay, peace, and perhaps even coexistence. This is… not what happens at the rooftop party. Instead, these outer space enthusiasts get blasted to kingdom come after the City Destroyer annihilates the building with a massive blast. The fact that they realize only too late what’s about to happen, makes the scene even more depressing. #6: Taking the Elevator
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“Earthquake” (1974) It could easily be argued that the 1970s were a golden age for the disaster film, a period where many of the tropes that are still employed today were first established. This definitely includes characters making dumb decisions, even if those choices are mad in the heat of chaos and confusion. It’s easy to imagine the unfortunate souls from 1974’s “Earthquake” deciding to take the stairs, should they have been in a proper state of mind. This didn’t happen, of course, and what happens is an infamous scene where the elevator crashes, and everyone dies with a silly animated blood splatter.
#5: Zombie Party
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“World War Z” (2013) You know how the old saying goes: “don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” A huge wall is able to quarantine survivors of a zombie apocalypse. So, what do they do? Make a bunch of noise, of course! Never mind the fact that hoards of the undead are just waiting on the other side of that wall to do what they do best, i.e., biting stuff and making more zombies. The zombies here in “World War Z” are able to collaborate and listen, scaling the wall and making short work of the folks on the other side. Folks that were howling at the moon one moment, and screaming for their lives the next.
#4: Dekkom’s Plan
“Geostorm” (2017) Villains within all forms of media often have this nebulous desire to “rule the world.” Leonard Dekkom from 2017’s “Geostorm” was no different, although his plan does seem kind of, well, flawed. Dekkom has intentionally sabotaged a climate-controlling satellite system, resulting in what has the potential to unleash devastating storms across the entire globe. Dekkom seeks to eliminate those ahead of his position as the U.S. Secretary of State, so that he may become president… but at what cost? His plan threatens major cities across the United States, and what’s the point of ruling over a dead world? And who would reelect him? Perhaps Dekkom, and the “Geostorm” scriptwriters, should’ve thought this one through a bit.
#3: Recalling the Rocket
“Don’t Look Up” (2021) 2021’s “Don’t Look Up” was a comedy that utilized the disaster movie structure to tell a larger story satirizing big business and indifference towards climate change. Here, there is a plan in place to deflect or destroy a comet that is hurtling towards the Earth. Sound familiar? Yeah, it’s “Armageddon” all over again, only this time the mission doesn’t happen, because it turns out the comet is actually worth a ton of money. From then on, it’s one side versus the other, as greed overpowers good sense, everyone dies (well, almost) and we get an ending that’s far more bleak and depressing than even the direst of disaster classics.
#2: Staying in the Promenade Room
“The Poseidon Adventure” (1972) Few disaster movies, from the seventies or otherwise, hit it out of the park like “The Poseidon Adventure.” This isn’t only due to the great ensemble cast or thrilling action, but the tragedy associated with this one unfortunate decision. The SS Poseidon is hit by a tsunami and capsizes, trapping many revelers in the ship’s promenade room. The lion’s share of survivors is determined to stay put, in the hopes that help will arrive, and they’ll be saved. These people ignore Gene Hackman’s character and his insistence that they need to move upwards, to the engine room. Since the ship is upside-down, the promenade room is under immense pressure from being submerged. The decision to remain there ultimately dooms those survivors to a watery death.
#1: Not Listening to the Experts!
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All of Them There’s one in every disaster movie: an expert that tries their best to warn officials, people, or organizations about their imminent demise. And, like clockwork, no one ever listens to them until it’s too late. Or, there might be some ominous signs on the horizon, bad omens about some sort of mechanical failure, deadly disease, or unstoppable weather phenomenon. Ignorance is bliss in this case, because, let’s be honest: if characters in these movies listened to the signs, there wouldn’t be a disaster movie in the first place. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?
