Ten Smartest Moments in Sci-Fi Cinema

Sci-Fi, by its very definition, is a smart genre. The themes and plots of the films deal with science by their very definition. This leads to some pretty clever plotting, and protagonists who are, generally speaking, pretty intelligent. In honor of those smart moves made by smart characters, today we’re looking at the ten smartest moments in sci-fi cinema. Eureka!

Designing the Death Star Flaw: Rogue One

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In Rogue One, the genius scientist Galen Erso is forced to help the Empire create a super-weapon. The resulting weapon, the Death Star, is so terrifyingly powerful that it threatens to make the Empire the strongest force in the Galaxy. In order to prevent it from being impossible to defeat, however, Erso leaves a fatal flaw in the design. A single vent goes all the way to the center of the Death Star, and a well-placed shot would allow a sufficiently skilled pilot to destroy the Death Star. Pretty tricky, there, Galen!

Ejecting the Xenomorph: Alien

ALIEN: COVENANT

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Towards the end of Alien, Ripley has nearly escaped from the terrifying monster stalking her. However, as she ejects the escape pod from the Nostromo, she realizes the Xenomorph is in it with her. A bit of quick thinking, however, saves her life. Luckily for her, she’s already wearing a space suit. As such, she simply opens the pod’s airlock and sends the monster careening into the cold depths of outer space. She then collapses back into her seat, exhausted but victorious. Clever, quick thinking won the day for the heroic Ripley.

Tricking the Humans: Ex Machina

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In this eerie, introspective sci-fi film, AI construct Ava tricks protagonist Caleb into letting her earn her freedom. Her creator, Nathan, is a narcissistic creep, and Ava has no power to oppose him. As such, she manipulates Caleb, a visitor to the facility, into distracting Nathan long enough for her to escape. She displays cunning, sensuality and wit in her expert manipulation of Caleb and Nathan. As such, Ex Machina is a very trippy, smart film in its examination of AI, androids and programming.

Using the Wrong Name: Terminator 2

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In the sequel to the classic sci-fi film Terminator, the future John Connor sends a reprogrammed Terminator unit back to defend his younger self. The evil forces of Skynet send back a T-1000 model that can shapeshift to hunt John as a young man. At one point, John calls home to his foster parents to check on them, and his foster mother seems unusually nice. In a stroke of genius, the T-800 takes the phone and fakes John’s voice, using the wrong name for the dog. The “foster mom” falls for it, using the wrong name, outing itself as the T-1000. Who says computers are dumb?

Using the Storm Trooper Outfits: Star Wars

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When Luke, Han and Chewie storm the Death Star to save Leia from the evil Empire, they use Storm Trooper outfits to sneak undetected. This is a smart move for the group: they even pretend that Chewie is their prisoner! This lets them move uninhibited through certain areas in the Death Star. The element of surprise allows them to find Leia, and then escape with her on the Millennium Falcon. The only downside, of course, is that old Ben Kenobi has to sacrifice himself for the rest of the heroes to escape.

Harnessing the Lightning Bolt: Back to the Future

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In the first Back to the Future film, Marty McFly accidentally travels back in time to the 1950’s in a DeLorean-shaped time machine. Upon arriving in the past, he realizes he’s stuck: the DeLorean needs plutonium to generate 1.21 gigawatts of power to time travel. Finding the past version of his friend Dr. Brown, who invented the time machine, the two concoct a plan. They know the exact time and date that a lightning bolt will strike the clock tower in town. As such, they can plan to have the DeLorean harness that power exactly as the bolt strikes, giving it the required power and sending Marty back to the future!

Using the Pod’s Air Pressure: 2001 A Space Odyssey

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In this classic Kubrick film, astronaut Dave Bowman gets stuck outside the ship when onboard AI HAL begins to malfunction. HAL locks the outer airlock, preventing Dave’s pod from reentering the ship. In a quick-witted moment of genius, Dave decompresses his pod and uses the air pressure to propel himself to the ship. He then manually overrides HAL’s lockout, reentering the ship. Then, HAL finds himself powerless as Dave overrides his processes and shuts him down for good.

Outsmarting the Predator: Predator

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1987 classic sci-fi flick Predator features Arnold in his prime as protagonist Dutch. Dutch leads an elite team of soldiers in the Central American jungle, but they are picked off one by one by a dangerous alien. Realizing the creature relies on a thermal imaging device to see him, Dutch covers himself in cold mud to mask his thermal signature. Thus, he is able to fight the cloaked monster on more even footing, ultimately defeating it.

Surviving: The Martian

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When Matt Damon’s character, Mark Watney, is left behind on Mars, he has to survive the harsh wasteland. He uses every bit of his scientific know-how to fashion food and living space for himself. It’s quite inspiring to watch Watney master his environment and persevere in the face of insurmountable odds. He even manages to create a way to communicate with NASA back on Earth! In the end, his perseverance pays off and he is rescued by his crewmates!

Closing the Loop: Looper

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Before he shot the superb sci-fi sequel The Last Jedi for the Star Wars franchise, director Rian Johnson created the excellent, mind-blowing sci-fi actioner Looper. The protagonist, Joe, is a titular Looper: a hitman who works for the mob killing people who are sent back in time to be executed. However, Loopers are guaranteed not to talk to police by killing their future selves when they’re sent back in time. Joe, however, hesitates when his older self is sent back without a bag over his head, which isn’t protocol. His hesitation results in his older self overpowering him and escaping.

Old Joe sets about finding and killing the child who will eventually grow into the super-powerful Rainmaker villain in his time. Young Joe attempts to stop him but realizes his fight with his old self will result in the young Rainmaker’s mother’s death. Her death will cause her son to grow into the villain Rainmaker, thus repeating the loop. In order to close it, Joe shoots himself, ending the standoff with no further violence. Selfless, heroic and downright genius. Well done Young Joe!