Back in Time Today
Science fiction movies can be serious, thought-provoking, and amazing. But sometimes they’re just plain weird and silly.
These strange films often have crazy plots, terrible special effects, or ideas that make no sense at all. Get ready to laugh at some of the most ridiculous sci-fi movies ever made!
1. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
Often called the worst movie ever made, this film features aliens who look like they’re wearing Halloween costumes from a discount store. The plot involves resurrect dead people to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon.
Director Ed Wood used paper plates as flying saucers and cardboard tombstones that actors constantly knocked over. The movie is so bad that it’s actually entertaining to watch.
2. Robot Monster (1953)
Picture a gorilla wearing a diving helmet with TV antennas sticking out of it. That’s the terrifying robot monster that’s supposed to destroy all humans on Earth.
The entire movie was filmed in just four days with a budget of about $16,000. Most scenes take place in the same rocky area, and the monster’s voice sounds like it’s coming from a broken radio.
3. Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
A family gets lost and ends up at a lodge run by a creepy guy called The Master and his servant Torgo. The movie was made by a fertilizer salesman who bet he could make a horror film.
Everything about this movie is wrong – the sound doesn’t match the actors’ lips, scenes drag on forever, and the plot barely exists. It’s famous for being featured on the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
4. Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
Birds suddenly start attacking people for no clear reason, but these aren’t real birds – they’re terrible computer graphics that look like they were made by a kid.
The birds explode when they hit things, make weird noises, and hover in the air like they’re frozen. The acting is wooden, and the environmental message is delivered with all the subtlety of a brick through a window.
5. Troll 2 (1990)
Despite its name, this movie has no trolls and isn’t a sequel to anything. Instead, it features vegetarian goblins who want to turn people into plants so they can eat them.
The acting is hilariously bad, especially from a child actor who screams about his family eating poisoned food. The movie was made by Italian filmmakers who barely spoke English, which explains the bizarre dialogue.
6. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
Giant tomatoes roll around attacking people in this intentionally silly movie. The tomatoes move so slowly that people could easily walk away, but the characters act terrified anyway.
The film was made as a parody of B-movies, but it’s so ridiculous that it became a cult classic. The theme song is actually pretty catchy, even if the movie makes no sense at all.
7. The Happening (2008)
Plants decide to make people kill themselves by releasing toxins into the air. Mark Wahlberg talks to a plastic plant, asking it not to hurt him in one of the most unintentionally funny scenes ever filmed.
The movie tries to be scary but ends up being hilarious because of the ridiculous premise and awkward dialogue. Wind becomes the most terrifying thing in the world, which is pretty hard to believe.
8. Sharknado (2013)
A tornado filled with sharks hits Los Angeles, and somehow this makes perfect sense in the movie’s world. People fight flying sharks with chainsaws and other random weapons.
The movie knows it’s ridiculous and embraces the silliness completely. The special effects are intentionally bad, and the plot gets more absurd with each scene. It spawned several equally ridiculous sequels.
9. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Martian children are depressed, so their parents kidnap Santa Claus to bring joy to Mars. The Martians wear the worst alien costumes ever made, and their spaceship looks like a cardboard box.
The movie was meant for kids, but it’s so strange that adults watch it for laughs. The Martian names are ridiculous, and the plot makes absolutely no sense from start to finish.
10. Battlefield Earth (2000)
John Travolta plays an alien with dreadlocks who enslaves humanity in the year 3000. The movie is based on a book by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Everything is filmed at weird angles, the dialogue is terrible, and the plot makes no sense. Cavemen somehow learn to fly fighter jets in a few days, which is just one of many ridiculous moments in this disaster.
11. Howard the Duck (1986)
A talking duck from another planet gets stuck on Earth and has to fight an alien invasion. The duck costume looks creepy, and the movie cost $37 million to make.
George Lucas produced this disaster, which was one of the biggest flops in movie history. The duck’s relationship with a human woman is uncomfortable, and the special effects are surprisingly bad for such an expensive film.
12. The Core (2003)
Earth’s core stops spinning, so a team of scientists drills to the center of the planet to restart it with nuclear bombs. The science in this movie is completely wrong.
The special effects are decent, but the plot is so ridiculous that it’s hard to take seriously. The movie treats impossible science as fact, making it unintentionally hilarious for anyone who knows basic physics.
13. Cats (2019)
While based on a musical, this movie’s use of CGI to turn humans into cats creates one of the most disturbing visual experiences ever filmed. The cats have human faces that look terrifying.
The plot about cats choosing who gets to die and be reborn makes no sense. The movie was so bad that the studio released a “fixed” version just days after the original premiere.
14. Gymkata (1985)
An Olympic gymnast uses his skills to fight ninjas and survive deadly obstacle courses in a fictional country. The movie combines martial arts with gymnastics in the most ridiculous way possible.
The hero finds conveniently placed gymnastics equipment in the middle of villages and uses it to fight bad guys. The plot involves competing in a deadly game to win the right to place a satellite dish.
15. Mac and Me (1988)
A blatant copy of E.T., this movie features an alien family that survives on Coca-Cola and McDonald’s food. The entire film is basically a long commercial.
The alien costumes look terrible, and the plot is completely stolen from better movies. There’s a famous scene where the main character’s wheelchair goes out of control, which has become a running joke on late-night TV.
16. Zardoz (1974)
Sean Connery wears a red diaper and boots while living in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by a giant floating stone head. The movie tries to be deep and philosophical but ends up being confusing.
The plot involves immortal people living in a bubble while savages worship a giant head that vomits guns. Even the actors admitted they didn’t understand what the movie was about.
17. The Wicker Man (2006)
Nicolas Cage searches for a missing girl on an island full of women who worship bees. His performance is so over-the-top that it’s become a source of internet memes.
The movie includes scenes of Cage punching women while wearing a bear costume and screaming about bees. What was supposed to be a serious horror film became an unintentional comedy classic.
18. Lifeforce (1985)
Space vampires come to Earth and start turning people into zombies in London. The movie cost $25 million but looks like it was made for much less.
The plot jumps between space horror and zombie apocalypse without warning. There’s a lot of nudity and weird special effects involving people turning into light and floating around naked, making it very strange to watch.
19. Demolition Man (1993)
Sylvester Stallone plays a cop who gets frozen and wakes up in a future where Taco Bell is fine dining and people get fined for swearing. The future society is ridiculously sanitized.
Wesley Snipes plays a criminal who also got frozen, and they continue their fight in the future. The movie’s vision of 2032 includes things like three seashells instead of toilet paper, which is never explained.
20. Jupiter Ascending (2015)
A janitor discovers she’s space royalty and owns Earth, while a half-wolf man with anti-gravity boots tries to protect her from her evil space family.
The movie cost $200 million but flopped because the plot is impossible to follow. There are scenes of people flying around Chicago on gravity boots and bureaucratic office scenes that go on forever in space.
21. The Lawnmower Man (1992)
A scientist uses virtual reality to make a simple gardener super intelligent, but the experiment goes wrong and creates a digital monster. The computer graphics were cutting-edge for 1992 but look ridiculous now.
The movie tries to be serious about the dangers of technology but ends up being unintentionally funny. There are long sequences of people floating around in colorful digital worlds that make no sense.
22. Moonfall (2022)
The Moon falls out of orbit and heads toward Earth, and it turns out the Moon is actually an artificial megastructure built by ancient aliens. The plot gets more ridiculous as it goes on.
The movie cost $140 million and features some impressive destruction scenes, but the science is completely wrong. Characters make impossible decisions, and the ending involves artificial intelligence and ancient alien technology that makes no sense.
23. Speed Racer (2008)
Based on the cartoon, this movie features cars that can do impossible things and races that look like video games. The visual style is so colorful and busy that it’s hard to watch.
Every scene is filled with bright colors and special effects that make everything look fake. The plot involves family drama and racing corruption, but it’s hard to follow because of all the visual noise on screen.
24. Geostorm (2017)
Weather control satellites malfunction and create deadly storms all over Earth. The movie features every possible weather disaster happening at once, from freezing to tornadoes to lightning.
Gerard Butler plays a scientist who has to go to space to fix the satellites while his brother stays on Earth to stop a political conspiracy. The science is completely wrong, and the action scenes are over-the-top ridiculous.