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40 Random Bits of Sci-Fi Trivia to Beam Into Your Transporter Chamber

September 29, 2024

“No officer, these aren’t real mummy hands. They’re, uh, movie props!”

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40

2012

It looks like the neutrinos coming from the Sun have mutated, says 2012. They're heating up the Earth's core. They certainly act like microwaves. This is sci-fi nonsense, and it's notable they went with neutrinos, of all things. Neutrinos don't change at all, or interact with anything. That's their most famous property. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Blockbuster Movies That Got Their Science Totally Wrong

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Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1975-1976 The Secrets of Isis Back when the name Isis only meant the Egyptian goddess, the show was about a schoolteacher who could become, well, Isis. It anticipated other female- ed superhero shows of the time, like Wonder Woman. CRACKED.COM

38

Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1950-1955 Space Patrol Commander Buzz Corry and helps space police keep, erm, the space peace. The TV show aired parallel to its twin radio show (with the same cast), and was quite a hit in the 1950s. CRACKED.COM

37

Mummy's Hand

Disrespectful uses of priceless artifacts Using a mummy's hand as a sci-fi prop In 2013, customs officials at the Los Angeles International Airport found a very realistic prop in a batch of old sci-fi props coming from France. It turned out to be the hand of a 3,000-year-old mummy. The smugglers were arrested, and the hand was returned to Egypt (sadly, with no involvement of Brendan Fraser). CRACKED.COM — Source

36

Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1992-1996 Forever Knight Nic Knight is an 800-year-old vampire cop trying to redeem himself and become human again. This Canadian series (which began as a TV movie starring Rick Springfield) is considered a direct precursor of other vampire shows, like Angel. CRACKED.COM

35

Vin Diesel is known for his speed, his fury, and his shiny head. Speaking of which, he was THE voice of the Iron Giant. The 1999 sci-fi comedy/drama a

34

Emo Laments from Dignified People Ray Bradbury Bradbury wrote some absolute classics of the sci-fi genre, but still described himself in the following terms: A conglomerate heap of trash, that's what I am. But it burns with a high flame. CRACKED.COM — Source

33

Indiana Jones Then vs. Now From old-school adventuring to a sci-fi B-movie The tone of the Indiana Jones movies has been quite consistent (ок, except for Crystal Skull's goofier sci-fi comedy moments). Raiders was old-school adventuring with a modern twist. Temple was straight- up horror, with a Die Hard-like final hour of action. And The Last Crusade returned to the Raiders template, but with a lighter tone, CRACKED.COM — Source

32

Gattaca

Gattaca NASA voted it as the most plausible sci-fi movie. In 2011, NASA picked the movie as the best and most likely to happen science fiction film. Which is quite chiilling. CRACKED.COM — TV Overmind, Smithsonian Magazine

31

Tyra Banks' book Modelland is truly weird sci-fi YA fiction. TYRA BANKS Modethand It's about Tookie, a regular girl who somehow gets a SMIZE, an artifact that could get her to Modelland, a boarding school in the skies that trains young models. — Source: Mashable

30

Historical war drama Dunkirk was partly based on a sci-fi horror movie. ALLEN In space no one can have you scream Director Christopher Nolan says Ridley Scott's Alien inspired him-it might be from a different genre, but it's an established classic of tension. CRACKED.COM — IndieWire

29

Three Flavours Cornetto

Movie Trilogies The Cornetto trilogy Edgar Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy is simply a wonder. Shaun of the Dead is the zombie comedy, and Hot Fuzz is a perfect send up of dual- wielding, buddy cop action movies. The World's End, while the weakest of the three, is a bonkers sci-fi action comedy with plenty of entertaining twists. POLICE CRACKED.COM POL TOTAL — More: Wikipedia
Image Credit: Universal Pictures

28

The Fly

Sci-Fi Horror Films 1986 The Fly This remake mixes body horror with psychological darkness in one of Jeff Goldblum's finest performances. You will believe a man can fly, or at least transform into a ghoulish one. CRACKED.COM — IMDb

27

When he was growing up, Giancarlo Esposito was a big fan of sci-fi. At least, judging by what he enjoyed - his favorite show as a teen was The Twilight Zone (making his Mandalorian role kinda fitting). CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Torchwood

Torchwood FIRST EPISODE LAST EPISODE 0DS TREE CRACKEDcO Paranormal detective A conspiracy agency thriller about investigates how no one sci-fi mystery

25

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1987-1988 Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future This show merged live action with CGI, told adult stories while selling toys to kids, and had those toys interact with the actual show. Plus, the backstory included an apocalyptic event called the Metal Wars. You flew too close to the sun, Captain Power. CRACKED.COM — Source: Toy Galaxy/YouTube

24

Time Loops

CRACKED.COM Tired sci-fi tropes (that still work) Time loops A trope we could relive every day (get it?), time loops have had a resurgence in recent years. Our favorite recent examples are Source Code and Edge of Tomorrow, but other great sci-fi-adjacent movies with time loops include Final Boss, Palm Springs, and The Endless, as well as Happy Death Day and its sequel. UDI

23

TIME LOOP MOVIES 8 12:01 9 THIS WAS GROUNDHOG DAY BEFORE GROUNDHOG DAY. Absolutely overshadowed by the film starring Bill Murray, this TV movie was based on a short story by Richard А. Lupoff. It's a lighter, more sci-fi take on the concept-unlike the previous 1990 adaptation, a short film starring Kurtwood friggin' Smith. CRACKED.COM

22

There's no stopping, pretty much

ENGINE DIES ON EARTH? FRICTION STOPS YOU. IN SPACE? YOU KEEP MOVING, HELPLESS. Banking on a rescue? But any ship chasing you must first match your speed, and then go even faster to catch up. And don't count on sci-fi style escape pods. They'd have to be functioning space shuttles of their own and will probably never be practical to include. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Horrifying Sides Of Space Travel No One Talks About

21

40 Random Bits of Sci-Fi Trivia to Beam Into Your Transporter Chamber

20

Astronauts are really into watching space disaster movies on the ISS. They have movie nights on the ISS, and they watch movies on a screen and projector - they love sci-fi and disaster movies set in space, like Apollo 13. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — 13 Stellar Now-You-Know Facts About Astronauts

19

Bios APRIL 16 CRACKEDCON This sci-fi drama stars Tom Hanks as the last man on Earth, who creates an android to take care of his dog when he dies. We'r

18

CRACKED.COM Men in Black 3 bombed in the U.S. and Canada, but more than made up for it overseas. The sci-fi comedy has foreign audiences (who still love Will Smith like it's 1996) to thank for its $654 million worldwide gross, earning more than the previous two. Ironically, the 2019 reboot/spin-off is called Men in Black: International. — Source: 23 Wildly Successful Movie Failures

17

CRACKEDCO Fans of sci-fi survival horror like Cube need to check out CIRCLE Like Cube, it follows a group of strangers who wake up in a strange death

16

COMEDY NERD CRACKED.COM RED DWARF THE CAST IS MURDERED BY THEIR FUTURE SELVES In the season 6 finale, the cast of this sci-fi comedy in space meets with their future selves, who have all turned to greedy assholes. At one point, the future group, in their much more advanced spacecraft, gives their past selves an ultimatum: either hand over information that will further enrich them, or die. Both groups agree they'd rather be dead than turn into each other, so they fight, and the crew we've been watching for years is killed one by one. It wasn't until 4 years — Source: Buzzfeed

15

Star Trek 20th-century sci-fi predicts 21st- century agriculture. In The Trouble with Tribbles, Quadrotriticale is a genetically- engineered hybrid grain, predicting GMO, and used in 2268 to attempt to develop Sherman's Planet as an agrarian colony. CRACKED — Source

14

Dual Appendices… in Space

CRACKED In the long-running cult British sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, lead character Dave Lister has his appendix out twice. Not as a cool sci-fi thing, just because nobody was paying attention. — Irish News

13

Long Story Short

Long Story Short CRACKED.COM If you like your romcoms with a little sci-fi and sharp Australian humor, then this is the film for you. It's like if Click was actually good.

12

Why. was Number Six Number Six? The name is inspired by the 1960's British sci-fi The Prisoner, where Number Six was a prisoner who was being cons

11

Science Fiction Cameos

Rick and Morty Easter Eggs Interdimensional customs features several sci-fi cameos. You can spot a Ferengi from Star Trek, a Xenomorph from Alien, the robots from MST3K, and several others. CRACKED.COM — Source: Time

10

Warp Speed

Whether it's warp speed or hyper speed, one thing sci-fi movies agree on is that when spaceships travel really fast, stars blur into streaks of light.

9

Lost Tropes Sci-Fi food pills Like flying cars, jet packs, or a sustainable future, full meals in pills are a forgotten trope from older, more naive sci-fi. Just pop a couple and you're done! SUGAR ATOES CHICKEN PIE CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians SANTA BRINGS CHRISTMAS FUN TO MARS! Blast off for Mars... with Santa and 2 pair of Earth Kids! Science- -Fun-Fiction at its height! JOSEPH E SEVINE - SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS INSPACE-BLAZING COLOR CRACKED CONI Complete with a plot-spoiling title, this 1964 sci-fi comedy is the earliest film on this list and perhaps the most ridiculous. Despite regular appearances on lists of the worst films ever made due to its terrible acting and beyond cheesy depiction of Martians, it has attained cult status for those very same reasons. — Source

7

Rocket Countdowns

NASA uses the T-minus countdown because of the movie Woman in the Moon Before NASA existed, the 1929 sci-fi silent film used a countdown clock before launching a rocket. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Ray Bradbury Theater

Anthology Shows 1985 - 1992 THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER Sci-fi master Ray Bradbury wrote every episode of this show. In fact, most were based on his stories (which means we get all the hits, like A Sound of Thunder, The Veldt, and The Long Rain), but they were also expanded and elaborated upon. Truly he wet dream of any Bradbury fan (except for the fact he hated TV). CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

5

Forgotten Sci-Fi and Horror Shows 1993 Space Rangers This children's show was about the Space Ranger Corps keeping the peace on an Earth colony on planet Avalon-a premise so bland, it's no wonder only six episodes were ever shot. CRACKED.COM

4

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone was created because of racist backlash in the '50s. The TWILIGHT ZONE Rod Serling's script about the murder of Emmett Till, a Black boy, was rejected by studio bigwigs who feared blowback .. so Serling started writing sci-fi. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

After Earth

Will Smith got the idea for AFTER EARTH from the TV show I Shouldn't Be Alive. Discovery SHOULDN'T CHANNEL 1 BE ALIVE It was originally intended to be about a father and son who have to survive after a car crash. It was then turned into a sci-fi story. CRACKED COM — Source

2

Protecting us from space rocks.

CRACKED NASA'S PLANETARY DEFENSE COORDINATION OFFICE Just like in a sci-fi movie, this office looks out for meteors and other space objects that could be dangerous to Earth. They make sure to spot them early and keep the public informed if they find something that could be a threat. — Space Foundation / Space

1

Dune

YOU CAN COLOR IN BARON HARKONNEN'S WEEPING PUSTULES IN THIS DUNE-THEMED ACTIVITY BOOK FOR KIDS. DUNE ACTIVITY BOOK I - - - - Dune was a trippy sci-fi drama about space drugs, complicated galactic political intrigues and Sting in his underwear. CRACKED.COM http://oihouse.net/2011/03/franchised-goodies-for-the-children-of-dune/ — Source

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