What tropes in science fiction annoy you?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Gingerbread Demon, Jul 21, 2018.

  1. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2007
    Quick fix technobabble

    "The engine core is going to explode in 5 minutes!

    "I could construct a tachyon inverse polarity field!

    "Do it!"
     
  2. Tim Walker

    Tim Walker Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2014
    I recall an analysis I came across some years ago. You're right, it won't work. These feats would create intolerable stresses. Realistically, the biological parts of a cyborg's body are much too frail.
     
  3. Tim Walker

    Tim Walker Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2014
    As was mentioned in the Babylon 5 thread, the difficulty of reverse engineering is magnified if the technology uses unknown principles.

    There may have been too many technological revolutions between your tech and theirs for you to duplicate it within any reasonable time.
     
    Asbo Zaprudder likes this.
  4. Agony_Boothb

    Agony_Boothb Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2009
    Location:
    Melbourne, Australia
    No shit, that is why i find the trope annoying.
     
  5. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms

    See people will flame me for saying this but this is how I felt about Sunshine.

    It started off good but in the middle it feels like it changed to a different movie.
     
    maneth likes this.
  6. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2003
    Location:
    Rhode Island, USA
    Why do you think you’ll get crap for that, it’s one of the examples I had in mind. Event horizon was geared more that way, but still went over the top. Could list plenty more. Life is a recent one that kinda went the same way. Can list plenty more, but Sunshine is a perfect example
     
    maneth likes this.
  7. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms
    Because people seem to love that movie and on other boards when I have pointed that out they go nuts so I'm now cautious to criticize movies like that.

    Personally I LOVED Life and I think it was the silly humans that made their own demise.
     
  8. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Location:
    USA
    To expand on something said up-topic: Military=eeeeeeeevil.

    1) The idea that anyone and everyone in uniform wants war and will do anything to start a war just so they can get their glory. Sorry, but nobody in their right mind wants to go to war, and we don't keep people in service who aren't in their right mind.

    2) High-ranking generals and admirals whose default advice to the President is "Nuke them into the Stone Age."
     
    TREK_GOD_1 and Mr. Laser Beam like this.
  9. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    We had no idea about that whole aspect of Sunshine when my mom and I went see it, and we were both rather confused when it suddenly turned into a slasher flick. Especially since she doesn't do slasher flick, and I hadn't gotten into them yet at that point. Maybe I missed it, but I don't remember seeing any of that in the trailers or promotion.
     
  10. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms

    IKR

    It's like the director had some kind of mental fit halfway through the film and thought "ah what the hell" let's do a slasher movie instead then at the end they remembered it was a scifi about restarting the Sun. Yeah OK.

    At least it wasn't Supernova now that was a scifi movie with lots of on and off set troubles.
     
  11. Mysterion

    Mysterion Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2001
    Location:
    Suburban Mos Eisley
    I was talking more about attitudes and culture than tech. Here's what Andromeda series creator Robert Hewitt Wolfe had to say on the subject:

     
    Snaploud likes this.
  12. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms
    I like the way Mr Wolfe thinks... Now to see Nietzscheans do that to the Klingons would be fun.
     
  13. Tim Walker

    Tim Walker Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2014
    Found a Trek BBS thread-How Difficult Is It To Reverse Engineer Technology?
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2018
  14. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2003
    Location:
    Rhode Island, USA
    Another good one: A bad guy not being able to feel pain. Which means when you shoot him, stab, whatever, he doesn’t slow down.

    Not feeling it is fine, but you bleed out of break an arm all the same. Not feeling pain just means you can’t react to damage.
     
  15. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms
    They did that in one of the Bond movies with Pierce Brosnan. One of the bad guys was immune to pain so took a lot of beating. I think it was "Tomorrow Never Dies"
     
  16. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2009
    Location:
    Bristol, United Kingdom
    I hate the trope of the selfish hero (most often American) who will kill, maim, and abandon anyone who isn't in their inner circle (family, love interest, member of their unit). It grates even more when anyone who does perform an altruistic act is almost immediately punished, bitten, shot, or betrayed for being stupid enough to be kind. It says a lot about the psyche of the American viewers but as a Brit I find myself hoping the hero gets killed sooner rather than later.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2022
  17. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2003
    Location:
    Rhode Island, USA
    It gets used a lot. Deadpool had the same thing. Not feeling pain is great, but when you're run through the chest with a sword, or fall 100+ feet off of a carrier, you still die. Cool that you didn't feel anything, just as dead.
     
    Gingerbread Demon likes this.
  18. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms
    Deadpool. I must be the odd person out again because I just can't get into that character. And some of the most recent Marvel movies I haven't liked.
     
  19. Scout101

    Scout101 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2003
    Location:
    Rhode Island, USA
    Boo! I think Deadpool was great, and it's just such a perfect casting. Ryan Reynolds was born for that role, he's been essentially playing him for like 20 years of acting. Plus it let him vent about Green Lantern :lol:
     
    CorporalCaptain likes this.
  20. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms
    And I'm at polar opposites here I liked the Green Lantern movie