Headscratchers / Evolution (2001)

• So the golf course amphibian was literally suffocating in Earth's atmosphere and its first priority was to attack the club owner? Instead of trying to retreat back into the caves when it found the surface unfavorable? These creatures have no sense of self-preservation...
  • Bit of Fridge Brilliance however, as the creature itself was, at most, a few hours old,it wouldn't have developed any self preservation instincts, and suffocation is a painful way to die, it was probably lashing out.
• Although it's hardly the most obvious example of bad science in the movie, one point sticks out in my mind. Toward the end, Ira and his "team" realize that selenium might be an effective weapon against the creatures, at which point Ira starts talking about how many gallons they'll need to defeat them. The problem? Selenium is a solid at room temperature, and he hadn't been made aware that selenium is the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders shampoo at that point. Shouldn't a scientist of his caliber know better?
  • Gallons are just as valid a measure of volume as anything (I've heard people talk about gallons of gasses, for instance), and easier/faster to say than cubic feet/meters, etc. Plus, people have a better idea of what a gallon is than other measures of volume.
  • Plus one assumes that he figured he would have to make some sort of solution out of it anyway, as the other option would be to make a large club out of the stuff and start clonking the monsters on the head.
    • Now that Pacific Rim has come out the club idea doesn't sound too ridiculous...
    • It's ridiculous if they're going to hose down the cave's interior to eliminate the threat once and for all, because you can't really club the cavern's microscopic life over the head. And a selenium club would only cause mechanical injuries, same as a club of any other material would: the benefit of using that element against the creatures is that it's poisonous to them. Which means you'd need to get it into their bloodstream via food, drink, breath or injection, so it needs to be dissolved or aerosolized, not solid.
• When they take a class out to pick up the meteorite, why don't they actually get the meteorite?
  • They planned to initially, since they brought a truck, but then they found the aliens and decided not to.
  • Also, they hadn't realized when they set out to retrieve the meteorite that the cavern would be filling up with toxic gases from the alien life forms.