Over the course of cinematic history, there have been some truly awful plot twists in the science fiction genre, with some so egregious that they can actually tank the entire movie. When utilized correctly, a plot twist can elevate a story in incredible ways, but when it is bad or out of place, it typically makes the film worse in a number of ways. Science fiction in particular can be tricky to nail, but some of the best sci-fi plot twists are amazing, recontextualizing everything about the story.
Films like The Terminator, Stars Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Planet of the Apes have some of the best plot twists of all time, helping solidify their place in pop culture history. Still, not every single twist can land, and despite having some incredible twists within the science fiction genre, there are just as many bad ones, with some being even worse than others.
10
I Am Legend (2007)
Directed By Francis Lawrence
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5/10
I Am Legend
PG-13
DramaHorror Sci-FiThriller
Loosely based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel of the same name, I Am Legend stars Will Smith as Robert Neville, a virologist who believes himself to be the last human on Earth. After a virus turns most of the world’s population into vampiric creatures known as Darkseekers, Neville finds himself immune. Believing himself to be the last man of Earth, Neville stalks through the ruins of New York, hoping to create an antidote that will save humanity.
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Release Date
December 14, 2007
Runtime
101 minutes
Cast
Willow Smith
, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
, Will Smith
, Alice Braga
, Charlie Tahan
Director
Francis Lawrence
Writers
Akiva Goldsman
, Mark Protosevich
Studio(s)
Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributor(s)
Warner Bros. Pictures
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For most of its runtime, I Am Legend is a strong, modern adaption of Richard Matheson’s highly influential novel. Will Smith does a lot of heavy lifting in the movie, given that he is the only human on screen for the majority of the runtime. Filled with strong atmosphere and a beautifully realized apocalyptic New York City, I Am Legend was so close to being truly great, but it is undone by its controversial ending.
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I Am Legend’s Alternate Ending Explained: What Happens & Why It Was Cut
The alternate ending to I Am Legend is considered better than the divisive original – so much so that it’s the version I Am Legend 2 will follow.
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After the mutants break into his home and his lab, Robert Neville sees that his attempts at curing the disease are working and tries to reason with them by showing them that it is working. He realizes that they won’t ever stop and can’t be reasoned with, and decides to blow himself up along with them and his research. This goes against everything that the novel was trying to say and there was an alternate ending included for home releases that actually changed the ending back to Neville giving the mutants their own back, and they end up leaving him alone.
9
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Directed By Tim Burton
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6.3/10
Planet of the Apes
PG-13
Sci-FiActionAdventure
In 2029, Leo Davidson ventures through a space-time storm to rescue his chimp friend, landing on Ashlar, a world ruled by talking apes. With newfound allies, he uncovers his spacecraft’s fate and sparks a revolt against ape tyranny. Saved by his chimp companion, Leo returns to Earth, but discovers a deeply disturbing reality.
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Release Date
July 27, 2001
Runtime
120 Mins
Main Genre
Sci-Fi
Cast
Mark Wahlberg
, Tim Roth
, Helena Bonham Carter
, Paul Giamatti
, Michael Clarke Duncan
, Kris Kristofferson
Director
Tim Burton
Writers
Pierre Boulle
, William Broyles Jr.
, Lawrence Konner
Distributor(s)
20th Century Fox
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The 1968 film, Planet of the Apes, is one of the most influential science fiction movies of all time, with the twist that they were on Earth the entire time, truly mindblowing. With Tim Burton coming in to direct a reboot of the iconic series with 2001’s Planet of the Apes, expectations were high, but the movie ended up being a dud, and the film’s final twist made everything unnecessarily convoluted.
One of the biggest differences in the reboot is that the story doesn’t actually take place on Earth, but rather on the planet Ashlar. This was actually a good idea, as it helped set apart the reboot from the original, and didn’t have to live up to the same mind-bending twist. Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple and when they return to Earth, they realize that it has also been taken over by apes, with the Lincoln Memorial hilariously replaced by something incredibly bizarre. It ended up making everything more convoluted than it needed to be.
8
Signs (2002)
Directed By M. Night Shyamalan
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8.5/10
Signs
PG-13
MysteryThrillerDrama Sci-Fi
Signs is a sci-fi horror film by director M. Night Shyamalan. It follows devout priest Graham Hess and his family as they find themselves in the middle of a mysterious event where crop circles appear in the middle of their farmland. Then, seeing the entire world begin to experience similar phenomena, the family starts to worry about their safety and the end of days as they ponder what may be coming.
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Release Date
August 2, 2002
Runtime
106 minutes
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix
, Mel Gibson
, Cherry Jones
, Rory Culkin
, Abigail Breslin
Director
M. Night Shyamalan
Writers
M. Night Shyamalan
Studio(s)
Disney
Distributor(s)
Disney
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M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs is about a priest who grapples with his faith following the death of his wife, and is left to watch over their children on his own. The film sets up a strong central mystery as crop circles begin to appear on his farm and around the world, eventually leading to the reveal that aliens have invaded Earth. It’s a great premise that wrings out as much tension as possible throughout its runtime.
Signs was only three years after The Sixth Sense, which might indicate why Shyamalan was trying to go for another massive twist, given the success of his previous film.
Where Signs falls short, though, is the reveal that the aliens are actually weak to water, which causes a lot of questions to pop up about why they decide to invade a planet that is made up of 70% of what they are weak to. Shyamalan is a director that is known for his twists, and sometimes it seems like he allows it to get the best of himself, with Signs being one of the earlier entries in his filmography that is actually hurt by his signature twist instead of strengthened.
7
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Directed By Shane Black
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17
7.1/10
Iron Man 3
PG-13
Iron Man 3 pits genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark (Iron Man) against the Mandarin, an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his world destroyed by his mysterious antagonist, he embarks on a dangerous quest to find those responsible. His journey will test his character at every turn. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him and determine whether or not the suit makes the man or if Tony himself is the hero.
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Release Date
May 3, 2013
Runtime
130 Mins
Cast
Ben Kingsley
, Guy Pearce
, Paul Bettany
, Don Cheadle
, Gwyneth Paltrow
, Jon Favreau
, Robert Downey Jr.
Director
Shane Black
Writers
Drew Pearce
, Shane Black
Studio(s)
Marvel
, Disney
Distributor(s)
Disney
, Marvel
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Following the massive success of The Avengers, Robert Downey Jr. returned to the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man 3, the final film in his trilogy. It looked to be a home run for most of the movie, and bringing him Iron Man’s biggest villain, the Mandarin, was an inspired choice. Ben Kingsley’s take on the character was fantastic, until the big villain reveal completely undoes everything that came before.
The blow was softened a bit when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings shows who the actual Mandarin is, but at the time of Iron Man 3‘s release, it felt like a misguided twist.
It is revealed that the Mandarin was not actually who everyone thought he was, as Ben Kingsley’s character was actually named Trevor Slattery, an actor hired by the film’s actual villain, Aldrich Killian. Killian even calls himself the Mandarin towards the end of the movie, and that reveal ended up being one of the most divisive moments in the entire MCU. The blow was softened a bit when Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings shows who the actual Mandarin is, but at the time of Iron Man 3‘s release, it felt like a misguided twist.
6
Army of the Dead (2021)
Directed By Zack Snyder
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7/10
Army of the Dead
R
ActionHorrorCrime
From director Zach Snyder, Army of the Dead combines the zombie apocalypse and heist genres in an exciting twist on the classic action film. Approached to retrieve $200 million dollars from a casino vault in the now zombie-ridden Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries embarks on the mission, unaware of what dangers await them inside the quarantined city limits.
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Release Date
May 21, 2021
Runtime
139 minutes
Cast
Ana de la Reguera
, Samantha Win
, Tig Notaro
, Matthias Schweighöfer
, Huma Qureshi
, Omari Hardwick
, Michael Cassidy
, Theo Rossi
, Ella Purnell
, Raul Castillo
, Hiroyuki Sanada
, Garret Dillahunt
, Richard Cetrone
, Dave Bautista
, Nora Arnezeder
Director
Zack Snyder
Writers
Zack Snyder
, Shay Hatten
, Joby Harold
Studio(s)
The Stone Quarry
Distributor(s)
Netflix
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Army of the Dead was the first project that Zack Snyder worked on for Netflix, and it seemed right up his wheelhouse, considering one of the best movies of his career was the Dawn of the Dead remake. The premise for Army of the Dead sounded simple and effective: a group of people attempt to pull off a Las Vegas heist during a zombie apocalypse. For Zack Snyder, though, nothing is ever that simple, and he ends up making it way more convoluted than it needed to be.
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Snyder throws a lot of stuff at the wall in Army of the Dead, including UFOs and robot zombies, but the most egregious twist is the reveal that the characters might actually be in a time loop, as they seemingly see their remains for a moment during the mission. This idea is never actually explored again in the film, which makes that twist during Army of the Dead seem pointless, raising way more questions than it ever intended to answer.
5
Moonfall (2022)
Directed By Roland Emmerich
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Moonfall
PG-13
ActionFantasyAdventure
In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman believe her. So these unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to discover that our Moon is not what we think it is.
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Release Date
February 4, 2022
Runtime
120 minutes
Cast
Kelly Yu
, Halle Berry
, Eme Ikwuakor
, John Bradley
, Donald Sutherland
, carolina bartczak
, Michael Pena
, Patrick Wilson
, Charlie Plummer
Director
Roland Emmerich
Writers
Harald Kloser
, Spenser Cohen
, Roland Emmerich
Studio(s)
Lionsgate
Distributor(s)
Lionsgate
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Roland Emmerich is one of the premiere disaster movie directors of the past three decades, but that doesn’t mean that all of his disaster films are great. In fact, most of them aren’t good at all, and Moonfall was just the latest weak entry into his long-running, disaster filmography. The premise of Moonfall is simple: the moon is knocked out of orbit and begins to fall towards Earth, but the twist of what is actually happening makes everything so much more ridiculous.
During the events of the film, it is revealed that the moon is actually an artificial structure sent billions of years ago by humanity’s ancestors to colonize a new world. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, but it could have worked depending on the tone of the film. Unfortunately, in Moonfall, it takes an already bad film and makes it even worse.
4
Lightyear (2022)
Directed By Angus MacLane
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6.1/10
Lightyear
PG
AnimationActionAdventure
Disney Pixar branches the Toy Story franchise off with Lightyear, a story that centers around a human version of the Buzz Lightyear toy and his missions with Star command. Set during an exploration mission, Lightyear and his crew are attacked during a scouting mission by alien lifeforms and find themselves stranded on an unknown planet. To help get everyone home, Lightyear volunteers on a dangerous mission to test pilot their means home. However, each test light passes time and the characters age in his absence.
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Release Date
June 8, 2022
Runtime
105 Minutes
Cast
Chris Evans
, Keke Palmer
, Peter Sohn
, Taika Waititi
, Dale Soules
, James Brolin
, Uzo Aduba
Director
Angus MacLane
Writers
Jason Headley
, Angus MacLane
Studio(s)
Walt Disney Pictures
, Pixar Animation Studios
Distributor(s)
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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Before it was released, Lightyear seemed like a misguided attempt by Pixar to keep the Toy Story franchise going, with a prequel film that would tell the true story of Buzz Lightyear. After its release, it was exactly that, but there were some truly great moments throughout. The movie was much more serious than the rest of the movies in the Toy Story franchise, and a lot of Buzz’s characteristics are different from what audiences are used to. Of course, there are in-movie reasons for this, but it still felt like a let-down.
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Perhaps the biggest letdown of Lightyear was the twist revealing who Zurg actually was. It was commonly thought that Zurg was Buzz’s father, given he says that himself, but Lightyear made it so that Zurg was actually an older, evil version of Buzz Lightyear from an alternate reality. Like most terrible twists, it undoes a lot of what made the story compelling and ends up making the identity of Zurg more convoluted than it ever needed to be.
3
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Directed By J.J. Abrams
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39
5.4/10
Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
PG-13
ActionAdventureFantasy Sci-Fi
This is the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and serves as the culmination of the Skywalker saga. The film sees Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and Finn (John Boyega) team up to put an end to the First Order after Palpatine mysteriously returns. Jurassic World helmsman Colin Trevorrow was originally named director back in 2015 when the film first entered development, but he parted ways with Lucasfilm due to creative differences over the script. In September 2017, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams signed on to finish what he started.
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Release Date
December 20, 2019
Runtime
142 minutes
Cast
Carrie Fisher
, Oscar Isaac
, Anthony Daniels
, Joonas Suotamo
, Mark Hamill
, Adam Driver
, Ian McDiarmid
, Kelly Marie Tran
, Billie Lourd
, Keri Russell
, Richard E. Grant
, Daisy Ridley
, Lupita Nyong’o
, Dominic Monaghan
, John Boyega
, Domhnall Gleeson
, Billy Dee Williams
, Naomi Ackie
Director
J.J. Abrams
Writers
Chris Terrio
, J.J. Abrams
Studio(s)
Lucasfilm
Distributor(s)
Disney
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Following the divisive reception of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, JJ Abrams returned to helm the final film in the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. In coming back to direct the third film, Abrams undoes most of what Rian Johnson set up in the previous film, making a rather unsatisfying movie for those that like The Last Jedi, and a boring, fan-service-oriented finale for those that hated it. While the way Palpatine casually returns is incredibly underwhelming, one major twist in the film tanks it even more.
Given the reception to Rey’s reveal, it probably would have worked out better if her parents weren’t actually anyone important.
Throughout the entire of the new trilogy, there is a focus on Rey’s lineage, with the mystery of who her parents are being referenced throughout it. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it seems like Rey’s parents were nothing more than two people who sold her off, but The Rise of Skywalker had other plans for her. It is revealed that Rey is essentially Palpatine’s granddaughter, as her father was actually a clone of him. It’s a pretty uninspired move that ended up falling flat when it was revealed.
2
Terminator: Genisys (2015)
Directed By Alan Taylor
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5.5/10
Terminator Genisys
PG-13
Terminator: Genysis reboots James Cameron’s Terminator franchise by rewriting the events of the original movie. This time, Emilia Clarke’s Sarah Connor already knows why Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese has been sent back in time, and an older T-800, once again played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, helps them in their quest to prevent an AI uprising.
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Release Date
July 1, 2015
Runtime
2h 6m
Cast
Emilia Clarke
, Jai Courtney
, Arnold Schwarzenegger
, Jason Clarke
Director
Alan Taylor
Writers
Laeta Kalogridis
, Patrick Lussier
Studio(s)
Paramount Pictures
Distributor(s)
Paramount Pictures
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Despite being such a long-running franchise, the Terminator series only has two truly great entries. When Terminator Genisys was set to come out in 2015, there was hope that it would be able to bring the franchise back to its former glory. Instead, the film was a slog to get through and the time-travel aspect of the franchise began to feel out of control, with a lot of it not really feeling like a good fit with the other movies in the franchise.
Perhaps the biggest error that Terminator Genisys commits is the John Connor twist, where he becomes evil after being infected by nanomachines that turn him into a T-3000 Terminator. Not only did it seem out of place, and frankly silly, but it essentially ruins the hero of the entire story, as John Connor is typically the key to humanity’s future against Skynet.
1
Hancock (2008)
Directed By Peter Berg
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8/10
Hancock
r
ActionComedy
Hancock is a 2008 superhero film starring Will Smith as John Hancock. Despite being a superhero, Hancock could care less about the damage he causes in the city as long as he catches the criminals he’s after. But after he saves Ray (Jason Bateman) the two work together to help his public image and turn him into a real hero.
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Release Date
July 2, 2008
Runtime
102minutes
Cast
Will Smith
, Charlize Theron
, Jason Bateman
Director
Peter Berg
Writers
Vince Gilligan
Studio(s)
Sony
Distributor(s)
Sony
, Columbia Pictures
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Led by the ever-charismatic Will Smith, Hancock was actually a pretty good movie for most of its runtime, with Smith playing a superhero that doesn’t actually care about the damage and danger he is putting the city in while he tries to catch criminals. It’s an often funny look at the superhero genre as a whole, with a committed Smith performance, but it ends up taking a strange turn in the second half of the film.
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Once it is revealed that Charlize Theron’s Mary Embry is also a superpowered being, and essentially Hancock’s soulmate, as the two remain immortal throughout time on one condition. When they are near each other, they begin to lose their powers. Diving into the frankly convoluted backstory of Hancock and Mary was misguided, and ends up taking away from the fantastic set-up of the first half, and the film overall ends up being just fine instead of being really great.