And as someone else mentioned in this long-ass thread, Vickers hand-picked a bunch of them herself ("For those of you I hired personally, it's nice to see you again."), perhaps trying to ensure that her father's mission would fail.

No hand waving here. They're NOT tops in their respective fields. The whole point of the movie is that an ego-maniacal old man (under the false pretense of looking for our engineers) surrounds himself with anyone dumb enough to go - no questions asked - on a last-ditch effort to extend his lifespan. The trillion…

But he's NOT a preeminent biologist. The whole point of the movie is that an ego-maniacal old man (under the false pretense of looking for our engineers) surrounds himself with anyone dumb enough to go - no questions asked - on a last-ditch effort to find him some more life. The zillion dollars are HIS. It's a…

Why is it bad writing if characters - who are clearly shown to be incompetent - do stupid things?

Electrical storm jamming the signal?

But he didn't spike the drink for no reason.

It absolutely does for me. I asked further up the thread, but why is it bad writing if the characters are stupid?

Why is it bad writing if the character is stupid?

They couldn't because of the electrical storm. Christ, it feels like 2012 again.

Only they're not. The scientists are a bunch of morons who followed an old man on a fool's errand without asking questions.

And he's trying to impress a guy who thinks he's a tool. So.

And with your spirit, heretic.

This is absolutely correct, at least according to the one really cool Bible teacher I had at my ultra-conservative private high school.

Killer bees are coming!

"First of all and in conclusion …"

I haven't seen Elysium yet (it's in my queueueue), but my first thought reading Son of Neckbeard's comment was that it sounded like classic Fuck The Poor.

A New Hope!

Small world! My college band did a really shitty cover of "Don't Change."

I will counter that assertion with one word: Replacements.

"Sad torso is sad." Google it!