Bad Ideas...

[Wither]

I was watching 28 Weeks Later the other day. The violence loving half of me enjoyed watching this from end to end. However, my slightly more rational side thought the same thing I though when I watched the first one.

Why does the world need a virus like this!?

Did the government have some extra money in its budget that it simply had to use?

Government Contact

Scientist 1

Scientist 2

So here's the deal. We have about a few billion dollars that we don't have a use for... any suggestions?

How about we look into developing a super soil that eats nuclear waste AND solves world hunger by improving crop yield 450% and requires no water.

I've actually got a sample ri...

Yeah yeah yeah, that sounds good, I guess... Any other ideas?

Ok, I've got it! We'll make a highly contagious virus that causes people to go insane and kill everyone else!

...Why...?

Well, we could... Um... I bet it'd fun to test on monkeys!

Hmm, I see your point! Forget the lame dirt idea! Let's go with your plan!

---

Seriously, I know it's a movie, but I don't recall them ever explaining why such a thing warranted creation.

So this thread is about trying to identify the odd thought process that scientists must use in horror movies. Or any other movie in general.

[david.atwell]

"Let's create sentient robots, and then treat them badly."

"Sure. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?"

-Pretty much any robots-rebel-against-humanity movie

[Bob]

I was watching 28 Weeks Later the other day.[...]

Why does the world need a virus like this!?

Did the government have some extra money in its budget that it simply had to use?

edit:oh. Just seen you didn't watched 28 days later, which I deal with in this post

If I remember correctly, the story is that scientists discovered monkeys already contaminated with a new kind of virus, and enclosed the animals in glass boxes, while studying the virus.

At the very beginning of the movie, the camera follows nature-lovers, fighting the fact that we test medication on animals before allowing their release to the public.

These guys penetrate in the laboratory by night, and broke the boxes in which the monkeys are locked in, starting the pandemic.

[Wither]

I saw Days a few years ago when it first came out. I don't remember much of it, but if the monkeys were infected with Rage by some random natural occurrence, it makes a bit more sense to me.

The "point" of the thread still stands though

[carbonize]

Just saw a film called Day X which pretty much about the government developing a rather nasty virus. It's an independent film so don't go expecting high quality but I have seen worse (far far worse).

Spoiler(ish):

A government created virus escapes (we think) and starts to infect the population of America. One person in seven in immune and the film is based around a group of survivors who end up in the same building together. The virus turns peoples brains to jelly but makes them stronger and makes their saliva deadly (bit like a Comodo dragon). One of the survivors surmises that because of what the virus does it was not created to be used on an enemy but on the population of America if the country was ever invaded. The government and other 'important people' would live in underground tunnels until the infected died off.