History Film / Evolution

* ApocalypseHow: Anywhere between a Class 3 to Class 5 - the aliens threaten to take over the planet through [[ExplosiveBreeder explosive breeding]] and [[EvolutionPowerUp rapid evolution], driving other species to extinction while simultaneously replacing them with their alien counterparts.

* ApocalypseHow: Anywhere between a Class 3 to Class 5 - the aliens threaten to take over the planet through explosive breeding, driving other species to extinction.

* ApocalypseHow: Class 3 - the aliens threaten to take over the planet through explosive breeding, driving other species to extinction.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: [[spoiler:Shortly after the alien life-forms reach a simian stage of evolution, they get napalmed. hen they are crushed by one cell. These are the fastest and most violent things to come out of the ecosystem, in the short time they're seen before they're crushed.]]

''Evolution'' is a 2001 sci-fi comedy film directed by Creator/IvanReitman, written by David Diamond, David Weissman and Don Jakoby from a story by Jakoby, and released by Creator/ColumbiaPictures and Creator/{{Dreamworks}} on June 8, 2001.

** In a sense, it's not as crazy as it sounds -- [[spoiler:the periodic table isn't arbitrary, its organization reflects properties of the elements in the table, so the geometric relationship between elements as displayed on the table ''can'' be relevant to their chemical relationship in reality]]. The selenium sulphide in the shampoo is poisonous to earlier phases of alien life because they are indicated (by the stink in the cave and the fly inside Block) to incorporate hydrogen sulfide in their metabolism.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Evolution_movie.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Have a nice end of the world.]]

* CallASmeerpARabbit: For some reason, the lead characters refuse to call the obviously dragon/raptor-looking flying aliens that, and instead insist on calling them "birds." Maybe it's a case of NotUsingTheZWord, and they're not shown to be capable of breathing fire either.Earlier models of the dragon/raptor actually show it to look a lot more like a featherless oviraptor. Now that would have been weird. Also, perhaps models weren't complete until after the live-action filming. That would also explain why the creature that looks like a snub-nosed seal is mistaken for a dog.

* GoalOrientedEvolution: The aliens' evolution from unicellular organisms to invertebrates (like worms), then dinosaurs/dragons, then apes -- the protagonists even say the aliens "have reached the primate stage", as if it was an expected development. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} at the very end, where the "ultimate life form" is a giant amoeba and Ira comments that "survival of the fittest" does not always coincide with "survival of the most complex"]].

%%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: Ira and Harry

* IgnoredExpert: Ira tries to warn Woodman that [[spoiler:[[KillItWithFire napalming the aliens]] may be a really bad idea]]. [[spoiler:He [[FeedItWithFire turns out to be right]]]].

* NukeEm: Offered as a solution to the alien problem, but the military [[spoiler:decides to use napalm instead]]. [[spoiler:Considering what napalm eventually does to the alien lifeforms, one shudders to think what would have happened if the military had taken the nuclear option]].

* WeaksauceWeakness: [[spoiler: The aliens are weak to Selenium but this is not what counts; what counts is that the only way to get enough of the stuff is to empty out dozens of bottles of ''Shampoo''.]].

** The aliens reprodice asexually, which is implied to be one cause of their rapid evolution ("no time for sex"). In fact, sexual reproduction is thought to ''accelerate'' evolution -- since two organisms with different beneficial mutations can combine them in their offspring.

** Wayne at the start of the film when he sees the meteor is about to hit the place where he's practicing for his firefighter entrance exam.

* KillerSpaceMonkey: Literally comes in the form of three-eyed, no-nose, ape-like beings that are one of the last to breach the habitat seal.

Glen Canyon, UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}, ThePresentDay. Wayne Grey (Creator/SeannWilliamScott), practicing at night in the desert for his upcoming firefighter entrance exam, witnesses the impact of a meteor throw his truck 200 feet in the air and crash down. The next day, biology teacher Dr. Ira Kane (Creator/DavidDuchovny) and geology teacher Harry Block (Creator/OrlandoJones) from Glen Canyon Community College manage to get to the meteor, which has crash-landed at the bottom of a system of underground caverns. By taking a sample, they discover a slimy blue fluid coming out of the meteor.

* OhCrap: In the court case between Ira and Harry vs the military over access to the meteor site, General Woodman has this reaction when he dismisses the scientific facilities at the pair's college...which just happens to be the judge's alma mater.

** Take a long look at the head of the dragony thing. It closely resembles the head of the creature from Film/TheGiantClaw.

* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: The dragony GiantFlyer.

Glen Canyon, UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}, ThePresentDay. Wayne Grey (Seann William Scott), practicing at night in the desert for his upcoming firefighter entrance exam, witnesses the impact of a meteor throw his truck 200 feet in the air and crash down. The next day, biology teacher Dr. Ira Kane (Creator/DavidDuchovny) and geology teacher Harry Block (Creator/OrlandoJones) from Glen Canyon Community College manage to get to the meteor, which has crash-landed at the bottom of a system of underground caverns. By taking a sample, they discover a slimy blue fluid coming out of the meteor.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Not as overt as the usualy depictions, but when the [[spoiler: Giant Amoeba "pops" after the heroes give it it's Selenium Enema, they are only a few metres away, something that big popping like a balloon would cause a ''huge'' concussive blast wave, probably big enough to liquify the protagonists, or at least throw the fire truck a good distance away.]]

* ThoseTwoGuys: Deke and Danny are a pair of fat idiots who are used for comedy [[[spoiler: except for one scene.]]

** The aliens are supposed to be "[[ArtisticLicenseBiology nitrogen-based lifeforms]]." As anyone with a background in chemistry could tell you, this is extremely unlikely. However, they are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical_types_of_biochemistry#Nitrogen_and_phosphorus_biochemistry theoretically entirely impossible]].

'''Harry''': [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments There's ALWAYS time for lubricant!]]

* NeverLiveItDown: The Kane Madness is an InUniverse example. An anthrax vaccine that ''did'' immunize people against anthrax...at the cost of a ''month'' of [[LongList debilitating stomach cramps, severe diarrhea, memory loss, partial facial paralysis, temporary blindness, drooling, bleeding gums, erectile dysfunction, uncontrollable flatulence...]]

A 2001 sci-fi comedy film directed by Creator/IvanReitman, and released by Creator/ColumbiaPictures and Creator/{{Dreamworks}}.

* ActorAllusion: Ira doesn't trust government types because "I know these people." In-universe, he knows because he's an ex-army colonel. However, David Duchovny's previous role as [[AgentMulder Agent Fox Mulder]] is a notorious ConspiracyTheorist. This is especially notable because it wasn't on purpose; the director had never seen ''Series/TheXFiles''. But those making the trailer evidently did, as it's used in quite a few.

* CoolTeacher: Ira is pretty laid back as a community college science professor, even giving the two dumb-as-bricks brothers a C- on their identical one-paragraphed completely off topic papers.

* DumbassHasAPoint: The two biggest idiots in Ira's class [[spoiler: end up saving the day in the end by point out that Head and Shoulders shampoo has selenium in it]].