SCI-FI WAR MOVIE CLICHES

Here are the results of my analysis of sci-fi war movie cliches.  I used the following movies: 

Aliens (Al)
Battle:  Los Angeles (BLA)
The Last Starfighter (LS)
War of the Worlds (WW)
Edge of Tomorrow (ET)
Ender's Game (EG)
Rogue One (RO)
Attack of the Clones (AC)
Star Wars (SW)
John Carter (JC)
Return of the Jedi (RJ)
Pacific Rim  (PR)
War for the Planet of the Apes (WPA)
Independence Day (ID)
Avatar (Av)
Starship Troopers (ST)

1. The aliens (or bad guys) are the superior power.  (Al, BLA, LS, WW, ET, RO, SW, JC, RJ, PR, ID, Av, ST) = 81%
2. The victors win mainly by luck or an uncontrollable factor.  (BLA, WW, ET, ID)  =  25
3. The victors have one key individual who they could not have won without.  (Al, LS, ET, EG,  RO, SW, JC, WPA, Av)  =  56
4. All of the attacks are frontal.  (ET, EG, AC, JC, PR, WPA, ID, Av, ST)  =  56
5. There is a humorous side-kick.  (LS, RO, JC, RJ, WPA)  =  31
6. The victors weapons are more primitive. (WPA, WW, JC, ID, RJ, Av) = 38
7. The aliens have a "brain".  (Al, BLA, ET, ID, ST)  =  25
8. The alien warriors are mindless.  (BLA, EG, ET, ID, ST, AC)  =  38
9. The aliens have a weak spot that leads to their defeat.  (BLA, LS, ET, RO, SW, PR, ID)  =  44
10. The victors are a small heterogeneous unit.  (Al, BLA, ET, EG, RO, AC, PR)  =  44

As you can see, all of the cliches have some merit.  Three occurred in more than half of the movies (1, 3, and 4).  By far the most common trope is the enemy is superior to the good guys and should win.  We love for underdogs to triumph.  But, of course, they don't.

Aliens   (1, 3, 7, 10)  =  40%
Battle:  Los Angeles  ( 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10)  =  60
The Last Starfighter   (1, 3, 5, 9)  =  40
War of the Worlds  (1, 2, 6)   =  30
Edge of Tomorrow  (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10) =  80
Ender's Game  (3, 4, 8, 10)  =  40
Rogue One  (1, 3, 5, 9, 10)  =  50
Attack of the Clones  (4, 8, 10)  =  30 
Star Wars  (1, 3, 9)  =  30 
John Carter  (1, 3, 4, 5, 6)  =  50
Return of the Jedi  (1, 5, 6)  =  30 
Pacific Rim  (1, 4, 9, 10)  =  40 
War for the Planet of the Apes  (3, 4, 5, 6)  =  40
Independence Day  (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9)  =  70
Avatar   (1, 3, 4, 6)  =  40
Starship Troopers  (1, 4, 7, 8)  =  40

Surprisingly, the most cliche-ridden movie is the excellent "Edge of Tomorrow".  Equally surprising, the Star Wars movies have the least tropes.  Even more shockingly, the ridiculous "War of the Worlds" has only three of the cliches.