A Darwin Award is a tongue-in-cheek honor named after evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin. Awards have been given for people who "do a service to Humanity by removing themselves from the Gene pool", i.e., lose the ability to reproduce. It is for people who kill or, more rarely, sterilize themselves accidentally by attempting to do stupid feats. As described in the Darwin Award books: The Awards honour people who ensure the long-term survival of the human race by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion. While an attempt is made to disallow urban legends from the awards, some older winners have been 'grandfathered' to keep their awards.

The Darwin Awards is a comedy film based on the website of the same name.

Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival. The film features Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, David Arquette, Juliette Lewis, Wilmer Valderrama, Chris Penn, Julianna Margulies, Robin Tunney, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Brad Hunt, Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and Metallica. This was Chris Penn's last movie before his death on January 24, 2006, the day before the movie's premiere. The film includes several full and partial re-enactments of "Darwin Awards", most of which are actually urban legends, most notably the debunked JATO Rocket Car story.

Metallica are performing their song "Sad but true" in the film. It was recorded at a regular live show in Salt Lake City on November 22, 2004. The show was interrupted during "Sad but True" but the song was only played once. To celebrate the premier of the movie at the Sundance Film Festival on Wednesday, January 25, 2006, the band played at a private party following the screening that day.

The title is based on a real set of awards given to people who inadvertently "help" natural selection by acts of sheer stupidity that result in their removal from the gene pool, either by their death or any other act that makes them incapable of reproducing.

The segment with the rocket powered car features "MythBusters" (2003) host Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage (II) as the surplus salesman. The first episode of ‘MythBusters’ dealt with that particular urban legend.