Movie Quirks

[Stargazer Lily]

The black man always dies - (although times are a-changing... e.g. LL Cool J in Deep Blue Sea)

[timdgreat]

lmao, what a humorus thread:rolly2:

[Quill]

Thunder and lightning always occur at the exact same moment.

[philoSCIFI]

*Bringing back another thread from the dead*

LMAO. I love this thread.

I also found this site: The Movie Clichés List with many more. I think I'm ready to write a script after reading those.

Awesome site. LOL, as long as it's a spoof or isn't too serious... :rolly2:

[Dave]

This is a good thread...

Originally posted by Quill
The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.

That's also true of the Colosseum in Rome, the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, and the Houses of Parliament in London.

Also in London the old Routemaster Red Buses still go everywhere, but are especially frequently past Buckingham Palace gates. And the old red telephone boxes can be seen everywhere in the UK, especially isolated places that otherwise could be mistaken for somewhere near Hollywood.

[Highlander II]

Originally posted by Dave
And the old red telephone boxes can be seen everywhere in the UK, especially isolated places that otherwise could be mistaken for somewhere near Hollywood.

b/c all you need to make Hollywood look like London is a red phone box...



I'm sure there are others... like the distinctive images of NYC - the bridges and the Empire State building.

Or - if you show the White House, the Washington Monument and the Congress bldg - that's all you need to know that you're in Washington, DC... from anywhere in the city (btw, it's REALLY hard to see the White House through all those bldgs and trees )

[ray gower]

Think the biggest thing I've ever learned from films is that everywhere with hills look exactly like Pant-Deg slate quarry!

[Highlander II]

That and, from Stargate, that many planets have pine trees! Just everywhere! s

[Dave]

Even in terraced housing in the centre of large cities, where the residents have no garages or off-street parking, it is always possible to park directly outside the building you are visiting.

[Dave]

Amazingly, while we covered most of these, I think we missed the Bond Villain Speech.

(from AOL News)

Bond villain speech top film cliche

Bond villain speeches have been named the top movie cliche.

The moment in a Bond movie when the villain pauses, before subjecting 007 to a painful death, to explain his plans for world domination has been voted the top movie cliche.

The plot device, which leaves Bond just enough time to work out how to get out of the tricky situation, came top of a poll of almost 6,000 people for the Radio Times.

Villains miraculously coming back to life, seconds after they have been killed, was second in the list of banal plot devices.

Women desperately attempting to run away from murderers only to find themselves tripping over at the worst possible time, is third.

The last-minute dash to the airport, railway station, or church - a device used in romantic comedies - is fourth, followed by the car space that just happens to be free directly outside the building that the character needs to get into.

Radio Times film editor Andrew Collins said: "The great thing about movie cliches is that they don't necessarily spoil your enjoyment of the film.

"Indeed, they can add to it. The tense scene where a wire must be cut to disable a ticking bomb may have become a Hollywood standby, but this doesn't stop us teetering on the edge of our seat while the decision is made.

"Equally, I'd be disappointed if the evil killer who's just been decisively despatched didn't miraculously come back to life to deliver one last shock in a horror movie."

[Quokka]

Aliens can be thousands of years more technologically advanced, having survived countless encounters yet their military and tactical knowledge/strategies will still be below par for the average 12 yr old Age of Empires player.


Any time an innocent person gets involved in the action there must be a cut back to them confirming they are ok. The absolute classic is the cop car crashes during a car chase quickly followed by a shot of the cops climbing out of the crashed car, looking dazed but fine.

But anytime a member of the public or someone outside of the storyline gets involved in the action your likely to see a quick cut back confirming it was just a close call .

[paranoid marvin]

Hitting someone over the head with a bottle ALWAYS causes it to shatter

In the final fight scene , the bad guy will ALWAYS initially get the upper hand , before the hero eventually beats him

[Dave]

AOL "Entertainment" just did this same subject. Their top clichés (most of which I think we covered already) were:

1. Check for a pulse, dummy
Here's a tip: When you kill someone, make sure they're dead. Unfortunately, most heroes can't seem to grasp this. What usually happens is they assume their opponent is down for the count and then, inexplicably, they wander off with their back to the downed baddie. And what happens? The shadowy body moves and the chase is on again.

2. VIP parking
The hero's speeding to the scene in his car and finds a parking spot at his destination DIRECTLY in front of where he's going? What's going on there?! Are there parking spots reserved for action heroes we just don't know about?

3. Henchmen are lousy shots
Uber-villains may not have much trouble recruiting henchmen to enlist in their terror organisations, but blimey, do they employ the worst shooters. How many times have we seen action heroes dodge 1,000 bullets from 15 different shooters? They hardly ever get hit, aside from the occasional flesh wound. Come on baddies, ever hear of target practice?

4. The background fireball
Every action movie needs big fiery explosions and they're almost always orchestrated in one of two ways: The hero calmly walks toward us (usually in slow motion) as the building/car behind him detonates; or he sprints away from pending destruction and dives behind a car or wall to shield him from harm just in the nick of time.

5. The baddies over-long speech
Oh, egomaniacal villains, will you ever learn to resist the urge to talk and just blow away the good guy when you have him trapped? But no, instead of pulling the trigger you decide to blather on and on (and on) about the evil genius of your plan, giving the hero just enough time to figure out how to shoot you, blow you up or otherwise creatively make you dead.

6. Government files at your fingertips
Apparently anyone with a laptop and a wireless connection at a coffee shop can hack into the super-secret database of FBI personnel files, super-secret defence plans or super-secret blueprints for a massive bomb. Now that's what we call freedom of information.

7. 'Stay right here'
When an action hero is accompanied by a woman (helpless, of course) or child (generally precocious), inevitably the situation arises where he must go save the day, and the other must stay behind. But of course the woman or child never listens and instead follows behind, which then leads to capture, further complicating the hero's mission.

8. He'll take you all on - one at a time!
You have to admire an action hero's ability to dispense of minor baddies with such ease - a hard punch to the face - job done. But what would happen if those 20 baddies surrounding our hero all attacked at once? Instead they approach one-by-one getting whooped while their pals wait patiently in a circle for their turn.

9. Takes a licking, keeps on ticking
Some men are not like the rest of us: They emerge from a beating fresh as a daisy, miraculously revived by a small plaster. Take James Bond. He's shaken, stirred, knocked around till he's black and blue and STILL the man slips into a tuxedo and pops down to the casino.

10. The sliding doors
Are you an action hero with a cold-blooded killer hot on your trail? A live bomb only seconds from detonating? No problem, just run as fast as you can in the opposite direction and eventually you'll come to a large steel garage door swiftly closing. Slide feet-first under said door at the very last second possible. Don't worry, you'll be free, but you may lose a shirt sleeve.

11. The death trap
If you captured your enemy after a long chase, wouldn't you kill off him at once? Not movie villains, oh no, that's way too easy. They devise elaborate schemes to kill their victims in a more leisurely fashion, like the shark pool meant for James Bond and Solitaire in Live and Let Die. Except Dr. Kananga lets his attention stray, giving Bond the chance to cut them free with the saw in his watch (of course!) and escape.

12. Oxygen mask of deception
If you're injured and there's a fugitive on the loose, RUN. It's a simple as that. Otherwise, he'll likely kill you, steal your stretcher and cover his face with your oxygen mask earning himself a ride to freedom. If you're very unlucky, he'll do all that AND remove your face and wear it as his own (see Silence of the Lambs).

13. The car that suddenly won't start
Cars just aren't reliable in the movies. They either just break down or take forever to start. You're also more likely to find your car stalling when you're on the run from a masked killer or zombies, but car trouble also strikes those who've just robbed a bank or need to rescue a hostage. But hey, you can always hop in a taxi and tell the driver, 'Follow that car!'

14. The gun is out of bullets
It's the moment of truth: You've got your enemy right where you want him. Cue the climactic music, the widened eyes... click. Click. Whoops, no more bullets. Even more fun is when this happens to both you and your antagonist at the same time. What are the odds on that?

15. I think I love my ex-wife
It's not easy being a hero's wife. It may seem glam but the hubby keeps terrible hours, consorts with unsavory characters and the pay is lousy. No wonder so many heroes wind up divorced or separated. Fortunately, there's nothing like being threatened or kidnapped to make a woman realise that all she wants is to be is Mrs Hero... again.

16. The female hostage
It's no secret that men rule action movies in Hollywood - but could we please get more creative with the women? Do they always have to be taken hostage? To make matters worse, the female's captivity is always announced when our hero has the bad guy right where he wants him.

17. 'I'm getting too old for this'
How come all action heroes in their 50s or 60s moan about their age while trying to keep up with a younger villain or sidekick? It would seem we hear some variation of the line - 'I'm getting too old for this' - every time, especially in a franchise's later sequels. But we still love you, Indiana Jones, John McClane, Rambo and Lethal Weapon guys...

18. The ticking time bomb
Somewhere a bomb is ticking away the seconds to an explosive finale as our determined action hero races to find its location. Once it's discovered, the question is: Which wire do you cut? Is it the red or the green? It doesn't matter: The hero inevitably cuts the correct wire with a miniscule amount of time (often 00:00:01) left on the clock.

19. Third person shooter
The bad guy has the good guy in his sights, his trigger finger poised to squeeze off a life-ending round. A shot rings out - but the hero does not fall. Suddenly, a dazed look overcomes the villain's face and he slumps to the floor. Then, and only then, the camera reveals a gun-toting savior who blew away the baddie before he could pull the trigger. Hooray!

20. Never trust the man
We've seen it many times: The trusted government bigwig - he's been working with our hero (or so we thought) - turns out to be a traitor. Thanks action movies... as if we weren't skeptical enough about our leaders already.

21. Watch out for that fruit cart!
Ever since car chases became essential to action films, directors have lined up obstacles for their heroes to drive through. But why is it always a fruit stand (like scene above from Ronin)? Revered US critic, Roger Ebert, has even called the fruit cart scene 'an ancient tradition' in Hollywood.

[pyan]

18. The ticking time bomb
Somewhere a bomb is ticking away the seconds to an explosive finale as our determined action hero races to find its location. Once it's discovered, the question is: Which wire do you cut? Is it the red or the green? It doesn't matter: The hero inevitably cuts the correct wire with a miniscule amount of time (often 00:00:01) left on the clock

I can never see the point of the villain putting a countdown timer on the bomb anyway. Who's it supposed to be for? It seem a bit pointless telling our hero just how long he's got left to defuse the thing!

See also the Evil Overlord List (well worth reading, BTW), number 15:

I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

[Grimward]

When entering a bar, the bartender is ALWAYS right there to get the drink, provide conversation, or answer questions. Doesn't matter how crowded the bar is....

Wait staff never show up to ask how everything is while someone is chewing....

The bill is always correct, or else not worth correcting or commenting on, save when the incorrect bill is the point of the scene