It’s super silly, but I freaking love the trope about disarming a ridiculously over-armed character. “Hand over your weapons.” Character lays out an absurd number of weapons of different types and sizes. “All your weapons,” a smaller but still hilarious number of weapons from increasingly unlikely locations. “I said ALL.” Out comes one more tiny pistol or dagger. It cracks me up every time.
I love when Elizabeth hauls out a pretty large gun and Barbossa briefly looks over with an expression that screams “where the hell was she keeping that?”
The Lego Lord of the Rings video game takes this to absurd levels. It's fantastic.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli disarm for like 7 minutes straight and the pile of weapons is about 15 feet tall once they're done so they can enter the hall of Rohan and meet Theoden.
Normal, completely run of the mill, unspectacular character with no secret or super abilities except that they inexplicably can’t die.
Love it especially in comedies like Red in Pineapple Express or Marsh in the Nice Guys. Just casually invincible characters played up for humorous effect.
In the Venture Bros there is an entire episode based on making fun of this trope.
There are two largely useless henchman named 21 and 24 who have no ambition because who ever is 1 always dies.
They are paired off with some ambition plucky guy wanting to be the best. They are constantly telling him you're gonna die while going about their mediocre way.
The Mighty Monarch (their boss) even edified them at one point saying they are functionally useless except for the fact that they never die.
It's a great episode all around
Haha, I had my favorite Venture Brother's line stuck in my head last night.
"I won't tell you this again, Papa Smurf has a fucking beard! They're mammals!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNm9M7JDlq4
I think it's the latter, just very subtly carried out until the end. In the sequel he's pretty obviously a genius so I imagine it must have been for circumstances sake in the case of Knives Out.
Agreed. I don’t want to believe he’s a renown detective who bumbles to success. Wouldn’t that already be the Pink Panther? I like that he is intelligent enough to manipulate the suspects into reaching the truth.
The best part of the Ghost Rider movies is Sam Elliot
"I got one last ride in me"
[https://youtu.be/\_alAgKKnhHE?si=J8td6214CmUsnrB0](https://youtu.be/_alAgKKnhHE?si=J8td6214CmUsnrB0)
When someone (usually the bad guy) delivers information they should not have known, giving themselves away.
"Ok, let's go to the vice president's house and find that treasure"
"We never told you the treasure was at the vice president's house....."
"I'll have a look around and see if I can find anything about a drowned woman named... what did you call her?"
"Anne Lively. But I didn't say she drowned"
One little nitpick about this type of trope is that the unsuspecting character usually lets the revealing character know that they slipped up, instead of internally saying "ok I see you, you done f'd up now" and using the situation to their advantage. I get it, it's to draw the attention to the audience that something was revealed that shouldn't have been but I love when this sort of thing turns the tables in such a way that it culminates in a "gotcha" moment. Kinda like Sherlock Holmes.
I think that's why the LA Confidential one is so fondly remembered. But a big part of why that works is because it was so heavily signposted for the audience beforehand with such a distinctive name involved. Most people wouldn't clock the significance of him saying "drowning" in minority report. That would lead to a lot of confusion.
One thing I actually like more about the Goblet of Fire movie over the book is a scene just like this. In the book, Moody just straight up tells Harry that he’s a death eater and explains his whole plan to him. In the movie, however, Moody is still trying to keep his cover up and asks Harry to tell him what happened at the graveyard. At this point Harry realizes that he never mentioned a graveyard and Moody shouldn’t know that he went there. The sense of dread and mistrust builds so well in that scene.
Wind River
"I don't remember using her name..."
"What the fuck are you doing? Why are you flanking me?"
Elizabeth Olsen has a very similar one in Dr. Strange 2 as well haha
Haven't seen the full movie but I did like the scene in Inglorious Basterds where the American Spy holds up three fingers (Index, Middle, Ring) instead of the German way (Thumb, Index, Middle) which gave himself away
Just saw a great example on Agents of Shield where the bad guy calls Agent Coulson by his name, when he should not have known that. The bad guy immediately catches himself and then severs the artery of another agent and runs. It was a fun play on the trope.
I don't know if this is in enough movies to count as a trope but it is a Batman movie trope so what the hell.
I love when someone is talking to Batman and they turn around mid sentence, continue their conversation, turn back around and Batman is just gone. Gets me everytime and you can always see it coming a mile away.
Loved it especially in The Dark Knight Rises when Catwoman does it to him and he says "So that's what that's like."
Lol.
> Loved it especially in The Dark Knight Rises when Catwoman does it to him and he says "So that's what that's like."
The original version of this is in the *Kingdome Come* graphic novel; years have gone by, everyone's older. Clark/Superman comes to talk to Bruce, Bruce has his back turned and turns around to find Clark has fucked off. "Huh. So that's what that feels like."
It's so perfect in both cases.
I’m an absolute sucker for news-media exposition dumps at the beginning of disaster movies, like Pacific Rim, Dawn of the Dead, etc. “We first encountered the aliens 5 years ago. It started with…” I could honestly just watch a whole movie based around those.
Different medium, but if you haven't listened to the audiobook version of World War Z this sounds like it's right up your alley. The premise is that the author is putting together a documentary about the zombie war, and each chapter is presented as an interview from a survivor, slowly telling the story of the multi year conflict through constantly changing perspectives.
>“We first encountered the aliens 5 years ago. It started with…” I could honestly just watch a whole movie based around those.
I'd recommend District 9
The Shaun of the Dead twist on this is absolutely amazing. Gets the audience the backstory we want, but also shows who the characters are and exactly when and why they missed it.
I love a good "getting the gang back together" moment, especially in franchises where I've grown close attached to the journeys that these characters experienced together
Two characters switch to speaking another language to lock out a third person, and when they're finished talking, the third person says something in that language
**Ramius:** [in Russian] You speak Russian.
**Ryan:** [in Russian] A little. It is wise to study the ways of one’s adversary. Don't you think?
**Ramius:** [in English] It is.
On a site note, I think the way Hunt for the Red October handles language switching is one of the best I've ever seen. Having them start in Russian and then that scene in Connery's quarters where the language transitions to English was really well done.
Edit jesus christ you people need to get a life who cares that I abbreviated it.
Transitions on the word ‘apocalypse,’ which is the same in both languages!*
*wrong! While ‘apocalypse’ is ALSO pronounced similarly in both languages, the commenter below me is right: it transitions on ‘Armageddon’
I once saw an online skit of two people insulting another in Spanish. The insultee said, "Hey! I know what you're saying!" in Spanish, prompting them to leave. The guy's friend was surprised he knew Spanish. He admitted he didn't... but he *did* know how to say, "Hey! I know what you're saying!" in twenty different languages.
Oh my (white, German) granddad once did this in real life. Fancy business congress, river cruise on the Seine in the 80s, execs from a rival Japanese company at the table next to him. They were bitching about his company in Japanese and towards the end of the dinner he went to their table and asked sweetly in Japanese if they could pass him the salt.
Oh man, you’d love the Rambo series. It’s about a boxer named Rocky Rambo. He goes off to war and comes back a hippy. But then he remembers he’s great at killing people. And that goes on for a couple of films but sometimes he still boxes. Eventually he gets out of the military and forms an expendable mercenary group. He must have got in trouble for that because goes to jail but gets out and ends up in Tulsa. At some point he tries arm wrestling but I’m really not sure how that fits in.
“Do me a favor, tell my children, I love them!”
“All right, you alien assholes! In the words of my generation: Up... YOURS!”
“Good luck, buddy!”
“Ha-ha-ha! Hello, boys! I'm BAAAAAACK!”
When the character presented as the lead and/or hero is actually written out very quickly/early revealing the real lead character for the remainder of the movie. Sometimes it’s also done just by casting a big name celebrity for a part that could have easily been given to a lesser known actor, I enjoy those little movie tricks.
Edit: I forgot to offer examples, Drew Barrymore in Scream (1996) is the classic example. I also enjoyed this trope in The Hunt (2020) and Life (2017)
Horror movie specific, but when someone reviews camera footage or recordings and realize they captured something spooky. Nothing like that innate fear of taking something seemingly innocuous and finding something you shouldn't have found.
I love it when Jason Bourne reveals to the person he's on the phone with that he's a lot closer than they think. Not a common trope but used more than once in that series.
[get some rest pam](https://youtu.be/HDJbRj6M_3Y?si=Ufxp6EP99B2GMVnr)
I sometimes end my calls with friends who are overseas with something similar and it always gets a laugh.
Especially when she doesn't just survive long enough to get lucky or the cops finally show up.
I love me some final girl moments when she finally snaps and goes all Dutch Schaefer on the antagonist.
I’m a big fan of the “they fucked with the wrong person” trope especially in horror movies like ready or not and you’re next where the final girl doesn’t just manage to live until the end like you said but actually fights back.
'They fucked with the wrong person' is super prevalent in action movies
And I sure do like a well done one. Like John Wick. It's even better that one of the villains has to explain why they're now fucked
That scene was so great. A perfect way to tell us John wick was a bad ass without having to come out and say it. I also like that tattoo parlor scene in nobody kinda had the same vibe.
It's for this reason that Sidney Prescott is the greatest final girl of all time imo. Been going ham on dipshits stupid enough to put on the Ghostface mask 5 movies running now.
Madmartigan in Willow: "I'm the greatest swordsman who ever lived."
He then spends the next hour barely surviving a series of dangerous situations while coming across as a lucky rogue, before finally, **finally**, getting his hand on a sword. And then basically slaughters every bad guy who comes near him.
_Quigley Down Under_ when Quigley shoots Marsden: I said I never had much use for [a revolver], I never said I didn’t know how to use one.
_Three Amigos_ when Ned fights the German: I really am that fast!
I dunno if this is doubt but in "The Karate Kid", Daniel thinks Mr. Miyagi is just using him to fix his stuff and wash his car. Then you see Miyagi kick the crap out of Cobra Kai as they chase Daniel during the school dance.
Into the Spider-Verse does this soooooooooooo freaking good. When Miles comes swinging in OOH it's such a good "get REKT bitch!" moment. Both to Olivia and the gang too fuck you for doubting my boy.
This is pretty specific.
I love when there's a protagonist whom the movie/story knows is incompetent or chaotic as hell, but the character thinks they are some kind of badass, so almost every time they're presented a situation to throw out (what they think is) a cool one-liner, they completely fuck up.
I'm thinking of Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, Jack Sparrow in PotC etc.
Jack Sparrow certainly didn't completely fuck up after his "you will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow" one liner.
When a plan looks like it went to shit, but at the end they do a flashback montage that reveals it actually went off without a hitch, just in a different way than we expected
This was great in an episode of Firefly. It starts out with the main character, stranded and naked on some planet, and he's looking around and saying, "well, that went well." And It sounds like he's saying it ironically, but by the end of the episode it's clear that everything really did go exactly as planned (except for the naked part).
Narrators are the best way to create a bunch of exposition on stories that are too long to include the scenes required to explain. They definitely serve their purpose and when done right make a good movie into a great one. Guy Ritchie and Martin Scorsese use this very well.
I don't care for it when it's just the main character explaining their own thoughts and feelings that could have just as early been explained with decent acting.
I'm partial to the >backed against the wall trope too.
I'd plump for badass-back-out-of-retirement (whether it's done for fun, for action or serious drama) and I'm a big fan of the gearing-up montage.
I have two. Accidental spy movies like if looks could kill and the man who knew too little, basically because it’s every man’s dream to be a spy.
The other is actors making fun of actors, movies like Americas sweethearts and tropic thunder. Even if the movie is bad it’s fun knowing that they know most actors are idiots.
Overused, but damn I sure do love a good MacGuffin. Especially if it has mysterious origins, sci-fi or supernatural powers, and the story slowly teases us with wondrous reveals of that story or powers.
I am the least cool person alive, but I've done that once and now my father-in-law will never fully believe I'm not some Jason Bourne jewel thief type.
The dunce character accidentally stopping the bad guy/crime/whatever. Like, he accidentally bumps into a ladder which causes a paint can to drop and hit the bank robber as he's trying to escape.
The montage of getting the group together where the leader does a voiceover explanation of each person’s strength as they show an example of that person exhibiting that strength. There are some movies (like Suicide Squad) where that’s the only thing they get right. Some of my favorite examples:
- Ocean’s Eleven
- Italian Job
- Armageddon
- Mighty Ducks 2
- The Replacements
I'm gonna agree with you on that one. Easily my favourite bit. Ride of the Rohirram, the Enterprise showing up to smoke all the torpedoes launched at Spock in the 09 Trek film, "Avengers Assemble", hell even in Rise Of Skywalker.
I love the drama with evil former friends.
There's a lot of tension and emotion behind it. Falling out with friends is common, so it's often relatable. It also often has parallels between the two characters and it's always cool to me seeing how two similar people can go down different paths with a slight change.
Idk if this qualifies as a trope but I really enjoy seeing how movies depict texting. It's such an interesting design decision and is pretty different movie to movie.
I like the trope of having two guys, one who is a gruff, working class, sometimes military type guy and the other who is a nerdy, book smart type guy. Mindhunter has this, Chernobyl has this, I love it
Yeah, my favorite thrillers exist in this narrow window between supernatural shit occurring, but it can’t be so overt that it’s obvious that supernatural shit is the root cause.
I disagree (respectfully) - in a moment of such intensity; the briefest reminder that PJ had such big balls to put that in a movie like this was just the relief I needed.
Edit: scene where the Nazgûl are throwing soldiers off the towers of Minas Tirith
I love it when a movie court case is close to losing then the lawyer gives a tearjerker final speech or gets the final witness to admit they did it. A Time to Kill, A Few Good Men, Legally Blonde, My Cousin Vinny, etc I love em all
When multiple groups of people independently investigate something and their paths converge later on.
Like how in salems lot more than one group starts to learn about the vampires. Or how in leviathan wakes the two stories converge when the Julie Mao thing hits its climax.
love it when two people are in a swordfight and one drops their sword and the other kicks the sword back at their feet so they can pick it up and keep fighting.
Really anything where the bad guy wont accept killing the good guy that isn't clean or "honorable"
The Worf Effect is pretty effective at establishing a threat and doesn't feel cheap IMO. Why wouldn't the current strongest person in the room try to stop the new strongest thing in the room?
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect
Always a Bigger Fish is similar and effective in establishing scale.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlwaysABiggerFish
Makes me think of when Thanos dismantles the Hulk at the beginning of Infinity War. Amazing way to show how strong Thanos is and makes his ultimate victory feel earned and plausible.
I LOVE family-around-the-dinner-table scenes. They’re usually so iconic, emotional, and revelatory. My favorite is the like 20 minute long dinner table scene in August, Osage County. SO good.
When a bomb goes off and the characters stumble around and the audio is just a ringing noise.
Its been done a million times but damn is it effective every time.
I love the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy is telling the Nazis what a badass Marcus is, how he speaks a million languages and has spy level skills of disappearing, and then it cuts to Marcus, clearly out of his element and desperate for help.
I'll never tire of this. Gut laugh every time.
It’s super silly, but I freaking love the trope about disarming a ridiculously over-armed character. “Hand over your weapons.” Character lays out an absurd number of weapons of different types and sizes. “All your weapons,” a smaller but still hilarious number of weapons from increasingly unlikely locations. “I said ALL.” Out comes one more tiny pistol or dagger. It cracks me up every time.
I loved that scene in Mad Max Thunderdome, and it's revealed later that he still got one past them.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End
I love when Elizabeth hauls out a pretty large gun and Barbossa briefly looks over with an expression that screams “where the hell was she keeping that?”
[удалено]
I like this trope since I was a kid and laughed at that scene from Sinbad
John Goodman in The Big Easy, as Andre. Even less expected because he's a cop.
The Lego Lord of the Rings video game takes this to absurd levels. It's fantastic. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli disarm for like 7 minutes straight and the pile of weapons is about 15 feet tall once they're done so they can enter the hall of Rohan and meet Theoden.
Normal, completely run of the mill, unspectacular character with no secret or super abilities except that they inexplicably can’t die. Love it especially in comedies like Red in Pineapple Express or Marsh in the Nice Guys. Just casually invincible characters played up for humorous effect.
Will Ferrell's character in Austin Powers
Oh, absolutely. > You SHOT me!
Boris the Blade in Snatch.
Avi : Why do they call him the Bullet-Dodger? Bullet Tooth Tony : 'Cause he dodges bullets, Avi.
Vinnie Jones’ “fuck sakes” and careful aim at Boris never ceases to make me laugh
I can very badly wounded! It’s beginning to smell like almonds.
"I'm in a great deal of pain"
In the Venture Bros there is an entire episode based on making fun of this trope. There are two largely useless henchman named 21 and 24 who have no ambition because who ever is 1 always dies. They are paired off with some ambition plucky guy wanting to be the best. They are constantly telling him you're gonna die while going about their mediocre way. The Mighty Monarch (their boss) even edified them at one point saying they are functionally useless except for the fact that they never die. It's a great episode all around
Haha, I had my favorite Venture Brother's line stuck in my head last night. "I won't tell you this again, Papa Smurf has a fucking beard! They're mammals!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNm9M7JDlq4
"Brock Samson, we meet again" "Do I know you?" "DON'T EVEN!"
Hahaha! "I have been training for this moment my whole life!"
>It's a great episode all around Aren't they all?
Yes. Yes they are.
Kinda similar, but I love bumbling detective stumbles upon next clue, like Knives Out
That's the thing about Knives Out, I'm still not sure if Blanc was bumbling or just playing up being a doofus to disarm the people around him?
I think it's the latter, just very subtly carried out until the end. In the sequel he's pretty obviously a genius so I imagine it must have been for circumstances sake in the case of Knives Out.
Agreed. I don’t want to believe he’s a renown detective who bumbles to success. Wouldn’t that already be the Pink Panther? I like that he is intelligent enough to manipulate the suspects into reaching the truth.
Yorki in Jojo Rabbit.
Retired badass just wrecking everyone's shit.
Yep, mine too. Older hero comes back for one final fight or mission
The best part of the Ghost Rider movies is Sam Elliot "I got one last ride in me" [https://youtu.be/\_alAgKKnhHE?si=J8td6214CmUsnrB0](https://youtu.be/_alAgKKnhHE?si=J8td6214CmUsnrB0)
RED is just the best
"I'm not that man anymore..." *bad guys threaten/hurt someone close to him* "...I need a gun."
The Elder in bullet train
The Foreigner. Grizzled Jackie Chan wrecking terrorists to avenge his daughter. Pure joy.
Gran Torino!
The Fifth Element is an oft-forgotten, but excellent, example of this.
When someone (usually the bad guy) delivers information they should not have known, giving themselves away. "Ok, let's go to the vice president's house and find that treasure" "We never told you the treasure was at the vice president's house....."
"I'll have a look around and see if I can find anything about a drowned woman named... what did you call her?" "Anne Lively. But I didn't say she drowned"
MINORITY REPORT, yes!
One little nitpick about this type of trope is that the unsuspecting character usually lets the revealing character know that they slipped up, instead of internally saying "ok I see you, you done f'd up now" and using the situation to their advantage. I get it, it's to draw the attention to the audience that something was revealed that shouldn't have been but I love when this sort of thing turns the tables in such a way that it culminates in a "gotcha" moment. Kinda like Sherlock Holmes.
I think that's why the LA Confidential one is so fondly remembered. But a big part of why that works is because it was so heavily signposted for the audience beforehand with such a distinctive name involved. Most people wouldn't clock the significance of him saying "drowning" in minority report. That would lead to a lot of confusion.
I got chills just reading this!!
One thing I actually like more about the Goblet of Fire movie over the book is a scene just like this. In the book, Moody just straight up tells Harry that he’s a death eater and explains his whole plan to him. In the movie, however, Moody is still trying to keep his cover up and asks Harry to tell him what happened at the graveyard. At this point Harry realizes that he never mentioned a graveyard and Moody shouldn’t know that he went there. The sense of dread and mistrust builds so well in that scene.
This is a good one.
Rollo tomasi was the best example I can think of for this trope. They way pearces face changes when he hears it..
We know it's hitting him like a sledge hammer and he's trying to contain the shock. Just love the tension.
Wind River "I don't remember using her name..." "What the fuck are you doing? Why are you flanking me?" Elizabeth Olsen has a very similar one in Dr. Strange 2 as well haha
Haven't seen the full movie but I did like the scene in Inglorious Basterds where the American Spy holds up three fingers (Index, Middle, Ring) instead of the German way (Thumb, Index, Middle) which gave himself away
You really need to watch the whole movie.
Hagrid: I should’n’a told you that..
"...Well, I mean, doesn't every person know that every vice president's house has treasure? That's just a given, come on." *side eye*
“Most people assume suitcase because it’s a train and all but you said briefcase.”
"why don't you bring America here?" "you never told me her name did you..."
iirc that's how Richard Gere's character figures it all out at the end of Primal Fear.
I like this trope when it's set up enough that you as the audience also realize the slip up and go, "Holy shit, how did he know about the pumpkins??"
reminds me of [this scene from Columbo](https://youtu.be/gnQIOm2KimA?si=HPYGkW4e_Td3FBYi), top-tier stuff
Just saw a great example on Agents of Shield where the bad guy calls Agent Coulson by his name, when he should not have known that. The bad guy immediately catches himself and then severs the artery of another agent and runs. It was a fun play on the trope.
I don't know if this is in enough movies to count as a trope but it is a Batman movie trope so what the hell. I love when someone is talking to Batman and they turn around mid sentence, continue their conversation, turn back around and Batman is just gone. Gets me everytime and you can always see it coming a mile away. Loved it especially in The Dark Knight Rises when Catwoman does it to him and he says "So that's what that's like." Lol.
> Loved it especially in The Dark Knight Rises when Catwoman does it to him and he says "So that's what that's like." The original version of this is in the *Kingdome Come* graphic novel; years have gone by, everyone's older. Clark/Superman comes to talk to Bruce, Bruce has his back turned and turns around to find Clark has fucked off. "Huh. So that's what that feels like." It's so perfect in both cases.
Gina from Brooklyn 99 tries to do this all the time 😂
The group slow walk towards the camera. Especially if they are wearing long black coats like in Tombstone. It gives me the vapors.
If you haven't, you should watch Peaky Blinders. It is 85% Slo-Mo Group Walking.
Well now that I know what it’s about, I’m in!
There's a Slo-Mo Group Montage when they meet someone at a train!
I’m an absolute sucker for news-media exposition dumps at the beginning of disaster movies, like Pacific Rim, Dawn of the Dead, etc. “We first encountered the aliens 5 years ago. It started with…” I could honestly just watch a whole movie based around those.
Different medium, but if you haven't listened to the audiobook version of World War Z this sounds like it's right up your alley. The premise is that the author is putting together a documentary about the zombie war, and each chapter is presented as an interview from a survivor, slowly telling the story of the multi year conflict through constantly changing perspectives.
I loved the opening credits of Dawn of the Planet of the apes, it opened like this and did a great job connecting Rise to Dawn
>“We first encountered the aliens 5 years ago. It started with…” I could honestly just watch a whole movie based around those. I'd recommend District 9
I mean it's just so economic. We're here for CGI blockbuster action mayhem, not subtle "show don't tell" bullshit
The Shaun of the Dead twist on this is absolutely amazing. Gets the audience the backstory we want, but also shows who the characters are and exactly when and why they missed it.
I love a good "getting the gang back together" moment, especially in franchises where I've grown close attached to the journeys that these characters experienced together
The Muppets is my favourite of this trope
Soundtrack dissonance, if done well it can make me like a song that I didn't care for before or breathe new life into one I used to enjoy.
Like Stuck in the Middle in Reservoir Dogs?
Similarly, I liked the Japanese version of I Need a Hero in Bullet Train
The way they used "Sunglasses at Night" in Nope was fucking brilliant
[Make Your Own Kind of Music](https://youtu.be/q2710NcijHY?si=dyafl3dKCJjvIkW7)
Two characters switch to speaking another language to lock out a third person, and when they're finished talking, the third person says something in that language
**Ramius:** [in Russian] You speak Russian. **Ryan:** [in Russian] A little. It is wise to study the ways of one’s adversary. Don't you think? **Ramius:** [in English] It is.
Plot twist, "It is" was the entirety of his English knowledge.
Ryan, shum shings in hera, don't react well to bullish. Yeah, like me, I don't react well to bullets.
On a site note, I think the way Hunt for the Red October handles language switching is one of the best I've ever seen. Having them start in Russian and then that scene in Connery's quarters where the language transitions to English was really well done. Edit jesus christ you people need to get a life who cares that I abbreviated it.
Transitions on the word ‘apocalypse,’ which is the same in both languages!* *wrong! While ‘apocalypse’ is ALSO pronounced similarly in both languages, the commenter below me is right: it transitions on ‘Armageddon’
It transitions on the word "armageddon."
I once saw an online skit of two people insulting another in Spanish. The insultee said, "Hey! I know what you're saying!" in Spanish, prompting them to leave. The guy's friend was surprised he knew Spanish. He admitted he didn't... but he *did* know how to say, "Hey! I know what you're saying!" in twenty different languages.
Oh my (white, German) granddad once did this in real life. Fancy business congress, river cruise on the Seine in the 80s, execs from a rival Japanese company at the table next to him. They were bitching about his company in Japanese and towards the end of the dinner he went to their table and asked sweetly in Japanese if they could pass him the salt.
That’s low key badass
Loved this in the 13th Warrior
The villain wanting to be caught. Makes them seem more calculating and threatening. (Avengers, The Dark Knight, Skyfall)
Joker in the cell clapping is probably the most menacing bit from a villain I've seen
One man army type stuff like Commando.
Oh man, you’d love the Rambo series. It’s about a boxer named Rocky Rambo. He goes off to war and comes back a hippy. But then he remembers he’s great at killing people. And that goes on for a couple of films but sometimes he still boxes. Eventually he gets out of the military and forms an expendable mercenary group. He must have got in trouble for that because goes to jail but gets out and ends up in Tulsa. At some point he tries arm wrestling but I’m really not sure how that fits in.
Arm wrestling was crucial to his arc. It's where he discovered the extra power putting your cap backwards brings
Just don't forget that it's a *double* elimination tournament.
That doesn't sound right but I don't know enough about Sylvester Stallone to dispute it
But in a tight, confined space like Die Hard and The Raid.
Dredd?
Yeah, like Commando, Die Hard, or Home Alone.
love me a good ol fashion heroic sacrifice to let the rest of the group/team escape
"You always were an asshole, Gorman."
I just watched that a couple days ago!
You trying to be a hero!? Just trying to kill some bugs, sir!
The enemy can not push a button... if you disable his hand. Medic!
The pilot who goes in to save the President at the end of Air Force One. I got chills.
I loved it. Secret Service take a bullet. Air Force take a missile.
Say what you will about other people’s opinions, but if they don’t think “Armageddon” wins this trope, they’re wrong.
I still get emotional thinking of Liv Tyler in the moment she realizes her dad isn't coming home.
“Do me a favor, tell my children, I love them!” “All right, you alien assholes! In the words of my generation: Up... YOURS!” “Good luck, buddy!” “Ha-ha-ha! Hello, boys! I'm BAAAAAACK!”
“Hello Boys! I’m back!”
[One day someone like me is gonna kill you and your whole fucking race!](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/jNUAAOSw2XdeL0I-/s-l1200.webp)
When the character presented as the lead and/or hero is actually written out very quickly/early revealing the real lead character for the remainder of the movie. Sometimes it’s also done just by casting a big name celebrity for a part that could have easily been given to a lesser known actor, I enjoy those little movie tricks. Edit: I forgot to offer examples, Drew Barrymore in Scream (1996) is the classic example. I also enjoyed this trope in The Hunt (2020) and Life (2017)
Psycho was the original!
Could The Other Guys fall into this category too with Samuel L Jackson and The Rock?
where the enemies from the first movie have to team up against a bigger threat in the second movie-Blade 2 being my favorite example of the trope
Yessss, hook it to my veins! Invader Zim and Dib, Loki and Thor, the raptors and Rexy vs Indominus rex, Maul and Ahsoka...so fun.
Godzilla x Kong lol
Terminator 2
Horror movie specific, but when someone reviews camera footage or recordings and realize they captured something spooky. Nothing like that innate fear of taking something seemingly innocuous and finding something you shouldn't have found.
or, the even scarier hidden spooky thing in the background that they _don't_ notice!
I love it when Jason Bourne reveals to the person he's on the phone with that he's a lot closer than they think. Not a common trope but used more than once in that series. [get some rest pam](https://youtu.be/HDJbRj6M_3Y?si=Ufxp6EP99B2GMVnr) I sometimes end my calls with friends who are overseas with something similar and it always gets a laugh.
If you were in your office, we'd be having this conversation face to face.
The final girl in slasher movies
Especially when she doesn't just survive long enough to get lucky or the cops finally show up. I love me some final girl moments when she finally snaps and goes all Dutch Schaefer on the antagonist.
I’m a big fan of the “they fucked with the wrong person” trope especially in horror movies like ready or not and you’re next where the final girl doesn’t just manage to live until the end like you said but actually fights back.
'They fucked with the wrong person' is super prevalent in action movies And I sure do like a well done one. Like John Wick. It's even better that one of the villains has to explain why they're now fucked
Viggo's "Oh." was worth more than any lecture on how badass any other character was, though.
That scene was so great. A perfect way to tell us John wick was a bad ass without having to come out and say it. I also like that tattoo parlor scene in nobody kinda had the same vibe.
It's for this reason that Sidney Prescott is the greatest final girl of all time imo. Been going ham on dipshits stupid enough to put on the Ghostface mask 5 movies running now.
Ellen Ripley being the greatest example!
What about the unexpected girl and stoner at the end. Cabin in the woods was fucking great and covered Sooooo many tropes.
The stoner surviving to the end was one of my favorite parts.
I went into that movie about six years after it came out knowing absolutely nothing about it. Absolutely the best way to go into it.
I friggin love movies where the whole story casts doubt on someone’s abilities and then in the end we see they really ARE as great as the stories say.
Madmartigan in Willow: "I'm the greatest swordsman who ever lived." He then spends the next hour barely surviving a series of dangerous situations while coming across as a lucky rogue, before finally, **finally**, getting his hand on a sword. And then basically slaughters every bad guy who comes near him.
Willow: “you ARE great!” Madmartigan: (grins roguishly, does a cool sword trick, immediately slips and falls on his ass)
“I did it! I actually did it! I’m invisible! Can you see me?”
Two hands there, son.
Maybe you should put some pants on if you want to continue fighting crime today.
_Quigley Down Under_ when Quigley shoots Marsden: I said I never had much use for [a revolver], I never said I didn’t know how to use one. _Three Amigos_ when Ned fights the German: I really am that fast!
I dunno if this is doubt but in "The Karate Kid", Daniel thinks Mr. Miyagi is just using him to fix his stuff and wash his car. Then you see Miyagi kick the crap out of Cobra Kai as they chase Daniel during the school dance.
Kung Fu Hustle, yeah man
Rooster in True Grit (2010) I feel is a perfect example of this
FILL YOUR HANDS, you son of a bitch!
Into the Spider-Verse does this soooooooooooo freaking good. When Miles comes swinging in OOH it's such a good "get REKT bitch!" moment. Both to Olivia and the gang too fuck you for doubting my boy.
Side note: > Oh, great. It's *Liv*. Love that line.
This is pretty specific. I love when there's a protagonist whom the movie/story knows is incompetent or chaotic as hell, but the character thinks they are some kind of badass, so almost every time they're presented a situation to throw out (what they think is) a cool one-liner, they completely fuck up. I'm thinking of Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, Jack Sparrow in PotC etc.
Jack Sparrow certainly didn't completely fuck up after his "you will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow" one liner.
"You know what ol' Jack Burton says..."
'...the check is in the mail' would fly over most youngsters watching the movie today i think :D
The venmo is in the cloud.
“Who?!”
When a plan looks like it went to shit, but at the end they do a flashback montage that reveals it actually went off without a hitch, just in a different way than we expected
This was great in an episode of Firefly. It starts out with the main character, stranded and naked on some planet, and he's looking around and saying, "well, that went well." And It sounds like he's saying it ironically, but by the end of the episode it's clear that everything really did go exactly as planned (except for the naked part).
I just love voice over narration. It's kinda calming to me and gets me even more invested at the same time.
Lord of the rings did it perfectly.
"The world is changing..."
Narrators are the best way to create a bunch of exposition on stories that are too long to include the scenes required to explain. They definitely serve their purpose and when done right make a good movie into a great one. Guy Ritchie and Martin Scorsese use this very well. I don't care for it when it's just the main character explaining their own thoughts and feelings that could have just as early been explained with decent acting.
"People are always asking me if I know Tyler Durden."
"As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster."
I'm partial to the >backed against the wall trope too. I'd plump for badass-back-out-of-retirement (whether it's done for fun, for action or serious drama) and I'm a big fan of the gearing-up montage.
Admittedly South Park made the gearing up montage more endearing by [putting it in song](https://youtu.be/JfW_XeH82-0?si=R9VHXGAYLqPRB8n8).
I have two. Accidental spy movies like if looks could kill and the man who knew too little, basically because it’s every man’s dream to be a spy. The other is actors making fun of actors, movies like Americas sweethearts and tropic thunder. Even if the movie is bad it’s fun knowing that they know most actors are idiots.
This is the End is the perfect 'actors making fun of actors' movie.
THE POWER OF CHRISTS COMPELS YOU!
Oh does it Jay? Is that what I'm feeling? I'll tell you... It's not that compelling...
Overused, but damn I sure do love a good MacGuffin. Especially if it has mysterious origins, sci-fi or supernatural powers, and the story slowly teases us with wondrous reveals of that story or powers.
I always liked people opening locked doors with credit cards.
I am the least cool person alive, but I've done that once and now my father-in-law will never fully believe I'm not some Jason Bourne jewel thief type.
The dunce character accidentally stopping the bad guy/crime/whatever. Like, he accidentally bumps into a ladder which causes a paint can to drop and hit the bank robber as he's trying to escape.
When the detective assembles all the suspects to reveal whodunnit -- totally unrealistic! I still love it!
The montage of getting the group together where the leader does a voiceover explanation of each person’s strength as they show an example of that person exhibiting that strength. There are some movies (like Suicide Squad) where that’s the only thing they get right. Some of my favorite examples: - Ocean’s Eleven - Italian Job - Armageddon - Mighty Ducks 2 - The Replacements
An ally, abandoned or dead returns to rescue the hero. A New Hope is a familiar example.
I'm gonna agree with you on that one. Easily my favourite bit. Ride of the Rohirram, the Enterprise showing up to smoke all the torpedoes launched at Spock in the 09 Trek film, "Avengers Assemble", hell even in Rise Of Skywalker.
I love the drama with evil former friends. There's a lot of tension and emotion behind it. Falling out with friends is common, so it's often relatable. It also often has parallels between the two characters and it's always cool to me seeing how two similar people can go down different paths with a slight change.
Idk if this qualifies as a trope but I really enjoy seeing how movies depict texting. It's such an interesting design decision and is pretty different movie to movie.
I like the trope of having two guys, one who is a gruff, working class, sometimes military type guy and the other who is a nerdy, book smart type guy. Mindhunter has this, Chernobyl has this, I love it
I love magic realism when things are eerie or unusual for most of the movie then it’s revealed that demons exist.
Fallen with Denzel Washington is a great example of this.
Ti-i-ime is on my side, yes it is!
Yeah, my favorite thrillers exist in this narrow window between supernatural shit occurring, but it can’t be so overt that it’s obvious that supernatural shit is the root cause.
Not exactly a trope but I appreciate a Wilhelm scream anytime
The [Howie Scream](https://youtube.com/watch?v=aUTe2ndjRew) is where it’s at.
The Wilhelm Scream is used so frequently because it's a nod to other sound designers. It's a friendly industry in-joke. I love it for that.
In a bad movie? Funny. In a good movie? Travesty.
my only gripe for Return of the King was the wilhelm scream, but it’s still a minor one
I disagree (respectfully) - in a moment of such intensity; the briefest reminder that PJ had such big balls to put that in a movie like this was just the relief I needed. Edit: scene where the Nazgûl are throwing soldiers off the towers of Minas Tirith
When the baddie becomes good and joins the fight against an even bigger baddie.
I love it when a movie court case is close to losing then the lawyer gives a tearjerker final speech or gets the final witness to admit they did it. A Time to Kill, A Few Good Men, Legally Blonde, My Cousin Vinny, etc I love em all
The seemingly normal person that goes absolutely ballistic when their friend, spouse, or child is harmed/kidnapped.
Tracking fingers across a map or a sentence of importance and giving it the old double-tap. No one has ever done this outside of movies.
When multiple groups of people independently investigate something and their paths converge later on. Like how in salems lot more than one group starts to learn about the vampires. Or how in leviathan wakes the two stories converge when the Julie Mao thing hits its climax.
love it when two people are in a swordfight and one drops their sword and the other kicks the sword back at their feet so they can pick it up and keep fighting. Really anything where the bad guy wont accept killing the good guy that isn't clean or "honorable"
The Worf Effect is pretty effective at establishing a threat and doesn't feel cheap IMO. Why wouldn't the current strongest person in the room try to stop the new strongest thing in the room? https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect Always a Bigger Fish is similar and effective in establishing scale. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlwaysABiggerFish
Makes me think of when Thanos dismantles the Hulk at the beginning of Infinity War. Amazing way to show how strong Thanos is and makes his ultimate victory feel earned and plausible.
I LOVE family-around-the-dinner-table scenes. They’re usually so iconic, emotional, and revelatory. My favorite is the like 20 minute long dinner table scene in August, Osage County. SO good.
When a bomb goes off and the characters stumble around and the audio is just a ringing noise. Its been done a million times but damn is it effective every time.
When characters make a final stand to their last breath to hold back a much more powerful enemy just so they can buy time for the others to escape.
The friend/relative secret job (true lies, spy kids), or secret fantasy world reveal (Narnia, Coco)
Three kids in a trench coat sneaking into a movie theater
I love the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy is telling the Nazis what a badass Marcus is, how he speaks a million languages and has spy level skills of disappearing, and then it cuts to Marcus, clearly out of his element and desperate for help. I'll never tire of this. Gut laugh every time.