Cliche action scenes from films--a list

If you are dismantling or disabling a bomb or other explosive device, if you have more than 5 seconds left on the clock and think you have successfully disarmed it, you either a.) sped it up, or b.) made it pause before it begins again. The disarm never works unless you have 1 or 2 seconds left on the timer.
 

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The Completely Overdone Samurai Action Scene:

I have absolutely no idea which samurai movie this started in, but it has so heavily permeated japanese entertainment that I see it in nearly half the action anime series I watch.

Two guys run at each other. Occasionally a jump is involved. They clash, and before we know what happened, they are standing behind each other at some distance. Depending on exact specifics, a number of things may happen, but usually you see the hero drop to his knees and/or a slit appear in his jacket. Then typically you see the villain keel over after a moment of all the bystanders think he won.

Hmm... There are a few other ones I see a lot, but that is the the big one I can remember clearly.
 

TwinBahamut said:
The Completely Overdone Samurai Action Scene:

I have absolutely no idea which samurai movie this started in, but it has so heavily permeated japanese entertainment that I see it in nearly half the action anime series I watch.

Two guys run at each other. Occasionally a jump is involved. They clash, and before we know what happened, they are standing behind each other at some distance. Depending on exact specifics, a number of things may happen, but usually you see the hero drop to his knees and/or a slit appear in his jacket. Then typically you see the villain keel over after a moment of all the bystanders think he won.

Hmm... There are a few other ones I see a lot, but that is the the big one I can remember clearly.
You just described pretty much every sword fight scene in anime. :)
 

I was watching Commando the other day *ducks*:cool: and was remineded of another big cliche.

Hero kills bad guy, hero walks away making a tounge-in-cheek remark describing bad guys death. Example, in commando arnold drops bad guy off cliff, when asked what happened he responds "I let him go.:p"
 

griff_goodbeard said:
I was watching Commando the other day *ducks*:cool: and was remineded of another big cliche.

Hero kills bad guy, hero walks away making a tounge-in-cheek remark describing bad guys death. Example, in commando arnold drops bad guy off cliff, when asked what happened he responds "I let him go.:p"


I think it was commando where Arnold said to one guy. "rember how I said I'd kill you last? I lied." and lets him go over the cliff.
 

The Irrational Secret Keeping Rule

This one's mainly used by soaps on TV rather than action movies but can also apply to romantic comedies and other chick orientated media.

People are genetically disposed towards keeping insignificant details an absolute secret until the exact moment that that minor detail can cause the most damage. Prime secrets involve past relationships and or minor mishaps. For example:

Before Sharon started dating Clive, she had a one night stand with his best mate Dave (that's Big Dave, not Stumpy Dave or Squinteye Dave). Rather than being upfront about it, Sharon keeps it a secret until one of her mates lets it slip to Clive at a party. Break-up hilarity ensues...

Rather than admit that he lost the pound the Geoff gave him to buy a lottery ticket (a minor problem that can easily be corrected with another pound), Bill tells Geoff that he has the ticket in his pocket. Later that night, it turns out that Geoff picked the winning numbers and stands to win 30 million quid. And Bill still doesn't tell Geoff that he didn't buy the ticket. Until Geoff has already spent 50 grand on a party to celebrate. Nose breaking hilarity ensures...
 

Dark Jezter said:
You just described pretty much every sword fight scene in anime. :)

And a lot of fight scenes in Fist of the North Star.

Another Anime cliche is the sword/dagger/spear/etc.. bladed and/or pointy thing that gets knocked from the hero/villian/'giant robot's hand and invariably lands point first in the ground quivering in front of the camera.

On Exploding autos, I remember one scene from I think a '70s tv show where the car rolled off on to the grass at the side of the road going about 5 mph and this caused it to explode.
 

ddvmor said:
The Irrational Secret Keeping Rule

This one's mainly used by soaps on TV rather than action movies but can also apply to romantic comedies and other chick orientated media.

People are genetically disposed towards keeping insignificant details an absolute secret until the exact moment that that minor detail can cause the most damage. Prime secrets involve past relationships and or minor mishaps. For example:

Before Sharon started dating Clive, she had a one night stand with his best mate Dave (that's Big Dave, not Stumpy Dave or Squinteye Dave). Rather than being upfront about it, Sharon keeps it a secret until one of her mates lets it slip to Clive at a party. Break-up hilarity ensues...

Rather than admit that he lost the pound the Geoff gave him to buy a lottery ticket (a minor problem that can easily be corrected with another pound), Bill tells Geoff that he has the ticket in his pocket. Later that night, it turns out that Geoff picked the winning numbers and stands to win 30 million quid. And Bill still doesn't tell Geoff that he didn't buy the ticket. Until Geoff has already spent 50 grand on a party to celebrate. Nose breaking hilarity ensures...


THose both fall under the "Somebody Didn't Tell Somebody Else Something" heading that is used ad nauseum in TV comedies. Three's Company from the early 80's was probably the most frequent abuser with nearly every episode using this cliche.
 

Laws of Anime.

A lot of the things mentioned are covered in here:

Law of Metaphysical Irregularity
The normal laws of physics do not apply.


Law of Differentiated Gravitation
Whenever someone or something jumps, is thrown, or otherwise is rendered airborne, gravity is reduced by a factor of 4.


Law of Sonic Amplification, First Law of Anime Acoustics
In space, loud sounds, like explosions, are even louder because there is no air to get in the way.


Law of Constant Thrust, First Law of Anime Motion
In space, constant thrust equals constant velocity.


Law of Mechanical Mobility, Second Law of Anime Motion
The larger a mechanical device is, the faster it moves. Armored mecha are the fastest objects known to human science.


Law of Temporal Variability
Time is not a constant. Time stops for the hero whenever he does something 'cool' or 'impressive'. Time slows down when friends and lovers are being killed and speeds up whenever there is a fight.


First Law of Temporal Mortality
'Good Guys' and 'Bad Guys' both die in one of two ways. Either so quick they don't even see it coming, OR it's a long drawn out affair where the character gains much insight to the workings of society, human existence or why the toast always lands butter side down.


Second Law of Temporal Mortality
It takes some time for bad guys to die... regardless of physical damage. Even when the 'Bad Guys' are killed so quickly they didn't even see it coming, it takes them a while to realize they are dead. This is attributed to the belief that being evil damages the Reality Lobe of the brain.


Law of Dramatic Emphasis
Scenes involving extreme amounts of action are depicted with either still-frames or black screens with a slash of bright color (usually red or white).


Law of Dramatic Multiplicity
Scenes that only happen once, for instance, a 'Good Guy' kicks the 'Bad Guy' in the face, are seen at least 3 times from 3 different angles.


Law of Inherent Combustibility
Everything explodes. Everything.

First Corollary
Anything that explodes bulges first.

Second Corollary
Large cities are the most explosive substances known to human science. Tokyo in particular seems to be the most unstable of these cities, sometimes referred to as "The Matchstick City".
Law of Phlogistatic Emission
Nearly all things emit light from fatal wounds.


Law of Energetic Emission
There is always an energy build up (commonly referred to as an energy 'bulge') before mecha or space craft weapons fire. Because of the explosive qualities of weapons, it is believed that this is related to the Law of Inherent Combustibility.


Law of Inverse Lethal Magnitude
The destructive potential of a weapon is inversely proportional to its size.


Law of Inexhaustibility
No one *EVER* runs out of ammunition. That is of course unless they are cornered, out-numbered, out-classed, and unconscious.


Law of Inverse Accuracy
The accuracy of a 'Good Guy' when operating any form of fire-arm increases as the difficulty of the shot increases. The accuracy of the 'Bad Guys' when operating fire-arms decreases when the difficulty of the shot decreases. (Also known as the Stormtrooper Effect) Example: A 'Good Guy' in a drunken stupor being held upside down from a moving vehicle will always hit, and several battalions of 'Bad Guys' firing on a 'Good Guy' standing alone in the middle of an open field will always miss.

First Corollary
The more 'Bad Guys' there are, the less likely they will hit anyone or do any real damage.

Second Corollary
Whenever a 'Good Guy' is faced with insurmountable odds, the 'Bad Guys' line up in neat rows, allowing the hero to take them all out with a single burst of automatic fire and then escape.

Third Corollary
Whenever a 'Good Guy' is actually hit by enemy fire, it is in a designated 'Good Guy Area', usually a flesh wound in the shoulder or arm, which restricts the 'Good Guy' from doing anything more strenuous than driving, firing weaponry, using melee weapons, operating heavy machinery, or doing complex martial arts maneuvers.
Law of Transient Romantic Unreliability
Minmei is a bimbo. (Note: The Minority Opposition in Ohio disagrees and thinks all men who like this stuff need to get out more.)


Law of Hemoglobin Capacity
The human body contains over 12 gallons of blood. Sometimes more.


Law of Demonic Consistency
Demons and other supernatural creatures have at least three eyes, loads of fangs, tend to be yellow-green or brown, but black is not unknown, and can only be hurt by bladed weapons.


Law of Militaristic Unreliability
Huge galaxy-wide armadas, entire armies, and large war-machines full of cruel, heartless, bloodthirsty warriors can be stopped and defeated with a single insignificant example of a caring/loving emotion or a song.


Law of Tactical Unreliability
Tactical geniuses aren't....


Law of Inconsequential Undetectability
People never notice the little things.... Like missing body parts, or wounds the size of Seattle.


Law of Juvenile Intellectuality
Children are smarter than adults. And almost always twice as annoying.


Law of Antagonistic Americanthropomorphism
The really nasty 'Bad Guys' are always skinny Americans.


Law of Americanthropomorphistic Intellectual Inferiority
The stupid 'Good Guys' are always big Americans.

First Corollary
The only people who are more stupid than the big dumb Americans are the American translators. (Sometimes referred to as the Green Line Effect)

Second Corollary
The only people who are more stupid than the American translators are the American editors and censors.
Law of Mandibular Proportionality
The size of a person's mouth is directly proportional to the volume at which they are speaking.


Law of Feline Mutation
Any half-cat/half-human mutation will invariably:

1) be female
2) will possess ears and sometimes a tail as a genetic mutation
3) wear as little clothing as possible, if any
Law of Conservation of Firepower
Any powerful weapon capable of destroying/defeating an opponent in a single shot will invariably be reserved and used only as a last resort.


Law of Technological User-Benevolence
The formal training required to operate a spaceship or mecha is inversely proportional to its complexity.


Law of Melee Luminescence
Any being displaying extremely high levels of martial arts prowess and/or violent emotions emits light in the form of a glowing aura. This aura is usually blue for 'good guys' and red for 'bad guys'. This is attributed to Good being higher in the electromagnetic spectrum than Evil.


Law of Non-anthropomorphic Antagonism
All ugly, non-humanoid alien races are hostile, and usually hell-bent on destroying humanity for some obscure reason.


Law of Follicular Chromatic Variability
Any color in the visible spectrum is considered a natural hair color. This color can change without warning or explanation.


Law of Follicular Permanence
Hair in anime is pretty much indestructable, and can resist any amount of meteorological conditions, energy emissions, physical abuse, or explosive effects and still look perfect. The only way to hurt someone's hair is the same way you deal with demons... with bladed weapons!


Law of Topological Aerodynamics, First Law of Anime Aero-Dynamics
*ANY* shape, no matter how convoluted or odd-looking, is automatically aerodynamic.


Law of Probable Attire
Clothing in anime follows certain predictable guidelines. Female characters wear as little clothing as possible, regardless of whether it is socially or meteorologically appropriate. Any female with an excessive amount of clothing will invariably have her clothes ripped to shreds or torn off somehow. If there is no opportunity to tear off the afore-mentioned female's clothes, then she will inexplicably take a shower for no apparent reason (also known as the Gratuitous Shower Scene). Whenever there is a headwind, Male characters invariably wear a long cloaks that don't hamper movement and billow out dramatically behind them.

First Corollary (Cryo-Adaptability)
All anime characters are resistant to extremely cold temperatures, and do not need to wear heavy or warm clothing in snow.

Second Corollary (Indecent Invulnerability)
Bikinis render the wearer invulnerable to any form of damage.
Law of Musical Omnipotence
Any character capable of musical talent (singing, playing an instrument, etc.) is automatically capable of doing much more "simple" things, like piloting mecha, fighting crime, stopping an intergalactic war, and so on...especially if they have never attempted these things before.


Law of Quintupular Agglutination
Also called "The Five-man Rule", when "Good Guys" group together, it tends to be in groups of five. There are five basic positions, which are:

1) The Hero/Leader
2) His Girlfriend
3) His Best Friend/Rival
4) A Hulking Brute
5) A Dwarf/Kid Between these basic positions are distributed several attributes, which include:

1) Extreme Coolness
2) Amazing Intelligence
3) Incredible Irritation
Law of Extradimensional Capacitance (a.k.a. Hammer Space)
All anime females have an extradimensional storage space of variable volume somewhere on their person from which they can instantly retrieve any object at a moment's notice.

First Corollary (a.k.a. The Hammer Rule)
The most common item stored is a heavy mallet, which can be used with unerring accuracy on any male who deserves it. Other common items include costumes/uniforms, power suits/armor, and large bazookas.
Law of Hydrostatic Emission
Eyes tend to be rather large in Anime. This is because they contain several gallons of water, which may be instantaneously released at high pressure through large tear ducts. The actual volume of water contained in the eyes is unknown, as there is no evidence to suggest that these reservoirs are actually capable of running out. The reason water tends to collect in the eyes is because Anime characters only have one large sweat gland, which is located at the back of the head. When extremely stressed, embarrassed, or worried, this sweat gland exudes a single but very large drop of sebaceous fluid.


Law of Inverse Attraction
Success at finding suitable mates is inversely proportionate to how desperately you want to be successful. The more you want, the less you get, and vice versa.

First Corollary
Unfortunately, this law seems to apply to Otaku in the real world...
Law of Nasal Sanguination
When sexually aroused, males in Anime don't get erections, they get nosebleeds. No one's sure why this is, though... the current theory suggests that larger eyes means smaller sinuses and thinner sinus tissue (see Law #38 above). Females don't get nosebleeds, but invariably get one heck of a blush along the cheeks and across the nose, suggesting a lot of bloodflow to that region.


Law of Xylolaceration
Wooden or bamboo swords are just as sharp as metal swords, if not sharper.


Law of Juvenile Omnipotence
Always send a boy to do a man's job. He'll get it done in half the time and twice the angst.


Law of Nominative Clamovocation
The likelihood of success and damage done by a martial arts attack is directly proportional to the volume at which the full name of the attack is announced.


Law of Uninteruptable Metamorphosis
Regardless of how long or involved the transformation sequence or how many times they've seen it before, any 'Bad Guys' witnessing a mecha/hero/heroine transforming are too stunned to do anything to interrupt it.


Law of Flimsy Incognition
Simply changing into a costume or wearing a teensy mask can make you utterly unrecognizable to even your closest friends and relatives.
 


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