Unwritten and Unofficial Rules for TV and Movies.

ETHNIC CLICHES TV Episode Plots FAMILIAR PLOT LINES OUTSIDE LINKS MARKETING GIMICS

A popular character in the franchise is a mess in a sequel

Franchise Sequel Character Franchise Sequel Character Franchise Sequel Character Franchise Sequel Character
Terminator Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines John Connor Independence Day Independence Day: Resurgence President Whitmore Star Wars Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker Indiana Jones Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Indiana Jones

If you're losing against a far superior enemy don't worry there is a way to win the battle or war by hitting just the right spot.

Star Wars Independence Day Battle Beyond the Stars
Battle: Los Angeles

The Native Woman
A man or a team finds a strange civilization there is an attractive native woman that will help with communication or in telling what the man or team what they want to know.

The Lost World (1960)

A bad guy accommodation will save the good guy. It could be good planning or good luck on the good guy's part.

Planning Planning Luck
Gladiator The Ambushers Die Hard: With a Vengeance

Walking or running over a Fallen Tree in a Tropical Rainforest Setting

Fallen Tree Foot Bridge
King Kong Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Predator
The Mummy Returns

Alien Race Based on The Bee Hive Principal

Queen of Blood Aliens Independence Day: Resurgence Star Trek: First Contact

H Woman that loses or lost a hand

World War Z Mad Max: Fury Road Sharknado 2
Sin City

Things are stable until the protagonist(s) shows up.

The Darkest Hour Word War Z The Book of Eli Terminator Salvation
Armagedon Terrordactyl The Giant of Metropolis Mysterious Island
The Lost World The People That Time Forgot The Mole People Journey to the Center of the Earth

Killed in the ring
Rocky is an exception because most movies that involve boxing have a fighter die in the ring or a fighter who died in the ring as the back story. The Rocky franchise didn't have a fighter die in the ring until Rocky IV.

Pulp Fiction The Harder They Fall The Quiet Man From Here to Eternity

Catch and Release
A character with overwhelming strength grabs a character and instead of killing the character the overwhelming strength character throws the intended victim. This enables the character to escape their demise.

Predator Creature

Someone Coming out of the Background

Rambo: First Blood Part II Wild Wild West Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Mad Max: Fury Road The Mummy Returns Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

If you need a doctor get a veterinarian.

Baby Boom Inglorious Basterds The Getaway

Someone who is listening to loud music, or has another distraction, is unaware of what is happening nearby.

The Terminator The Punisher Die Hard*
The Nest True Lies Core
* In this case a handgun is fired on the 30th floor and the person listening to music is in a limosine in a parking garage on the ground floor.

In disaster movies there is often a person in the crowd who has no idea what is about to happen. Everyone else is obviously aware of the impending doom.

Independence Day The Beginning of the End

An Antagonist faces doom and the protagonist tries, unsuccessfully, to save an antagonist.

The Mummy Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom
Rush Hour 3 Guardians of the Galaxy Fantastic Voyage Batwoman

A day at the beach. Doomed characters often go to the beach at or shortly before the end.

Deep Impact On the Beach Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Bonnie and Clyde

Moon is En-Route. Before reaching the Earth something passes by the moon.

Starship Invasions Armagedon Superman II Battlestar Galactica Daybreak: Part 3

Robot on Board. A space ship needs a mobile robot or a talking computer.

Robot Talking Computer
Alien Flight of the Navigator
Interstellar 2001: A Space Odyssey
Forbidden World Battle Beyond the Stars
Prometheus  
Supernova  
First Spaceship on Venus  
Red Planet  
Aliens  

Space ships and stations have self-destruct devices.

Alien Star Trek* Robinson Crusoe on Mars
* The self destruct device was mentioned in the TV series. The device was used to destroy the USS Enterprise in Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock.

Spacecraft Down
If there is trouble coming from space the first thing to buy it is a small spacecraft

Battle Beyond the Stars Armageddon Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Independence Day
Battleship Spiders 3D Battlestar Galactica (Mini-series) The Predator

No matter how computer savvy the person, or how important the information, they always pick easy passwords.

Movie Password Movie Password
Machete IYAPRIL Goldeneye chair
Sherlock TV Series: Episode A Study in Pink rachel National Treasure Valley Forge
No Good Deed erin Demolition Man Teddy Bear

Movies often show how funny people look in strange eyewear.

Van Helsig Ghostbusters II The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Wild Wild West The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Episode The Deadly Toys Affair Deep Space
The Rift The Twilight Zone episode: "Time Enough at Last" The Twilight Zone episode: "Four O'Clock"

Bad guys rarely look up. That is why people hiding from, or trying to surprise, a bad guy go up.

Van Helsig Kill Bill: Volume 1 Goldfinger
Kiss the Girls and Make them Die The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Episode The King of Knaves Affair

If the bad guys chain you to something don't worry what you are chained to has a weak link.

Titanic The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Vulcan Affair Extraction
Moonraker

The Twinkie is the most popular movie snack.

In the future people will drive around in cars that were antiques when the movie was made.

Blade Runner Demolition Man The 6th Day The Breed
Daybreakers Godzilla: Final Wars Road Warrior Star Trek
Independence Day Into the Badlands (TV Series) Mad Max: Fury Road Cherry 2000
City Limits The Purge (TV Series) Star Trek (2009) Trancers

In the future people will will be fascinated with the music and pop culture of the 20th century

Demolition Man Guardians of the Galaxy

If you survive a gunshot wound your arm will be put in a sling.

Some Came Running 2 Fast, 2 Furious Love Me Tender Eagle Eye Rush Hour 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Submerged Terminator 2 Cypher

Never bring a gun to a knife fight.
This is a reversal of a line used in The Untouchables. In that movie the guy who brought the knife survived the fight. The guy who declared it a gunfight died in the fight.

The Punisher (2004) Prizzi's Honor Soylent Green

Women are good at righteous treachery.

Operation Crossbow Inglorious Basterds The Matrix Reloaded
The Macintosh Man Where the Spies Are Flash Gordon
The Million Eyes of Sumuru The Getaway Night of the Comet
From Russia With Love Mirage 4D Man
The Formula Wanted

Don't tell someone nobody else knows about something, or you'll wind up as dead as these characters:

Character(s) Movie Character(s) Movie Character(s) Movie
Yevhen The Italian Job 2003 Two Ape Warriors Planet of the Apes 2001 Jack Vincennes L.A. Confidential 1997
Memnet The Ten Commandments 1956 Danny Kindergarden Cop Suzie Lawler Frankenstein's Daughter.
Giles Barton Lust for a Vampire Monahan How to Make a Monster
Selina Kyle in Batman Returns survived the attempted murder by Max Shreck but she underwent a personality change and morphed into Catwoman.

Regardless of the conveyance, or lack of, you can still outrun an explosion.

Movie Conveyance Movie Conveyance Movie Conveyance
Independence Day space ship. The Fifth Element space ship Predator 2 on foot
Terminator Salvation helicopter. Eight Legged Freaks motorcycle
Aliens space ship Marvel's Agent Carter Pilot car
Resident Evil: Afterlife A CV-22 Terminator 2 motorcycle

If you are in an armed conveyance and there is a wall in front of you, you will be able to shoot a hole in the wall big enough for your conveyance to fit through. If you're in a conveyance and there is a wall in front of you, the conveyance is probably armed.

Enemy Mine Armagedon
The Spy Who Loved Me Judge Dredd
The Fifth Element Death Race

Machine guns are worthless as weapons.

Harlem Nights Lethal Weapon 2

Anti-Missile/Satellite systems are worthless.

Spies Like Us Fantastic Four 2 Die Another Day

Planning for disaster is useless.
Probably the first example of this is Moby Dick (1956) when Queequeg foresaw his death and had the ship's carpenter make him a coffin. Queequeg drowned so his body didn't end up in the coffin.

Zombietown A survivalist was killed by zombies. As in Moby Dick the protagonists used the dead survivalist's weapons.
Night of the Comet A survivalist group knew the danger from the comet but forgot to close the vents.
Battlestar Galactica Act of Contrition A survivalist(s) made a fully equipped fallout shelter but didn't get to use it.

Sound is often used as a weapon.
Sound weapons are usually used for comic effect however in some cases, such as Earth vs The Flying Saucers sound is used as a serious weapon:

Movie Weapon & Effect Movie Weapon & Effect
High Anxiety Hard rock music on car radio used to kill Live and Let Die High pitched sound through a headset is lethal.
Mars Attacks The song Indian Love Call is used to wipe out the Martians The Terror Within Dog whistle sound is used against the monster
One, Two, Three The song The Pokadot Bikini is used for torture Troll Church Bells used against the troll
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes A terrible song is deadly to the tomatoes The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The See-Paris-and-Die Affair A tunning fork is used to explode an earphone at the opposite end of the listening device
Battle Beyond the Stars A high pitch sound is used to cause earthquakes Godzilla vs Monster Zero A sound from an invention causes pain to the aliens and havoc on their communication system.
The Retaliator A high pitched sound over the telephone used to kill. Dune Some human sounds project power.
Gog An array of tunning forks is used to kill. The Day the Earth Froze A harp is used to defeat the forces of the wicked witch.
Star Trek Beyond Hard rock music sent over the radio disrupts the swarm weapon Children of the Damned Irritating mind control sound wards off attackers

Foot chases tend to happen while there's a parade in progress:

Thunderball The Fugitive
Showdown in Little Tokyo The Net
The Arrival The Leopard Man

If you don't have anything to get away from an impending explosion don't worry, there is something you can get into that will shield you from the blast.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Mimic 3: The Sentinal
Independence Day

When you go to the bathroom be afraid, be very afraid:

Doom Unforgiven
Soldier of Orange Jurassic Park
Zombietown Sharknado 2: The Second One

The only competent henchman is a woman.

Desperado Thunderball Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter
The Professionals

Evil leader has a woman with supernatural powers.

The Barbarians 47 Ronin Mulan The Scorpion King
Robin Hood: Men in Tights Conan The Barbarian (2011)

No matter how many combatants are involved the two leaders will end up fighing each other at the end.

Gangs of New York King Arthur Excalibur
The Time Guardian Braveheart
The Patriot Machete
Death Wish 3 The Dark Knight Rises
300: Rise of an Empire The Magic Carpet
Immortals The Admiral

No matter how long things are left unattended they still work.

The Mummy Raiders of the Lost Ark Demolition Man
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull The Goonies
Dark Shadows (2012) Battlefield Earth Tomb Raider 2018
The Twilight Zone Episode: The Rip Van Winkle Caper Planet of the Apes 2011 Planet of the apes

Draw Bridges in a scene are made to be opened.

Maximum Overdrive The Mummy Returns Reptilicus

If a piece of machinery isn't working do something, anything, and it will work.

The Longest Day Give it a good bash. Aliens Bang it against a bulkhead Battlestar Galactica Hand of God Slap the monitor
Armageddon Hit it with a rod, that will get the space ship's electrical system working. Babylon 5 The Long Dark Hit the panel and that gets a 100 year old panel to go online. Goldeneye Hit it with a sledge hammer, that will get a car engine to turn over

Sometimes a twig is just a twig.
Often times leaders diagram their plan with whatever is available. For example a candy wrapper would represent a building, a matchstick represents a guard. In these cases someone asks what an unmentioned object represents. The leader then explains it doesn't represent anything, it is what it is.

Waterworld A mole is a mole. Con Air A rock is a rock.
Jojo Rabbit Wallnuts are wallnuts

A variation on this is when one character explains a bunch of gadgets another character asks about one item and the item is just an ordinary item.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Tooth care products are simply tooth care products. Planes A box simply contains a plane's lunch. Gilligans Island (The Invasion) A tooth brush is a tooth brush.
Never Say Never Again A device is for Q's sinuses

A former pro athelete had a career ending injury.

Co-pilot Dan Erickson Land of the Giants (TV series) Captain Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace Battlestar Galactica

A door comes off a car.

The Longest Yard (2005) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Robocop 3 Demolition Man

Someone who apparently can't speak English at the beginning of the movie/series suddenly can speak English.

Land of the Giants (TV series) Planet of the Apes
Rush Hour Lost (TV series)
Thunderheart Predator

It probably began with House of Horrors (1946), now suprised characters with a cigarette/cigar/other object in their mouth is a common movie scene.

Independence Day The Big Hit Indestructible Man
Men In Black Ghostbusters The Spy Who Loved Me
Batman King Kong (2006) The Terror Within
Terminator 2 It The Terror From Beyond Space

The blood splatter is a good way to show someone had a gruesome death without showing their gruesome death.

The Hunted Raiders of the Lost Ark The Hunted Sleepy Hollow
Terminator 3 Sin City

Another method is to switch another scene where someone is doing something non-violent.

The Spider Octopussy

Throw something important in a body of water.

Movie In the water Movie In the water
The Dark Knight Rises Robin throws his detective badge into the river. Cypher Throws a CD into the ocean
Faster Driver throws his half-brother's ashes into a body of water. The Marathon Man The protagonist throws the gun his father killed himself with into the river
Dirty Harry Dirty Harry throws his police badge into the river Flatliners Woman throws a laptop with all the research data into the river
The Manchurian Candidate (2004) The protagonist throws his Medal of Honor & a picture into the Persian Gulf. Dive Bomber Drops a cigarette case into the ocean
The Paper Chase The protagonist throws his final grade into the ocean.
Top Gun Maverick throws a set of dog tags into the ocean.
Titanic The protagonist throws a diamond necklace into the ocean.
From Russia With Love The protagonist throws a film reel into a canal.
Iron Man 3 The protagonist throws his mechanical organ into the ocean.

One unqualified person among a team of hand picked professionals.

Ambush Bay
Saving Private Ryan Dark Star XXX: Return of Xander Cage
SS Doomtrooper Red Faction Predator
Force Ten From Navarone Fury

A spy is sent behind enemy lines who can't speak the enemy's language.

Inglorious Basterds Shinning Through
The Dirty Dozen  

One very large opponent.

The Punisher (2004) Raiders of the Lost Arc Indana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Jingle All The Way The Legend of Zorro The Accidental Spy
Rush Hour 3 300 John Wick 2
47 Ronin The King's Man

Two allies back into each other.

The Scorpion King Tango and Cash The Spy Who Loved Me
For Your Eyes Only Gladiator
Braveheart 300: Rise of an Empire

The only person who could shed light on a mystery is incoherent

The Ring Monsters
Them! Soylent Green

A surprise attacker will give a reflection.

V (2011) Mother's Day Reflection in a mirror Goldfinger Reflection in eye Octopussy Reflection in jewelry
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Reflection in a metal mask Home Alone Reflection in a Christmas Ornament
The Transporter Reflection in a mirror The Transporter II Reflection in a puddle
Superseven Calling Cairo Reflection in mirror The Tournament Reflection in silverware
Iron Man 2 Reflection in car mirror White House Down Reflection in a wall mirror

Other Reflections

Polar Express Santa Claus in a sleigh bell

In Science Fiction movies if a woman has a father or father figure, he probably won't survive the movie.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms Blade Runner Armageddon The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines The War of the Worlds (1953) Pacific Rim Cherry 2000
Forbidden Planet Earth vs. the Flying Saucers The Nest Village of the Damned*
A Crack in the World* Snake People When Worlds Collide The Mad Monster
Day the World Ended Frankenstein's Daughter She (1935)
* Woman is married to an older man.

Space Travel = Time Travel
Lately a voyage in space means a travel through time.

Interstellar Lost in Space Star Trek 4: The Journey Home*
Flight of the Navigator
*In the Star Trek genre time travel seems the go to solution.

By The Numbers

In a love triangle it's odd person dead.

The Poseidon Adventure 2004 Absolute Zero The Fountainhead Mesa of Lost Women
Last Woman on Earth 2012 Moon Zero Two Ator: The Fighting Eagle
Forbidden Planet Zeppelin San Andreas
The Silencers Godzilla (1954) Crack in the world
Pearl Harbor Oblivion The Nest
The Manster Interstellar Heatseeker
Johnny Guitar The Birds The Green Slime

Three is the magic number.

Third Time is a charm Give up after the Third Try Third Time is a charm
It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown - Lucy chooses the third pumpkin. Pirates of the Caribbean - Captian Jack Sparrow drops three coins into the chest. The One That Got Away - Oberleutnant Franz Xaver Baron von Werra was successful on the third escape attempt
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery - The third celbrity death is the punch line. Wild Wild West - They try to drive in the golden spike three times. War of The Gargantuas - Monster catches the third helicopter.
Desperado - The third bathroom stall has the secret entrance. Speed - Howard Payne says "I'm smarter' three times then gets decapitated. Ghostbusters - The male aubject gueese right on the third try.
Tora Tora Tora - The third shiloutte is the Japanese flag ship Live and Let Die - Three assassinations in the opening sequences Polar Express - Says "I believe" 3 times then hears the bell.
Deep Rising - Engine starts on the third try. Tomorrow Never Dies - Third punch knocks back security guard. Polar Express - On the third "I believe" tells Santa "it's yours."
Year of the Dragon - Found Stanley White in the third stall. Flash Gordon - Stops playing a Mongo version of Russian Roulette after sticking his hand in the tree stump three times. Target Earth - Third shot hits target.
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horrors 13 Send in the Clones - Homer shoots three clones when he drops them off in a remote field. The Twilight Zone: Five Characters in Search of an Exit - The sword hooks on the top at the third toss
Blade Runner - Third shot hits the replicant Blade Runner - Shoots running woman three times.
The Net - The third cyber person was the one with the information Anzio - A German plane makes three strafing passes.
Spaceballs - The third group that's combing the area have the punchline. True Lies - Terrorist kicks open three restroom stalls.
You Only Live Twice - The third woman is 007's make believe bride The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror 13" Segment "Send in the Clones" - Homer shoots three clones in the middle of a field.
Welcome to Mooseport - Three times at Rock, Paper, Scizzors. The Sting - The mystery man loads three bullets into a pistol.
March of the Penguins - The seal eats the third penguin. The Invaders; The Pursued - Anne Gibbs calls out "David" three times then incinerates.
The Foreigner - Kills bad guy the third time Pulp Fiction - Demonstrates three stabbing motions.
24 Day 6; episode 1-2 PM - Three people in a building the third one is the terrorist. Gladiator - Germatic Gladiator strikes Meridus twice with a sword then is stopped on the third attempt.
Family Guy "Pretarded" episode - Opens three bathroom stalls The Transporter 2 - Three rules of the car
The Simpsons Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment - The third cut cable cuts the power. Gilligan's Island The Invasion - Mary Ann says "I'm going" three times then "dies".
Conan the Barbarian - Third pull back of the bow is a fake-out. Gremlins - Three rules.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - Three things the French invented. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - Throws three buckets of water
The Mummy Returns - The third rock from the slig shot gets caught. Air Force One - Terrorists shoot through three lavitory doors.
The Legend of Zorro - Zorro catches the third log. Young Frankenstein - Frau Blucher offers to get Dr. Frankenstein a drink three times.
Get Smart - Three agents killed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) - Mr. Hyde shot three times
The Pink Panther (2006) - The third house Clouseau bursts into to accuse the occupant of murder is the house where the murder victim, who is alive, is staying. Always - The third plane on the training run bombs the instructor with red dye.
Inglorious Basterds - The third prisoner tells them everything. The Silencers - Bad guy shoots dancer 3 times.
The Scopion King - Finds the boy in the third jar. The Sauceress sticks her arm in the third jar. The Outer Limits The Duplicate Man - Tour guide shows 3 alien creatures in the exhibit.
Journey to the Center of the Earth - The third torch works. The Beast of Hollow Mountain - Fires three rounds before running out of ammunition.
Goldfinger - James Bond pulls his stunt at the third appearance at the cell bars. Ghostbusters - The subject gets the guess right, still gets shocked, and quits the experiment.
The Crazies (201) - The third strapped down intended victim is one of the main characters. The scene is depicted in the movie poster.  
Schindler's List - Amon Goeth kills his orderly with the third shot.  
Austin Powers - International Man of Mystery - Austin Powers goes over a list of 60s rock stars. The third name is the punch line.  
True Lies - Third shot kills the terrorist driver.  
The Terminator - The third Sara Connor is the right one.  
Braniac - Third person to look through the telescope sees the comet.  
Battle: Los Angeles - Third missile strikes the command and control center  
The dark Knight Rises - Climbes out of the prison on the third try  
Chain of Command - The third name called out is the guy who got away.  
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - The third thing an undead entity tried to eat was a Twinkie, which didn't decay in his hands.  
Independence Day - The third helicopter victim is the live First Lady.  
Scooby Doo - The third time the foursome jumbled their spirits they all found the right bodies.  
Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade - Bangs on the X three times.  
Amityville 1992: It's About Time - The third time a woman pokes the possessed man with a T-Square he wakes up.  
Shrek 3 - Two false alarms before the frog king dies for real  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer -In the episode Lessons Buffy is checking out rest room stalls. She finds someone in the third stall.  
Red Sonja - The third crossbow bolt stuck and mortally wounded Sonja's sister.  
The Simpsons episode Magical History Tour - The third chop of the ax decapitates the elderly queen.  
The War of the Worlds - Finds woman in the third church  
Interstellar - Third planet is the habitable one.  

$ + $$ =
Someone if offered some money to do something for the bad guys. The person demands more money at the last minute. The bad guy protests but then agrees. The bad guy will kill the person anyway so why not agree to give them more money.

Movie Demand Movie Demand Movie Demand
The Mummy Returns Wanted $10,000 instead of the original $5,000 The Astro-Zombies   The Assassination Bureau 100,000 instead of the Original 10,000
Deadlock   Thunderball Wanted twice the amount The Jackal Wanted a bonus
   

The 4:1 rule.
If there are four or more bad guys the person with the hero has to kill at least one. It's a good way to show the other person isn't completely useless:

Benji in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol President Grant in Wild Wild West Judy in The Crazies (2010) Father MacAvoy in The Tournament Lt. Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man Rachel in Blade Runner
Consuelo Biros in The Outer Limits Episode Demon with a Glass Hand Justin Long in Live Free or Die Hard Sgt Al Powell in Die Hard 1988 The Wizard in Conan the Barbarian (1982) Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon (1952) President Sawyer & Donnie The Guide in White House Down
The President in London Has Fallen Maria Cessar in Final Justice

3 = N
This may have its roots in the Book of Genesis where Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. In the movies turning back often means death.

From Here to Eternity Star Over North Africa The Young Lions

The false alarm before the real one.

Mars Attacks Martian leader takes out what appears to be a prepared statement before taking out a ray gun and wiping out congress. I, Robot A cat shows up, moments before the demolition robot goes into action.
Lake Placid An otter swims out shortly before the crocodile attacks. The Jackal Noise is agent taking out the trash.
Jaws There is a bathing cap moments before the real shark makes an appearance. Predator Small mammal comes out before The Predator strikes
Battle for Los Angeles A dog shows up before an alien ambush. Terminator A lizzard knocks over some boxes before The Terminator comes into the appartment.
Doom A more before the attack. Alien The cat jumps out. Moments later the Alien jumps out.
Beast From the Haunted Cave Man pops out and says "Boo" before The Beast attacks. Aliens The child, Newt, shows up before the patrol where the squad gets ambushed by aliens.
Deep Space Cat appears before the monster appears. Alien vs Predator A penguin jumps out. Soon after things go bad.
The Wolfman (2010 Birds fly from a bush before the werewolf appears. Leprechan Someone rings a bicycle bell. Moments later the Leprechan rings his bell. There is a shadow of a bucket and mop that looks like the Leprechan. Moments later the Leprechan appears.
Gorgon Birds fly off before the Gorgon appears. Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs A man pops out before a dinosaur comes.
Stepfather II A cat comes out of a trash bin before the killer strikes. Alligator Police Officer plays a practical joke before the Alligator strikes.

A bad guy falling from a high spot is a popular scene. Which may have started with Metropolis. More recently they have a habit of landing on vehicles.

Landed on Car Landed somewhere else Landed on Car Landed somewhere else
Die Hard Die Hard The Lineup Gone in 60 Seconds
Rush Hour 2 King Kong Alex Cross The City That Never Sleeps
The Untouchables Outrageous Fortune Con Air Happy Death Day
Colatteral Mercury Rising Hitman: Agent 47
Marked for Death Category 7 High Anxiety
End of Days Judge Dredd
Hudson Hawk Metropolis
Highlander: Free Fall Into the Sun 2005
Fringe: Stowaway Hollywood Homicide
Malicious King Kong
Matrix Reloaded Murphy's Law
Die Hard with a vengance Dick Tracy
Dare Devil The Most Dangerous Game
Maniac Cop II The 6th Day
Underworld Awakening The Leech Woman
Blade The New
Sherlock Holmes*  
* In the movie Eraser the good guy landed on a car but survived.

Impallation is another popular end for a bad guy.

Con Air Cyborg The Transporter 2 The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
The Spy Who Dumped Me Chamber of Horrors High Anxiety

If someone is left for dead, they aren't.

The Punisher Kill Bill Vol 1

The Gangster Meeting
At a gangster meeting the head guy, or the aspiring head guy, kills another gangster.

Batman Dick Tracy Kill Bill Vol 1
The Untouchables Delta Force 2 Double Impact
The Witches Blade The Avengers
Thunderball A View to a Kill Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
Space Mutuny The Scorpion King

The Enemy Meeting
One enemy leader meets another enemy leader under truce. The truce is honored.

Khartoom The Patriot

Katana (Samurai) Swords. If the move has them someone will loose their head.

Black Rain Kill Bill: Vol 1
Highlander Shogun (mini-series)
The HUNTED Windtalker
24: Live Another Day (mini-series) Black Rain
The Admiral The Warrior's Way

Savant Skills
Someone who is the dud in the group shows remarkable skill in one area.

Movie Example Movie Example
Van Helsig The Monster who didn't seem to be in a position to know anything, in fact knows everything. Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest An illiterate knows about the Scandinavian pronunciation of "Kraken".
Who Framed Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit, a silly character, had a gorgeous wife. Blazing Saddles Mongo, a dumb brute, when questioned shows a complete understanding of his situation. "Mongo only pawn .. in game of life."
Eraser When the local godfather calls the Russians a bunch of commies, Tiny, points out they are no longer Communists but a Commonwealth of Independent States. Pocahontas Wiggins was normally oblivious to the world around him. When Governor Ratcliffe asked, "Why do you think the indians attacked?" Wiggins answered, "Because we invaded their land, cut down their trees and dug up their earth?"
The Lion King Pumba, one of the comic relief characters, correctly thought the stars were giant balls of gas millions of miles away. Robin and the Seven Hoods The guy who was the stiff ended up with everything.

See and Scream
Two people see each other and scream when they make eye contact.

50 First Dates Starman
ET: The Extra Terrestrial Dracula Dead and Loving It
Mr. Nice Guy If Only
The Mummy The Mummy Returns
Underdog Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horrors XVIII ET Go Home The Simpsons Episode: "Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes in Every Fish"
Freaky Friday King of the Hill: Hank and Step Brother
The Grinch That Stole Christmas The Night of the Comet

IGreet and Slap
A man meets a woman he hasn't seen for a while. Then the woman slaps or punches him.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Pirates of the Carribean The Huntsman: Winter's War
Total Recall The Medallion Thee Fantastic Supermen
Face Off The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. episode: The Romany Lie Affair
The Adventures of Don Juan Goldeneye
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tomorrow Never Dies
A Fish Called Wanda Legend of the Seeker
The Simpsons episode: Papa Don't Leech True Bloodthirst
Austin Powers in Goldmember The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Famous Last Words
There is the famous, "I'll be back." However if someone puts a qualifier on it like, "I'll be back, soon." They will probably be dead soon."

Movie Line
Carnosaur "I'll be right back"
The Spy Who Loved Me "I'll be back in a moment"
Moon of the Werewolf "I'll be right back"

JSay a pun and somebody dies.
The movies probably rescued the pun from obscurity. While the James Bond genre is famous for death puns they have been used long before 007.N

Movie Circumstance Pun Movie Circumstance Pun
Mercenary for Justice Seconds before he blows up a nemesis in his car. "I always thought he had an explosive personality." The Punisher (2004) Villain throws his wife in front of a train "She took the train"
Deadlier Than The Male Villainesses push man out a window. "I have had men fall for me before but never like this." Deadlier Than The Male A bomb in a wig explodes the Villainesses. "That's what comes from letting success go to your head."
XXX A cigarette smoking bad guy is killed "I told him that cigarettes would kill him one day"
Wild Wild West Character has two knives for hands No more Mr. Knives guy.
Batman The Joker electricutes a gangster "Oh, I got a live one here!"
Eraser A train hits the bad guys' car "They caught a train."
Rush Hour 2 The villain falls out of a building and lands on top of a cab. "We'll just say he tried to catch a cab."
Men In Black Alien kills a waiter by breaking him in half "Gave him a break."
Men In Black 2 A mugger licks Serleena, a space alien in the guise of a beautiful woman, and tells her she tasts good. Serleena eats him "So do you."
Lethal Weapon 3 Jack Travis buries a bad guy in cement "Now we've got a relationship we can build on."
Robocop 2 Robocop shoots a criminal who is smoking a cigarette. "Thank you for not smoking."
Speed The bad guy proclaims, "I'm smarter: I'm smarter" then gets decapitated. "Yeah, well I'm taller."
Best of the Best 4 Someone gets shot in a car "You can ride shot gun."
The Running Man Ben Richards strangles Sub-Zero with barb wire. "What a pain in the neck."
Robocop The gang leader blows off Officere Murphy's hand. "Well give the man a hand!"
I Come In Peace Bad alien says; "I come in peace." Jack Caine retorts. "Then go in pieces"
Lethal Weapon 2 Roger Murtaugh kills two criminals with a nail gun "Nailed you both"
The Wizard of Oz The Wizard learns Dorothy killed the Wicked Witch of the West by throwing water on her "Oh, you liquidated her, eh?"
From Russia With Love Rosa Klebb tries to kick James Bond with a shoe that has a poison tipped blade. Bond's girfriend shoots her dead. "Yes, she had her kicks."
Commando 1985 Matrix holds a man over a cliff. He releases him sending him falling to his death. "I let him go."
Predator A commando throws a knife into a guerrella nailing the guerrella to a wall. "Stick around."
True Lies The enemy terrorist is hanging on an air-air missile. The hero fires the missile. "You're fired."
The Untouchables Ness throws Nitti off the roof. Nitti crashes on top of a car. "He's in the Car."
The Whole Ten Yards Target falls of balcony "He left the building"
Hudson Hawk Right before cutting a man's throat "I want my cut"
Twins Chairs fall on a man's head "That guy has a lot on his mind"
Demolition Man A Frozen bad guy gets hit on the head and broken into pieces "Heads Up"
Die Another Day Sticks a knife and a book to the bad woman's chest. This one ended up with a double pun "Read this" and "I think I broke her heart"
Jason X Marine is impalled on a giant screw. "He's screwed"
Hellboy (2019) Hellboy decapitates the evil entity. The head proclaims it's only the beginning. "WHy don't you quit while you're ahead."

#"At least one of the bad guys has an odd weapon. The important thing is to turn the weapon against the bad guy.

Movie Weapon & Use
Octopussy A knife thrower is killed by his own knife being thrown at him.
Hudson Hawk One henchman had a large knife strapped to each arm. He fell and decapitated himself with the dual knives.
Dr. No The title character had iron hands. These were formidable weapons in hand to hand combat. With the iron hands he wasn't able to climb up a pole to get out of a deadly pool.
Goldfinger Odd Job had derby with a steel rim. This made the hat a good conductor of electricity so James Bond used it to electricute him.
Live and Let Die Henchman has a mechanical arm. Arm locks onto the window of a moving train.
Balls of Fury The villain's woman used poison darts. The hero caught a dart with his ping pong paddle and threw the pool paddle at her and struck her with the poison dart.
Double Impact The bad woman uses a butterfly knife. The hero stabs her in the back with it.
Shrek 2 The Fairy Godmother uses a magic wand. The king jumps in front of the wand's bolt which reflects off his armor and destroys the Fairy Godmother.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 A member of the Crazy 88s had a pair of hatches. He killed another member of the Crazy 88s with one hatchet. The Bride grabed the other hatchet he threw at her and she threw it back at him and killed him.
The Outer Limits episode Fun and Games The alien opponent has a boomerang. The alien is killed when the woman hits him with the boomerang. The alien falls to its death.
The Marathon Man The main antagonist has a knife up his sleve. He falls and is mortally wounded by his knife.
Our Agent in Casablanca A man with an electrified claw is executed by it.

Look for the low tech solution:

Movie Solution Movie Solution Movie Solution
Doc Hollywood A can of soda cures a violently ill child. Executive Decision A toothpick defuses a sophisticated bomb. The Patriot Flower tea was a sure cure for a disease caused by a bio-weapon.
Best Defense A fan from a child's toy prevents an air defense system on a high tech tank from overheating. Operation Petticoat Women's underwear fixed a submarine's engine. Oblivion A piece of gum was part of the fix for a UAV
The Rocketeer A piece of gum permitted a rocket pack to fly properly. Independence Day A laptop computer inserted a computer virus into the Aliens computer network. Twister A well financed team with all the latest equipment is no match for a team that uses old vehicles and equipment that has a built in a garage look.
Star Wars Luke hits a small target by shutting off his targeting computer and using The Force. Star Wars III: Return of the Jedi A stone age society defeats the futuristic Imperial garrison. Avatar A primitive society defeats a futuristic army.
Cowboys vs Aliens A bunch of 19th Century cowboys beat invading aliens.

Handy Weapon
When the good guy is losing a fight there is always a weapon lying just within reach.

Movie Weapon Movie Weapon Movie Weapon
300 Spearhead Gladiator Ax Kill Bill: Vol. 1 Table leg with nails.
Everly Chard of glass Die Hard II Icecycle

)When a hero needs, or a villain wants to use a public phone there's always someone using the phone.

Best of the Best: Without Warning Arsenic and Old Lace The Devil's Messenger
Demolition Man Die Hard With A Vengance Octopussy
Home Alone Terminator

Say there's a good guy you don't want to kill off but you've written them into a position where a bad guy is one pull of a trigger from killing a good guy. There's two basic ways out of the scene. The gun malfunctions or someone else kills the bad guy.

Gun Malfunctions Bad Guy Killed by another Bad Guy Killed by another Bad Guy Killed by another
Dances With Wolves Lightning Bolt Into the Sun (2005) Rush Hour 3
The Big Red One Ronin Men In Black Machete
Pay Back Raiders of the Lost Ark The Transporter The Magnificent Seven
Die Hard* Die Hard The Enforcer Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
Sleeping With The Enemy Beverly Hills Cop II Black Knight Rawhide
Back To The Future III The Price of the Bride Get Smart Episode "The Girls From KAOS"
Supercop 2 Thunderball The Sting
Harlem Nights The Silencers (1966) Beverly Hills Cop II
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. "The Cherry Blossom Affair" Judge Dredd Romeo Must Die
La Decima Vittima The 10th Victim* Blade Runner Under Siege
Get Smart "Strike While the Agent is Hot" No 1 of the Secret Service The Mummy Returns
Waterworld Post Impact The Bone Collector
The Punisher *(2004) XXX Demolition Man
K9 PI Half Past Dead K9 PI
Iron Sky 24 Hour 4 - 5 2010 Season Breakthrough
Dracula 2000 The Killing Time The Bat
Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome eXtendZ Castle "Pandora"
F/X* Death Wish 3 I Saw What You Did
Future World Oblivion Blood Out
Dredd* Dredd The Purge: Anarchy
Die Hard 2 Babylon A.D. The Purge
Team America: World Police The Terror From Beneath the Sea    
Bulletproof      
Back to the Future      
* Tries to kill person with a gun owned by intended victim.

There is the mutual empty guns scene.
This is where the good guy and the bad guy try to shoot each other with empty guns.

Desperado Saving Private Ryan
The Tournament Payback
The Matrix  

A Deus Ex Machina in movies has the protagonist trapped with no escape when somebody shows up with a flying machine that enables the protagonist to escape certain death.

The Mummy Returns The 6th Day Back to the Future II Aliens

A variation on the Deus Ex Machina is what one might call the Oh I have that method. This is where the hero, companion, or the venue, just happens to have what's needed to get out of a jam.

Movie Object Who Has It
The Fifth Element Match Hero

6Over the hill but back in the saddle. In movies people are recalled to duty because they are the only ones who could solve a major problem.6

Space Cowboys Star Trek: The Motion Picture Herbie Fully Loaded 24 TV Series
The Sting Deep Impact Firefox Destiny of a Spy
Demolition Man Under Siege Daylight Escape from New York
Star Wars The Rock Delta Force Rambo
Rocky IV Casino Royale (1967) The Natural The Roaring Twenties
Unforgiven Terror in Beverly Hills Leonard Part 6 Avenging Force
The Eiker Sanction The Fifth Element Gone in 60 Seconds Airplane
Blade Runner Men In Black II Miss Congeneality Iron Eagle II
Lockout The Sea Wolves: The Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse Cool Running Category 7
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - Episode: Return of the Fighting 69th Escape From LA Mission to Mars The Untouchables
Red Maximum Velocity Battleship The Silencers
Invasion Roswell Basic Shooter 3 Days to Kill
Interstellar Pacific Rim Our Man Flint World War Z
The Meg

We can use kids
The reverse of Over the Hill, where experience rules, is getting a bunch of inexperienced people to do the job.

Ender's Game The Cowboys

The Arena scene is very popular. It's almost mandatory for a movie set in Ancient Rome. However it is often used in other settings. The Arena is a dangerous place and often times someone not playing in the game gets killed.

Movie Who dies & how
Ben Hur Charriot Race; soldier run over
Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules One of those on the ropes is killed
Star Trek: The Next Generation Code of Honor Poison tipped glove lands in a spectator's lap
Phoenix the Warrior Announcer killed by thrown spear.
Star Wars Episode 2 One of the handlers killed by one of the monsters.
Death Race 2000 Pit crew, officials, people lining up targets.

Rating out is a good way to get yourself killed.

The Immortal Voyage of Sir Francis Drake The Patriot Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
Pulp Fiction Tin Man, miniseries Transformers: Age of Extinction
Devil's Rain

Make love and die. Horror films have the reputation for killing off a character after a love scene however this occurs often in other genres:

Goldfinger Alien3 Fury
The Hunted Titanic (1997) The Star of Africa
The Twilight Zone (2002-2003) "Cruel Mistress" The Terminator Forbidden World
F/X Conan the Barbarian Deep Freeze
The Spy Who Loved Me1
 Red Corner The Alpha Incident
The Fourth Protocol The Day of the Jackal Sophie's Choice
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory Starship Troopers
Rising Sun Cyborg Chuka
Gods & Generals City of Angels
Random Hearts West Side Story
Lethal Weapon 2 Cold Mountain
The Sting Gang of Roses
Scarface Super Seven Calling Cairo1
Sabertooth Snakes on the Plane
Nevada Smith Red Tails
Super A Man Apart
Death Wish 3 Oblivion
300: Rise of an Empire1 The Punisher
1 "Bad guys" comes to a bad end after a love scene.

Sitting on a commode is very dangerous.

Died Survived Died
Soldat van Orange Lethal Weapon II Deep Rising
The Unforgiven   Zombieland
Jurassic Park   Halloween
The Baker  

A very common character is the smart child. They can either be super intelligent, street smart, or have strange powers.

Super Intelligent Street Smart Supernatural Powers
Dear Brigitte Home Alone Roar (TV Series)
The Poseidon Adventure E. T. The Extraterrestrial Dune
Airport Terminator 2: Judgement Day Firestarter
War Games Jurassic Park III Children of the Damned
Jurassic Park Scorpion King Village of the Damned
Godzilla 2000 The Simpsons {Bart} (TV Series) Matilda
Explorers Robocop II V:The Final Battle (Mini-Series)
The Simpsons (TV Series) The Simpsons (TV Series) The Damned
Gamera vs Guiron The Hunted Desperation
Baby Geniuses Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Godzilla vs Kong
Lost in Space Iron Eagle  
Family Guy (TV Series) Paper Moon  
Galactica 1980 (TV Series) The Mummy Returns  
Robocop III Falling Down  
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, character Hieronymus Fox Tales From the Darkside: The Movie  
Real Steel Best of the West (TV Series)  
The Predator Starsky & Hutch  
  Aliens  

When a man's spouse, or soon to be, dies he's broken. When a woman's spouse, or soon to be, dies she gets stronger.

L Man loses spouse Woman loses spouse J Woman's intended spouse dies before wedding
The Punisher Thanksgiving Day Kill Bill: Volume 1
Mad Max King Solomon's Mines Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Highlander Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Babylon 5 The Long Dark
The Abominable Dr. Phibes The King and I (1955)
Death Wish Just Between Friends
On the Beach Journey to the Center of the Earth
Unforgiven Private Benjamin
Gladiator (2000) Somebody Killed Her Husband
End of Days The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Desperado Hannie Caulder
From Dusk Till Dawn Charade
Lethal Weapon What a Way to Go
Ice Age Gone With the Wind  
A Man Apart Hot Shots Part Deux  
Snow White and The Huntsman Walks Far Woman  
John Wick Ultra Violet  
  Hidden Figures  
  Gunslinger  
  Fido  

Things have a knack for ending up teetering over a precepice

Movie Circumstances Movie Circumstances Movie Circumstances Movie Circumstances
Rise of The Planet of the Apes A crashed helicopter is suspended on The Golden Gate Bridge. Live Free or Die Hard SUV is suspended in an elevator shaft. The Big Hit Car goes over a cliff, ended up in a tree. Superman A helicopter ended up teetering off the top a the Daily Planet building.
Bulletproof Plane crash lands, ends up teetering on the edgs of a sheer cliff. Wild Wild West The giant mechanical spider ends up teetering on the edge of a cliff. Air America Helicopter ends up in a tree. Enough A tractor trailor truck ends up with part of it hanging over the side of a bridge.
Finding Nemo A chain reaction explosion blew a sunken submarine from its place on the bottom of the ocean. When the smoke cleared the submarine was tettering over the edge of a deep trench. The Italian Job Movie ended with a bus teetering over the edge. Beetlejuice Car crashes through a covered bridge. Car and passengers fall into the river when a dog steps off a plank that was balancing the car. True Lies Truck teeters over a bridge. Truck and passengers fall when bird balancing the car flies away.
Jurrasic Park II A vehicle teeters over a precipice just long enough for everyone in it to get out. Red Sonja Red Sonja find's a statue's hand teeters over a precipice with a boy prince on one side and his faithful servant on the other. For your Eyes Only Henchan's car end up hanging over a cliff. A simple push sends it down. Honey, I Blew Up The Kid The extremely large baby sets the car with two teenagers on a Las Vegas sign.
The Simpsons The Call of the Simpsons Recreational vehicle ends up teetering over a cliff. The family gets out before the vehicle falls over the cliff.* Captain America: The First Avenger Car comes to a hault with its rear wheels over the edge of a cliff. The Terminator: Dark Fate An SUV teeters momentarily on a damaged dam before crashing down.
Mission Impossible 2
Deepstar Six
Post Impact
Ice Age 2
The Big Hit
Olympus Has Fallen
*Also happened in the episode We're on the Road to D'Owhere.

Women tend to lose one shoe when they are unwillingly carried, dragged, pushed, or fall.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Rodan The Return of Dr. X
True Lies Rose Red (mini-series)
Copy Cat Dr. No
Tarzan (animated) Prizzi's Honor
The Punisher Batman
Blood and Lace Ghostbusters II
Add Council Commercial - Buzz Driving Polmetto
Underworld: Awakening The Quiet Man
The Twilight Zone - A Most Unusual Camera From Hell It Came

%Getting Married is very dangerous on television and in the movies.N

f
Person Movie Person Movie Person Movie Person Movie
Scarlet O'Hara's first and Second spouse Gone With the Wind Mrs. James Bond In Her Majesty's Secret Service Anne & Gabriel Martin The Patriot Mrs. (Dr) Caroline Banner The Incredible Hulk: Married)
Mrs. Felix Leiter License to Kill Serina Battlestar Galactica episode Lost Planet of the Gods: Part 2 Mrs. Michael Corleone The Godfather Mr. Tom Jordache Rich Man, Poor Man {mini-series}
Mrs. William Wallace Braveheart A Honeymoon Couple Rodan* Mr. Goodman Private Benjamin Mrs. Austin Powers Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged me)
Mrs. Jenny Gump Forrest Gump Mr. Manny Ribera & Ms. Gina Montana Scarface (1983) Mrs. Jiro Horikoshi (The Wind Rises Kaze tachinu)
*In the English language version they were refered to as a honeymoon couple. The original Japanese version indicates that isn't the case.

If an aircraft/spacecraft has two crew members one will die.

Behind Enemy Lines Top Gun Starship Troopers Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
Flight of the Intruder The Empire Strikes Back Robinson Caruso on Mars Astronaut: The Final Push
Enemy Mine Fire Birds 633 Squadron
Blue Thunder Beneath the Planet of the Apes The Mummy (1999) The Battle of the Bulge

If the movie involves combat with multiple flying bad guys then at least two of the bad guys will crash into each other.

The Battle of Britain Men in Black II
Pearl Harbor The Incredibles
Fly Boys Battle Beyond the Stars

In movies women show up in the strangest places.
While some of these places don't seem strange today they did when the movie was made.

Movie Place Movie Place Movie Place Movie Place
In Like Flint In space. Dr. No Pops out of the ocean. Under Siege Pops out of cake. Rambo II In the middle of the jungle
Son of Godzilla A tropical island with monsters Mysterious Island Two women washed up on the beach. King Kong Floating on the ocean. ffolks Out of a lifeboat on a ship
Moontrap On the moon The Mountain In a crashed airliner where everyone was assumed dead. Attack and Retreat Inside a tank. Father Goose An island in the South Pacific
Forbidden Planet On Altair-4 Judith Out of a box. Jason and the Argonauts Floating among the wreckage of a crushed ship. Von Ryan's Express On a POW train
Predator - Inside the Rebel camp.
Jet Pilot - Inside a defecting Soviet jet fighter.

VChristians often have trouble dealing with adversity. They are often useless or evil. The exception is when they are going through a faith crisis before misfortune strikes.

Useless Turn Evil Mental Breakdown Having a Faith Crisis
Outlander Amadeus Zulu  
Dragonslayer Carrie The African Queen Conquest of Space
War of the Worlds Sleepy Hollow Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea  
7 Women The Blue & The Gray M*A*S*H  
The Guns of Fort Petticoat Highlander: The Source Village of the Damned  
  The Dirty Dozen Night of the Living Dead  
  Lady Hawke Memphis Belle  
  Elmer Gantry Soylent Green  
  Staketown    
Category 7 Benefit of the Doubt
Escape from L.A.

One of the exceptions to this is the cool nun. This may be a reaction to the legendary strict nuns from the 60s but a common character is a nun who is to use a '60s expression, "with it".

Rush Hour 3 Airport 1975
The Singing Nun

If you are making a war movie remember to put in these

The top sergeant is a cigar smoker

Aliens We Were Soldiers

The infantry squad will have a green lieutenant in charge.

The Battle for LA Aliens

One of the "good guys" will pull a gun on another one of the "good guys".

Independence Day Tomorrow When the War Began
Das Boote A Bridge too Far
Saving Private Ryan Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome
We Were Soldiers Attack!

The Brooklyn Guy
If you have a squad, squadron, bomber crew, there is always a guy with a thick New York accent. He's normally from Brooklyn, Manhattan doesn't seem to work.

Flying Tigers SS Doomtrooper
Sergeant York

There is the party scene, usually formal, before everyone goes off to battle.

The Battle of Britain (bad guy party) The Alamo 1959 Starship Troopers
U-571 Waterloo (1970) War of the Worlds
We Were Soldiers Heartbreak Ridge High Treason
Battle for L.A. Night of the Generals (bad guy party) The Birth of a Nation
Starship Troopers Fort Apache
Top Gun Das Boote(bad guy party)
Windtalkers Zulu (bad guy party)
Memphis Belle Gone With the Wind
Skyline The Deer Hunter
Waterloo Soldier of Orange
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Star Command
Executive Decision The Four Feathers (1977)

The sing along scene is also a staple. As with the party scene the good guys, bad guys, or both can have the scene.

If you need a song for such a scene there are over 20,000 to choose from at The Leader in Lieder mit Midi Melodies site.
Windtalkers Marine Hymn High Treason The Peace Song
Top Gun You lost that loving feeling
Anzio Bye Bye Blackbird - Chorus sang as Ciao Ciao Blackbird
From Here to Eternity Reenlistment Blues
Gods and Generals The Bonnie Blue Flag
The Hunley The Bonnie Blue Flag
The Battle of the Bulge Panzerlied
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
Reds & Doctor Zhivago L'Internationale
Zulu Men of Harlech
Casablanca Die Wacht Am Rhein and La Marseillaise
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Die Wacht Am Rhein
The Deer Hunter God Bless America
The Hunt for Red October Hymn of the USSR
Full Metal Jacket The Mickey Mouse Club Song
Memphis Belle Oh Danny Boy & Amazing Grace
Air Force One L'Internationale
Thrity Seconds Over Tokyo Deep in the Heart of Texas & Auld Lang Syne
Stripes Do Wah Diddy
Guadalcanal Diaries Bless Them All
The Enemy Below Der Dessauer Marsch and Ich hatt' einen Kameraden
A Wing and a Prayer My Bonnie Lied Over the Ocean
The McKenzie Break Erika

Then there is the brawl scene.

The Devil's Brigade Flight of the Intruder Babylon 5: GROPOS
Pearl Harbor Stripes
Iron Eagle II The Fighting 69th
Heartbreak Ridge The Bridges at Toko-Ri

If there is a training class before everyone goes to war one of the trainees dies:

Full Metal Jacket Top Gun
Iron Eagle II Starship Troopers
Darby's Rangers An Officer and a Gentleman

Prisoners are a good opportunity to show how nasty the enemy is. Enemy prisoners rarely survive the movie; they usually kill one of the good guys before being dispatched.

5 Branded Women Gung Ho! Play Dirty
Tae Guk Gi Final Countdown 1917
The Wilby Conspiracy The Phantom Planet Kelly's Heroes
Independence Day Journey to the Center of the Earth
Guadalcanal Diary The Steel Helmet
The Whole Ten Yards Sahara
Von Ryan's Express Lifeboat
Saving Private Ryan Battle for Los Angeles
Beginning of the End Sahara (1943)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug The Fifth Element

A corollary to this is you should never take prisoners or rescue anyone. Doing so will only bring you grief.

Dead Calm The Island
Satan's Triangle Cliff Hanger
The Lightship U-571
Anaconda The Shadow of Chikara
Star Trek "Space Seed" (TV Series) Interstellar
Dunkirk 1917

A corollary to this corollary is if you don't kill somebody when you get the chance you'll be sorry. This cliche may have been started by William Shakespear in Hamlet, long before the advent of movies.

Under Siege Troy

Beware the inside person.
If there is a small group of people fighting for survival there is often a person on the inside who is or turns to the other side.

Alien Aliens Vampires: Los Muertos The Guns of Navarone The Matrix
Just when you thought it was safe. This is where there is a lull in the action. The lull is suddenly broken when a single enemy attacks. Famous in the war movies but it also works in other genres.
Aliens Despiser Men in Black II
Snakes on a Plane Pitch Black
Men in Black Levithan

Your dog screamed like a cat when I skinned it.
When the bad guy faces the good guy the bad guy rubs in how he (or she) brought someone the good guy cared about to an inglorious end. Here are some examples:
The Patriot Gladiator
Highlander Highlander: Endgame
Snow White and the Huntsman Rush Hour 2
In a War Movie the bad guy kills one of the bad guys as the price for surviving the movie, or so it seems. This is a bit tricky since the head bad guy will always do fratricide in any genre.
The McKenzie Break Inglorious Basterds*
* In this case the fratricide was one of omission rather than comission.

Cop movies often contain these elements:

[A biased cop gets partnered with someone or something the cop is biased against.
48 Hours A con man and a police officer are teamed together.
The Breed A mortal, whose partner was killed by a vampire, is teamed with a vampire
Alien Nation A human cop, whose partner was killed by an Alien, is partnered with an Alien.
I, Robot A human cop, who can't stand robots, has to deal with a robot while investigating a death.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? A detective, whose brother was killed by a toon, is put in a position where he has to protect a toon.
* Die Hard With a Vengence has a white cop teamed with a black civilian who doesn't want anything to do with whites.

The hero cop gets suspended. Then the case gets solved.
A Man Apart F/X I, Robot R.I.P.D.
Party Line

People who are posted or sent somewhere usually die soon after.
Movies where people were sent or posted somewhere and got killed.
Movie Death Count Movie Death Count
War of the Worlds Three Posted, Three dead. Tarantula Two police officers left behind to hold off the Tarantuala, two officers dead
ConAir Three guard told to stay, three guards dead. The Killer Shrews One sent to stay on the boat, one dead
Them One officer stays behind, one officer dead. Snake People Two Officers posted, two officers dead
Supergater One sent to check camera B, one killed
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger Three posted to keep 5 eyes on the castle, three Dead
Commando Two posted two dead. One sent as escort, one dead The Mummy (1999) One left to watch "the girl", one dead
Forbidden Planet Two sent to set up a crossfire, two dead.
The Marine One sent to fix the generator; one sent to get the boat started; two dead
The Day the Earth Stood Still Two posted to keep an eye on the robot, two dead.
The Astounding She-Monster One sent to find whatever is out there, one dead.
The Green Berets Two people sent to "the point" during different scenes die.
Independence Day Two helicopters sent to say hello to the Aliens. Helicopters and crew lost.
The Nurse Officer sent to the house of the intended victims, one dead.
Narrow Margin Man ordered to protect woman in a coach room, man dead.
The Thousand Plane Raid Ground crew member ordered on a mission, KIA.

Being overweight is very dangerous in the Movies. There also seems to be a pattern to these deaths.
Movie Reason Cause of Death Movie Reason Cause of Death
The Naked Jungle Lazy Eaten by Ants The Beast of Hollow Mountain Stubborn Eaten by a Tyranasaurus Rex
Jurrasic Park Clumsy Eaten by Dinosaur The Meg Floating in Water Eaten by prehistoric shark
Killer Fish Clumsy Eaten by Piranha Prom Night Lost Control Car Crash and Burn
Piranha II: The Spawning Loud Eaten by flying Piranha
Mako: Jaws of Death Bad Guy Eaten by shark
Attack of the Sabretooth   Eaten by Sabretooth
No Man is an Island Loud Died of apparent heart attack, body eaten by crabs
Mouse Hunt Eating Heart Attack
Get Shorty Surprise Party Heart Attack
Attack of the Giant Leeches Falsely accused of murdering his wife Suicide
Full Metal Jacket   Suicide
The Lords of Disipline Clumsy Died in fall
Godfather II Code of honor prevented him from testifying against The Godfather Suicide

In the movies performers have a habit of dying on stage, literally.

The Fifth Element The Avengers episode Mr. Teddy Bear
They Got Me Covered Moonlighting episode The Next Murder You Hear
Scarface Men of War
Les Vampires (1915) The Silencers
Seven (1977) Pushing Daisies episode Oh, Oh, Oh ... It's Magic
Kiss Kiss...Kill Kill Ronin
Marlowe (1969) The Rose
CSI Miami episode Show Stopper Mesa of Lost Women*
Good-Bye Mr. Chips A Shot in the Dark
Mako: Jaws of Death The Astral Factor
* In this movie the dancer was shot dead on stage but got better.

People who transmit messages have a habit of dying on the air.

Invasion U.S.A. Theatre of Blood
Che Waking Ned Devine
Koroshi Godzilla (1954)
The Stand (mini-series) The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Dr. No The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Moonlighting (Episode: The Next Murder You Hear) 24 (Episode: 3:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.; Year 1)
The Winds of War (mini-series) Starship Troopers
Charmed (Episode: The Eyes Have it) Get Smart (Episode: Strike While the Agent is Hot)
13 Rue Madeleine McCloud (Episode: The Stage Is All the World)
The Howling Batman
Fail Safe Your Turn Darling
This makes phone booths a very dangerous place:
G-Men F/X Our Agent in Casablanca
Cotton Club The Encore

Some jobs are more dangerous than others.

Nurse Security Guard
House of Dracula Terminator 2
Wasp Woman Hell Boy
The Incredible Melting Man 
Happy Death Day  
Scream and Scream Again  
Caltiki The Immortal Monster  
When a woman gets wet death often follows
The Wizzard of Oz Married to the Mob Rattlers
Che Psycho Deep Freeze
Teenagers From Outer Space Planet of the Dinosaurs
Jaws Dirty Harry
Grizzly Highlander (TV Series Episode "They Also Serve")
Voodoo Island Lethal Weapon 2
Monster 1999 Interceptor Force 2
The Poseidon Adventure 1972 Polizciraf/10: Heisskalte Liebe
Bits and Pieces Bloodrayne
The Corpse of the Living Corpse Bloodtide
Mask Maker Heatstroke
A woman acting trashy or a man being a jerk end up dead.
Woman Acting Trashy Man Being a Jerk Woman Acting Trashy
Cold Mountain The Big Hit The 4D Man
Of Mice and Men Sharknado Werewolf of London
Taken No Man is an Island Teenagers From Outer Space
Little Shop of Horrors (1960) Mimic 2 Forbidden World
I Married a Monster from Outer Space Sleepwalkers The Professionals
Species Anacondas: The Hunt for The Blood Orchard Terrordactyl
Monster on Campus   The Revenge of Frankenstein
Frankenstein's Daughter  
House of Horrors  
Beast From the Haunted Cave  
Wedding DazeZ  
Fishing is dangerous
Death Race 2000

Certain behavior requires a TV or movie character's death. This usually doesn't present a problem. However if the character who must die is a woman this presents a serious dilema. Traditionally killing a woman required the death of the killer, ala Of Mice and Men. This tradition is changing however tradition dies slowly.

Examples of where a character killed a woman who had to die and paid the price:
Von Ryan's Express They Live American Sniper
Night of the Living Dead Samson and Delilah Spellbinder
Dracula 3000 The Hunted The Book of Eli
Cat People (1942) 633 Squadron 47 Ronin
The Snake People Enemy Mine Diplomatic Immunity
Play Dirty Land of the Pharaohs The Last Man on Earth
Terminator III The Death of the Incredible Hulk
Gladiator (2000) Hero
V for Vendetta The Dirty Dozen
Strategic Command 2020 Texas Gladiators
End of Days Fires on the Plains
Horror Hotel Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
The Purge  

There are ways around this rule. We will explore various methods to have a character kill a woman and survive past the closing credits. We will use the James Bond movies as a base line. The franchise dates from the early 60s and has killed many characters this makes it a good subject for study.

In From Russia With Love James Bond killed many characters. However the one evil character he didn't kill was a small, middle aged woman. They had another woman kill her.

Movies where this method worked: Movies where this method failed:
The Guns of Navarone The Silencers - Woman was a double agent so she died.
Fatal Attraction Operation Crossbow - Woman survived hero didn't.
Counterstrike The Enforcer - Woman died anyway.
The Ten Commandments Cyborg - Woman died anyway
Post Impact Provocateur - Woman killed herself
Half Past Dead Thor and the Amazons - Woman died anyway.
Cradle 2 Grave Star Wars: The last Jedi - Women died in the effort.
Forever Amber  
Seven (1979)  
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter*  
Eve of Destruction  
Lethal Weapon III  
Crackerjack  
Romeo Must Die - In this movie the hero literally used a woman as a lethal weapon.  
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol  
* This one is difficult to call. Abraham Lincoln's death was not depicted but he was on his way to Ford's Theater.

In Thunderball and evil woman had to be killed off. One of the bad guys killed her by accident. Many bad Bond women died at the hands of their comrades. It happened in You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, and A View To A Kill.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series frequently deployed this method.
All the Matt Helm movies (The Ambushers, The Silencers, Murder's Row, and the Wrecking Crew) used this method.
This method always works by default. The bad guys are supposed to die. It also serves the requirement that the bad guys have to kill at least one subordinate. Here are some movies and TV shows where the bad guys killed evil women by accident or design.

Accident Design Design
House on 92nd Street Best of the Best: Without Warning Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
The Evil That Men Do The Fourth Protocol Conan the Destroyer
Looker The Assassination Bureau New Police Story
The Net The Flame and the Arrow
The Sixth Day Cliffhanger
The Saint episode Interlude in Paris I Spy "Bridge of Spies"
  Dick Tracy
Wild Wild West Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
  Hellboy
  Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
  The Punisher (2004)
  SS Doom Troopers
  Robocop 2
  Patriot Games
  Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome
  Excalibur
  Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
  Batman Returns
  The Liquidator
  The Manchurian Candidate
  The Return of Swamp Thing
The Man with two Brains This is an oddity since the killer survived
In Thunderball they also deployed another method, sort of. This is where someone dressed as a woman is a man.
This method was used in:
The Steel Helmet Weekend at Dunkirk
The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World  
James Bond finally used his licence to kill on a woman in The Spy Who Loved Me. Here they used what can be called an out of sight out of mind kill. The evil woman was in a helicopter. James Bond fired an underwater-to-air missile which exploded the helicopter. Since they didn't show the body afterwards the audience kind of figured he killed her, but stranger escapes have happened in movies.
This method worked in: This method failed in: This method worked in:
Susie The Death of the Incredible Hulk  
Wild Wild West 633 Squadron Armored Command
Die Hard With a Vengance Devil Girl from Mars Tarzan and the Leopard Woman
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The Dirty Dozen The Terror Within II
Plan 9 From Outer Space  
Star Trek Generations  
Hudson Hawk  
XXX: Return of Xander Cage  
In A View to A Kill a nasty woman killed herself (by design). Having women kill themselves by accident or design is another method that works by default.
This method was used in:
accident design
Knight Rider (the pilot episode)  
Flowers in the Attic Thelma & Louise
Rush Hour 2 Rush Hour 3
Deadlier Than The Male Night of the Comet
The Abominable Dr. Phibes The Three Musketeers (1993)
She (1965) Holes
MacGyver "Phoenix Under Siege" Hercules Unchained
Jane Eyre Wrong is Right
Stingray Gold of the Amazon Women
Narrow Margin The Viking Queen
Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs Telefon
Deadlier Than The Male The Natural
Fools' Parade Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon
The Silencers A Good Day to Die Hard
In Goldeneye James Bond terminated the evil woman, with extreme prejudice, by shooting down the helicopter she was tethered to. The helicopter crashed, this pulled the teather and caused her to get crushed against a tree. Look out for more of these complicated deaths in the future.
This method was also used in:
Movie Method
True Lies A USMC Harrier takes out a section of a bridge with a missile. The good woman and bad woman fight in a limosine. The bad woman fires a gun and accidentally kills the driver. The good woman knocks out the bad woman then gets pulled from the car. The limosine drives off the missing section of the bridge.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Children's Day Affair The woman falls in between the paddles of a windmill which turns and kills her.
Rush Hour 3 The woman falls in between the spokes of a large wheel on the Eifel tower which turns and kills her.
Die Hard With a Vengeance The hero shoots out an electrical line which wraps around the helicopter causing it to make a fiery crash.
Hudson Hawk Sabatoges mechanism, causing the molton gold to spray her.
Young Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is fighting with the woman. She tries to use her blow gun against him but Sherlock Holmes blows into the opposite end of the blow gun. The disoriented woman then burns to death in the building fire.
From Dusk Till Dawn The protagonist shoots out chandelier which falls on the vampire woman.
Killers (1) Gun goes off, snaps a wire which causes an array of antlers to swing and impale the bad woman. (2) SUV crashes into the bad woman's car. Car slides into some gas tanks. Moments later the tanks explode and engulf the car in flames.
Another method is what you might call Artis unus munus (Character with one purpose). This is where the only purpose of a character is to kill a bad woman. My apoliges for my poor Latin grammar. With this method the character doesn't have to be human.
This method can't fail. It was used in:
Human Non-Human Human Non-Human
The Sting The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Sacred Scepter Affair (bear) John Wick The Barbarians (dragon)
The Invaders: The Pit Tarzan and the Huntress (elephant)   Rampage (gorilla)
The Four Musketeers Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (shark)
Gun Crazy The TV movie Harpy (hawk)
The Final Option The Loves of Hercules (tree)
Another method is to "run out the clock." This is where the evil woman dies too close to the end for anyone else to get killed. It is best if the woman isn't quite dead when the credits start rolling.
This method was used in:
Year of the Dragon Future World The Human Factor
The Wicked Lady (1983) I, The Jury (1982)
If it's not at the end of the movie there is the "fade to black" option. The screen goes to black or shifts right before the woman dies. This method was used in:
Gang of Roses Harlem Nights
Desperado  
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror Genres have another method. Before or during her death the woman morphs into something else.
This method was used in:
Where it Worked Where it didn't Where it Worked Where it didn't
The Witches The Beast Must Die Fright Night II Curse of the Black Widow
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger   Doppelganger  
Star Trek: First Contact  
Species  
The Wasp Woman  
The Gorgon  
Vamp  
It Came From Outer Space  
Sleeping Beauty  
Then there is the incredible disappearing women. Here is where you see women alongside the bad guys but at some point they just disappear.
Movie Disappearance Movie Disappearance
Underworld: Awakening Women were always around the subject, until the fighting started. Moonraker Half of the bad guys on the space station were women, by design. The (bad) women were omnipresent until right before the shooting started. Then the (bad) women disappeared.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance Before the final battle scene there are robbed women in the group but they don't seem to be around when the fighting starts. Goldeneye women are at the Goldeneye complex in Cuba but are nowhere to be seen while the complex is blowing up.
Death Race The women seem to disappear right before their car gets destroyed. Barb Wire There were bad men and women around a table. The heroine jumped on the table and killed the bad men. The bad women disappeared.
V Mini-Series There were male and female aliens. When the final battle started there was only one alien female in sight. She survived the battle. Universal Soldier: The Return A number of women were Universal Soldiers. However they weren't around when there was shooting. The one exception is a woman the main character knew who was eventually turned into a Universal Soldier. But that is another familiar scene.
The Simpsons episode "Last Exit to Springfield" They show an action scene from a movie. Before the shooting starts the room is filled with gangsters and their women. When the shooting starts the women are no longer seen. Waterworld The ancient tanker had a mixture of men and women. The women were nowhere around when the tanker blew up.
SS Doomtrooper The women technicians disappeared before the climax. Highlander: The Source Women are in the mob until the actual fighting started.
Demolition Man the women with the Demilition Man's gang are absent when the fighting starts. Avatar Women were in the nasty mercenary army but only the defector was there for the actual fighting.
In Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior women were among the bad guys when they were standing around taunting those in the pumping station. When there was actual fighting they were nowhere around.
In Divergent many women were in the Dauntless faction but weren't arround during the gunfights.
In Django Unchained the woman tracker is in the house with the other trackers until the shooting starts then is nowhere to be found.
Sometimes someone the hero cares about goes over the line and the hero has to kill the former lover and show deep sorrow. Here are a few examples:
The World is not enough It Conquered the World Lost in Space (Original TV Series) Deadliest of the Species
Salem's Lot Prizzi's Honor Star Trek: The Next Generation (The Vengeance Factor)
Star Trek (TV Series) Mantrap The Howling
Battlestar Galactica (2004 vintage TV Series) Rapture Battlestar Galactica (2004 vintage TV Series) Exodus
Highlander (TV Series) Pharaoh's Daughter Highlander The Raven (TV Series) Love and Death
X-Men III Kill Bill: Vol 2
The head bad guy has to kill, or order killed, at least one subordinate. Sometimes this rule gets carried to extremes:
Movie/TV Episode Situation
The Six Million Dollar Man episode "Survival of the Fittest" Three conspirators are marooned on an island after a plane crash. The head conspirator accidentally kills his two partners in crime.
Reign of Fire The Earth is overrun with dragons. Before the climax the king dragon kills the other dragons, giving the three dragon slayers a fighting chance.
Jurassic Park The two raptors were closing in on the protagonists when the Tyrannasaurus Rex appeared on the scene and killed the raptors; allowing the cornered humans to escape.
Attack of the Monsters aka Gamera vs Guiron All that remains of an alien race is two women. One woman gets injured and the other woman kills her. In that civilization useless people are eliminated.
Goldfinger The title character tells a bunch of gangsters his plan. One doesn't want in on the plan so he's killed outside. The others are gassed inside. One could explain him telling the plan by Goldfinger's desire to show off. What it doesn't explain is why he would give them misinformation about the plan.
King Solomon's Mines (1985) The bad guys include a large number of German troops. One bad guy machine guns the German troops to make it easier to walk across quicksand.
Highlander: Endgame The villain has a group of followers who would have made it impossible for the good guys to prevail. The villain elects to kill off his henchmen and so made it possible for the hero to prevail.
Wild Wild West The bad guys have an army. The villain uses his army for a live fire test of his armored vehicle.
A View to A Kill The villain had an overwhelming number of henchmen and women. The villian killed the vast majority of his minions himself. This also turned his girlfriend and partner in crime against him which enabled 007 to foil the villains diabolical plot.
Stingray The villainess managed to kill all the villains, including herself.
New Police Story Of the four criminals, three are killed by other criminals and the fourth chose suicide by police
In the Star Trek episode "What are Little Girls Made of" Captain Kirk kills one of the enemy Androids. The other four Androids kill each other.
In Firesorm (1998) the hero was pitted against the villain and some of his henchmen. The villain kill all of his henchman so the hero only had to deal with the villain.
In the Get Smart episode "The Girls from KAOS" the three KAOS agents killed each other leaving Control Agent 86 alive and well.
In XXX the head bad guy uses poison gas on many of his henchmen making it easier for XXX to kill the rest of them.
In The Night Walker the 3 bad people kill each other off and their intended victim survives.
In The Black Scorpion one scorpion kills all the other scorpions.
Supercop 2

Cross dressing is one of the most overused plot devices in the movie. This is where a man dresses as a woman and where a woman wears, a traditionally male ensamble. The catch is the characters, and presumably the audience, are supposed to be surprised when the film reveals the cross dresser's gender.

Movie Situation Movie Situation
The Rescue An adolescent pretends to be a middle age woman to get off the base. March of the Wooden Soldiers Stan Laurel dressed up as a bride.
Terminator Salvation A downed pilot takes off her helmet revealing she's a woman. Romeo Must Die A motorcycle assassin looses her helment in a fight; revealing herself as a woman.
Theatre of Blood Dianne Rigg spent much of the movie pretending to be a man. She played some of the movie as a femme fatale. That makes her dual personas obvious. Conan the Destroyer Sarah Douglas wore battle armor and a helmet. In the opening scene there was a shot of her. Even though it was a distance shot from behind it was obvious she was a woman.
Robin Hood: Prince Thieves, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio wore full battle armor. It was obvious to the audience. Perhaps Robin Hood didn't notice because he had been imprisoned for too long.
Dick Tracy, Madonna wore a man's hat and trench coat.
In Nighthawks (1981) Sylvester Stallone disguised himself as Lindsay Wagner.
In The Return of the Musketeers Kim Cattrall was an executioner. In costume dramas executioners traditionally wear hoods. However they also go shirtless and have hair on their backs. They also have wrestler builds.
In Double Dragon they had a man dress as a woman and a woman wearing a mask. The woman was Kristina Wagner as Linda Lash. Her body shape was a dead give away.
In The Fifth Element a spaceship crashed only a gloved hand remained of the occupant. The earthlings reconstituted the body. They looked surprised the regenerated person was a woman. Wouldn't their advanced equipment have told them that?
In Tango and Cash Kurt Russell's character dresses as a woman and a police officer tries to pick him up.
From Dusk Till Dawn 3 woman wore men's clothes.
Sharknado 5 a character rapels down a mountain and pulls back a hood revealing she's a woman.
How Awful About Allen a figure in ninja style clothes and hood attacks the title character. From the figure's figure it's obviously a woman.
Mulan the movie's premise revolves around a woman pretending to be a man. Towards the end the men in the squad dress as women to get inside the palace.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout a character dressed in full motorcycle gear and a helmet is a woman.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Felicity Jones wears a fully covered and helmeted Imperial Soldier suit and it was obviously a woman from her shape. The suit was taken from a dead Imperial Soldier and the fit appeared Austin Powersesque.
In Aquaman - Nicole Kidman (Atlanna) had on an underwater ensemble. The arms was a giveaway under that ensemble was a woman.

In the movies anyone can learn or do anything in any amount of time.

Movie What's Accomplished
Godzilla The Japanese surround Tokyo with powerlines in a day.
In Mission: Impossible - Fallout Ethan Hunt figures out how to fly a helicopter he is unfamiliar with, and flys it very well, while he his flying it and in pursuit of another helicopter.
In The Wrecking Crew Matt Helm and his partner construct a helicopter just in time to fly away from pursuing bad guys.
In Battleship the floating museum USS Missouri was armed and under power within 2 hours.
In National Treasure the archeologist finds a ship's smuggler's hold and get himself and his friend inside before the ship loaded with gunpowder explodes.
In The Mummy Returns the pilot, Izzy, repairs and fills with gas, a destroyed dirigable in the middle of a tropical rainforest overnight.
In Transporter 2 the title character has just enough time to scrape a bomb off his car before the car exploded.
In Gung Ho they managed to build 1,000 cars on the last day of the month. For the rest of the month they built 14,000 cars.
In Reindeer Games the protagonist is able to jump start a car before it gets rolled off a cliff.
In Category 7 there is a trmendous drop in the Washington DC temperature in a matter of minutes.
In Earth vs The Flying Saucer a weapon capable of shooting down the flying saucers was designed, developed, and deployed in a matter of days, just in time for the Flying Saucer invasion.
In Wild Wild West two government agents built a flying machine in a matter of minutes.
In Independence Day cessna pilots learned how to be skilled fighter pilots overnight.
In The Hunted A man learned how to be a skilled swordsman after getting a couple of lessons from someone who was drunk most of the time.
In The Last Starfighter a kid from a trailer park learned how to single handedly defeat an armada of space ships by playing a video game.
In Iron Eagle a kid learned how to fly an extremely complex fighter-bomber mission after some time in a simulator and a couple of days practice.
In Pearl Harbor Colonel Doolittle asks two fighter pilots to pilot B-25s on the Dolittle Raid. They learn how to fly B-25s and take them off from aircraft carriers. The other pilots were of course chosen for their expertise at flying B-25s.
In Space Cowboys a pair of retired jet pilots learned how to pilot the Space Shuttle in a few days.
In Armegeddon a bunch of oil drillers, with no astronaut training, learn all they need to know about carrying out the most complicated space mission ever in less than three weeks.
In No Way Out they managed to do a complete search of the Pentagon in one afternoon.
In Twister a team manages to put aluminum wings made from soda cans on hundreds of sensors before a storm front passes.
In Oblivion an astronaut manages to effectively fire the guns on a flying machine she has no familiariy with.

In movies and TV shows if a woman isn't a hero/villain in the original one will probably show up in a sequel, spin-off, or remake.

Lady in the Iron Mask, in this movie it is a woman who has to wear the iron mask and has a double.
Herbie Fully Loaded, a remake of the Herbie genre. This time a woman was the driver.
She-Wolf of London, this movie is a 1946 release. There isn't really a werewolf in the movie but the title and the plot imply there is.
Dr. Jekel and Sister Hyde, the formula changes Dr. Jekyll into a woman. This was a 1971 movie.
Blade Trinity, a woman comes on board as a vampire killer.
Lethal Weapon 3, a police woman joins the team.
Problem Child 2, a girl, who is a problem child, comes on the scene.
Men In Black II, the villain took the form of a woman.
The Invisible Woman, this 1940 movie had little relation to The Invisible Man except for the title.
The Next Karate Kid was the fourth "Karate Kid" movie. A girl was the "Karate Kid" in that movie.
Pumping Iron II: The Women, as the title implies was a sequel to Pumping Iron. II was a documentary of women body builders.
The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., was a spin off of the TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines, will be the third Terminator movie. This time the title character is a robot that looks like a woman.
The Bionic Woman, a spin off of the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.
Ghostbusters - The remake.
It wasn't always this way. The first werewolf was a woman. The Werewolf 1913.

QIn the movies it's very easy to shoot down aircraft.

The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World - A helicopter is shot down with a hand gun.
Terminator Salvation - A drone is brought down by throwing a lug nut wrench.
Die Hard With a Vengeance - A helicopter is downed with a flying car.
Broken Arrow - Someone shoots down a helicopter with a handgun.
From Russia With Love - A single shot hits a helicopter passenger right after he released the pin of a grenade. He drops the grenade inside the helicopter which explodes and downs the helicopter.
Batman - The Joker downed the Bat Plane with a pee shooter.
Arabesque - The hero downed a helicopter by dropping a ladder on it.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - The elder Jones used an umbrella to send a flock of birds into the path of a Bf-109. The birds crashed into the plane and caused it to crash.
Tomorrow Never Dies - James Bond threw a cable around a helicopter's tail rotor.

In the movies doors have a habit of coming off cars.

Gung Ho

If you have to take a vehicle to get away from someone hunting you. The vehicle will be a clunker.
Terminator 2

The vehicle you take will not make it to your destination:
The Sum of All Fears. War of the Worlds Kill Bill: Volume 2 San Andreas
Devil's Playground (2010) The Mummy Returns Shaun of the Dead Cockneys vs Zombies Gladiator*
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Very Important Zombie Affair Killers Get Smart 2008 Gone With The Wind*
The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds Edge of Tomorrow
The Outer Limits The Conversion
* Horses are vehicles.
pIf you are trying to avoid the police, you will have a broken tail light, and a cop will see it.
9 to 5 Saboteur The Fast and the Furious (1954)
Sin City
+A random word or phrase can break a case.
Movie Key phrase Movie Key phrase Movie Key phrase
Independence Day Catch Cold The Giant Claw Pattern Red Planet Mars Pie
I, Robot Breadcrumbs The Guns of Fort Petticoat Miracle
Certain Prey Dance Die Hard Upstairs
Men In Black III Baseball Iron Man 3 Make something
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter A fork Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land A bus

ETHNIC CLICHES

Italians: Dumb Gangsters with New York Accents
The Valachi Papers Eraser Prizzi's Honor
Crazy Joe The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight Casino
Anaylze This Married to the Mob The Godfather
My Blue Heaven Radio Days Goodfellas
The Untouchables Mickey Blue Eyes Weekend at Bernie's
The Punisher (1989)    
Italians: Can now be cops with New York Accents
Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife    
YJews: Smart GangstersY
Once Upon a Time in America Casino
Scotsmen: Wearing Kilts Time and Place Doesn't Matter
So I Married an Ax Murderer Casino Royale The Avengers Braveheart
On Her Majestys Secret Service American Pie Presents Band Camp Deep Space
MIrish: Cops and Terroristsp
Cop Terrorist Cop
The Devil's Own The Devil's Own The Big City
Die Hard The Jackal
The Untouchables The Eagle Has Landed
The Dresden File (TV series) Wild Geese II
Robocop Sin City

FAMILIAR PLOT LINES

You want to write a screenplay but lack a plot? Try a different version of familiar plots. A good plot works in many different settings:
The Seven Samurai is a movie about seven mercenaries who were hired to protect a village against bandits. This Japanese movie's plot line has been copied many times in many different settings. It is a variation on an older plot line where entertainers were recruited to defeat the bad guys.
Entertainers Mercenaries
Iron Eagle III The Dirty Dozen
Cowboy Commandos Seven (1979)
Octopussy The Magnificent Seven (1960)
A Bug's Life Silverado
Sky Riders Battle Beyond the Stars
The Three Amigos Swashbuckler
The Flame and The Arrow The Seven Magnificent Gladiators (1979)
  Play Dirty*
  Angels' Brigade
* Actually they were criminals.

Ten Little Indians is a movie about a group of people who were trapped on an island and killed off one at a time. This plot line has been repeated many times. Sometimes it's a "good guy" killing off "bad guys", sometimes it's "a bad guy" killing off "good guys".
NOTE: This is the plot line most reality shows. This may explain the popularity of reality shows and the Ten Little Indians plot.
Bad guy does killing* Good guy does killing Bad guy does killing*
Troll Die Hard Predators
The Shadow of Chikara Under Siege Legacy of Blood
Bataan Chato's Land The Terror Within
The Abominable Dr. Phibes Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory**
Alien Concrete War
Predator Highlander: The Series "Bad Day In Building 'A'."
Friday the 13th The Marine
Leviathan Shadow of the Cat
Identity Cliffhanger  
Dog Soldiers Firesorm
Inseminoid  
The Eyes Have it  
The Curse of the Living Corpse  
The Old Dark House  
Haunted Prison  
Five Dolls for an August Moon  
The Thing  
Alien vs Predator  
Deep Blue Sea  
The Season of the Witch  
* Usually most of the victims have character flaws.
** No one is actually killed but the characters are one by one eliminated from the competition.
The ship of fools. This is where a bunch of people from different walks of life, many of whom wouldn't have anything to do with each other, find themselves together.
Stagecoach The Breakfast Club Gilligan's Island (TV Series) Lifeboat
Night of the Living Dead 12 Angry Men Land of the Giants (TV Series)
The 10th Victim is an example of a plot line where contestants are sent out to kill each other. It is different from the arena setting in that contestants aren't confined to a small area.
The Hunger Games The Running Man
The Condemned Series 7: The Contenders

In The Heat of the Night is an example of a plot line where someone has to partner with someone they have a prejudice against. This is a popular theme for cop movies but it works in other genres as well:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit A detective, whose brother was killed by a toon, has to help a toon
Alien Nation An alien killed a cop's partner. The cop's new partner is an alien
Agnes of God An anti-Catholic ex-Catholic detective is assigned to a murder case at a convent. This requires her to interface with the convent's Mother Superior.
The Defiant Ones A black and a white prisoner are chained together.
Black Mama, White Mama A black and a white prisoner are chained together.
Starsky & Hutch (the movie) A cop who follows all laws is partnered with a dishonest cop
Die Hard With A Vengence A black store owner who has no use for white people or cops is forced to work with a white cop
>The Breed A human cop has to work with a vampire cop.
Party Line A cop with a record of police brutality is teamed with a cop who doesn't beleive in uncalled for violence
A man who doesn't like children is forced by circumstances to be with a child or children.
Up Jurrasic Park

Disgruntled ex-Employee + Money as Motive = Terrorist Plot

Under Siege Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Speed  
Die Hard II Live Free or Die Hard
Commando Charlie's Angles Full Throttle
The Six Million Dollar Man episode Population Zero Broken Arrow (1996)
The Commando Broken Arrow
There's the innocent man in a bad penal system. It works out much better than someone who is guilty as sin in such a system, we don't want to give the audience any ideas:
Death Race Running Man
Papillon  

There's the small group of enemy soldiers who meet in an isolated area and become friends.

The Cavern None But the Brave

There is a great cataclysm and the plot revolves around someone who is looking for a loved one.

San Andreas
There is a quaint little town, where the inhabitants have a tradition of murder.
Horror Hotel The Wicker Man
Bloodtide Hot Fuzz
Heist before Horror. This is where a horror movie starts out as a heist movie.
Beast From Haunted Cave From Dusk Till Dawn Psycho
Scarecrows Crocodile II Deep Rising

The Garden of Eden story:
  • Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loinclothes for themselves. Genesis 3:7
    • The Truman Show Oblivion The Bicentennial Man Passengers
    Vanilla Sky The Matrix Rollerball The World, The Flesh and The Devil
    The Lorax Star Trek TOS: The Apple Logan's Run
    The Noah Story
    2012 When Worlds Collide
    The Story of Joseph:
    Gladiator Trading Places Con Air
    Jailhouse Rock
    The Moses story:
  • Then you shall die on the mountain you have climbed, and shall be taken to you people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and there was taken to his people. Deuteronomy 32:50
    • Movies that follow this plot line have the main protagonist lead a group of people through many obstacles then when the objective is in site the protagonist dies:
    Pitch Black The Poseidon Adventure Deep Blue Sea
    Battlestar Galactica TV series Von Ryan's Express Armageddon
    Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

    The Samson Ending:
    The captured good guy commits suicide and takes many or all the bad guys.

    The Alamo Oblivion
    The Story of Job:
    How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Falling Down Trading Places
    The Net

    The David vs Goliath Story:
    This story is usually a scene in a movie. The scene might be the climax.

    Movie Scene
    Troy Achilles vs Boagrus
    The Jesus Christ story:
    The Day the Earth Stood Still The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    Oedipus Tyrannus:
    Terminator
    The St. Joan of Arc scenario:
    This is a relatively new plot line. St. Joan of Arc led the French army against the English. Through treachery she fell into the English hands and was killed. However, the French later won the war. This is used in many historical dramas where heroes don't live to achieve their objective.
    Braveheart 300

    The Right Wing takeover. This is where a conservative cabal tries to take over the government.

    Computer takes over
    2001: A Space Odyssey Colossus: The Forbin Project I, Robot

    The Road Trip
    Zombietown

    Pouring drink drink. This is where something causes a keg holding an alcoholic beverage to sprout and someone takes a quick drink from the sprout.
    (State or Provence Name) + (Common Name) = (Cool Name) - Hover over map for examples

    MARKETING GIMICS


    A Christmas setting works well. This way it could be released or rereleased during the Christmas Season. This is not to be confused with Christmas themed movies. The Christmas setting movies are movies that could be set at virtually any time of the year. Here are a few examples:
    Three Days of the Condor Red Die Hard 2
    Moonstruck The Lion in Winter
    Steel Magnolias Auntie Mame
    Edward Scissorhands Gremlins
    Rocky The Apartment
    When Harry Met Sally The Poseidon Adventure
    Lethal Weapon On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Death Race Die Hard

    If you need to cast someone as an evil character consider a singer. For example:
    • Singer Joan Jett as Felicia Martins in HIGHLANDER episode "Free Fall".
    • Singer Deborah Harry as Betty in Tales From The Darkside
    • Singer Sam Phillips as Katya in Die Hard With a Vengance
    • Singer Zouzou as a female terrorist in Sky Riders
    • 1956 'Tony' award winner Lotte Lenya as Rosa Klebb in From Russia With Love.
    • Gene Simmons, member of the rock band KISS, as Dr. Charles Luther in Runaway 1984.
    • Singer Aaliyah in the title role of Queen of the Damned.
    • Madonna as Rebecca Carlson in Body of Evidence.
    • Alice Delysia as Ayesha She (1916)
    • Opera Singer Helen Gahagan as She, Queen Hash-A-Mo-Tep of Kor in     She.
    Title the movie "Once Upon A Time in
    Once Upon a Time in America Once Upon a Time in Mexico Once Upon a Time in Venice
    Once Upon a Time in New York 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York Once Upon s Time in Anatolia
    Once Upon A Time in the Desert Once Upon A Time in the West Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
    Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India Once Upon A Time in China Once Upon a Time in Mumbaii
    Once Upon a Time in the Midlands Once Upon a Time in London
    A slight variation is Once Upon a Texas Train

    $Put Beverly Hills in the title.$
    The Beverly Hillbillies Beverly Hills Cop (1984) The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (TV Series)
    Beverly Hills Body Snatchers (1989) Beverly Hills Brats (1989) Beverly Hills Bandits (2018)
    Beverly Hills Girls Slums of Beverly Hills
    Down And Out in Beverly Hills Beverly Hills Ninja
    Menendez: A killing in Beverly Hills Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989)
    Troops Beverly Hills The Taking of Beverly Hills (1991)
    Bevery Hills Madam (1986) Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills (1994)
    Beverly Hills 90210 Beverly Hills Bordello
    Beverly Hills Vamp (1988) Beverly Hills Teens
    Beverly Hills Cowgirls (1985) Beverly Hills Chihuahua

    Special Days make good movie titles:
    Day Year
    New Year's Day 1989 & 2001
    Groundhog Day 1993
    Valentine's Day 1914
    Ash Wednesday 1973, 2000, 2002
    Ides of March 2000
    St. Patrick's Day 1938, 1997, 2012
    Arbor Day 1936
    April Fool's Day 1986
    Mother's Day 1948, 1969, 1980, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005
    Memorial Day 1998 & 1999
    Father's Day 1997 & 2012
    Independence Day 1996
    All Saints Day 2000
    All Souls Day 2005
    Thanksgiving Day  
    Christmas 2003
    New Years Eve 2011
    * Black Friday (1940) was not titled after the day after Thanksgiving. The reference was to Friday the 13th. The setting was Friday, June 13th.

    A song title is a good title for a movie. The movie doesn't have to have anything to do with the song.
    Walk Like A Man Song about a father telling his son to get over getting dumped Movie about a boy raised by wolves who is reunited with his family as an adult.
    Ghost Rider Song about a cowboy who see condemned cowboys Movie about a flaming motorcycle rider
    Shinning Through Song about a diamond in the rough Movie is a World War II thriller
    My Boyfriend's Back Song about a girl telling an unwelcome suitor how her boyfriend has come back and will beat him up. Movie about a girl whose boyfriend comes back from the dead.
    My Girl Love song Movie about a young girl whose widower father is a funeral director
    American Pie Song about the death of singer Buddy Holly. Movie about oversexed American teens.
    Eve of Destruction Song about the state of the World in the 1960s. Movie about an out of control Robot named Eve.
    All of Me (1984) Song about someone who has been smitten by love. Movie about a woman who took possession of half a man's body.
    Stand by Me Song is a love song Movie about preteen friends on an adventure
    Jumpin' Jack Flash Song is about this guy who is a "gas". Movie is a spy thriller.
    All I Want For Christmas 1991 Song about a child who wants his two front teeth. Movie about two children who want their parents
    Sixeen Candles Song about a girl's 16th birthday Movie is about a girl whose 16th birthday has been forgotten
    One Fine Day Love song Same as song
    The Night The Lights Went out in Georgia Song about how an innocent man got convicted of killing his cheating spouse lyrics were changed for the movie's plot line
    Can't Buy Me Love Song about how money can't buy love Movie about a teen who paid a woman to have a relationship with him for a month
    My Darling Clementine Song about a woman who drowned while her boyfriend watched helplessly Movie about the gunfight at the OK Coral
    Jeepers Creepers Song about someone's lovely eyes Movie a horror movie about a phantom killer
    My Blue Heaven Song a feel good song Movie about a gangster in the Witness Protection Program
    Forever Young Song about being always yound at heart Movie about a man who was put in suspended animation for over half a century
    Santa Baby Naughty song about a woman who wants many expensive Christmas presents TV Movie about Santa's Daughter
    Blast from the Past Not a song title but a "blast from the past" means an old song. The movie is about a family who go into a fallout shelter for a couple of decades, believing there was a nuclear war above.
    Along Came Polly Song about a woman named Polly Movie about a married man who falls in love with an old classmate.
    Happy Together Song about a boy and girl who are happy together A male and female student are mistakenly assigned as roomates.
    Lucy in the Sky Song about Yoko Ono Movie about a woman who returns from a space mission
    Pretty Woman Song About a Pretty Woman Movie about a prostitute
    Deck the Halls Song telling people to decorate for Christmas Movie about a bet over decorating a house for Christmas so much it can be seen from space
    One Night in Bangkok Song about a chess match. Movie about a man killing for revenge.
    Sugar, Sugar
    Book of Love (1990 & 2002)
    Highway to Hell
    I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
    Love Potion No. 9
    Sweet Home Alabama
    My Best Friend's Girl
    Girls Just Want to Have Fun
    Putting 'Teenage' in the title has been good for the past 60 years.

    Putting Teenage or some variation of it in the title. There were a couple of movie titles that had 'teenage' in the title before the 1950's but it was the 1950's that ushered in the 'Teenage' title craze.
    Teenage Rebel 1956
    Teenage Cave Man 1958
    Teenage Zombies 1959
    Teen-Age Strangler 1968
    Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic 1975
    Sabrina the Teenage Witch 1996
    Teenage Space Vampires 1998
    I Was A Teenage Faust 2002
    My Life as a Teenage Robot 2003
    Teenage Graffiti 1977

    The heavily damaged or destroyed Statue of Liberty has been a popular visual lately. It probably started with the climax in the original Planet of the Apes.
    Cloverfield movie poster The Day After Tomorrow Poster
    Cloverfield The Day After Tomorrow The World Sinks, except Japan
    Iron Sky Godzilla The Walking Dead: Dead City
    Sharknado 2 Star Wreck - In The Pirkinning
    Independence Day Escape from New York

    An out of vogue marketing cliche for Sci Fi/Horror movies was to have a poster of something carrying or eyeing a woman.

    King Kong movie poster
    Forbidden Planet* The Day the Earth Stood Still Creature from the Haunted Sea
    It The Terror From Beyond Space Astro Zombies The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues
    Beginning of the End Invaders from Mars Revenge of the Creature Mission to Mars
    Invasion of the Saucer Men Robot Monster The Monster That Challenged the World
    Teenage Monster The Crawling Eye The Colossus of New York
    Day of the Triffids Bride of the Monster Attack of the Crab Monsters
    Beast From Haunted Cave The Bride of the Gorilla The Green Slime
    Phantom From Space Frankenstein's Daughter This Island Earth
    Teenage Zombies It Conquered the World The Beast with 1,000,000 eyes
    Phantom from 1000 Leagues The Brute Man Them
    Son of Dracula The Monster that Challenged the World The Amazing Colossal Man
    * That scene never happened in the movie. There was a scene where the Robbie the Robot carried a man in his arms. Some posters depicted that scene.
    Maybe it's not out of vogue.
    Often when a movie comes out with a woman(women) playing in an Action role there are articles which present women in action roles as a new or rare thing. In fact women have been in action roles since 1901.
    Here are a few movies and TV series that featured women as action heroes:
    The Gordon Sisters Boxing 1901
    Target Practice, and Whatever Happened to Widow Flaherty 1902
    An Unprotected Female 1903
    The Moonshiners 1905
    The Tomboys 1906
    The Girl from Montana 1907
    The French Spy 1912
    The Fall of a Nation 1916
    Adventure Girl 1934
    My Little Chickadee 1940
    Belle Star 1941
    The Spanish Main 1945
    The Wife of Monte Cristo 1946
    The Bandit Queen 1950
    Westward the Women 1951
    At Sword's Point 1952
    Johnny Guitar 1954
    Panther Girl of the Kongo 1955
    Gunslinger 1956
    The Women of Pitcairn Island 1957
    Five Gates to Hell 1959
    5 Branded Women 1960
    The 10th Victim 1965
    Modesty Blaise 1966
    The Viking Queen 1967
    The Shakiest Gun in the West 1968
    Hannie Cauldier 1971
    Lady Kung Fu 1972
    Cleopatra Jones 1973
    Scorchy 1976
    Angels' Brigade 1979
    S*H*E 1980 TV Movie
    Sorceress 1982
    Sheena 1984
    She 1985
    Aliens 1986
    Phoenix the Warrior 1987
    Roller Blade Warriors: Taken by Force 1989
    China O'Brien 1990
    Buffy The Vampire Slayer 1992
    Tank Girl 1995
    Courage Under Fire 1996
    G. I. Jane 1997
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000
    Kill Bill: Vol 1 & 2 2003
    Serenity 2005
    Mars in the title.
    It's a curiosity film makers put "Mars" in the movie titles. Historically movies with "Mars" in the title tend to do poorly at the box office.
    Mars Needs Moms Mars Attacks
    Robinson Crusoe on Mars Invaders from Mars (1986)
    Flight to Mars Mars Needs Women
    Casting Curiosities
    If you find yourself an actor or two short you can always get someone from the production crew.
    Movie Crew Role Acting Role
    Braveheart Transportation:producers' Fred Chiverton played the part of the Leper's Caretaker.
    In Reservoir Dogs Dialect Coach, Suzanne Celeste played the part of the Shot Woman.
    In Midnight Ride Dialogue Coach, Suzanne Celeste played the part of the Aunt at Motel.
    In The Tournament Assistant Accountant, Petya Dimitrova played the part of Jemima 'Stripper' Jones.
    In Logan's Run Assistant to Producer, Lara Lindsay was also the Woman Runner.
    In Death Race 2000 Second Assistant Director, Lewis Teague, was also the Toreador.
    In War of the Worlds (2005) Assistant to the Line Producer, John P. Anthony also played one of the townspeople.
    In Half Past Dead First Assistant Director Eva-Maria Schönecker also played the priest.
    In Fargo Michelle Suzanne LeVoux from craftservice was cast as victim in car.
    In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones visual effects production and technical support Amy Allen as Aayla Secura.
    In The Big Easy still photographer was the courtroom bailiff.
    In From Dusk Till Dawn makeup effects key personnel Henrik von Ryzin was cast as a monster.
    In The Godfather Composer Carmine Coppola was the piano player in the montage scene.
    In Far and Away Production Assistant Ryan Wallace III also played a horse rider.
    In Friday the 13th Production Assistant Willie Adams as Barry.
    In The Pleasure of His Company Costume Designer Edith Head played a Dress Designer.
    In Starship Invasions Holly Dale was the assistant producer and casting director. She Also cast herself as the TV Interviewee.
    In Prizzi's Honor Marlene Williams was a hair stylist on the film. She got the role of Mrs. Calhaney. In the movie Wayatt Earp she was the hair stylist supervisor. She also played the Saloon Dealer.
    In Dracula (1992) Florina Kendrick was the film's Romanian Consultant. She also got the role of one of Dracula's Brides.
    In The Heartbreak Kid Marilyn Putnam was the costumer. She also got the role of Mrs. Kolodny.
    In Invaders From Mars Dale Dye was a technical advisor. He also got the role of Squad Leader. That was the first of many acting roles.
    In Wise Blood Allan A. Apone was a makeup artist. He also played Gonga The Gorilla.
    Venue Curiosities
    If you need a place to film or some movie props here are some thoughts.
    In Plan 9 From Outer Space: In Dr. No Strangways' house belonged to Dolores Keator who played "Mary" in the movie.
    Item Curiosities
    In Despiser, paintings shown at an art gallery were painted by the producer/director, Philip J. Cook.
    In Kill Bill: Vol 1, Quentin Tarantino used his own pickup truck.
    In The Beach Girls and the Monster most of the interior shots were in actor/director Jon Hall's house.
    In For Your Eyes Only the parrot used belonged to Cyd Child who was a stunt performer in the movie.
    Subtle Messages?
    In Lethal Weapon Martin Riggs siphens gasoline from a pickup truck. He coughs and says, "Exxon".
    In Sudden Impact there is a sceen where Dirty Harry and his girlfriend are drinking beer. The name is covered but it's obviously Budweiser, a beer brewed by a union friendly company. The next scene two nasty people are drinkng beers, name covered but it's obviously Coors, a beer brewed by a company considered union unfriendly.
    In The Fugitive a doctor was wearing a button that read "Hate is not a family value"

    OUTSIDE LINKS


    Normand Company Links Page - It's a page with many interesting items including the Stickman Murder Mysteries.
    The Leader in Lieder mit Midi Melodies has over 20,000 song lyrics, many of the tunes, and some have the notes.
    ActionMovies.org - It's a page that has links to trailers and other links related to action movies.
    Please feel free to contact me at the following address:
    E-mail:rsacchi001@aol.com

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