Unwritten and Unofficial Rules for TV and Movies.
| TV Episode Plots | |
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.
A former pro athelete had a career ending injury.
The door falls off a car.
Someone who apparently can't speak English at the beginning of the movie/series suddenly can speak English.
Land of the Giants (TV series)
It probably began with It The Terror From Beyond Space (1958). Arguably the most memorable scene in the movie is when an astronaut with a cigarette in his mouth is surpised. Now the suprised man with a cigarette in his mouth is a common movie scene.
People who can't speak English in the beginning suddenly speak English halfway through the movie or TV series.
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 Arc |
| Terminator 3 |
| The Manchurian Candidate (2004) | The protagonist throws his Medal of Honor & a picture into the Persian Gulf. |
| The Paper Chase | The protagonist throws his final grade into the ocean. |
| Top Gun | The protagonist throws a set of dog tags into the ocean |
| Titanic | The protagonist throws a diamond necklace into the ocean |
One very large opponent.
| The Punisher (2004) | Raiders of the Lost Arc |
The only survivor of a mystery disaster is incoherent.
A rear attacker will give a reflection.
| Home Alone | Reflection in a Christmas Ornament |
| The Transporter | Reflection in a mirror |
| Superseven | Reflection in mirror |
| Goldfinger | Reflection in eye |
In a love triangle it's odd person dead.
| The Poseidon Adventure 2004 | Absolute Zero |
| Last Woman on Earth |
| Third Time is a charm | Give up after the Third Try |
| It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown - The third pumpkin was the one Lucy choose. | Pirates of the Caribbean - Captian Jack Sparrow drops three coins into the chest. |
| 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. |
| Desperado - The third bathroom stall has the secret entrance. | Speed - Howard Payne says "I'm smarter' three times then gets decapitated. |
| Tora Tora Tora - The third shiloutte is the Japanese flag ship | Live and Let Die - Three assassinations in the opening sequences |
| Deep Rising - Engine starts on the third try. | Tomorrow Never Dies - Third punch knocks back security guard. |
| Year of the Dragon - Found Stanley White in the third stall. | Target Earth - Third shot hits target. |
| Family Guy "Pretarded" episode - Opens three bathroom stalls | 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. | Gladiator - The master decided not to have his head gladiator strike Maximus a third time. |
| 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. |
| The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horrors 13 Send in the Clones - Homer shoots three clones when he drops them off in a remote field. | 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. |
| Shrek 3 - Two false alarms before the frog king dies for real | |
| The Mummy Returns - The third rock from the slig shot gets caught. | |
| The Legend of Zorro - Zorro catches the third log. |
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.
The Terminator - The third Sara Connor is the right one.
Scooby Doo - The third time the foursome jumbled their spirits they all found the right bodies.
Always - The third plane on the training run bombs the instructor with red dye.
Amityville 1992: It's About Time - The third time a woman pokes the possessed man with a T-Square he wakes up.
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.
3 = N
$ x 2 = N
Someone if offered some money to do something for the bad guys. The person demands double 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.
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:
The Wizard in Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Lt. Lenina Huxley in Demolition Man (1993)
Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon (1952)
The false alarm before the real one.
I, Robot - A cat shows up, moments before the demolition robot goes into action.
The Jackal - Noise is agent taking out the trash.
Jaws - There is a bathing cap moments before the real shark makes an appearance.
Alien - The cat jumps out. Moments later the Alien jumps out.
Alien vs Predator - A penguin jumps out. Soon after things go bad.
The Death Dive.
A bad guy falling from a high spot is a popular scene. They have a habit of landing on cars.
| pLanded on Car | Landed somewhere else |
| Die Hard | Die Hard |
| Rush Hour 2 | King Kong |
| The Untouchables | Outrageous Fortune |
| Con Air | Gone in 60 Seconds |
| Colatteral | Mercury Rising |
| Marked for Death | Category 7 |
| End of Days | Outrageous Fortune |
| Hudson Hawk | Metropolis |
| Highlander: Free Fall | |
| Malicious | Into the Sun 2005 |
The Gangster Meeting
At a gangster meeting the head guy, or the aspiring head guy, kills another gangster. Here are a few examples:
| 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 |
| Black Rain | Kill Bill: Vol 1 |
Someone who is the dud in the group shows remarkable skill in one area:
Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest - An illiterate knows about the Scandinavian pronuncian of "Kraken".
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.
The Lion King - Pumba, one of the comic relief characters, correctly thought the stars were giant balls of gas millions of miles away.
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?"
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Roger Rabbit, a silly character, had a gorgeous wife.
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 Returns | The Simpsons Episode: "Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes in Every Fish" |
| Underdog | Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe |
| The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horrors XVIII ET Go Home | Freaky Friday |
A man meets a woman he hasn't seen for a while. Then the woman slaps or punches him. This happened in:
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | Pirates of the Carribean |
| Total Recall | The Medallion |
| 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 |
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" |
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. Here are some examples of death puns:N
| Movie | Circumstance | Pun |
| The Punisher (2004) | Villain throws his wife in front of a train | She took the train |
| 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" |
At least one of the bad guys has an odd weapon. The important thing is to turn the weapon against the bad guy.
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.
Look for the low tech solution:
Doc Hollywood - A can of soda cures a violently ill child.
Executive Decision - A toothpick defuses a sophisticated bomb.
Best Defense - A fan from a child's toy prevents an air defense system on a high tech tank from overheating.
The Patriot (1998) - Flower tea was a sure cure for a disease caused by a bio-weapon.
Operation Petticoat - Women's underwear fixed a submarine's engine.
The Rocketeer - A piece of gum permitted a rocket pack to fly properly.
Independence Day - A lap top 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.
)When a hero needs, or a villain want to use a public phone there's always someone using the phone. Here are some examples:
| Best of the Best: Without Warning | Arsenic and Old Lace |
| Demolition Man | Die Hard With A Vengance |
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. Here are some examples:
| Gun Malfunctions | Bad Guy Killed by another | Bad Guy Killed by another |
| Dances With Wolves | Lightning Bolt | Into the Sun (2005) |
| The Big Red One | Ronin | Men In Black |
| Pay Back | Raiders of the Lost Ark | The Transporter |
| Die Hard* | Die Hard | The Enforcer |
| Sleeping With The Enemy | Beverly Hills Cop II | Black Knight |
| 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 |
| Half Past Dead | ||
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.
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.
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 |
| The Eiker Sanction | 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 |
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.
| 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. |
Rating out is a good way to get yourself killed.
| The Patriot | Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. |
| Pulp Fiction | TIn Man, miniseries |
Y&NMake love and die. Horror films have the reputation for killing off a character after a love scene however this occurs in often in other genres:
| Goldfinger | Alien3 |
| The Hunted | Titanic (1997) |
| The Twilight Zone (2002-2003) "Cruel Mistress" | Terminator |
| F/X | Conan the Barbarian |
| The Spy Who Loved Me1 |
Red Corner |
| The Fourth Protocol | The Day of the Jackal |
| Under Siege 2 | Starship Troopers |
| Rising Sun | Cyborg |
| Gods & Generals | City of Angels |
| Random Hearts | West Side Story |
| Lethal Weapon 2 | Cold Mountain |
| The Sting | Gang of Roses |
| Scarface | Superseven |
| Sabertooth |
Sitting on a commode us very dangerous:
| Soldat van Orange | The Unforgiven |
| Jurassic Park |
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 | |
| Baby Geniuses | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | |
| 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 | |
| Best of the West (TV Series) | ||
| Starsky & Hutch |
When a man's spouse dies he's broken. When a woman's spouse dies life becomes better.
| L Man loses spouse | Woman loses spouse J | |
| The Punisher | Thanksgiving Day | |
| Mad Max | King Soloman's Mines (1950) | |
| Highlander | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | |
| 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 |
Things have a knack for ending up teetering over a precepice. Sometimes they fall, Sometimes they don't:
Superman - A helicopter ended up teetering off the top a the Daily Planet building.
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.
Honey, I Blew Up The Kid - The extremely large baby sets the car with two teenagers on a Las Vegas sign.
The Simpsons in episode The Call of the Simpsons - Recreational vehicle ends up teetering over a cliff. The family gets out before the vehicle falls over the cliff.*
For Your Eyes Only
Mission Impossible 2
Deepstar Six
Post Impact
Ice Age 2 *Also happened in the episode We're on the Road to D'Owhere.
Women tend to lose one shoe when they are unwillingly carried or dragged.
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | Rodan |
| True Lies | Rose Red (mini-series) |
| Copy Cat | Dr. No |
| Tarzan (animated) | STRONG>Prizzi's Honor |
Polmetto
%Getting Married is very dangerous on television and in the movies.N
Here are some people who died soon after walking down the aisle:
Scarlet O'Hara's first and Second spouse (Gone With the Wind)
Mrs. James Bond (In Her Majesty's Secret Service)
Mrs. Felix Leiter (License to Kill)
Anne & Gabriel Martin (The Patriot)
Mrs. Michael Corleone (The Godfather)
Mr. Charles Hamilton (Gone with the Wind)
Mrs. William Wallace (Braveheart)
A Honeymoon Couple (Rodan)
Mr. Goodman (Private Benjamin)
Mrs. (Dr) Caroline Banner (The Incredible Hulk: Married)
Mrs. Serina Apollo (Battlestar Galactica: Lost Planet of the Gods)
Mr. Tom Jordache (Rich Man, Poor Man {mini-series})
Mrs. Austin Powers (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged me)
Mrs. Jenny Gump (Forrest Gump)
Mr. Manny Ribera & Ms. Gina Montana (Scarface 1983)
If an aircraft/spacecraft has two crew members one will die.
| Behind Enemy Lines | Top Gun |
|
Flight of the Intruder The Empire Strikes Back Enemy Mine Fire Birds Blue Thunder |
Robinson Caruso on Mars 633 Squadron The Battle of the Bulge Beneath the Planet of the Apes The Mummy (1999) Starship Troopers |
In movies women show up in the strangest places.
Dr. No - Pops out of the ocean.
Under Siege - Pops out of cake.
Mysterious Island - Two women washed up on the beach.
King Kong (1976) - Floating on the ocean.
Moontrap - On the moon.
The Mountain - In a crashed airliner where everyone was assumed dead.
Attack and Retreat - Inside a tank.
Forbidden Planet - On Altair-4.
Judith - Out of a box.
Jason and the Argonauts - Floating among the wreckage of a crushed ship.
Rambo II - In the middle of the jungle
ffolks - Out of a lifeboat on a ship
Father Goose - An island in the South Pacific
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 except is when they are going through a faith crisis before misfortune strikes.
Here are some examples:
| Turn Evil | Mental Breakdown | Having a Faith Crisis |
| Amadeus | Zulu | |
| Carrie | The African Queen | The Dirty Dozen |
| Sleepy Hollow | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | |
| The Blue & The Gray | MASH | |
| Highlander: The Source | Village of the Damned |
|
7 Women War of the Worlds Elmer Gantry Caegory 7 |
Dragonslayer Memphis Belle Lady Hawke Benefit of the Doubt Escape from L.A. Carrie |
Rush Hour 3
If you are making a war movie remember to put in these:
The Brooklyn guy
If you have a squad, squadron, bomber crew, there is always a guy with a think New York accent. He's normally from Brooklyn, Manhatten doesn't seem to work.
There is the party scene, usually formal, before everyone goes off to battle.
Here are some examples:
| The Battle of Britain (bad guy party) | The Alamo 1959 |
| U-571 | Waterloo (1970) |
|
Fort Apache Das Boote(bad guy party) Zulu Soldier of Orange Memphis Belle Starship Troopers Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
Heartbreak Ridge Top Gun Night of the Generals (bad guy party) Gone With the Wind The Deer Hunter War of the Worlds 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.
| 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 | Panzer Leid |
| 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 |
| Stripes | Do Wah Diddy |
| Guadalcanal Diaries | For Them All |
| The Enemy Below | Der Dessauer Marsch and Ich hatt' einen Kameraden |
| The Devil's Brigade | Flight of the Intruder |
| Pearl Harbor | Stripes |
| Iron Eagle II | The Fighting 69th |
| 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 |
An Officer and a Gentleman
Prisoners are a good opportunity to show how nasty the enemy is. Enemy prisoners rarely survive the movie: Here are some Examples
| 5 Branded Women | Gung Ho! |
| Tae Guk Gi | Final Countdown |
| The Wilby Conspiracy | The Phantom Planet |
| Independence Day | Journey to the Center of the Earth |
| Guadalcanal Diary | The Steel Helmet |
|
Lifeboat Saving Private Ryan |
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) |
| Aliens | Despiser |
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 |
| Rush Hour 2 | Highlander |
Cop movies often contain these elements:
[A biased cop gets partnered with someone or something the cop is biased against.
| 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, who's 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, who's brother was killed by a toon, is put in a position where he has to protect a toon. |
People who are posted or sent somewhere usually die soon after.
Movies where people were sent or posted somewhere and got killed.
| War of the Worlds | Three Posted, Three dead. |
| Them | One officer stays behind, one officer 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 |
| Forbidden Planet | Two sent to set up a crossfire, two dead. |
The Day the Earth Stood Still The Astounding She-Monster The Green Berets The Nurse Narrow Margin The Thousand Plane Raid Independence Day |
Two sent to set up a crossfire, two dead. Two posted to keep an eye on the robot, two dead. One sent to find whatever is out there, one dead. Two people sent to "the point" during different scenes die. Officer sent to the house of the intended victims, one dead. Man ordered to protect woman in a coach room, man dead. Ground crew member ordered on a mission, KIA. Two helicopters sent to say hello to the Aliens. Helicopters and crew lost. |
Being overweight is very dangerous in the Movies. There also seems to be a pattern to these deaths.
The Naked Jungle - Lazy -Eaten by Ants
Jurrasic Park - Clumsy - Eaten by Dinosaur
Killer Fish - Clumsy - Eaten by Piranha
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 - Suicide
Full Metal Jacket - Suicide
The Lords of Disipline - Clumsy - Died in fall
Godfather II - Suicide
In the movies performers have a habit of dying on stage, literally.
Movies and TV episodes where a performer died on stage.
| 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) Marlowe (1969) The Rose |
A Shot in the Dark Mesa of Lost Women* Good-Bye Mr. Chips Mako: Jaws of Death Ronin |
People who transmit messages have a habit of dying on the air.
Movies where someone died on the air, live.
| 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 | The Howling |
| G-Men |
Some jobs are more dangerous than others.
| Nurse |
| House of Dracula |
| The Wizzard of Oz | Married to the Mob |
| Che | Psycho |
| 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 | Blodrayne |
| The Corpse of the Living Corpse |
Sitting on a commode is very dangerous.
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 |
| Night of the Living Dead | Samson and Delilah | Dracula 3000 | The Hunted |
| Cat People (1942) | 633 Squadron |
| The Snake People | Enemy Mine |
| Gladiator (2000) | The Death of the Incredible Hulk. Land of the Pharaohs The Dirty Dozen 2020 Texas Gladiators End of Days Fires on the Plains |
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 movies span four decades and they kill 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 Forever Amber Seven (1979) Eve of Destruction Lethal Weapon III Crackerjack Romeo Must Die - In this movie the hero literally used a woman as a lethal weapon. |
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.
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.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series frequently deployed this method.
The Matt Helm movies (The Ambushers, The Silencers, Murder's Row, and the Wrecking Crew) used this method.
| Accident | Design |
| House on 92nd Street | Best of the Best: Without Warning |
| The Evil That Men Do | The Fourth Protocol |
| Looker | The Assassination Bureau |
| The Net | The Flame and the Arrow |
| The Sixth Day | Cliffhanger |
| The Saint episode Interlude in Paris | I Spy "Bridge of Spies" |
| Dick Tracy | |
| Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | |
| Hellboy | |
| Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones | |
| The Punisher (2004) | |
| SS Doom Troopers | |
|
Patriot Games Beyond the Poseidon Adventure Excalibur Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Batman Returns The Liquidator |
The Manchurian Candidate
In Thunderball they also deployed another method, sort of. This is where someone dressed as a woman in really a man.
This method was used in:
| The Steel Helmet | Weekend at Dunkirk |
|
This method worked in: Wild Wild West Die Hard With a Vengance Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Plan 9 From Outer Space Star Trek Generations |
This method failed in: The Death of the Incredible Hulk 633 Squadron Devil Girl from Mars The Dirty Dozen |
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) | The Eagle Has Landed | Flowers in the Attic | Thelma & Louise |
| Rush Hour 2 | Rush Hour 2 |
| 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 |
| The Natural |
In Goldeneye James Bond terminated the evil woman, with extreme prejudice, by shooting down the helicopter she was teathered 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. |
Young Sherlock Holmes
From Dusk Till Dawn
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:
|
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (shark) The TV movie Harpy (hawk) The Loves of Hercules (tree) The Sting (human) The Four Musketeers (human) The Final Option (human) |
Tarzan and the Huntress (elephant) |
This method was used in:
Year of the Dragon
Future World
The Wicked Lady (1983)
I, the Jury (1982)
The Human Factor
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 |
| Where it Worked | Where it didn't |
| Witches | The Beast Must Die |
| Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger | |
|
Star Trek: First Contact Species The Gorgon It Came From Outer Space Fright Night II |
Vamp Doppelganger Curse of the Black Widow The Wasp Woman The Witches 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.
In 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.
In 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.
In the mini-series V there were male and female aliens. When the final battle started there was only one alien female in sight. She survived the battle.
In 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.
In 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.
In Waterworld the ancient tanker had a mixture of men and women. The women were nowhere around when the tanker blew up.
In SS Doomtrooper the women technicians disappeared before the climax.
In Highlander: The Source women were in the mob until the actual fighting started.
In Demolition Man the women with the Demilition Man's gang are absent when the movie starts.
Sometimes a woman the hero cares about goes over the line and the hero has to kill her and show deep sorrow. Here are a few examples:
| The World is not enough | It Conquered the World |
| Salem's Lot | Prizzi's Honor |
| Star Trek (TV Series) Mantrap | The Howling |
| Battlestar Galactica (2004 vintage TV Series) Rapture | Battlestar Galactica (2004 vintage TV Series) Exodus |
| Highlander The Raven (TV Series) Love and Death |
The head bad guy has to kill, or order killed, at least one subordinate. Sometimes this rule gets carried to extremes:
In 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.
In 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.
In Stingray the woman who was the head of four criminals managed to kill all the criminals, including herself.
In Attack of the Monsters 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. (Alternate title Gamera vs Guiron)
In 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.
In 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.
In Highlander: Endgame the villain had a group of followers who would have made it impossible for the good guys to prevail. The villain elected to kill off his henchmen and so made it possible for the hero to prevail.
In The Wild Wild West the bad guys have an army. The villain uses his army for a live fire test of his armored vehicle.
In 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.
In Stingray the villainess managed to kill all the villains, including herself.
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.
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, is supposed to be surprised when the film reveals the cross dresser's gender.
Here are a few examples:
March of the Wooden Soldiers, Stan Laurel dressed up as a bride.
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 made 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 mens clothes.
In the movies anyone can learn or do anything in any amount of time.
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 in about 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 weapons 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 The 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 Space Cowboys a bunch of retired test pilots learned how to be Space Shuttle astronauts in a matter of a few days.
In No Way Out they managed to do a complete search of the Pentagon in one afternoon.
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.
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.
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.
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. Here are some examples:
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
If you have a body in the car, you will have a broken tail light, and a cop will see it.
A random word or phrase can break a case.
| Movie | Key phrase |
| I Robot | Breadcrums |
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) |
| Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife |
| Once Upon a Time in America |
| So I Married an Ax Murderer | Casino Royale | The Avengers |
| On Her Majestys Secret Service | American Pie Presents Band Camp |
| Cop | Terrorist |
| The Devil's Own | The Devil's Own |
| Die Hard | The Jackal |
| The Untouchables | The Eagle Has Landed |
| The Dresden File (TV series) | Wild Geese II |
| 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 Samuri 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 recrited 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 | The Flame and The Arrow |
| Swashbuckler | |
| The Seven Magnificent Gladiators (1979) | |
| Play Dirty* | |
| Angels' Brigade |
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".
| Bad guy does killing* | Good guy does killing | |
| Troll | Die Hard | |
| The Shadow of Chikara | Under Siege | |
| Bataan | Chato's Land | |
| 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 | ||
| Leviathan | ||
| Identity | ||
| Dog Soldiers | ||
| Inseminoid | ||
| The Eyes Have it | ||
| The Curse of the Living Corpse |
** No one is actually killed but the characters are one by one eliminated from the competition.
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 |
| Under Siege | 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) |
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.
If you need to cast someone as an evil character consider a singer. For example:
• Singer Joan Jett at 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 New York | 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York |
| Once Upon A Time in the Desert |
$Put Beverly Hills in the title.$
| The Beverly Hillbillies | Beverly Hills Cop (1984) |
| Beverly Hills Body Snatchers (1989) | Beverly Hills Brats (1989) |
| 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) |
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 | |
| Arbor Day | 1936 |
| Mother's Day | 1948, 1969, 1980, 1989, 1992, 1995, 2003, 2004, 2005 |
| Memorial Day | 1998 & 1999 |
| Father's Day | |
| Independence Day | |
| All Saints Day | 2000 |
| All Souls Day | |
| Thanksgiving Day | |
| Christmas | 2003 |
A song title is a good title for a movie. The movie doesn't have to have anything to do with the song.
| 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 sonong about a woman who wants many expensive Christmas presents | TV Movie about Santa's Daughter |
Happy Together
Pretty Woman
Sugar, Sugar
Book of Love (1990 & 2002)
Highway to Hell
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Love Potion No. 9
Sweet Home Alabama
Putting 'Teenage' in the title has been good for the past 50 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 |
| 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
An out of vogue marketing cliche for Sci Fi/Horror movies was to have a poster of something carrying or eyeing a woman.
| Forbidden Planet* | The Day the Earth Stood Still |
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 for decades.
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 |
| Panther Girl of the Kongo | 1955 |
| Gunslinger | 1956 |
| The Women of Pitcairn Island | 1957 |
| 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 | 2003 |
| Serenity | 2005 |
Casting Curiosities
If you find yourself an actor or two short you can always get someone from the production crew.
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 Starship Invasions Casting Director Holly Dale cast Holly Dale as a TV interviewee.
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 here is a thought.
In Plan 9 From Outer Space the Bela Lugosi scene was filmed outside the house of Tor Johnson, "Inspector Dan Clay" in the movie.
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 director, Philip J. Cook.
In Kill Bill: Vol 1, Quentin Tarantino used his own pickup truck.
In Plan 9 From Outer Space, Tor Johnson, who played Inspector Dan Clay, got his son, Officer Karl Johnson, to supply police cars and uniforms for the movie.
Subtle Messages?
In The Fugative 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.
Please feel free to contact me at the following address:
E-mail:rsacchi001@worldnet.att.net Click Here to go to Legends page
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