Film Logic

[Dan]

So I'm sure many of you notice films often have some cliché that only ever seems to happen in the filming world. For instance often everything has to explode, I often love it went this is poked fun at, see 21 jump street, or south park cartoon wars. The timer to a bomb always gets stopped at 00.00.01.
Henchman can never seem to shoot properly, I think if the Storm troopers in starwars literally had their guns 1cm from your head they would still miss. No matter how beat up the protagonist gets, he can still fight back. Oh and they never use the toilet! I think all films should show the protagonist on the toilet once... honest. :I
Anyway what films clichés can you name?

 

[Castle]

I've got weapon myths.

5 Weapon Myths You Probably Believe (Thanks to Movies) | Cracked.com

 

[SinkingBadges]

Not sure if this is a cliché or just a trope but...

Spoiler

...the butler did it.

Shhhh don't tell anyone, it'll ruin the story...

 

[Alfarin]

I'm a Slasher fan, so I'll go with "Final Girl".

What do I mean? That the final survivor is a woman, usually very mature for her age, virginal (Or close to it) and maternal. She'll run, scream and eventually think "**** this!" and fight back, maybe with a knife, knitting needle, clothes hanger....

 

[Hanyou]

I'm a Slasher fan, so I'll go with "Final Girl".

What do I mean? That the final survivor is a woman, usually very mature for her age, virginal (Or close to it) and maternal. She'll run, scream and eventually think "**** this!" and fight back, maybe with a knife, knitting needle, clothes hanger....

Alien and The Terminator made this trope awesome.

The final fight in Aliens trumps them both.

Not realistic, but who cares?

 

[Garo]

Eh, I'm going to object to the term "cliches" and propose the term "tropes" instead.

As an aspiring screenwriter and general filmmaker, I've poured a lot of hours into studying story structure and general writing craft, and in all those hours I have come to discover one thing: nothing is original. You cannot be wholly original after some 10,000 years of human history, even with only about 6,000 years of written records. It's a symptom of the storytelling instinct, one that Joseph Campbell asserts is inborn in everybody and guides them to recognize a story based on a deceptively simplistic outline - this outline will lie at the base of every story, no matter how dressed up the film is. No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape that.

To this end, tropes are going to arise not out of active use of them but simply because they work - they are patterns in writings that have surfaced over the many centuries of human history. "Cliches" carries a negative connotation, and using tropes isn't a negative thing - it's wholly natural because they were derived out of natural commonalities. Tropes are tools.

Okay, idealistic rant over, now for my favorite trope. Without a doubt my favorite trope is the Magnificent *******. These kinds of characters can single-handedly sell a show or a film for me. Gus Fring in Breaking Bad, Petyr Baelish in Game of Thrones, the original Rommel in Patton - these guys are amazing characters who are effortlessly enjoyable to watch as they scheme their way to success in the most stylish manner imaginable.

 

[Alfarin]

Alien and The Terminator made this trope awesome.

The final fight in Aliens trumps them both.

Not realistic, but who cares?

Not really slashers, but both certainly apply (sort of). Great one for it though is The Descent