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American Movie Clichés

T

TrainerCasey

~Johto Fanatic~
First the snobby girl, Then the heroes Girl- The girl the hero gets in the end of a movie was the snobby girl that turned him down on a date or had a boyfriend that was a complete jerk to the hero before he saves the day.

The Villans got my Family!!!- In a thriller movie, The villan always threatens the hero with his familys life. Its either he saves his family and dies, Or he saves himself and his friend or family dies.

Im the leader- Theres always one person who takes the role as leader and is hated by everyone.
 
T

TrainerCasey

~Johto Fanatic~
First the snobby girl, Then the heroes Girl- The girl the hero gets in the end of a movie was the snobby girl that turned him down on a date or had a boyfriend that was a complete jerk to the hero before he saves the day.

The Villans got my Family!!!- In a thriller movie, The villan always threatens the hero with his familys life. Its either he saves his family and dies, Or he saves himself and his friend or family dies.

Im the leader- Theres always one person who takes the role as leader and is hated by everyone.
 
M

Maxim

Beyond repair
Tomato Jr. said:
Bullet time is the effect from the matrix when the bullets travel in slow motion (that has been overdone to death now and its only been around a few years.) not where everything slows down at the climax.

Gags Attack isn't a cliche, it's just something the filmmakers put in for viewers and it gives them something to talk about in the audio comentary.

As for they always return, have you seen The Dark Knight yet?

And the sequence thing is just reallly final destination, that is the whole point of the movies and i haven't seen it much elsewhere. Though Famly Guy did this brilliant one with a breakfast machine. Anyhoo....
Click to expand...

Oh, I've always used the term bullet time in wrong meaning. Okay then, I corrected it.

Well, about the Gags Attack. It's more like a comedy device but... it happens it practically every comedy (except those "serious comedy" things), so it became something comparable to a cliché. Well, the clichés are often various devices, so I'll let it stay.

About the Dark Knight. I didn't see it. But it doesn't change the fact that "They always return" is a definite comic cliché.

And about the sequences. That's only final destination? Uh, I swear I've seen them in some other movies, too. Well, it may not be a cliché, but still, it's cool and something comparable to clichés.

Okay, I added the clichés submitted by you, guys. So far, so good. I'm waiting for more!

We also need more Deus-Ex-Machinas, as some Deus-Ex-Machinas are also clichés (like that "genius invention" or "cat from the bag" thingies).

But great job, we've got a fairly good list.
 
P

Pokewiz

Good bye :)
I don't like you but I do!

In romance movies, doesn't even have to be only in romance actually, there always seems to be the guy or girl who tries to convince themselves they're not in love but find out that they are.
 
X

Xashlei

probably elsewhere
......... REALIZATION!
When a villain unveils a dark dark truth, the hero will always have time for a flashback, and recall everything perfectly. Usually ending in "... I can't believe it..." or "...Y-you...!!". Even if the battle was fierce or the hero was tensed, he doesn't even need to hear twice!

The sun/moon... it's crashing to the Earth! (Anime common)
In a real emotional scene or for the sake of looking "cool", the sun or moon is unusually close in the horizon. As in HUGE. Shouldn't the world have burnt to a crisp/been obliterated into tiny particles by now?

EDIT: Made it more... passionate.
 
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T

The Everlovin' Thing

Fedoras galore
Lame bullies
This usually applies to kid's movies. The bullies{lead by a fat kid with curly hair} call the main character lame names like "turkey" and are generally stupid.

Thats all I've got so far.
 
Cobalt_Latios

Cobalt_Latios

Well-Known Member
Krake said:
O Mother, Where Art Thou?- Almost none of the characters in Disney movies have any motherly figures. They're either dead before the movie begins or they die during the beginning (ie Finding Nemo).
Click to expand...
To add on to that, it can also be that the child is always with only one parent: either mother or father. This is one cliche that typically happens with Disney. And I thought they were family oriented.

Sogeking said:
Target Practice: The hero of the movie can make extremely accurate gunshots when the bad guys can't hit the hero from 10 feet away. Even when the hero has no previous experience with guns.
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Isn't this just a general all around cliché? It applies to both anime and live action. Kinda strange really.



We're safe in here: during movies with some creature/psycho out to get them, they're usually in some place that they presume to be safe, only to have broken into within the next few scenes.

There will be blood: Very apparent in all American horror movies, directors are under the impression that the only way to make a good horror/thriller movie is to include as much blood as possible. Even if it seems alot, it'll still be there.

American ghosts = KILL KILL KILL!: for some reason, it only seems that American horror/thriller the ghost or whatever's only intention is to kill the main protaganist for no apparent reason. There's never any explanation, they just kill for the sake of killing.

1st the worst: In every movie, whenever they conjure up any plan of sorts, the first one never works; it ends up being something so absurd you never thought it'd work in the first place.

Look both ways before appearing: in most thriller/horror movies, a character looks to one side, then the other, and looks back at the first location and the villain is always right there.

One event fixes a relationship: in some movies, whenever we someone (typically an ex) from the protaganist's past, that person ends up hooking back up with him/her.

Lost footage: in most trailers, there'll always be some amount of footage that's only there, no actually present in the movie.


Hmm, didn't think I'd add so much.

~C_L~
 
I

intergalactic platypus

Only rescues maidens
How about the old Lets Vent Our Inner Frustrations On Women By Having Them Get Horribly Tortured, Kidnapped, Beaten, Murdered Or Otherwise In Extreme Peril For Half The Movie cliche. I believe its pretty self explanatory
 
T

Tomato Jr.

Well-Known Member
Maxim said:
About the Dark Knight. I didn't see it. But it doesn't change the fact that "They always return" is a definite comic cliché.
Click to expand...

Actually that wasn't a serious comment...

Have you got the one where some seemingly ordinary thing given to someone at the start of the film ends up saving the day (like, oh my god the key is that necklace he gave you, etc). The device of the lazy storywriter.
 
C

Cain Nightroad

Daydreaming
The Younger, the Safer

I've noticed that in many movies, they don't show child deaths, or even many female deaths. While many movies do show many of these types of deaths, many American movies don't show this. Not that I see something wrong with it, but it is just something I've noticed. Mainly, they only imply that a character is dead, instead of actually showing the cause of their death.
 
A

Archimedes

Not Dead Yet
Cain Nightroad said:
Yeah, I Saw That

One reason The End of Evangelion kills all American films: everyone knows the ending, and no major plot holes. Sure, there may be one or two small ones, but never a giant one. The famous plot hole in EoE is that it ends after Asuka whispers, "How disgusting..." and no one knows if the human race is ever rebuilt, or the end of the world is just that: the end of everything. There are two humans left, and no one knows what happens. The creator died, so we really won't ever find out.
Click to expand...
That's not a plot hole, that's an open ending, nor are Anno or Sadamoto dead.
 
R

Raichao

_
(It hasn't been 30 days, so I guess this isn't a bump.)

Convieniently Placed Twig/Rock
In most scenes when a protagonist or a helpless female character is running away from something, there will be a rock or twig in the way that ALWAYS makes the character trip over. By the time they get up whatever was chasing them has caught up.

But I didn't die!
If a main character dies after converting from being evil (like Celebi from Pokemon 4ever and Stitch from the second Lilo & Stitch movie) they will be healed or brought back to life by some miracle cure (often in children's/family movies)

Never doubt the young!
If there is a young character in the movie, they may be seen as a weak character but then come up with an idea that can save the world/the main hero.
 
E

Eclipse

I AM GONE.
Great to see you picked up the "I'm an orphan, poor me" stuff that frequents movies. Seriously, if all the people in movies lived in real life, 80% would have no parents, and 19.999% would have tragically lost mum or dad.
 
M

mimefan

Banned
Both these are slasher cliches.
have sex and die biotch.: Yeah if you have sex, you die.
Nyahh you can't kill me. No matter what happens the main villain comes back for one last slaughter. (Mainly Friday the 13th, Halloween and A Nightmare On Elm Street.)
It's broke, let's fix it. This is reference to the fact that in some films when the baddies been killed off or if the location's been tarnished, in a few years time they'll fix either the killer or reopen the place because they think that everyone's forgotten it.
 
F

flyboy1308

Coming Ta Town
Convenient Breeze

Me and my cousin always point this out when we watch movies or TV. At a romantic point in the movie, or when a guy looks at the girl and you can tell he's thinking "OMG, shes teh hawt", there's always a conveniently timed breeze that makes the character's hair flow. It's kinda like they can't make him/her look good without wind.

We're related?!

The main character near the end of the movie, will find out he's related to either another character, especially a villain, or someone else significant to the plot. Those things don't really happen. nope.
 
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