When we’re watching an awesome action movie, often the action is so exciting that we either can’t or won’t stop to think about the actual consequences of all that property destruction and mass murder. Of course, these sorts of movies are supposed to primarily be regarded as entertainment, apparently justifying the flippant regard to any exterior consequences of an awesome explosion or kick-ass shoot-out However, when you’ve seen a film enough times, it’s hard not to start thinking about it on a deeper level, be it the film’s philosophical content, or the sheer amount filmmakers can actually get away with by using some heroic bloodshed to pull the wool over our eyes; behind each of these excellent set-ups is a lot more suffering and tragedy than we would care to admit.
Here are 10 awesome movie moments with disastrous off-screen consequences.
10. Death Proof – Lee And The Rapist
Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Lee in Death Proof, the cute cheerleader who the gang of girls leave with Jasper as collateral while they take his 1970 Dodge Challenger out for a spin. The girls use this car to get revenge on the murderous stalker Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), yet the film ends without ever acknowledging what happens to Lee, a disturbing fact when you consider that Jasper is played by Jonathan Loughran, the very same actor who played the trucker rapist in Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1. Add to this the fact that Lee’s friends tell Jasper that she’s a porn actress, and it’s the ripe set-up for Jasper to have his wicked way with her, and maybe even kill her in the aftermath. Plus, even if Jasper’s a good boy, when the girls come to return the car to him, he’s going to be none-too-pleased at its condition, and how, exactly, will he want to honour the collateral placed before him?
In short, there’s a very good chance that Lee gets raped, even killed in Death Proof, and Tarantino’s all the more the master for letting the thought – intentionally or not – linger on in our minds.
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9 Comments
Have you even seen Fight Club? Tyler assures The Narrator that they’d used their international connections to completely clear the buildings of maintenance & security staff for the night, as well as block off the streets to passers-by.
You clearly misunderstood the very concept of “Fight Club” ending, since it said that all the people working for the system, conspired to the be able to explode the buildings without anyone dying, since the people owned by the system are the one who have direct access to all of those place, including janitors, implying the very fault on that system, meaning that all the people you abuse and disrespect are the one’s that hold the keys to the kingdom. So, in that way, there’s no one in those building because the people who might be working there at that time, are the very people who helped plant the bombs.
“Which of these bothers you the most? Let us know in the comments below.”
Well Shaun, since you asked…
We see those people die in The Matrix scene. We see all of them get shot and then we see the lobby blown up by the bomb in the lift. What part of that occurs ‘off-screen’? None of it.
So Shaun I guess the what bothers me the most is your inability to put thought into what you write.
That death star thing is easily justified. Either way the “innocent construction workers” were building a giant weapon whose purpose was to enslave oppress and kill. Therefore they are hardy innocent
True, in our world we have Principle IV of the Geneva convention to go on, but I don’t know if the Empire had that rule.
I call the principle of double effect for #1! It was not the intent of the Rebels to kill those innocent construction workers, but to destroy the Empire’s most deadly arsenal. The death of the innocents was a predicted, although unfortunate, consequence.
What about the Nuke dropped over Houston (I think that was the city)? Yes they address the civilian casulties with quick line about the losses being minimal but still we are dropping a Bomb that will render the entire area unliveable for a long time.
Well for the title of this article being 10 awsome movie moments with disastoriuos off screen consequences not one of these had any consequences off screen. When I went to read the article I was expecting things like bruce lee and dim mak during a stunt that killed him or even his son getting shot with a real bullet instead of a blank in a movie. THOSE ARE DISASTORIUOS MOVIE MOMENTS NOT THIS CRAP THAT HAVE NO ACTUAL CONSEQUENCES! Seriously nothing against the atricle just don’t like how the title draws you in but with false promise
I think the amount of thought that went into #10 on this list is extremely creepy.