10 Movie Heroes Who Won By Dumb Luck

On paper, Michael Mann's Collateral touts a hero-villain mismatch for the ages, as unassuming cabbie Max (Jamie Foxx) attempts to prevent expert assassin Vincent (Tom Cruise) from killing his final target - federal prosecutor Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett Smith), who also happens to be Max's love interest.

You'd probably assume that Max would find a cunning way to outsmart Vincent, right? Except that's not really the case at all, and were it not for some random dumb luck, he would've been swiftly capped in the head during their final subway clash.

Vincent pursues Max and Annie onto a subway train, and just as the hero and villain prepare to open fire at one another, the train's lights short out.

This forces both men to blindly shoot their guns, and without the benefit of a sight-line, it's entirely up to the fates who lives and who dies.

When the lights flick back on, Vincent has been mortally wounded by a lucky shot fired by Max, while Max is miraculously totally unscathed. If not for some faulty wiring or a power outage on that subway train, Max and by extension Annie would've been easily toast.