Random Dumbest Heroic Sacrifices In Movie History (13 items)

• 

  (#13) Guardians of the Galaxy

  • Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Laura Haddock, Sean Gunn, Peter Serafinowicz, Christopher Fairbank

  Okay, so this one is hard to come to terms with - given the massive emotional response viewers feel towards the sentient tree they've gotten to know over an hour and a half - but it's just ridiculous. The idea that Groot's physical body can protect three humanoids and a racoon from the impact of a spaceship crash is incredibly unlikely. Groot is portrayed as pretty intelligent through Guardians of the Galaxy, so you'd think he'd know his giant foliage hug likely wouldn't do much to save his friends.

  That the rest of the Guardians actually survive the impact of the ship probably has more to do with dumb luck than Groot's branches, but supposing he is the deciding factor, the sacrifice is dumb for another significant reason. It prevents the audience from discovering which dance moves he'd bring to the dance off with Ronan the Accuser.
• 

  (#10) The Iron Giant

  • Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick, Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, M. Emmet Walsh

  In The Iron Giant, it's established that the titular giant reacts defensively to anything it deems dangerous. Hogarth, the 9-year-old everyone wanted to be when they first saw this film in 1999, tells the Iron Giant it can be anything it wants to be. Towards the end of the film, an atomic device is fired, targeting the giant. The giant, deciding it wants to be a hero, intercepts the projectile in the atmosphere, saving the town in the process.

  This is all fine and good, but considering the giant comes from space, it probably has the power to return there. Why, then, couldn't the giant just fly in a straight line until the nuke's own propulsion peters out? Fortunately, the Iron Giant begins to reassemble itself by the film's end, but all of this heartbreak could have been avoided if, ironically, a sentient robot used a bit of logic.
• 

  (#4) Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Robert Downey, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, James Spader, Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Kretschmann

  This one is Joss Whedon's fault, because it's a tried-and-true formula he returns to again and again. The debut of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron is bookended by the idea of what a hero is and is not. To the siblings, Iron Man and Stark Industries are at the "not hero" end of the spectrum, whereas they - fighting to save both their country and the world - fall squarely on the opposite end. Over the course of the film, their views gradually shift.

  During the climactic battle in Sokovia, we see Hawkeye interacting with the twins, telling them to get off their behinds and save some lives. Quicksilver does this incredibly well, and instead of Hawkeye perishing with an innocent bystander, Pietro takes the hit. The silver speedster leans into the heroic sacrifice trope almost as hard as Elizabeth Olsen leans into that ambiguously Eastern European accent.

  The issue with Quicksilver's demise isn't so much the sacrifice as the set up. The way the sequence is filmed, and the way the characters trade stereotypical Whedon banter instead of anything approaching realistic emotions, undermines the significance of the sacrifice. Does Quicksilver's selfless act feel earned, or is it actually a cheap "fridging" for the sake of his sister's character development?
• 

  (#6) Predator

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, R. G. Armstrong, Shane Black, Kevin Peter Hall

  Billy's sacrifice in Predator doesn't really make sense when you compare the cost versus the reward. There is no guarantee that Billy using himself as bait will buy enough time for the rest of his party to "get to the chopper" - so why does he stop in the middle of the jungle and doom himself without question? And given that the time between Billy's scream and the Predator's next attack is a matter of seconds, his sacrifice doesn't seem to amount to much.

  If Billy really wanted to act as bait or a distraction for the Predator, he could have put himself at the end of the pack and either kept running in the direction of the chopper for a potential escape, or run off in a tangential direction to try and draw it away from his party. All in all, a great moment, but it falls apart the second any thought is put into it.
• 

  (#11) Avengers: Endgame

  • Robert Downey, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Brie Larson, Paul Rudd, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Benedict Wong, Tessa Thompson, Josh Brolin, Tilda Swinton, Robert Redford, Dave Bautista, Chadwick Boseman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Winston Duke, Tom Holland, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rene Russo, Letitia Wright, Zoe Saldana, Elizabeth Olsen, Frank Grillo, Sebastian Stan, Evangeline Lilly, Stan Lee

  Let's get one thing straight: Natasha Romanoff is a hero. Without her sacrifice, the endgame of Endgame would not have been possible. However, the situation could have been handled better.

  Black Widow and Hawkeye have one of the most important relationships in the MCU, but it's undercut by their pointless tussle on the cliffs of Vormir. Each tries to give their life for the Soul Stone, but neither will allow the other to go over the edge. What could have been an emotional scene ends up becoming a farce as they trade blows instead of mature dialogue. Natasha knows that Clint's family will return once the Snap is undone, so to borrow one of her lines from Avengers: Age of Ultron, it makes sense for her to be the one to perish since she has no family waiting for her. In her mind, there's never any question which of them should take the plunge.

  Unfortunately, the way the scene plays out, it feels more like Natasha is sacrificing herself because she wants to feel useful. That undermines the integrity of her character, who is shown in both Endgame and the previous MCU films to consistently prioritize the good of the many before the few.
• 

  (#7) The Dark Knight

  • Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Monique Curnen, Ron Dean, Cillian Murphy, Chin Han, Nestor Carbonell, Eric Roberts, Ritchie Coster, Anthony Michael Hall, Keith Szarabajka, Colin McFarlane, Joshua Harto, Melinda McGraw, Nathan Gamble

  To save the reputation of fallen hero Harvey Dent, Batman claims responsibility for all the people the crazed district attorney wiped out in The Dark Knight (which could be four or five individuals, depending on who you ask).

  Batman's philosophy is that he is whatever Gotham City needs him to be, and in this case, apparently, he needs to take the fall for acts he didn't commit so the city can maintain a shred of hope. While this follows the film's theme of self-sacrifice, it hardly seems like the most practical solution. The Joker has been rampaging across the city spreading mayhem and chaos - so why not just blame him or his henchmen for the deeds? In the end, Harvey is just as much a pawn of the villain as anyone, so it's not a total lie. 

New Random Displays    Display All By Ranking