What movie puts the protagonist through the absolute ringer for it to all pay off in the end?
In my opinion, V for Vendetta. What Evie Hammond was put through was inexcusable, but I feel like it was worth it in the end.
My Cousin Vinny
Did you say two Utes?
Seven or Man on Fire. Not what you’d call happy endings, but the movies would be ruined any other way.
Except for in Seven, if it ended in a blast of colored smoke for a gender reveal gift box. That could have been very touching. /s
In big budget movies, protagonists facing unambiguous conflict and getting a clear, concise victory peaked in the 80s and early 90s. A lot of the other movies mentioned in this topic (V for Vendetta, Dredd 2012) have serious throwback vibes. Smaller movies usually have murkier conflict.
For a given value of, “through the ringer,” Karate Kid is my answer. It’s extremely easy to empathize with both Daniel and Mr Miyagi. I appreciate some movies that absolutely destroy the protagonist, but their larger than life troubles are more difficult to empathize with earnestly. Aliens fits well, too, the oppression of a faceless corporation may be heavier now than it was even on release. The Top Gun movies fit pretty well as long as you watched the original a long time ago.
No joke. “Sing” It’s this silly kids cover song movie, but it ends up having a wonderful consistent optimism and a brilliant payoff. It’s not an improbable massive “pulled it off” win, it’s surviving through failure and loving the act of making art so much that you keep doing it anyway. It’s joyful and a masterclass in writing a classic story arc without torturing your characters and your audience to get there.
Kung Fu Panda 2. A funny panda movie about dealing with buried trauma.
Training Day, a movie about a rookie cop who gets paired with a corrupt senior on his first day who manipulates him from the beginning. ''I should have been a fireman"
Gattaca. I am not sure if you can call it an absolute ringer, but it does feel all the hard work pays off in the end.
Agreed on Training Day.
I totally forgot about Gattaca, I watched that in school in like 6th grade. Fantastic movie
''You know what i learned today? I’m not like you."
You can have an Ethan Hawke catharsis marathon.
Cast Away
Bladerunner 2049
The original Robocop movie is an all-time favourite of mine, as far as violent revenge movies go.
It’s a great blend with gratuitous violence - not to mention the story that puts the protagonist through the absolute ringer for it to all pay off in the end.
Die Hard
Little Giants
“One time”
John wick
Django unchained
You guys seen Young Adult? Goddamn.
Nimona
working at blue sky studios, the firm that produced nimona was the best job i ever had. i had great coworkers and the employees were awesome, so many parties also. then disney bought blue sky studios the fun stopped and it was closed 2 years later lol
