Deus Ex Machina in Film

Discussion in 'Misc. Films' started by Warhammer, Aug 18, 2012.

  1. Warhammer

    Warhammer Half Monk, Half Hitman

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    So I'm sitting here watching The Matrix Revolutions (I know...) and clearly, the ending is a result of deus ex machina, of course carried out by the machine intelligence called Deus Ex Machina (...seriously). I never realized just how lazy the ending truly was. I was just wondering if anyone had examples or wanted to discuss various deus ex machina in film. Remember that lazy writing or a cop out ending isn't always an example of deus ex machina. And of course, this thread contains spoilers.

    - For those that don't know what deus ex machine is, here is a definition:

    Dates from ancient Greek times, where "deus ex machina" ("god from the machine") in a play referred to the act of lowering a god on stage using a cable device (therefore, a god from a machine) to decide in a dilemma and give fate a nudge, so to say. These days, deus ex machina has the negative connotation of an utterly improbable, illogical or baseless plot twist that drastically alters the situation, as if the "deus ex machina" came down to give fate that little push.
     
    #1 Warhammer, Aug 18, 2012
  2. DarkSovereignty

    DarkSovereignty Ooga Chakka

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    the ganali device in TASM, I loved the movie but that really stuck out to me.
     
    #2 DarkSovereignty, Aug 18, 2012
  3. Silvermoth

    Silvermoth Krakoan native

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    A good one is when they say by blowing up a single mothership or defeating the biggest alien, the entire race or fleet instantly dies.

    Vampires suffer from that a bit too.
     
    #3 Silvermoth, Aug 18, 2012
  4. THANOSRULES

    THANOSRULES Registered

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    The new Total Recall kinda had this in effect with the last scene.
     
    #4 THANOSRULES, Aug 19, 2012
  5. Thundarr

    Thundarr Registered

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    The Beastmaster

    When the man eating bird people showed up at the last second to save The Beastmaster and his friends from The Junn Horde. It would have been better if the people in the city had stormed the battlefield and run them off.
     
    #5 Thundarr, Aug 20, 2012
  6. Gianakin_

    Gianakin_ SW Prequels Defender

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    The T-Rex at the end of Jurassic Park.

    Han Solo in the Death Star fight at the end of A New Hope.
     
    #6 Gianakin_, Aug 20, 2012
  7. CapedCrusader14

    CapedCrusader14 ...

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    Gandalf and the Eagles at the end of Return of the King.
     
    #7 CapedCrusader14, Aug 20, 2012
  8. johnrain

    johnrain Registered

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    The Army of the Dead in Return of the King
     
    #8 johnrain, Aug 20, 2012
  9. R3M3D1

    R3M3D1 Registered

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    Superman reversing time in the first movie (and then in the Donner Cut of Part 2)

    In the Part 2 it just meant the whole movie never happened :huh:
     
    #9 R3M3D1, Aug 20, 2012
  10. terry78

    terry78 My name is Stefan, sweet thang

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    Every Disney animated movie's climax. The hero does stop the villain, but they don't know what they're doing will fix EVERYTHING.
     
    #10 terry78, Aug 20, 2012
  11. Thundarr

    Thundarr Registered

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    Problem is most of those movies are based on Grimm's Fairy Tales. And pretty much every story The Brothers Grimm ever wrote ended in a Deuce Ex Machina. And if you're gonna make a movie based on the fairy tale, well . . .
     
    #11 Thundarr, Aug 24, 2012
  12. Picard Sisko

    Picard Sisko Prepare to be Assimilated

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    #12 Picard Sisko, Aug 24, 2012
  13. obin_gam

    obin_gam Registered

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    Oh god yes! I remember I was completely thrown off when those guys came and just sort of deleted the bad guys. Seriously, this is how the giant fight will end? ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME :dry:
     
    #13 obin_gam, Aug 24, 2012
  14. Assassin32

    Assassin32 Or: Ronin Iscariot

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    Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite did it with a wink and a smile - and it was brilliant.
     
    #14 Assassin32, Aug 24, 2012
  15. Thundarr

    Thundarr Registered

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    Again . . . It's an adaptation to the book. If Peter Jackson hadn't done that, there would have been even more people saying "Are you f**king kidding me? That's not what happened in the book!"
     
    #15 Thundarr, Aug 25, 2012
  16. Lighthouse

    Lighthouse Fairness, Equality, Bacon

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    The end of "Savages".
     
    #16 Lighthouse, Aug 25, 2012
  17. jacobed

    jacobed Registered

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    That's the only reason they're in it too. He didn't want them in there
     
    #17 jacobed, Aug 25, 2012
  18. Abudefduf

    Abudefduf Registered

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    But that's not what happened in the book. In the book Aragorn brings the Deads to Pelargir, where they defeat the Corsairs and the Southrons by literally scaring the hell (they can't phisically fight, they're just ghosts) out of them; Aragorn then frees the Deads from the curse.
    The battle of the Pelennor Fields is won by the combined forces of Rohan, Minas Tirith and the Southern Fiefs of Gondor.

    What happens in the movie is nothing more than a Deus Ex Machina and a cheap cop-out on Jackson's part.
     
    #18 Abudefduf, Aug 25, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2012
  19. Gianakin_

    Gianakin_ SW Prequels Defender

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    Thank you.:up:
     
    #19 Gianakin_, Aug 27, 2012
  20. Thundarr

    Thundarr Registered

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    This is only Deuce Ex Machina if they make no mention of it until the very end. If they hint at it early without beating you over the head with it right away, then no.
     
    #20 Thundarr, Aug 28, 2012
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