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The cinematic equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.
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00:00Regardless of whether it was an inscrutable blunder or an error of judgement, cinema is
00:04no exception to the reality that actions have consequences. Tragically for many of popular
00:09culture's most celebrated characters, said consequences can often be fatal. The manner
00:15of their demise could look like poetic justice, or if they're a lovable hero, the most unfair
00:20thing to ever happen on screen. So let's take a look at some. I'm Adam, this is WhatCulture,
00:25and here are 10 huge mistakes which doomed movie characters.
00:3010. Drey Glazer in Glorious Bastards Hand gestures don't typically seal a person's
00:35doom, unless said person just so happens to be a British commando deep undercover in Nazi
00:40occupied France. The aforementioned officer, Michael Fassbender's
00:44Lieutenant Archie Hickox, inadvertently signs a death warrant for himself and his undercover
00:49companions in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Bastards, when he orders a round of drinks
00:54in front of Gestapo Major Dietrich Hellstrom. Hickox orders Dry Glazer, holding up the index,
01:00middle and ring fingers of his right hand to represent each glass. Unfortunately for the
01:04Lieutenant, that's exactly where Fassbender's soldier gives the game away. The Western European
01:09style of finger counting differs from the English speaking, where the index finger is used to
01:13represent 1 as opposed to the thumb. A true German would have ordered 3 with the index,
01:18middle finger and thumb extended, a fax that Hickox is fatally unaware of.
01:23An uratiny in scope, but colossal in terms of repercussions, as Hellstrom instantly rumbles
01:29the Englishman for an imposter. This precipitates a Mexican standoff which soon concludes with
01:34a hail of gunfire and a bullet riddled mess of bodies, amongst them Hickox and his comrades.
01:409. Killing Mickey's Mother Snatch A general rule of thumb derived from Guy
01:45Richie Snatch, it's probably an ill-advised move to mildly irritate a bare knuckle boxing
01:51champion who happens to be harder than a coffin nail, let alone burn down his mother's caravan
01:56with her still inside it. However, that's exactly what the 2001 crime comedy central antagonist,
02:02Alan Ford's Bricktop does, attempting to coerce Brad Pitt's Mickey O'Neil into fixing an unlicensed
02:07boxing match. Bricktop appears to believe that his terrifying underworld reputation, coupled with the threat of
02:13further violence will deter any retribution from Mickey and his community of travellers.
02:18Seemingly taking the demise of the woman who birthed him rather lightly in the first instance,
02:23Mickey flips the script on fight night, knocking out his opponent in the very first round he was
02:27meant to take a dive in. As an apoplectic bricktop follows to murder Pitt's pugilist, the gangster is
02:33ambushed and murdered by O'Neil's associates outside the venue. Placing the cherry atop an extremely bloody
02:39cake, Mickey is revealed to have bet the house on himself, taking advantage of Bricktop driving
02:44his odds down before carrying out his vengeance. Case in point, messing with a man's mother is almost
02:50certainly a dreadful mistake. 8. Disrespecting Benny Blanco, Carlito's Way
02:56Hey remember me, Benny Blanco from the Bronx. A legendary reputation amongst New York's underworld
03:01ultimately isn't adequate to save the eponymous character of 1993's Carlito's Way from the ramifications
03:08of an earlier mistake. The early goings of the Al Pacino led effort see former career criminal Carlito
03:14Brigante propositioned by a hot headed up and coming gangster from the Bronx, Benny Blanco.
03:19Carlito declines several offers to do business with Blanco, culminating in an explosive showdown
03:24in a strip club. Pacino's grizzled criminal publicly humiliates Benny, but lets him leave with his life.
03:30Carlito's mistake ultimately proves to be twofold, humiliating a man badly enough to cause him to seek
03:36bloody revenge and letting him go scot free without neutralising the threat. The absence of his
03:41historically ruthless edge alienates his bodyguard Pachanka, who begins working for Benny in secret,
03:47eventually providing the scorned gangster with Carlito's location. The film's explosive final
03:52act sees Blanco's charge ambush Brigante as he attempts to flee New York, gunning him down with a
03:58silenced pistol in retribution for his earliest slight. The mistake? Never let your enemies live.
04:037. Killing Patroclus, Troy Things are going swimmingly for the
04:08Trojans around the halfway point of Wolfgang Peterson's Troy. Their Greek invaders are on
04:12the retreat, while legendary warrior Achilles has withdrawn from the invasion, following a bitter
04:17dispute with the invading King Agamemnon. Attempting to press their advantage, the Trojans attack the
04:22Greeks at dawn. Everything appears to be going according to plan, until a figure wearing Achilles' distinctive
04:28armour rallies the Greeks, seemingly none other than the invincible fighter himself. However, after coming
04:33face to face with Eric Banner's Hector, the man is duly dispatched by Troy's finest soldier.
04:39Now for anyone unfamiliar with Homer's Iliad, it likely did not seem apparent that the Trojan
04:43Crown Prince had just made a mistake that would seal his doom. Unfortunately for Hector, that's
04:48exactly what had just happened. The stricken soldier is revealed as Achilles' cousin Patroclus,
04:53wearing his relative's armour in an attempt to inspire a Greek fight back.
04:57Killing Achilles proves to be the nail in Hector's coffin. His enraged adversary soon returns to the
05:02fold, arriving at Troy's city walls and roaring for Hector to come out and answer for his cousin's
05:07death. The Prince gives a valiant account of himself, but is still ultimately struck down
05:11before the vengeful Greek drags his body behind his chariot. 6. Having Faith in His Son
05:18Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens
05:21Han Solo's fate in 2015's Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens epitomises why trusting one's
05:26children is usually a bad idea. Before he donned the garb of the First Order,
05:31Adam Driver's Kylo Ren was once Ben Solo, Han and Leia's son. As the Resistance attempts to destroy
05:37Starkiller base in the film's final act, Ren is confronted by his father in an explosive sequence
05:43atop a bridge. Despite a wealth of evidence that his child is beyond redemption, he implores Ben to
05:48abandon the dark side and return to his family. Sadly Han's unbreakable faith in his son's inherent
05:54goodness seals the fate of one of popular culture's most enduring heroes. Just as it looks like he
05:59might be about to renounce his evil ways, Kylo drives his lightsaber through his father's chest,
06:04prompting howls of dismay from Chewbacca and the audience alike. Even when confronted with the
06:09reality of his mistake, Han's faith never wavers, caressing Ben's cheek one final time before falling
06:15into an abyss. Floored character judgement aside, the demise of Harrison Ford's charge remains one of
06:21Star Wars' saddest scenes ever. 5. Walking Straight Into A Trap
06:26Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
06:28The most heartbreaking aspect of Sirius Black's fate in 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the
06:33Phoenix was the needless nature of his death. Were it not for a terrible mistake made by his own godson,
06:39Black may not have ultimately met his end in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic. It's an absolute
06:45clanger of a mistake to boot. After the psychic bond between the boy who lived and Lord Voldemort
06:49becomes obvious, Dumbledore has Severus Snape teach Harry Occlumency to shield his mind from the
06:55Heir of Slytherin. However, despite being fully aware of the likelihood that Voldemort would try to
06:59exploit their connection, Harry merrily charges headfirst into the most obvious of traps after
07:05the Dark Lord shows him a fake vision of himself torturing Sirius. It's a lapse of judgement that costs his
07:11godfather's life. After Harry and his friends are ambushed by Death Eaters in the Department of
07:15Mysteries, Sirius and other members of the Order of the Phoenix arrive on the scene to save their
07:20bumbling young charges. Regrettably, the feel-good factor doesn't last for long. Black is killed by
07:25a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange seconds after overpowering Lucius Malfoy. 4. Celebrating Too Soon,
07:32This Is The End Focusing on a fictionalised version of its cast amidst the flames of the apocalypse,
07:372013's This Is The End is a perfect example of why celebrating too early is nearly always a terrible
07:44idea. As the film reaches its final act, our heroes discover that they can still make it to heaven.
07:49They simply have to perform a selfless act. Accordingly, when the survivors find themselves
07:54confronted by a Danny McBride-led group of cannibals, this status quo seemingly provides
07:58James Franco with the perfect opportunity to save his immortal soul, sacrificing himself by distracting
08:04their antagonists. All is going according to plan, as Franco is engulfed by a beam of heavenly blue
08:09light, only for the 127 hour star to make a terminal blunder. Giddy with delight at his plan working
08:16successfully, the actor begins taunting and cursing McBride and his goons, flipping off his would-be
08:21killers as he rises through the air. Unfortunately for Franco, the almighty would appear to have a
08:26problem with his profanity. The blue beam of light disappears abruptly, along with any chance of
08:31being raptured. A horrified Franco is left at the mercy of the cannibals, who gleefully set about
08:37devouring him. 3. Telling Norton the Truth, The Shawshank Redemption
08:42In prison, honesty is decidedly not the best policy, a status quo tragically illustrated by the fate of
08:48Tommy Williams in 1993's The Shawshank Redemption. A new prisoner doing a stretch for burglary, Tommy
08:54befriends Andy Dufresne and Red when he first arrives at Shawshank. After Andy helps the young man to pass his
09:00exam, Tommy produces a piece of news that seems too good to be true. While incarcerated in another
09:06prison, one of William's former cellmates claimed responsibility for the murders Andy is currently
09:11imprisoned for, a fact that Tommy is willing to testify to. Unfortunately, Tommy's sincerity proves
09:16to be his undoing. After Andy brings his news to the prison's loathsome Warden Norton, he is banged up in
09:22solitary confinement. Thin in concern, Norton then summons Tommy in an attempt to gauge how likely he is to
09:28testify on Andy's behalf. The instant he is assured of William's integrity, the Warden steps away from
09:34him, allowing his sadistic right hand Hadley to gun down Andy's would-be saviour under the guise of
09:39an attempted escape. 2. Giving Out Free Aspirin, Die Hard With A Vengeance
09:45As Simon Gruber mockingly tossed a bottle of aspirin to John McClane to cure a pounding hangover, it is
09:50unlikely that Jeremy Irons' slick criminal was aware that he had just made a mistake that would cost him
09:55140 billion dollars worth of gold and his life. In all fairness to him, McClane was tied up next
10:01to a large bomb and appeared to have approximately zero chance of escape at the time. Unfortunately
10:06for Gruber, there's a reason that the franchise is called Die Hard, McClane slips his buns and escapes
10:11the bomb's explosion alongside Samuel L Jackson's Zeus Carver. However, all still seems to be lost in
10:17the big picture. Gruber has escaped along with his haul from robbing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
10:22seemingly vanishing into thin air. That is of course until McClane realises that the bottle of aspirin
10:27has markings on it indicating where it was purchased, a truck shop in Quebec on the Canadian-US border.
10:33Gruber and his cronies are caught red-handed when the NYPD raids the location. Irons' villain meets
10:38his end in a fiery helicopter wreck soon after. Next time, quit while you're ahead.
10:431. Attempting to discover Angier's secret, The Prestige
10:47Why? Haven't good come from your obsessions? Well, at first. But I followed them too long.
10:53I'm their slave, and one day they'll choose to destroy me.
10:56An almost flawless offering from Christopher Nolan, 2005's The Prestige chronicles the endless
11:01feud between rival stage magicians in Victorian London. Tensions between the pair boil to head
11:07over a trick called the transported man. Initially demonstrated by Borden, the trick sees Christian
11:11Bale's magician seemingly transport instantaneously between two wardrobe doors on opposite ends of a
11:17stage. Hugh Jackman's Robert Angier eventually surpasses Borden, with his The Real Transported
11:22Man trick trumping the original in scale. Alfred performs his trick using the assistance of an
11:27identical twin with whom he shares Borden's identity. Unaware that Angier now possesses a
11:31machine that allows him to replicate the trick, he is completely unable to fathom how his rival has
11:36surpassed him. Regrettably, Alfred's obsession sets up a meeting with the hangman. Angier's machine
11:41creates a new version of himself every time the illusion is performed, meaning that one Robert
11:46takes the audience's applause, while the other drowns in a tank below the stage. When Borden sneaks below
11:51during a performance, his adversary takes the opportunity to frame him for the murder of the
11:55latest drowned version of Angier. One half of Alfred Borden subsequently is put to death for the murder of
12:01a man still drawing breath. Obsession. It's a young man's game.
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