Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones?

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Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 23/7/2012 4:34:10 PM

piginapoke

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Joined: 14/9/2006

Deus ex machinas - when have they worked in films and when haven't they?

I quite like the appearance of the clone army at the end of Attack of the Clones as a DEM, I completely forgot about the clones and remembered Yoda going off to investigate the army and next thing you know - Yoda pops up with the cavalry - "around the jedi, a perimeter create" - or somesuch Yoda speak.

Spoiler territory I know but has anyone got some good ones and bad ones they can think of?

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 23/7/2012 4:40:05 PM

st3veebee

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Nt sure about other peoples opinion on this one but I quite liked Scott Pilgrims one with the Vegan Police.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 24/7/2012 1:26:06 AM

neilhernandez64

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quote:

Scott Pilgrims one with the Vegan Police.

i like them also..

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 24/7/2012 9:52:51 AM

shool

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From: In The Pipe, Five by Five.

Life of Brian I think is my ultimate one. Brian being saved by a passing spaceship is amazing.

Plus there is an episode of Spongebob involving a gorilla which just blows your mind

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 24/7/2012 1:21:38 PM

piginapoke

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I love that brief intergalactic diversion in Life Of Brian, culminating with the ship crash landing right back where the Romans were who were chasing him

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 24/7/2012 1:54:53 PM

Rgirvan44

Posts: 18905
Joined: 10/3/2006
From: Punishment Park

quote:

ORIGINAL: piginapoke

Deus ex machinas - when have they worked in films and when haven't they?

I quite like the appearance of the clone army at the end of Attack of the Clones as a DEM, I completely forgot about the clones and remembered Yoda going off to investigate the army and next thing you know - Yoda pops up with the cavalry - "around the jedi, a perimeter create" - or somesuch Yoda speak.

Spoiler territory I know but has anyone got some good ones and bad ones they can think of?

I don't think that is a DEM because it was set up ahead of time.

A DEM has to come out of nowhere for it to work.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 24/7/2012 2:18:16 PM

sharkboy

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From: Belfast

*************SPOILERS ABOUND - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!***********************

Worst in years has to be Jurassic Park 3, where the protagonists find themselves surrounded by raptors only to be saved by the completely silent and unexpected appearance of what looks like the entire US navy! Close to it is Sam's miraculous resurrection at the end of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but as bad as it was, it was far from the worst moment of that particular movie! Then there was Apocalypto, which I was really enjoying until they pulled that conquistador/jesuit crap at the end

Best? Hmm...I don't tend to like the use of this mechanism which I consider a cheap ploy, but I did like the end of O Brother Where Art Thou? when, after praying before they are hanged, the valley is flooded allowing their escape. Or Mel Brooks' History Of The World, where a horse called Miracle that featured in the Roman section of the movie, appears again at a later stage in history when one of the characters announces "we need a miracle to get out of this"

Python do it so well; the aforementioned Life of Brian spaceship scene, the cops turning up at the end of Holy Grail to arrest Arthur for killing the historian earlier in the movie, or the animated monster chasing the knights being defeated by the death of the animator!

Don't forget the leo ex machina at the end of the 2nd Naked Gun movie where the bad guy survives a fall from a high building only to be eaten by an escaped lion!

Hmm...having looked at that list it seems that it works best when employed in a comedy!

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 25/7/2012 9:05:25 AM

grucl

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The butler in Spiderman 3...

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 25/7/2012 9:23:15 AM

sharkboy

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Joined: 26/9/2005
From: Belfast

Just thought of the perfect (and, in the circumstances, best?) use of deus ex machina - Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite. Perfect because (a) the whole format of the movie revolves around Greek theatre, down to the inclusion of the chorus; (b) Linda meets her true love when a helicopter is forced into an emergency landing beside her and out steps the pilot - Allen's character even refers to deus ex machina as the hunky pilot steps down from his troubled machine!; and (c) the whole helicopter bit only happened due to divine intervention after the chorus called for Zeus to intercede but got his answer machine instead - a literal god from the machine moment!

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 25/7/2012 6:45:51 PM

chewbacasnapsak

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I thought the O brother one was set up, they had get to the valley before it was flooded

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 25/7/2012 6:57:48 PM

Rebel scum

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quote:

ORIGINAL: sharkboy

NAKED GUN 2 1/2 SPOILERS
Don't forget the leo ex machina at the end of the 2nd Naked Gun movie where the bad guy survives a fall from a high building only to be eaten by an escaped lion!

From what I recall, that's set up earlier when Drebin plows the tank through a zoo and we see animals escape-it's one of my favourite setup/punchline bits in cinema.

More seriously, deus ex machinas only work if the film's universe allows that kind of thing to happen. The end of Raiders of the Lost Ark is a literal example, but one the film had also been building up to. Comedies work best for it because anything goes, while sudden plot resolutions in a "realistic" setting rarely work.

I agree with grucl, Spiderman 3 has one of the worst ones ever.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 25/7/2012 7:29:13 PM

Lazarus munkey

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Magnolia. It's 'Deus Ex Machina: The Movie'.

Fantastic stuff.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 25/7/2012 10:14:18 PM

DONOVAN KURTWOOD

Posts: 7671
Joined: 6/10/2005
From: PLANET G

quote:

ORIGINAL: sharkboy

*************SPOILERS ABOUND - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!***********************

Worst in years has to be Jurassic Park 3, where the protagonists find themselves surrounded by raptors only to be saved by the completely silent and unexpected appearance of what looks like the entire US navy!� Close to it is Sam's miraculous resurrection at the end of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but as bad as it was, it was far from the worst moment of that particular movie!� Then there was Apocalypto, which I was really enjoying until they pulled that conquistador/jesuit crap at the end

Best?� Hmm...I don't tend to like the use of this mechanism which I consider a cheap ploy, but I did like the end of O Brother Where Art Thou?� when, after praying before they are hanged, the valley is flooded allowing their escape.� Or Mel Brooks' History Of The World, where a horse called Miracle that featured in the Roman section of the movie, appears again at a later stage in history when one of the characters announces "we need a miracle to get out of this"� Python do it so well; the aforementioned Life of Brian spaceship scene, the cops turning up at the end of Holy Grail to arrest Arthur for killing the historian earlier in the movie, or the animated monster chasing the knights being defeated by the death of the animator! � Don't forget the leo ex machina at the end of the 2nd Naked Gun movie where the bad guy survives a fall from a high building only to be eaten by an escaped lion!

Hmm...having looked at that list it seems that it works best when employed in a comedy!

Absolutely on JP3, it's like the makers were like "Shit we need to end this movie.... NOW!"

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 6:28:31 AM

horribleives

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From: The North

Didn't Sam Neil make a phonecall to Laura Dern earlier and tell her they were in trouble though? Granted it's still ridiculous that she then managed to arrange for the full force of the military to rescue them in such a short space of time but it does mean their arrival was kind of set up beforehand. I was more disappointed that we were then denied the sight of the T-Rex and that other big fucker having a pagger with the navy.

< Message edited by horribleives -- 26/7/2012 6:30:28 AM >

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 8:08:48 AM

Spaldron

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I always thought the ending to JP3 was a nod to Lord of the Flies.

Speaking of which, Lord of the Flies, the US Navy show up out of nowhere.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 9:09:45 AM

chewbacasnapsak

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I suppose technically in the first Jurassic Park, the T-Rex saving them from the Raptors at the end counts as a Deus ex machina.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 2:31:56 PM

horribleives

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quote:

ORIGINAL: chewbacasnapsak

I suppose technically in the first Jurassic Park, the T-Rex saving them from the Raptors at the end counts as a Deus ex machina.

But we already know there's a T-Rex knocking about so it's not out of the blue. If King Kong showed up and saved the day then it would qualify.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 2:50:00 PM

st3veebee

Posts: 2354
Joined: 3/9/2006
From: 9303 Lyon Drive

quote:

ORIGINAL: horribleives

quote:

ORIGINAL: chewbacasnapsak

I suppose technically in the first Jurassic Park, the T-Rex saving them from the Raptors at the end counts as a Deus ex machina.

But we already know there's a T-Rex knocking about so it's not out of the blue. If King Kong showed up and saved the day then it would qualify.

You obviously haven't seen George Lucas's remastered edition.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 4:22:51 PM

gunstar

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From: Star Lite Star Bright Trailer Park

Demons.

When all hope is lost, have a helicopter smash through the roof for no apparent reason.

Can't decide if it's the best or the worst. It's just so...brazen.

< Message edited by gunstar -- 26/7/2012 4:26:23 PM >

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 26/7/2012 5:23:55 PM

Lazarus munkey

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quote:

ORIGINAL: gunstar

Demons.

When all hope is lost, have a helicopter smash through the roof for no apparent reason.

Can't decide if it's the best or the worst. It's just so...brazen.

That reminded me, was it not one of the Demons films where a couple are stuck on a roof until the guy says, "remember those abseiling lessons we had last year?" It was 20 years ago when I saw it but that clanged like Big Ben.

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RE: Deus ex machina(s) - good and bad ones? - 12/8/2012 9:44:46 AM

thedrin

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From: Ireland

Toy Story 3 spoilers:

The Pizza Planet triplets get run over by an industrial vehicle in the garbage dump and are left behind. They then save the day by dropping the claw into the incinerator without any indication they knew the other toys were in there.

This does not sit well with me.

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