Weekly Theme

Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

I think this is an interesting theme for many reasons. I actually think that this theme may be the easiest one for a film maker to use to drum up some empathy from the audience. I mean......... most people have been in or are in love, but everyone's been wronged one way or another. "Screw unto other as they have screwed unto you." right?.............. We'll call that the Silver rule.

So what about some cinematic uses of revenge? I am quickly reminded of Bill Murray in The Life Aquatic....

[a woman asks a question about the shark Zissou is hunting]
Festival Director: [translating] That's an endangered species at most. What would be the scientific purpose of killing it?
Steve Zissou: Revenge.

And you mustn't forget about Sin City. Revenge is what drives Marv and Hartigan through their journeys.

Revenge is the prime motivating force behind another one of my favorites. Luc Besson's Leon: The Professional. "This.......... is....... for......................... Matilda."

Even as a young child I was familiar with this theme. I can remember fashioning swords out of sticks, broom handles or whatever else I could find and pretending I was a Spanish swordsman. All the while, repeating the phrase: "Hello....... my name is Inigo Montoya.......... you killed my father........... prepare to die."

So there you have it. These are the sweet revenge films. These moments are burned in my brain and there's probably a ton more. What are you favorites? Do you find the whole thing repulsive? Are there any example of the quest for revenge going sour?

Emery

P.S. I would just like to take a second to thank everyone that's contributed to this group thus far. I really want to keep this up as long as possible. Looking up, I realize that we have 35 members now and we've been going for a little over 3 months. So thank you for your input. It wouldn't work with out you.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

My sister pointed out to me that every Christopher Nolan movie is about revenge. :)

I enjoyed Memento, Batman Begins, and still need to see The Dark Knight. (Looks like the link a movie tool's search functionality is BUSTED! omg!). Well I'm way too lazy to do this right now.

Many films are about revenge. We could probably spend all week thinking up films and still not cover all of them. I think the act of revenge is often not even the main focus of a film until the reason for revenge occurs - loss of a loved one, loss of property, etc. So while some movies start out with this premise established, many more establish it during the course of the film.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

The Kill Bills are amongst my fave revenge movies.  Thanks to QT for rocking the girl power there.

The Antonio Banderas version of Zorro wants revenge for killing his brother.

On a slightly skewered note, I just watched Clerks again this past weekend (makes me feel better about my job).  Randal arguably takes revenge against the average customer.

I'm sure there are others too, but I am just trying to spend some minutes at work before I leave, so yeah :-).  That's what I could come up with in two minutes.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

Some that come to mind that were based entirely on revenge are She-Devil, which I thought better than I expected it would be, and Ruthless People.  The 1980s seemed to be good times for the revenge business.  I'm sure a lot of the old hard-boiled film noirs could essentially be about revenge as well.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

Well since probably my favorite film focusing solely on revenge was mentioned (She-Devil), I'm gonna have to go ahead and list those that pale in comparison.

Jaws: The Revenge - The first Jaws is incredible, but not really about revenge. The fourth installment, with revenge blatantly placed in the title, is a great little B-movie that increased my fear of sharks and has made me vow to myself to never get on a floatation device that gets dragged behind a boat: cause you know great white sharks love that shit.

I was recently able to see Machine Girl which was insanely gory and loaded with laughs. Premise: a young school girl gets revenge by attaching a Gatling gun to her amputated forearm and killing the bullies that picked on her and her brother.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is more or less a revenge flick about Freddy killing the kids of those who killed him.

Carrie gave mousy nerds in high school hope of becoming telekinetic and getting revenge on all those snot nosed cheerleaders and jocks.

Death Becomes Her is all about revenge between two woman that continues throughout their entire lives.

Dick presupposes that Deepthroat was just getting revenge on Nixon.

Election is yet another meditation on revenge set in high school. Pick Flick or suffer the wrath of Reese Witherspoon!

Friday the 13th. No explanation needed.

Gladiator Maximus is all up on getting revenge.

Hackers spends half the film getting revenge on those that dare to mess with computer nerds and their porn.

Hard Candy was a very twisted revenge thriller.

Jawbreaker and Mean Girls focus on big breasted teens plotting each others demise.

Overboard has a lowly carpenter getting revenge on a bitchy debutante by surreptitiously making her into his wife and the father of his children when she gets amnesia.

Rushmore has fantastic moments of revenge between Max and Mr. Bloom.

The "Non-Fiction" part of Storytelling has a great bit of revenge at the end.

The First Wives Club is a guilty pleasure about scorned ex-wives getting revenge on their husbands that left them for younger women.

The Incredibles centers around Syndrome getting revenge on super-heroes.

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is some classic screen legend revenge.

Lastly, Wild Things. Great B-movie with acts of revenge and lesbian trysts around every corner.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

mercurial:

Well since probably my favorite film focusing solely on revenge was mentioned (She-Devil), I'm gonna have to go ahead and list those that pale in comparison.

Jaws: The Revenge - The first Jaws is incredible, but not really about revenge. The fourth installment, with revenge blatantly placed in the title, is a great little B-movie that increased my fear of sharks and has made me vow to myself to never get on a floatation device that gets dragged behind a boat: cause you know great white sharks love that shit.

I was recently able to see Machine Girl which was insanely gory and loaded with laughs. Premise: a young school girl gets revenge by attaching a Gatling gun to her amputated forearm and killing the bullies that picked on her and her brother.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is more or less a revenge flick about Freddy killing the kids of those who killed him.

Carrie gave mousy nerds in high school hope of becoming telekinetic and getting revenge on all those snot nosed cheerleaders and jocks.

Death Becomes Her is all about revenge between two woman that continues throughout their entire lives.

Dick presupposes that Deepthroat was just getting revenge on Nixon.

Election is yet another meditation on revenge set in high school. Pick Flick or suffer the wrath of Reese Witherspoon!

Friday the 13th. No explanation needed.

Gladiator Maximus is all up on getting revenge.

Hackers spends half the film getting revenge on those that dare to mess with computer nerds and their porn.

Hard Candy was a very twisted revenge thriller.

Jawbreaker and Mean Girls focus on big breasted teens plotting each others demise.

Overboard has a lowly carpenter getting revenge on a bitchy debutante by surreptitiously making her into his wife and the father of his children when she gets amnesia.

Rushmore has fantastic moments of revenge between Max and Mr. Bloom.

The "Non-Fiction" part of Storytelling has a great bit of revenge at the end.

The First Wives Club is a guilty pleasure about scorned ex-wives getting revenge on their husbands that left them for younger women.

The Incredibles centers around Syndrome getting revenge on super-heroes.

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? is some classic screen legend revenge.

Lastly, Wild Things. Great B-movie with acts of revenge and lesbian trysts around every corner.

 

I see your Jaws: The Revenge, Mercurial, and raise you one Revenge of the Nerds.  I'd also like to throw Heathers into the mix of teenage revenge movies, with very dark consequences.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

rjsprague:

My sister pointed out to me that every Christopher Nolan movie is about revenge. :)

Another person who has made their career on revenge is Mel Gibson.

From Mad Max (OK any of the Mad Max movies) to Braveheart to The Bounty and Ransom, almost all of his movies are about getting screwed over in the worst way possible and then getting his Payback.

Of course I prefer the John Boorman/Lee Marvin tale of vengenge, Point Blank to Payback, but you can take your pick.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

Hm... I'm on the fence about this one, but for some reason it keeps popping into my mind as a 'revenge' flick.

V for Vendetta... now, I realize that 'V' is supposedly a vigilante, acting against a corrupt government on a personal vendetta--but I remember seeing the film and feeling as though it was revenge masked as a vendetta, in order to seem more grandiose and noble.  Been awhile since I've seen it though, maybe I'm completely wrong?

3:10 to Yuma... I thought this was one of the most epic character struggles with revenge that I have ever seen.  I don't think that any of the main characters in this film go without a personal battle with a need for revenge at some point within this film.  It seems though each character weighs the costs of revenge at some point, all ultimately making their own choices.

Ocean's 11, 12, 13...  Ultimately each of these films is about revenge, as much as its about a caper/heist.  There is always some personal motive at the core of the job.  I think this is true of nearly any film of the genre... its not enough just to rob someone, you have to ruin them in the process or teach them a lesson.

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

   Wow.   A lot of my favorites have already been listed.   From  Kill Bill  to  Carrie  to  The Profesional ...   Here are a few more...

   Moby Dick :  Melville's classic story was actually based on a TRUE (!) occurence in which a large white whale intentionally rammed a whaling ship and sank it, killing most,or all of the crewmen!

   Jaws :  The original.   This was loosely based on the above story and is very much about revenge.  Quint has dedicated his life to killing every shark he sees in revenge for the horrors that he endured following the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.   Chief Brody is seeking revenge against the shark that terrorized his community and ate some it's citizens.

   Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn :  Kahn quotes Melville's Moby Dick as he seeks revenge against Admiral Kirk.

   Billy Jack :  It is the rape of Billy's girlfriend that sends him on a deadly vengeance quest.

   Rage (1972) :  Geoerge C. Scott seeks revenge after a US military nerve gas experiment kills his livestock and his son in this exceptional and rarely seen flick.

   Hostel :   The revenge bit at the end of this flick was intense and made this one of my favorites of the modern horror movie genre.

   Sorry, SPOUT is having technical difficulties (surprise!) with the link a movie function.

                                                                                < GOR >

Re:Weekly Theme for October 6: Revenge!

Dr_Gor:

     Moby Dick :  Melville's classic story was actually based on a TRUE (!) occurence in which a large white whale intentionally rammed a whaling ship and sank it, killing most,or all of the crewmen!

   Jaws :  The original.   This was loosely based on the above story and is very much about revenge.  Quint has dedicated his life to killing every shark he sees in revenge for the horrors that he endured following the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.   Chief Brody is seeking revenge against the shark that terrorized his community and ate some it's citizens.

                                                                                 < GOR >

Isn't Jaws based on a series of shark attacks at the Jersey Shore during the summer of 1911? All the attacks were traced back to the same Great White.