# Head butts in cinema (or on tv) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296 "2007-08-03T14:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/21 "2007-08-03T18:18:26Z")
_Never Say Never Again_ ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/22 "2007-08-03T18:21:13Z")
Does the whole Zinedine Zidane thing count? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/23 "2007-08-03T18:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] IIRC, there’s a mean head butt in **Trainspotting**. I’d want independent verification, though. It’s been a few years. [/QUOTE] I think so, the scene where Begbie tosses the pint glass off the balcony to start a fight? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/24 "2007-08-03T18:28:03Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Does the whole Zinedine Zidane thing count? [/QUOTE] It’s not what I had in mind in the OP, but I’ll take whatever people want to add, really. Real life examples like this fit into another part of the report. As long as I can tell them apart, go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/25 "2007-08-03T18:29:44Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] If this is for a Staff Report, make sure you make note of The First Rule of Film Headbutts: “It won’t hurt you if it was your idea”. [/QUOTE] I’m realise I might be being whooshed by a bit of pop culture I’m unaware of here, but a well executed headbutt doesn’t hurt the butt-er, but the butt-ee is out of the fight immediately. Not that I’ve ever given or received one, but I’ve seen a fair few! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/26 "2007-08-03T18:31:26Z")
The Billy Crystal/Robin Williams buddy picture _Father’s Day_ portrays Crystal as a tough customer who routinely knocks people out with a vicious headbutt. Yes, _that_ Billy Crystal. And that bit of casting is the least of the things that are wrong with this movie. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/27 "2007-08-03T18:44:37Z")
There was a friendly head-but in DS9’s “The Way of the Warrior” ---
**Author:** ![dannyness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b77776/32.png) [@dannyness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dannyness)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/28 "2007-08-03T18:51:54Z")
In the classic Halloween episode of **The Adventures of Pete and Pete** , Little Pete delivers a great headbutt to Endless Mike. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/29 "2007-08-03T19:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] I’m realise I might be being whooshed by a bit of pop culture I’m unaware of here, but a well executed headbutt doesn’t hurt the butt-er, but the butt-ee is out of the fight immediately. Not that I’ve ever given or received one, but I’ve seen a fair few! [/QUOTE] A “real” effective headbutt involves the butt-er striking his forehead against the butt-ee’s nose. No hurt for butt-er, lotsa pain for butt-ee. A film headbutt usually involves the butt-er striking his forehead against the butt-ee’s forehead. On film, this results in no hurt for butt-er, lotsa pain for butt-ee. In real life, it would hurt both persons equally. Apparently in the film world, the idea for the headbutt travels to the butt-er’s forehead and forms a protective barrier shielding him from harm. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/30 "2007-08-03T19:11:03Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] Apparently in the film world, the idea for the headbutt travels to the butt-er’s forehead and forms a protective barrier shielding him from harm. [/QUOTE] Haha, yes right, I get what you mean now! It would result in this :smack: for both parties. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/31 "2007-08-03T19:18:48Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] One of my sources for the staff report is a New York Times article that says it was rare before the mid-1980s. [/QUOTE] Rocky (the movie) came out in 1976. Didn’t Sly get headbutted in the first fight shown, when he was still a bum? I seem to remember it opened a nasty cut, but Rocky won anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/32 "2007-08-03T19:29:32Z")
If hitting someone in the face with the back of your head counts, _GI Jane_ has one. There’s a harsh face-to-face one in the _Farscape_ episode “Die Me, Dichotomy,” the last episode of the second season. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/33 "2007-08-03T19:40:52Z")
[QUOTE=cbawlmer] If hitting someone in the face with the back of your head counts [/QUOTE] Sure. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/34 "2007-08-03T20:24:29Z")
If you’re taking animation, **Mulan** has Shan Yu headbutting Captain Shang during the final battle. In the [Alternate Verison](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120762/alternateversions) section it’s mentioned that, to keep a U rating in the UK, the action was excised from the theatrical release, then accidently included in the DVD. Not to hijack the thread, but I’ve seen this mentioned from time to time – UK ratings go up a bump for a headbutt. Is it feared kids might imitate it in play? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/35 "2007-08-03T20:40:55Z")
In the cartoon/toy line He-Man, there was a character named Ram-Man, who had the ability to launch his barrel-like body head first into his enemies, head-butting them into submission. Here’s a webpage detailing [everything Ram-Man ever headbutted in the cartoon.](http://www.he-man.org/cartoon/cmotu/specialfeatures/wheresyourneck.shtml) Looking at the stills on that site, I’m struck by his uncanny resemblence to Edward G. Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/36 "2007-08-03T20:42:24Z")
Stephen Rea gets a pretty good one from a skinhead in \*\*Still Crazy \*\* (1998). ---
**Author:** ![silverfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@silverfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silverfish)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/37 "2007-08-03T22:35:53Z")
There a comment about Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, on the bbfc website: [http://www.bbfc.co.uk/faq/index.php](http://www.bbfc.co.uk/faq/index.php). A head butt was removed as “There were concerns that young children might attempt to imitate the move with undesirable results.” This was to keep a PG rating, rather than U, as was the case with Mulan. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/38 "2007-08-04T00:44:52Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] The Billy Crystal/Robin Williams buddy picture _Father’s Day_ portrays Crystal as a tough customer who routinely knocks people out with a vicious headbutt. Yes, _that_ Billy Crystal. And that bit of casting is the least of the things that are wrong with this movie. [/QUOTE] I never saw _Father’s Day_, but the head-butting makes sense given that it’s a remake of Les Compères (1983), in which the same character was played by Gérard Depardieu. Now **there** is a master of the head-butt; not only in several of his movies, but also [in real life](http://www.celebnewswire.com/archives/gerard_depardieu_head_butts_photographer.html) (when an Italian _paparazzo_ took one picture too many). In _Les Compères_, Depardieu’s counterpart (the hapless [Pierre Richard](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0007069/)) also attempts a head-butt, with comic results. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/39 "2007-08-04T00:58:50Z")
I need to urge all posters reading this thread to click on **Antonius** ’s “in real life” link in the above post. It’s got the greatest headshot I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296/40 "2007-08-04T01:42:55Z")
Meatloaf and Allan Graf butt heads in a bar fight in **Roadie** , 1980. Tiny Thompson (Allan Graf) gets knocked out cold, and Travis W. Redfish (Meatloaf) gets a nice concussion and starts talking gibberish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/head-butts-in-cinema-or-on-tv/414296.md?page=3)