# Your Biggest Surprise in a Movie \[Open Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604 "2008-04-16T16:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/1 "2008-04-16T16:34:08Z")
Not that any of these is mine, but the sort of thing I mean: When they turn the old gal around in _Psycho_ and you get a whole face full of rotten flesh. In _Planet of the Apes_ – the beach scene with the head of the Statue of Liberty The scene with all the slapping in _Chinatown_ Learning the identity of Keyser Sose Learning the key ingredient in _Soylent Green_ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/2 "2008-04-16T16:35:38Z")
“Luke, I am your father.” ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/3 "2008-04-16T16:36:16Z")
That moment in _the Crying Game_ took a lot of people by surprise. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/4 "2008-04-16T16:36:26Z")
The last scene in Easy Rider. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/5 "2008-04-16T16:37:35Z")
Novak’s two-minute monologue in Down With Love, explaining her weasel-clever plan, was surprising. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/6 "2008-04-16T16:40:39Z")
_From Dusk till Dawn_, where the movie took an unexpected left turn and cartwheeled into a ditch. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/7 "2008-04-16T16:40:55Z")
Strangely, the first one that comes to mind - because I wasn’t familiar with the cartoon - was in _Aeon Flux_. **spoilers** The moment she realizes they are all clones that have just been recloned dozens of times over centuries was a great and interesting surprise for me. When my girlfriend made me see _Titanic_ [shivvers] I actual;ly shrieked “NOOO!” when the old bat dropped the jewel at the end. Oh. And the biggest was probably _L.A. Confidential_ when Dudley shoots Vincennes. I shouted, “AH! He shot Vincennes!!!” My friends still laugh at me for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/8 "2008-04-16T16:41:42Z")
I think you need to warn about spoilers in this thread! But, for me, the biggest surprise in a recent movie was Leslie Burke’s death in _Bridge to Terabithia_: I mean, this is an American children’s movie, and sympathetic main characters don’t die! (Of course, I didn’t read the book until after seeing the movie). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/9 "2008-04-16T16:51:15Z")
Kevin Costner’s big secret at the end of _No Way Out_. The identity of the killer in _Presumed Innocent_. Meshach Taylor getting sliced by the elevator cable in _Damien: Omen II_. I’ll second Dudley shooting Vincennes. I jumped. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/10 "2008-04-16T16:59:36Z")
Sam Jackson in _Deep Blue Sea_. I sure didn’t see _that_ coming. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/11 "2008-04-16T16:59:59Z")
_The Sixth Sense_. You know the twist by now, I assume. I worked at a video store at the time, and EVERY SINGLE MOVIE GOT SPOILED FOR ME by customers (_Se7en, Crying Game, From Dusk…, Usual Suspects_, etc.) except that one. That was the only “big secret” movie I actually got to see without even knowing that there \*was \*a secret. It. Was. Awesome. I can’t help but wonder if I would have liked all those others better if I hadn’t known their secrets going in… ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/12 "2008-04-16T17:07:54Z")
Sloth in _Se7en_. I literally jumped out of my seat. ---
**Author:** ![PharmBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@PharmBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PharmBoy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/13 "2008-04-16T17:10:55Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] “Luke, I am your father.” [/QUOTE] This was mine as well. I remember how shocked the whole theater was… ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/14 "2008-04-16T17:11:16Z")
The face of the little one in the red raincoat in Don’t Look Now was quite a shock. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/15 "2008-04-16T17:13:24Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] Sloth in _Se7en_. I literally jumped out of my seat. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I actually felt my skin spring away from the rest of me, like in a cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/16 "2008-04-16T17:16:27Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux] Kevin Costner’s big secret at the end of _No Way Out_. [/QUOTE] That was mine, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/17 "2008-04-16T17:21:11Z")
Maybe you people can help me think of another situation that I had meant to include in the OP. It’s been in several movies, some more effectively than others, where whatever monster, creature, crazed homicidal maniac, deadly virus, or other entity that usually gets killed off, incinerated, blown to bits, dropped in an acid bath, crushed under a steam roller or otherwise dutifully eliminated by movie’s end, is shown to be continuing as a menace. This device normally flashes the **SEQUEL SOON** sign for all to see, but in some of the grizzlier movies the end is just left that way to keep you from sleeping well for a while. Any examples come to mind for you? ---
**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/18 "2008-04-16T17:23:00Z")
Wash. _Serenity._ ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/19 "2008-04-16T17:26:23Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux] The identity of the killer in _Presumed Innocent_. [/QUOTE] It was just as shocking in the book. I was reading it at work (lunch break) and I gasped. I rarely gasp. Several scenes in _No Country for Old Men_ were very surprising. The movie’s too recent for open spoilers. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604/20 "2008-04-16T17:48:29Z")
All of _Fight Club_ took me by surprise, since it had been promoted as if it were nothing more than a macho movie about tough guys beating each other up. But when we learned Tyler Durden’s true identity, I was so taken aback that I accidentally snorked a piece of popcorn into my windpipe. That movie nearly killed me. But I had to watch it again anyway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-biggest-surprise-in-a-movie-open-spoilers/445604.md?page=2)