Whether it’s a clock ticking, a timer running out, or a verbal “three…two…”, what are your favorite cinematic countdowns? It can be to suspenseful, horrific, or humorous effect.
I’ll just jump in first with Goldfinger.
This isnt really a countdown but I think it kinda fits…Lee marvin from Point Blank…
Aliens
I must say, I’m always a fan of the scene where someone (good guy or bad - whatever, he’s cool
does this:
Cool Hand: ‘You got 30 seconds to get off my ship (out of my house, give me the money, etc)’
Victim: 'You can’t do that! ‘I have perfectly reasonable explanations for my actions. Violence would not be appropriate! I’ll get the money tomorrow!’. etc
Cool Hand: (pause) ‘20’.
When done well, cracks me up every time.
The first thing I thought of was the bomb countdown in Galaxy Quest.
There was a good one in Goldfinger as well.
Most of them are cheesy as Hell. But so what? What can you expect from a movie made in 1963?
Another topic that you might like to start are those so-called “explanations” the bad guy gives to the hero before killing them and the time it takes to deliver that explanation results in the hero finding a way to escape their fate.
Goldfinger contains another excellent example. I just love that film. It was so well done for a film made in 1963.
“My name is Bond … James Bond.”
“I’d like a vodka martini - shaken - not stirred.”
Damn, I thought I would be first with this one.
Already mentioned in Post #2.
I didn’t know most movies featuring countdown scenes were made in 1963 - that’s interesting, can you name some more?
HA! OMG that is so true. You should start a thread on it!
Oh man I’d forgotten those lines - awesome!
“The Towering Inferno” Big ticking clock wired up to the charges coupled with John Williams’s score keeping time with the second hand. Super cool!
You could’ve been, if you used the Omega 13.
The nuclear self-destruct sequence in The Andromeda Strain (1971).
“There are five minutes to self destruct…”
And you can get replicas of the Wildfire self-destruct keys at this site.
The Simpsons, when Homer saves the plant from nuclear meltdown.
“Crisis has been averted. Everything is super!”
Related, from the episode The Vast Waistband, a grossly obese Homer (well, more grossly obese than usual) must rush to the plant to prevent a poison gas leak. On first viewing, I didn’t even realize Burns’ “Iroquois twists” were a countdown.
Not sure if it’s true but I’ve read the countdown at NASA was originally a movie device to add drama.
In Lethal Weapon 2, when Murtaugh is sitting on the toilet that has a bomb under it, and Riggs is going to pull him into the bathtub to shield him from the blast. They decide to go on a count of three, but then have a quick discussion about whether it’s 1-2-go, or 1-2-3-go.
No love for High Noon?
But my favourite has got to be the intro to Thunderbirds.