I'm sick of all these movies where the protagonist is a huge badass/genius/etc. and overcomes incredible odds because he's just so great. What are some movies where the protagonist is clearly in over his head and is outmatched by his adversaries?
Pic NOT related.
Lord of the rings
Indiana jones
The Veteran
No Country for Old Men
Sicario
The Counseler
Training Day
Taxi Driver
original Die Hard
They Live
Die Hard
I don't accept that, protagonist is the definition of "huge badass who overcomes incredible odds because he's just that good"
Inherent Vice
Falling Down
Brick
Blade Runner
Not really. In the later ones, maybe. But in the original he's just an average joe who has incredible luck and quick wits.
maybe:
collateral
no country for old men
silence of the lambs
casino royale also is pretty notable for a bond movie
A character can be a genius and still be confronted with overwhelming odds though
Green Room
Blue Ruin
The Departed
Body of Lies
i don't just want "in over their heads", i want a proper fuckup, a fat ugly loser, someone seemingly irredeemable who claws back some semblance of respectability by the end but is never canonised like a saint.
closest i can think in an action movie is district 9.
Does Predator count?
Blue Ruin
It’s the most realistic revenge story ever.
Blade runner
I think maybe you started with Die Hard 2. In the original, he was outmatched by Gruber's squad in every way. He had the advantage in the first half of the movie of being invisible, and in the second half, he was underestimated.
Every stoner flick? Every romance flick?
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Fargo
No Country for Old Men
Blue Ruin
Sicario
Hobo With a Shotgun
Big Trouble In Little China.
Fuck yes it counts
There are a shit ton of modern movies with weak heroes
Children of Men
die hard
>i want a proper fuckup, a fat ugly loser, someone seemingly irredeemable who claws back some semblance of respectability by the end but is never canonised like a saint
No Country for Old Men, absolutely yes.
Collateral is interesting and I generally agree even though the protagonist ended up winning with a large amount of luck.
Silence of the Lambs was pretty stupid because Jodie Foster walked into a completely dark room, managed to turn around and shoot Buffalo Bill before he could shoot her despite having night vision goggles and already pointing the gun at her. Hannibal was untouchable though.
The Man Who Knew Too Little
You should read the manga "Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa"
Mel Gibson in Get The Gringo.
>almost pisses himself when one of the bad guys bursts in to kill him despite having a plan to talk him down
The Road
based FKMTposter
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Die Hard movies.
He only barely wins in each one, really.
Now that you mention it, there's a lot of anime like that. The last one I watched that was any good where the protagonist is really really in over his head was "Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World" when shit gets real, it gets pretty damn dark.
>one scene
He later goes operator and kills everyone.
FROM OUT OF THE DUST CAME A MAN TRUE AND BOLD
CHAMPION OF THE FANDANGO
BY NIGHT HE DRANK WHISKEY
BY DAY KILLED BAD MEN
AND THE TOWNSPEOPLE KNEW HIM AS RANGO
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
See Your description matches Blue Ruin 100%
everything Jackie Chan
Casino Royale
Blade Runner
cold in july
Patrician detected
Chinatown
wrong
tucker and dale vs evil
Terminator 1
What did he mean by this?
Night of the Living Dead
The other Romero zombie movies
The Road
Mad Max: Fury Road
gattaca doesn't have a fight but the protagonist works hard to overcome his genetic limitations in a world that oppresses all but the best
Marathon Man
No. They live life on easy mode 24/7. If I ever see a genius complain about life being "tough" again, I'll gut him. Ungrateful cunts don't know how lucky they got in life
From Paris with Love
All Shane Black moobies
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Snatch. sorta? Pretty much everyone is a complete fuckup though.
No, it literally means main character or leading character, "player of the first part." Sure, it can mean "hero", which implies he overcomes something and wins in the end. But a leading character's story can also end in doom or failure.
>i want a proper fuckup, a fat ugly loser, someone seemingly irredeemable who claws back some semblance of respectability by the end but is never canonised like a saint.
taxi driver?
jeff who lives at home?
hunchback of notre dame?
elephant man?
no they don't.
women prefer confident men, and stupid men are more likely to be confident because they don't know any better.
geniuses only life live on "easymode" if they actually transform their genius into money.
Big Lebowski. The audience are the only ones that think he is a "saint"
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MST3K take on The Final Sacrifice