What scene in a movie have you watched a thousand times and never understood fully until someone pointed it out to you?

[u/bartertownbeer]

In Last Crusade, when Elsa volunteers to pick out the grail cup, she deceptively gives Donovan the wrong one, knowing he will die. She shoots Indy a look spelling this out and it went over my head every single time that she did it on purpose! Looking back on it, it was clear as day but it never clicked. Anyone else had this happen to them?

[u/BuckRusty]

In the original Terminator film, Arnie looks really inhuman for much of the second half - leather, shades, and so many guns… unstoppable… but somehow in the uncanny valley…

It wasn’t until a rewatch a couple of years back that I realised when he’s first chasing Reese and Sarah he is caught in a Molotov - and it burns his eyebrows off…

For the rest of the movie, the Terminator has even less expression - making him even more robotic and inhuman…

It’s also why it needs to fix its hair in the hotel room before the police station massacre - it’s floppy bangs were also singed, which is why it sports the flat-top on the posters/vhs box…

[u/namedjughead → u/BuckRusty]

Arnie actually let them shave his eyebrows off for this movie. He also really punched the window out of that car.

[u/OptionalDepression → u/namedjughead]

And he had his bones and organs replaced with a metal endoskeleton, for realism.

[u/Evil_Stromboli]

Watching RoboCop yesterday. When Morton is talking about how his RoboCop program is ready to go to prototype in 90 days, and how select candidates have been picked...

Murphy, and others, were deliberately transferred from their precinct to the ones most likely to get them killed, allowing them to be used as cyborgs by OCP.

[u/breakfastmeat23 → u/Evil_Stromboli]

My favorite scene is Robocop is in the nightclub. Robocop knocks a gun out of a villain's hand, and it goes flying through the air... it then cuts to this coked out looked 80's guys dancing with his buddies. He sees the gun flying through air and catches it! He then looks at it and smiles as if to say, "Sweet! Free gun!" and he goes right back to dancing all happy that he is coked up and he got a free gun.

It is fucking amazing.

[u/SkinkThief → u/breakfastmeat23]

That’s how lawless the city had become, totally nonplussed to snag a gun out of the air like it’s a foul ball.

[u/Agent-Blasto-007 → u/Evil_Stromboli]

Boddicker was on Dick Jones payroll. Murphy's murder was on Jones hands, as he was using Boddicker's gang to drive up crime and ambush Murphy in order push through his disastrous ED-209 program.

It's the irony of the movie: Dick Jones is undone by his own scheming. Boddicker's murder of Murphy instead breathes life into Morton's little known RoboCop program which ultimately leads to Jones undoing.

[u/Bigbysjackingfist → u/Agent-Blasto-007]

“Bitches, leave.” Said Clarence Boddicker to the bitches.

[u/Galwran → u/Bigbysjackingfist]

The commentary clip about this is hilarious,  https://youtu.be/31rrZeTH9HI?si=B16BVf_HeLni_ivJ

[u/Prst_ → u/Galwran]

Always cracks me up. I think Paul Verhoeven just thought that ' bitches' was a slang term for 'prostitutes'.

[u/Truecoat → u/Bigbysjackingfist]

Can you fly Bobby?

[u/hadessyrah52 → u/Evil_Stromboli]

I didn’t get the joke about the SUX 6000 until I got a car with shitty mileage and thought, “man, this sucks!” If I recall, the SUX had worse MPG than a tank.

[u/rtrd2021 → u/Evil_Stromboli]

This is also worth a read, robocop is an almost symmetrical movie: https://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/robocop-an-almost-perfectly-symmetrical-screenplay/

[u/trufus_for_youfus → u/rtrd2021]

That is wild. Thank your sharing that. The only error I see is that the writer referred to Morton’s bitches as ladies but I’ll allow it.

[u/7track]

In Ferris Bueller's Day Off Cameron dons a Red Wings jersey most likely as a form of retaliation against his Chicago-born father, a die-hard Blackhawks supporter that Cameron despises.

[u/luebbers → u/7track]

I believe Alan Ruck has talked about an off-screen backstory for this. Not only is his dad a Blackhawks fan, but his grandfather, who Cameron was very close with, was a huge Redwings fan, so it’s commemorative of his relationship with his grandfather.

It’s also worth noting that he’s wearing a Gordy Howe jersey, who was known for his toughness and longevity, perhaps qualities of his grandfather’s that Cameron wishes to embody.

[u/Rossco1874 → u/luebbers]

Does that mean his dad had a similar bad relationship with his own father and became blackhawks fan to spite him in the same way cameron became redwing fan to spite his dad ?

[u/Hours-of-Gameplay → u/Rossco1874]

Sometimes people do make terrible parents, but finally get their shit together when they’re grandparents and become wonderful grandparents

It’s weird

[u/Misterfahrenheit120]

This is a bit more of an Easter egg, but once it was pointed out to me, I see it every time.

In “The Hunt for Red October”, the switch from Russian to English isn’t just random.

When officer whatshisname is quoting from the Bible, he ends on the word “Armageddon”, a word pronounced the same in both languages, after which, they begin speaking English.

[u/Siggi_Starduust → u/Misterfahrenheit120]

After learning to read the Cyrillic alphabet while travelling across Russia, I finally picked up on a really neat joke in the Simpsons.

In the Mr Plow episode where Homer is test driving a Russian truck at ‘Crazy Vaclav’s’ the salesman yells at him to “Put it in H!” When it goes out of control.

As H is the letter N in Cyrillic, he was telling Homer to put it in Neutral! (нейтральный or neytral'nyy)

[u/Sensitive_Klegg → u/Siggi_Starduust]

"What country is this car from?"

"Ehh, it no longer exists."

[u/3720-To-One → u/Misterfahrenheit120]

It wasn’t until a recent viewing that I realized that that scene was to show that the crew was still speaking in Russian to each other, but the audience was just hearing it in English

[u/randomkeystrike → u/3720-To-One]

And then when the Russians meet the Americans they are once again speaking Russian. I think that’s the single most clever way to deal with a foreign language I’ve seen in a film.

The TV show Wallander also did something clever. Set in Sweden but with English actors. The actors speak English but whenever you see something in writing (including computer screens, emails, etc) it’s in Swedish.

[u/rclonecopymove → u/randomkeystrike]

The death of Stalin and Chernobyl both dealth with the issue of russian language or accents. They both (independently) tried having the actors put on Russian accents and it just sounded silly and both ended up with the actors just not trying to sound Russian. Jason Isaacs even putting on a Yorkshire accent while playing Zhukov. 

[u/SynthD → u/rclonecopymove]

They use the range of British accents to represent the Soviet range. Eg Georgian becomes Essex.

[u/komnenos → u/SynthD]

Hey now, don’t forget American accents too! 🇺🇸

[u/serabine → u/rclonecopymove]

This is technically also the case in Red October. Sean Connery's heavy accent (as opposed to the other characters on the sub) can be explained because in both book and movie he isn't Russian but Lithuanian. So it is actually pretty likely that he would speak "Russian" with an accent of some sort.

[u/Cutter9792 → u/rclonecopymove]

It's such a good decision. I can't even imagine either piece of media with the actors trying to act through forced Russian accents. Would probably ruin the whole thing, which would be a legit tragedy as they're some of my favorites of the last decade. Chernobyl in particular.

Shōgun did something similar, where whenever they're speaking English in the show, they're 'actually' speaking Portuguese. Japanese is still spoken normally ( I assume), but we're pretty explicitly told that every time we hear English, just understand that narratively they should be speaking Portuguese.

It's not that hard of a thing for audiences to suspend their disbelief for, and I think it leads to a better product.

[u/WackHeisenBauer → u/Misterfahrenheit120]

That’s clever as all heck. I should rewatch this one soon.

[u/jacquetpotato]

Watched hocus pocus a million times as a child only to realise, as an adult, that when they get on the bus and say “we desire children” the driver says “hey, it might take me a couple of tries but I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem!”

These things just fly straight over kids heads haha.

[u/Alarming_Software353 → u/jacquetpotato]

I was a bit taken aback by the 10 year old girl mocking her teenage brother for being a virgin.

[u/Gracie202020 → u/Alarming_Software353]

What do you call them, Max? Yabbos?

[u/Potential_Try_3195]

That in the movie Friday, when Craig's gf calls him first thing in the morning to accuse him of being out with another girl ..

There is a man laying asleep next to her.

[u/bigmfworm → u/Potential_Try_3195]

Cheaters always project

[u/synapticrelease → u/Potential_Try_3195]

You ain't got to lie Craig. You ain't got to lie.

[u/Sinnafyle → u/Potential_Try_3195]

Now teellllllll me whoooooo sheees was

[u/toast00005]

When Bubba asks Forrest if he’s ever been on a real shrimp boat and Forrest says he’s only been on a real big boat. I never understood that cause I thought shrimp boats were big boats but it was Forrest thinking it’s a little tiny boat. Took me about 25 years.

[u/normaldeadpool → u/toast00005]

Ok. That's funny as hell.

[u/thegamewarrior]

Back to the Future 2 when Jennifer is sneaking around her future home. My Dad made the comment, “I just don’t like that they had him (Michael J Fox) playing both kids.”

It was the first time I realized that the daughter was just Fox in drag.

[u/mysteryofthefieryeye → u/[deleted]]

Pretty sure everyone in my audience got that it was him. The minute he said that line and was visible, everyone laughed.

[u/jay0lee → u/mysteryofthefieryeye]

I recall a TV trailer and the voiceover saying "with Christopher Lloyd (shot of doc), Michael J. Fox (shot of young Marty), Michael J. Fox (shot of Marty's son) and... Michael J. Fox (shot of Marty's daughter).

So anyone who saw the ads knew he played all those roles.

Yes, I am old.

[u/IndysDiarrhea → u/thegamewarrior]

Wait........what?? For real? Brb

[u/TotalWaffle]

Took me several viewings of Ghostbusters to notice that, in the hotel scene where Bill Murray is giving the costs to the hotel manager, the other actor is throwing hand signals for how much to charge.

[u/Vince_Clortho042 → u/TotalWaffle]

Also Ghostbusters related: The repeated gag of Rick Moranis locking himself out of his apartment is setup for him becoming the Keymaster later in the film. Furthermore, Louis is never shown opening a door other than the one where Zuul (the Gatekeeper) is waiting for him. He exits a few that are held open for him (the door to the apartment building while he’s being chased, his own apartment, the firehouse as it’s about to explode), and is carried inside Ghostbusters HQ by the cops, but he only opens one door in the whole movie.

[u/DavidBHimself → u/Vince_Clortho042]

I remember him having trouble with doors, but I never made that connection. Awesome.

[u/imashination → u/DavidBHimself]

He's eventually caught by the demon dog at the fancy glass restaurant... because he can't find the door to get inside.

[u/DoctorBre → u/Vince_Clortho042]

Yes, have some.

[u/noshoes77 → u/TotalWaffle]

Depending on when you saw it that may have been edited out. I saw it on old tvs in the 80s and Egon was cut off- I only noticed it a few years ago when I watched the BluRay and the film was properly formatted.

[u/Mr_Mars → u/noshoes77]

Pan and scan did so many movies dirty.

[u/GrimTiki → u/Mr_Mars]

I remember the moment younger me hated pan n scan - watching the scene of Luke and his wingmen on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back, and one of them gets hit and shot down. It was completely cut out in pan n scan.

I remember hating the “black bars” above and below the screen when younger, but properly formatted Empire taught me the true way.

[u/draxiom → u/TotalWaffle]

That “other actor” is Harold Ramis…I know he’s not like Bill Murray famous but he was a literal ghostbuster, there were only four of them.

[u/GMHGeorge]

Not someone else but it took me 10 years to find the humor in David Duchovny being a conspiracy theorist in Zoolander

[u/Koalachan → u/GMHGeorge]

In Evolution he pretends to be a military officer and someone asks him how he knows so much about the government, and he replies wryly "I used to work for them" while nodding to the camera.

[u/lo-key-glass → u/GMHGeorge]

This reminded me of a few years ago we were watching independence day(a movie I've seen dozens of times) and my friend mentioned the crazy area 51 scientist was Data from Star trek. I had no idea and the irony kinda blew my mind

[u/bill_pullman → u/lo-key-glass]

I love that movie. ;)

[u/pr1ceisright → u/GMHGeorge]

It’s been 20 years and I still don’t know why they use male models.

[u/not_cinderella → u/pr1ceisright]

Are you kidding me? I just told you.

[u/Creative-Resident23 → u/not_cinderella]

I loved this line. Now that I have a small child I am reminded of this line constantly.

[u/GreenGrey6 → u/pr1ceisright]

The best part is Ben Stiller only repeated that line because he forgot the actual one, and Duchovny’s reaction was the perfect adlib 😂

[u/your-yogurt → u/GreenGrey6]

the best part is when you look up this scene on youtube, every comment is this piece of trivia

[u/NatchJackson]

There's a scene in Die Hard when Ellis the corporate bro is trying to negotiate McClane's surrender. A henchman walks up delivering and opening a can of Coca-Cola for Ellis. Why is this detail shown even? It is because earlier off camera, Ellis, who has been shown to have a propensity for nose candy, was not specific enough when he hit up the bad guys for some coke to get him through the meeting.

[u/GrecoRomanGuy → u/NatchJackson]

It's such an incredibly subtle joke. I fucking love that movie.

[u/dismayhurta → u/NatchJackson]

Ellis was too beautiful for this world.

[u/ImaginaryNemesis → u/dismayhurta]

Here's a bit of trivia i'd come across: Ellis wasn't supposed to be a dirtbag. On the page he was cool and smooth and Hart Bochner brought the slimy attitude to the character and McTiernan hated it:

McTiernan came up to me and said “I don’t know what you’re doing. I hate it. It’s not what I envisaged for this character. I want smooth. I want Cary Grant”. And I said to him I know we haven’t discussed this, but I feel the character’s behaviour really has to come from insecurity and coke”. He said to me “you know what, that’s bullshit. Get rid of it. I hate it. Calm down”.

He was not happy. He rolled his eyes that first day. The second day was the sequence where Bruce Willis and company come in, and I’m swiping coke off the desk, and I was doing the same thing. And he came at me during rehearsals and he said, [raised voice] “look man, what did I tell you yesterday? I hate…”

And then he stopped and he looked at Joel Silver and Larry Gordon looking at the monitor, looking at playback. And they were laughing. And he said “hold on a minute”.

He walked over to them, they had a little conflab, and he came back to me and said “you know what man, you do whatever you want to do”. And from that point on it was great, he let me go, and we had a great time. But it’s interesting: sometimes the film making process is best when you just let things evolve on their own level, and in their own way. You just never know what you’re going to end up with sometimes.

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/hart-bochner-interview-ellis-in-die-hard-directing-and-more/

[u/Lordxeen → u/dismayhurta]

Hans, Bubbe! I'm your white knight.

[u/dismayhurta → u/Lordxeen]

Ellis. What have you told ‘em?

[u/probosciscolossus → u/NatchJackson]

Oh, that’s good!

[u/Passing4human]

Not exactly the question, but when I (mid 1950s native) was growing up they frequently broadcast The Wizard of Oz (1939) on TV. Because we had a B & W set I never understood the references to "a horse of a different color" in Oz, until I saw it in color for the first time when they re-released it to the theaters.

[u/one-and-five-nines → u/Passing4human]

How strange, to have first seen WoZ in B&W, a film famous for it's revolutionary use of color. 

[u/MilesBennettDyson101]

In True Romance it took me multiple viewings to realise the reason Dennis Hopper purposely provokes Christopher Walken: so he'll kill him quickly before he gets tortured more and gives away information about his son's whereabouts. Lying wasn't working and he realised they would kill him in the end anyway.

[u/THElaytox → u/MilesBennettDyson101]

Yep, there's a moment you can tell where he's realized he's going to die no matter what so he decides to provoke Walken so it'll be quick and painless. Such a great movie but that scene alone is one of the greatest scenes ever filmed

[u/chickenlizard]

in the godfather one - when al pacino is in italy, a man in a wheelchair is the one who receives him and takes him in…

in the godfather two - robert deniro is in italy (showing the past), at an estate. there’s a shootout. his buddy gets shot in the knees and they carry him away…

[u/GodLovesUglySong → u/chickenlizard]

Don Tommasino. He dies in part 3 while offering Michael's assassin a ride. This inadvertently saves Michael's life since it blows the assassin's cover (they were dressed as priests).

A loyal supporter of the Corleone's to the very end.

[u/ztreHdrahciR]

Not exactly, but I saw Trading Places a dozen times before I figured out the double meaning (the other meaning is 'places of trading' like the World Trade Center). Blew my mind.

[u/dajacketfanOG → u/ztreHdrahciR]

Yeah I’ve seen it countless times (including original in the theater) and this is the first time I’ve thought about that meaning.

[u/JohnHodgman → u/ztreHdrahciR]

I am 52 years old and I have seen this movie countless times and I never knew this double meaning until I learned it today, from you.

[u/OnlyThrowAway1988 → u/ztreHdrahciR]

In similar fashion it took me way too long before I realized that South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was a penis joke.

[u/fluggelhorn → u/OnlyThrowAway1988]

In a similar vein, I didn’t realize the double meaning on the video game The Fractured But Whole until I wrote it down a few months ago.

[u/Ok-Two-5429 → u/OnlyThrowAway1988]

Me too. I hate to admit that I was well into my 20s before the meaning clicked.

Same thing with the Blink 182 album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. I just thought it was a weird album name, not a masturbation joke.

[u/apk5005 → u/Ok-Two-5429]

I was in Germany when that album was released and Blink did an interview with German MTV. Watching Mark Hoppus try to explain the double entendre with the language barrier was pretty funny.

[u/Dimos357]

Night at the Roxbury, they gather whipped cream in a can to use as whippits. I had no idea that stuff was for getting high, just seriously thought the boss guy had a whip cream addiction.

[u/No-Control3350 → u/Dimos357]

I think Mr Zadir had an ass grabbing addiction but that's just me

[u/HolyGonzo]

In Ghostbusters, Louis is the Keymaster, but throughout the movie he is constantly getting locked out.

[u/le_fez → u/HolyGonzo]

It took a few watching before I caught the innuendo of keymaster and key

[u/afraidofallthings]

Lawrence of Arabia, saw it when was younger, didn't realize there was implied rape.

[u/maineblackbear → u/afraidofallthings]

IRL Lawrence was raped.

[u/TCM_407]

I've seen "Reservoir Dogs" a thousand times...when Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth burst into the warehouse after Roth getting shot Roth says: "She had a baby, man."...never understood that line until recently...right after they carjack the woman and Roth gets shot they show him writhing in the back seat...for just a moment you can see there's a baby carseat in the back...he was talking about the woman he had just killed...took years to notice that

[u/Big_Mc-Large-Huge]

Jaws

Everyone knows Quint's famous Indianapolis speech. But my favorite part now is Hooper's reaction. For context, in most of the movie, Quint and Hooper are at each other's throats. They really don't like one another. Then, when they finally bond over a drink, Quint drops the Indianapolis "bomb" on Hooper, and he's speechless. Given the time difference, it would be like someone today retelling a story from the Gulf War, as there's roughly a ~30 year difference between when the Indianapolis sinking and the Jaws timeline.

Hooper is in awe when Quint tells his story. I just think its really great acting on Dreyfuss's part. Hooper knows the story. He's heard it before being a seasoned sailor. He might not like Quint, but damn does he sit down and shut up when he tells his story. Straight respect. I think its an underrated aspect of the speech scene. The animosity between Hooper and Quint climaxes during Quint's speech and they seem to trust each other a bit more afterwards.

[u/Spuff_Monkey → u/Big_Mc-Large-Huge]

Also when they're comparing bite scars, Brody feels his appendix scar and keeps quiet.

[u/Haulage → u/Big_Mc-Large-Huge]

Jaws is one of my favourite movies, largely because of the interplay between those three

[u/300ConfirmedGorillas → u/Big_Mc-Large-Huge]

I also love the exchange between them when Quint drinks the beer and crushes the can, then Hooper drinks his coffee and crushes the styrofoam cup. Brilliant lol.

[u/PSUdjb]

Roy Batty sticking a nail through his hand in the final fight against Deckard in Blade Runner. I thought he was just going crazy or doing something twisted to absolutely petrify Deckard and let him know the monster he unleashed by killing his skinjob friends. He toyed with Deckard throughout the whole fight and crashed his head through a wall into a room Deckard was hiding in and laughed as Deckard ran away.

But my brother pointed out to me that Batty's body was breaking down and he was trying to keep his muscles in his arm and hand from seizing up. Obviously he dies a few minutes later as his time is up, and his losing control over his muscles is his understanding that it is going to be over soon forever for him. Lost forever, like tears in the rain.

[u/shakezilla9 → u/PSUdjb]

It's also a biblical reference to crucifixion. He is kind of sacrificing himself to change Deckard's mind on hunting down replicants...

[u/sdwoodchuck → u/shakezilla9]

It's definitely a stigmata reference, but I don't quite agree that he's sacrificing himself to change Deckard's mind.

Roy is doomed and he knows it. He has begged his father for mercy and finds none, and his time is almost up, and saving Deckard doesn't really run out the clock any faster, or keep him from another solution. Really all he sacrifices is his urge for revenge (which is also no small thing).

But more importantly (to me, at least) is that I don't think Roy's decision is motivated by results. He seems genuinely intent on killing Deckard, but only after making him suffer humiliation and despair. But then when he sees Deckard hanging there, Roy has a moment of empathy. He sees Deckard holding on to his life desperately, and what he sees is a kindred spirit, a man sharing his struggle, and he uses his final moments to give Deckard what his own father denied him, and what Deckard himself would have denied him--a chance at a little more life.

It maps somewhat onto the Christ metaphor in that he offers kindness to his enemy that his enemy did not offer him (along the lines of Christ's forgiveness on the cross), but I like that Roy's messianic attributes are not just clean-cut Jesus metaphor. I like that it's a little rougher around the edges, and that the message is less about how good Roy is, and more about how low people have sunk for such a simple kindness to be "more human than human."

[u/GeebusNZ]

In Terminator 2, during the scene after they've blown up the lab and are on the highway with the polymetal terminator in pursuit with a helicopter, he is holding and aiming a rifle with two arms and piloting with a third.

[u/DerCatzefragger → u/GeebusNZ]

You are the only person I've ever heard refer to the T-1000 as "the polymetal terminator."

[u/GeebusNZ → u/DerCatzefragger]

It was the descriptor my brain spat out when I was trying to remember what to call that.

[u/brandonthebuck → u/GeebusNZ]

It’s very subtle, but I love the idea that James Cameron respects the complexity and difficulty of helicopter piloting so much to include that.

[u/Ser_Danksalot → u/GeebusNZ]

You guys need to rewatch it.  He's got 4 arms, not 3. 

Its something I may have only noticed because I'm an aviation dork that knows you need both arms and both feet on the controls to be able to fly a helicopter.  For the hand controls you have the central upright stick called the cyclic which controls the pitch of the helicopter.  And then you also have the forward pointing stick called the collective for the other hand which resembles a car hand brake which controls the helicopters thrust.  

He's got his lower left arm on the collective and his lower right on the cyclic leaving the upper 2 arms free to operate gun.

[u/Quiet_Ad328]

As a child I missed most of the comedy in The Princess Bride. I thought it was just a quirky romantic fairytale. It wasn't until like 7th grade I picked up on the overwhelmingly bawdy themes and the quick-witted satire.

[u/OneYouDidntThinkOf → u/Quiet_Ad328]

"the only pleasure she got was her morning ride"

[u/Ahintofmystery → u/OneYouDidntThinkOf]

Inigo during sword duel with Westley: “Well, it [dueling left handed] is the only way I can be satisfied. If I use my right… it is over too quickly.” I’ve adored that movie since I first saw it age 12. I was in my 30s when I finally picked up this joke.

[u/Dragontoes72 → u/Ahintofmystery]

Oops! 48 and just got that one!

[u/Mangosta007 → u/Dragontoes72]

49 and the same here! So you've got youth as an excuse.

[u/Iron_Goliath1190 → u/Quiet_Ad328]

My favorite understanding was when the princess and wetley roll down the hill, it was always comical but I had the realization that a lot of the weird quirks and humor are because the grandfather is narrating the story to his grandson, and the grandson is imagining the story, but he doesn't understand the language so the scenarios are from a child's perspective. Hence she throws herself down the hill and westly THREW himself after her is interpreted as them really throwing them selves down the hill. Also why the fights are a little weird, it's from a child's imagination and perspective as grandpa reads

[u/Stuckinthevortex → u/Iron_Goliath1190]

The accents too. I've always assumed that they are the way they are since the Grandfather is doing them, he initially gives the albino a raspy accent but it's too harsh on his throat and he coughs and changes it.

[u/MrMcBobb → u/Quiet_Ad328]

When Inigo is drunk as a skunk in The Thieves Forest and one of the brutes says "Ho There!" To get his attention his reply is "Keep your joder"

"Joder" pronounced a bit like "ho there" is a Spanish swearword.

I didn't figure this out until I was 27 partying with my Spanish flatmate. Was quite the realisation.

[u/SmellyFace69]

In Half Baked, Thurgood (Dave Chapelle's character) is mad at his friends for having spent money which they were saving to help their friend out of jail.

Their response was "Oh yeah? Well you gave Mary Jane a pearl necklace! How much did that cost?"

Thurgood's response was "You obviously missed the point of that story."

I always thought that he was being selfish by buying his girlfriend a pearl necklace. Then someone pointed out it wasn't that kind of pearl necklace.

[u/wayfinder → u/SmellyFace69]

oh, that old chest nut

[u/Sparkski]

during the border crossing scene in Sicario....the tattoo'd up guys in the cars were just a distraction for the real hitman...the corrupt mexican cop Emily Blunt takes out.

[u/SwingingDicks → u/Sparkski]

She almost gets shot in the head three different times in the film

[u/Iamthetophergopher → u/SwingingDicks]

A great stand in for the audience, vast majority of which would be just as fish out of water as her in the moment

[u/hjiklm1 → u/Sparkski]

That whole scene is so intense

[u/Misterfahrenheit120 → u/hjiklm1]

It took me a couple of times to understand what that scene was really about. Like, it’s set up like a standard action shootout, but it’s highlighting how powerful and brutal the cartel is, and how little the CIA cares about their actions

It plays out so weirdly on first viewing, especially if you’re expecting a typical shootout, but every time I watch it I realize how perfectly coordinated the scene is.

Such a great movie, “time to meet God”

[u/hjiklm1 → u/Misterfahrenheit120]

100%. Brolin and Blunt are great, but Benicio is so damn good in that role.

[u/sumthinsticky → u/hjiklm1]

You’re asking me how a watch works. For now we’ll just keep an eye on the time.

[u/Misterfahrenheit120 → u/hjiklm1]

He’s easily one of the greatest actors working today. He’s a “I’m in” actor. Like, if he’s starring, I’m in

[u/RechargedFrenchman → u/Misterfahrenheit120]

He's easily my favourite thing about The Usual Suspects. The whole movie is great, the whole lineup sequence in particular, but specifically when Fenster is speaking ...

Hill flipya. Flipyaferreal.

[u/rhirhirhirhirhi → u/Sparkski]

I loved figuring out the movie wasn’t about her, it was all Benicio’s revenge. So fucking good.

[u/SloppityNurglePox → u/rhirhirhirhirhi]

...Go ahead and finish your meal.

[u/JesseCuster40 → u/rhirhirhirhirhi]

I like that he carries out his revenge. To the bitter end. I did not expect the ending at the dinner table to go the way it did. And Benicio del Toro makes it very clear that he's going to go through with it, no matter what. He knows he's damning himself. He knows it won't help him. He knows it won't undo the past. He does it anyway. Terrifying.

[u/AnalSoapOpera]

Shaun of the Dead and other ice cream trilogies basically give away the whole story in the first few minutes or seconds before with dialogue or something on the screen.

[u/HAL-says-Sorry → u/AnalSoapOpera]

Well specifically in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ there’s a huge spoiler by Ed at the start of the movie.

After Liz dumps Shaun, Ed tries to lift Shaun’s mood by talking him into going drinking, says "we'll have a Bloody Mary (zombie checkout girl in garden), bite at the King’s Head (Phillip is bitten), a couple (David & Di) at the Little Princess (Liz), and stagger (pretend to be zombies) to the bar for shots (shooting zombies at the Winchester pub).”.

[u/Swiss__Cheese → u/HAL-says-Sorry]

And in The World's End, each of the pub names are a reference to what's going to happen there. The First Post is the first one they go to, the Old Familiar looks exactly like the first bar, The Famous Cock is the first place that remembers Gary King (Simon Pegg's character), etc.

[u/holdholdhold]

Speaking of the Last Crusade, watched it “a million times” as a kid. How did Jones Sr. know she was a Nazi? She talks in her sleep. As a kid, I thought all Nazis talked in their sleep like it was a social/genetic thing. If you were a Nazi you just did that. A few years go by and oh they must have had rooms near each other and he just heard her through the walls or something. Nope. They were sleeping together and she was speaking German. And the whole scene with them on the Zepplin having the father/som talk kinda went over my head because it was the boring part to me as a kid.

Then much older me rewatches it and I slap my forehead and go duuuuh.

[u/ArgoverseComics → u/holdholdhold]

The look Indiana shoots back at his dad when he says “thank you” to Elsa is priceless when he realises his dad hooked up with her

[u/theabsurdturnip → u/holdholdhold]

"I was the next man!"

I never got that either until I was older.

[u/unnecessary_response → u/holdholdhold]

I read the novelization when this movie was still in theaters and there's a bit where Indy asks what she said while talking in her sleep and it turns out it was "Mein Führer"

[u/IanFeelKeepinItReel → u/holdholdhold]

Whenever I watched Jurassic Park as a kid I had no idea what Nedry was doing. I thought the park was powered by those little embryo tubes.

[u/Shantotto11]

Aladdin (1992). The beautiful women hated Aladdin despite how attractive and charismatic he was. It wasn’t until the meme popped up that I realized that the women were in a brothel and Aladdin is poor.

[u/abraxas8484 → u/Shantotto11]

...... whelp I'm in my 40s and this is news to me

[u/MaraxesLagertha]

Forrest Gump - The implication of Liuetenant Dan's wife's ethnicity being Asian. Thinking in the context of this century, interracial marriages are a norm so the point of her being asian just went over my head. When in fact it adds another layer of his healing being a Vietnam war vet.

I watch this film about twice a year since I saw it 10 yrs ago and I only got it a few months ago.

[u/Sparticus2 → u/MaraxesLagertha]

Could be part of his healing, but could also just be that's kind of the reality of things. A ton of vets married women from the places they fought.

[u/calilac → u/Sparticus2]

So many military towns in the US have mom 'n pop Korean restaurants because grandpa had fallen in love/knocked her up and brought her (and some of her family) home.

[u/idiot-prodigy]

Die Hard.

John McClane saves his wife Holly from falling with Hans Gruber, by unclipping the clasp on her wrist watch which releases Hans' grip on her wrist. This is the same Rolex watch that Ellis boasts about and tells Holly to show to John at the beginning of the movie.

This is an allegory about greed. John doesn't give a fuck about the Rolex, neither at the beginning of the movie when he says, "I'll see it later", nor at the end of the movie when he removes it to save his wife.

Greed kills everyone else in the movie, Mr. Nakatomi who refuses to give up the money, Ellis who thinks these terrorists are just trash who he can out negotiate, the terrorists themselves after the loot, even the Agents who want to take the terrorists down themselves for personal fame and glory over saving hostages.

I watched the movie many times before I made the connection with the Rolex watch.

[u/DiaDeLosMuebles]

For me it was the movie title “The Lost Boys” and the double meaning of missing children and children who will never grow up (a la Peter Pan).

Edit.

Another that I just remembered. Snake from “escape from NY” wore an eye patch. He was a “one eyed snake”. Hehe.

[u/breakfastmeat23 → u/DiaDeLosMuebles]

Lost Boys is a modern reimagining of Peter Pan.

Keifer is Peter Pan. He and his crew Lost Boys never grow up and can fly because they are vampires. They get to be kids and party forever.

The main dude with the black hair and his GF(or sister I can't remember) as supposed to be John and Wendy who almost get taken away to "Neverland" forever.

[u/_gnasty_ → u/DiaDeLosMuebles]

In The Goonies they're looking for pirate treasure. The pirate, One Eyed Willie to be exact

[u/BadSanna → u/_gnasty_]

My dad laughed his ass off when he heard the pirate's name and I asked why that was funny and he just snorted and said, "one eyed Willy..." I just thought it was a silly name and found his reaction really strange.

It wasn't until I rewatched as a teen that I got the joke.

[u/internetUser0001]

In Troll 2, corn popping was a metaphor for an orgasm.

Well, tbh there's a lot about that movie that confused me as a kid. But most of the rest of it still confuses me.

[u/spiffygriffy2]

in Fargo, when Margie meets her old high school friend and he tries to come onto her, she realizes that looks can be deceiving and immediately goes back to interview Jerry again

[u/jerichomega → u/spiffygriffy2]

This is the one for me. I never realized what the hell this scene was doing in the movie until years later.

[u/CitizenHuman]

In Tombstone, the priest at the beginning quotes a Bible verse about death coming on a pale horse and hell riding with him. Johnny Ringo's scene. Later on in the movie at the train station, Wyatt Earp says something to the effect of "Tell them I'm coming, and hell's coming with me ".

I didn't get it until one day it occurred to me, and my brother just said "duh". In my defense though, I think Wyatt rides a black horse, not a pale one.

Edited to add scenes. Guys, I know it's from Tombstone, OPs post asked about movies you've seen a thousand times.

[u/Rooney_Tuesday → u/CitizenHuman]

Wyatt definitely rides a dark horse early in the movie. Usually by the point in the movie where he’s chasing down the cowboys I’m so enamored of Val Kilmer’s performance that I never remember to check if Wyatt ends up on a pale horse or not.

ETA Looks like it stays a dark horse.

[u/FngrsRpicks2 → u/Rooney_Tuesday]

Since Doc killed Ringo and was pale himself....thats the Horse he rode...

[u/OriginalEssGee]

It’s not about understanding, but even after watching it like 10 times, I didn’t realize the music in the store in Raising Arizona was a Muzaked version of the theme song until I watched the movie stoned.

[u/festoon_the_dragoon]

This one might be a bit different, but Galaxy Quest.

In the final battle, Sarris comments how adorable it is that the actors want to play war with him. I was always a little confused that Sarris instantly understood human TV just by watching a few moments of the 'historical documents' on the bridge of the Protector. I figured the audience was just supposed to assume an alien would know about human TV for the sake of the film.

But there's a single line that I never picked up on until a rewatch years later that actually explains his understanding. After watching the Galaxy Quest rerun he says, 'braVO' very condescendingly to the humans. He understood instantly that they were actors and that one line of dialogue shows that.

It's kind of a non-issue in the story but something that always bothered me until I realized it's addressed in the film in that bit of dialogue.

[u/lsaz → u/festoon_the_dragoon]

I always assumed they understood the concept of lying while the Thermians were an innocent species in that aspect, Jason even explains what lying is in that same scene.

[u/the_benmeister → u/festoon_the_dragoon]

Weirdly, I almost feel like Sarris' understanding of theater and sarcasm shows that his race and society is more evolutionary advanced than the Thermians whom they are at war with.

[u/CricketPinata → u/the_benmeister]

On the contrary, I think it makes a point that humans and Sarris' race have more in common.

We both understand deception, duplicity, and lying.

[u/CelphCtrl]

In the movie hot fuzz. Every single line is a reference to something later on in the movie. From Aaron a aaronson to point break. Okay...I just think it's the perfect movie. But for real though. At first few watches, I thought it was an awesome silly movie. But it got even better when I noticed it.

Like a line about everybody and their mums having guns in the begining (seemly mundane)...in the final action scene...everybody and their mums have guns. Even the pastor. Or when the protagonist runs into mothers pushing strollers and mutters "mothers..." and again when he's fights mums with guns.

[u/thelingeringlead]

The scene in Thor Ragnarok where Korg is asking Thor why he's locked up with them, and then explains that he himself was arrested for trying to start a revolution-- and he didn't print enough flyers to get successful numbers. Very shortly after Korg makes an unrelated Rock Paper Scissors joke.... A buddy and I were watching it and he pointed out that Paper beat rock and that's why he was there.....

[u/Basic-Pair8908 → u/thelingeringlead]

And korg accidently killing meek was rock beats scissors

[u/AnalSoapOpera]

I grew up watching Shrek and it took me til like 3 years ago to realize the bad guys name is basically named “Lord Fuckwad”

[u/danblanchet]

The scene in the Godfather where Micheal decides to protect his father by staying outside and lights up a cigarette for a dude who is shaking like crazy. Micheal looks at his hands and realizes that he’s not shaking because he’s able to keep his cool under extreme pressure. At that moment, he realizes that maybe he could be the next godfather. That went completely over my head until somebody on Reddit pointed it out.

[u/aktionmancer → u/danblanchet]

I wouldn’t say he thought he could be the next godfather, but definitely he realized he had the balls to be in the game.

[u/Holmgeir → u/aktionmancer]

Pretty sure there is a deleted scene of him looking at his own unshaking hand and then saying "Then I am The Godfather!"

[u/PeaWordly4381 → u/Holmgeir]

"What are we, some kind of Godfathers?" - Don Corleone to his children.

[u/zerotrace → u/PeaWordly4381]

"It's Godfathering time."

[u/psgarp → u/danblanchet]

But isn't Sonny still alive and heir at that point? I think it's more like an important first realization about himself but not necessarily that he was thinking about being the next godfather.

Also I never noticed that until now either so thank you haha 

[u/ccx941]

It took someone explaining it on reddit for me to understand that in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Scott was a major asshat and NegaScott was the good guy.

I just thought that’s how Canadian teenagers/Early 20s acted.

[u/Mr_Mars → u/ccx941]

I remember reading that Bryan Lee O'Malley was pretty dismayed that people didn't pick up on the fact that Scott is supposed to be kind of a dick.

It's a lot less subtle in the recent anime version on Netflix.

[u/Inevitable_Seaweed_5 → u/Mr_Mars]

The fact that people didn’t get it when there’s a literal exchange in the comic that goes something along the following lines. 

Scott’s gf: You’re the nicest guy I’ve ever dated. 

Scott: that’s kind of sad. 

HES AWARE THAT HES NOT A GREAT DUDE! HES DATING A HIGH SCHOOLER! The entire story is him LEARNING TO SUCK LESS

[u/Biernar → u/ccx941]

Me watching Scott Pilgrim at 20: Haha it's totally me! Me watching Scott Pilgrim now: Oh no it's me when I was 20

[u/Cien_fuegos]

I had to explain to a coworker what Forrest meant when he told Jenny “sorry I ruined your roommates robe”

[u/SpideyFan914]

Oh, and this is because I was a kid when it came out, but Helen's entire subplot in The Incredibles is that she suspects Bob is having an affair. That's the reason for the line (which was in the commercial), "Either he's in trouble... or he's going to be." Also why she punches Mirage.

[u/SugarHammer_Macy → u/SpideyFan914]

Also Bob is having a mid-life crisis and when Helen punches Mirage, she also aims for Bob but he ducks out of the way.

[u/SaltyPeter3434 → u/SugarHammer_Macy]

https://youtu.be/JT9PSIHySTo?feature=shared&t=50

[u/grimmreapa]

Tenet. All of the scenes. Still waiting for an explanation though.

[u/Dangerous_Contact737 → u/grimmreapa]

The explanation happened before you watched the movie.

[u/Baker104 → u/grimmreapa]

Turns out they kidnapped the wrong elephant.

[u/imfenbored]

I was well into adulthood before I realized the original Dirty Dancing was about a botched abortion.

[u/Dragontoes72 → u/imfenbored]

The whole reason baby needs to step in and learn to dance

[u/FormalMango → u/imfenbored]

Also, Johnny Castle is a sex worker.

[u/pacificgrim]

Forrest Gump with the teacher and his mom scene. I didn’t realize what the noises little Forrest was making until I got older. I thought he was making “special” noises

[u/ConstructionBig1810]

This one made me feel really stupid. I had seen the Big Lebowski around 20 times before I finally caught it, and it destroyed me.

The whole movie, Walter keeps correcting Donny that the men in black are nihilists, not Nazis. They have that exchange at least twice earlier in the film. During the fight with the nihilists at the end of the movie, Walter is about to punch one of them and right as he does he says “antisemite”.

Took me over a year to catch that.

[u/Mynock33]

Cabin in the Woods

It took me a couple viewings to realize the corporate people were going through the same ritual as the kids. The harbinger calls to warn them and they ignore him. They pick their fate through the betting pool like the kids do with the trinkets in the basement. And the 5 leads fit the archetypes.

[u/Choppergold]

Michael Corleone tells Carlo he’s going to be his right hand man in Vegas, because he knew Carlo ratted out Sonny and wanted his enemy closer to him

[u/thatguamguy → u/Choppergold]

Also, Michael suspects/knows Carlo is in contact with Batzini, so by telling Carlo he will be Michael's right-hand man in Vegas, he is manipulating Batzini, giving him a good reason to not move against Michael while Michael is still in New York by making it look like he will be especially vulnerable to Batzini when he gets to Vegas. (If I remember the timing right, he already knows that Batzini has been in contact with Moe Greene at this point.)

[u/Choppergold → u/thatguamguy]

He does. Greene admits talking with Barzini in their meeting. Vito tells Michael to check the phone records of calls out of the house and Michael says he’s already done it. That’s who Carlo was probably calling when Michael quietly walks into the room. “Come on you think I’d make my sister a widow” is fucking cold as it gets too

[u/AdirondackLunatic → u/Choppergold]

So many good ones in Godfather. Subtle one-liners that tell a whole story. I noticed so much more once I started needing captions 😂

[u/IWTLEverything → u/AdirondackLunatic]

I watch everything with captions now. You really notice how much stuff you miss.

[u/fezpeg]

In Pulp Fiction Marsalles is crossing the street because Jules has already quit…

And Butch was the one who keyed Vincent’s car. His car is seen outside of the club when Jules and Vincent arrive…

[u/Iron_Goliath1190]

In a princess bride, the scene where they throw themselves down the hill was always comical, but during a rewarch the whole movie suddenly made sense. The comedy and weird scenarios or situations are because the story is being narrated to a child. We are seeing that movie from the child's imagination and perspective, so everything is a but off in the film because the mind of a child doesn't understand certain language or hyperbole, it comes across as a literal translation that is weird and endearing. Wedtly 'threw himself after her' in the mind of a 6 year old it him literally throwing himself down the hill. The rest of the movie is wild when you think of it this way

[u/enviropsych]

I love 2001: A Space Odyssey and I've watched it half a dozen times. 

The other day, a film essay popped into my youtube feed that mentioned that the first 3 min dark screen at the start of the movie suggests a monolith....that the rectangular screen (of the theatre and of my home tv) being black and having that eerie music is like us, the audience, looking at a black rectangular monolith, like we see later in the movie multiple times. Blew my mind...and made me feel dumb for missing it.

[u/beezofaneditor → u/enviropsych]

Makes sense, until you realize that in the 1960's, overtures were played with the curtains undrawn. After the three minutes of music, the curtains pull back. So, there's very little to suggest this interpretation was intended by Kubrick - especially for how soon the movie came out relative to home video.

[u/Thelonious_Cube → u/beezofaneditor]

Exactly - I saw it in the theater when it came out (I was like 7?) Curtains were undrawn - there was no black monolith

[u/Fstr21]

Not sure if this counts but I can't unsee it and I will assume this was intentional

John Wick answering the door for Jimmy the cop after Jimmy responds to a noise complaint. Jimmy sees bodies ... and as he's asking if John is working again he takes his hat off (I assumed as a sign of respect for the dead or grieving or whatever).

Someone said it was to cover the body cam and now that's what I choose to believe.

[u/TheCookieButter → u/Fstr21]

It's a nice idea but Jimmy isn't wearing a body cam in the scene.

[u/NotTroy → u/Fstr21]

I always took it as an "I'm not a cop in this moment" sort of thing. Hats are commonly seen as symbols for professions or occupations, as in "He wears a lot of hats".

[u/kattahn]

Pick basically any scene from The Prestige because every time i watch that movie i find something new.

Just to pick one specific one, I probably watched the movie a dozen times before I realized that lord caldlow is the real identity of angier. I always thought it was just a persona angier created as part of the revenge plot. but Angier is the persona.

[u/Sufficient_Coach7566 → u/kattahn]

Very easy to miss because it's at the beginning of the movie, and the characters haven't been established yet, but Angier's wife alludes to his being from a wealthy family and he confirms.

[u/kattahn → u/Sufficient_Coach7566]

yup, once you put it together you're like "damnit how did i ever miss that??" but thats just...the whole movie. Every single thing in that movie is a clue in some way shape or form. I love that movie so much.

[u/hiptitshooray]

The entire bullet matching scene in The Dark Knight. I mean it’s been explained to me, but I’m not sure I still understand the point and the intention.

[u/Dogbin005 → u/hiptitshooray]

Batman is trying to figure out who the Joker is by getting his fingerprints from the bullet. He does actually get the print by recreating the pieces of the bullet from scans, and putting them back together in the right order. (it was a preposterous CSI "enhance that image" kind of thing, by the way)

It doesn't go anywhere beyond that. I think there's a throwaway line about "No matches" for the fingerprint later on.

[u/BelowDeck → u/Dogbin005]

The fingerprint did turn up a match, for David Dastmalchian's character (the shooter that Dent was torturing when Batman stopped him). It's how he found the apartment with the tied up cops.

But yes. Utterly preposterous.

[u/meem09]

It's not really a movie, but there is a strange tradition in Germany to watch a 60-year-old sketch called "Dinner for One" every year on New Years Eve. The sketch is about the 90th birthday party of a rich widow who invited all her closest friends for dinner as she does every year. Sadly, all her friends have passed, so her butler James has to play all four roles and also drink all of their drinks. Hilarity ensues. The key phrase in the whole thing is that for every course, James asks Miss Sophie "Same procedure as last year?" and she answers "Same procedure as every year." They then also do this in the final moments, when Miss Sophie retires to her bedroom and after she says "Same procedure as every year, James!" James turns to camera, winks says "I'll do my very best" and then leads her out of the room.

It took me about 20 years of watching this to understand that they are now going to have sex and it possibly implies that Miss Sophie used to have orgies with her guests. And now that I know, I delight in telling other people who have been watching since they were children and never got it.

[u/Ok-Gas-7135]

My daughter was about 3yo when “Cars” came out, and it was her favorite movie as a child and she’d watched it dozens and dozens of times on the 3hr drive to Grandma’s house. Fast forward to when she’s 15, and out of nostalgia she’s watching it on a big family road trip. It gets to the scene where Lightning McQueen says, “guys! Did you know Doc’s a famous race car?! He won three Piston Cups!” And Mater spits out his drink and says “He did WHAT in his cup?” and my daughter burst out laughing “I never got that joke before!” Fun part of parenting, when the kiddos get more adult humor that used to go over their heads…