List of Film Cliches

  • A person who is dying always lives long enough to say something important.
  • A real hero won't run from a big explosion, they will just walk away, sometimes in slowmo.
  • A wet dog will wait to shake himself dry until he standing next to somebody who is well-dressed.
  • Computer geeks have superhuman hacking abilities, like hacking into the FBI, the CIA, traffic lights, etc.
  • Elevators always close just as the villain arrives.
  • Henchmen can't shoot straight.
  • If there is a sliding door, the action hero will need to dive under it or through it.
  • In a horror movie, a person who is told not to do something then goes and does that exact thing.
  • In a horror movie, if there is a strange noise in the night, the person has to stumble around in the dark to see what it is. And, if you have a flashlight and it suddenly stops working, you're toast.
  • In a horror movie, when a girl gets in a car and it doesn't start, she better watch out.
  • In a romance movie, the couple will perform an elaborate dance together like they are on Dancing With The Stars, even though they have never danced with eachother before or practiced it.
  • In space, when something explodes, it creates a big fireball and loud explosion noise, even though in space sound waves don't travel and fire burns very dimly.
  • It is never a problem to find a parking space in a city.
  • Kids can see the ghost of the bad guy, but the parents can't and don't believe the kid.
  • London is always foggy.
  • People talking on the telephone never say goodbye.
  • Robots/AI takes over (The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, I, Robot)
  • Romance will develop between a man and a woman when they argue/debate.
  • The antisocial person who hates people but loves animals.
  • The good guy kills the bad guy and lets down his gaurd, then the bad guy "comes back from the dead".
  • The hero brings the police to scene of the crime, but the dead body is gone.
  • The quiet but strong ethnic mother.
  • The teen makeover.
  • There is a chosen one (The Matrix, Star Wars)
  • Thunder and Lightening always happen at the same time.
  • Villains waste a lot of valuable time explaining their evil plan to the hero once they capture him.
  • When a bar fight breaks out, everyone in the place begins fighting, even with people they are not mad at.
  • When a person exits a supermarket they always have that long loaf of french bread (baguette) sticking out of the top of their bag.
  • When a policeman or detective is suspended while working in a case, he will ignore those orders and solve the case anyway.
  • Young kids outsmart the adults.