Moral Event Horizon/Film: Difference between revisions

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* [[Affably Evil]] gangster Sam in the ''[[Infernal Affairs]]'' films has his MEH moment towards the end of the second ([[Prequel|first in internal chronology]]) film, when he lets his Thai buddies massacre the non-active-gangster members of the Ngai family, including an old woman and a small child.

* In ''[[Cube]]'' Quentin grows steadily more hostile over the course of the film, but he doesn't make the full transition into becoming a genuine threat to the group until he {{spoiler|kills Holloway by letting her fall to her death}}.

* If he hadn't crossed it already, Paul Giamatti's character in ''[[Shoot Em Up]]'' cements his status as a [[Complete Monster]] when he runs over what he believes to be the baby that Smith (Clive Owen) is protecting.

* If he hadn't crossed it already, Paul Giamatti's character in ''[[Shoot'Em Up]]'' cements his status as a [[Complete Monster]] when he runs over what he believes to be the baby that Smith (Clive Owen) is protecting.

* Well, by the time he shows up in the movie, we know [[Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan (Film)|Khan Singh]] is a bastard, if a magnificent one, especially if you've seen ''[[The Original Series]]''. But when he starts putting worms in people's ears, you realize that perhaps he's kicked it up a notch on the Evulz scale; but you say to yourself that he's intelligent and charming and surely he can be reasoned with. But...when he listens to a minion kill himself and doesn't so much as ''blink'', merely ordering the surviving minion to hurry up and carry out his orders, you realize this guy ain't coming back from the horizon.

* Carlo Rizzi in ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]]'' crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] when he {{spoiler|cheats on Connie Corleone, only to physically and verbally abuse her when she calls him out on it, knowing that it will send Sonny into a furious rage and get him killed on orders from Barzini, who Carlo is secretly working for}}. ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather Part II]]'', meanwhile, was built around {{spoiler|Michael Corleone's}} descent past the Horizon. He bottoms out when he {{spoiler|has his brother Fredo killed}}. Interestingly, Tom Hagen averts this - he {{spoiler|pretty much tells Frankie Pentageli to kill himself}}, but ensures him that his family will be protected.

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* It's hard to tell when [[Avatar (Film)|Quaritch]] crosses this, but going from just being portrayed as a mentor earlier on to being portrayed as an irredeemable psychopath later on suggested that he must have crossed it during the movie. Here are some possible moments:

** {{spoiler|It could be when he decides to have his army ransack the Na'vi home just because they're not willing to turn it over voluntarily; it's not like it was ever his to take in the first place.}}

** {{spoiler|Or maybe when he decides to gas the crowd of Na'vi while they are gathered. The way it's carried out, one cannot help but be reminded of [[~~Godwins~~ Law|the Nazi gassing of Jews]].}}

** {{spoiler|Or maybe when he decides to gas the crowd of Na'vi while they are gathered. The way it's carried out, one cannot help but be reminded of [[Godwin's Law|the Nazi gassing of Jews]].}}

** {{spoiler|Then when his own troops defect from the mission, Quaritch shoots a ship that has Sully's human form and Trudy on it. It's the first time in the film he directly tries to murder his own soldiers, but at this point it isn't much of a surprise.}}

* Willy Bank of ''Ocean's Thirteen'' was bad enough when he conned Reuben into using his connections to benefit the hotel/casino, and even worse when he threatened to have Reuben tossed off a roof if he didn't sign his partnership away. But when Reuben tells him "We've been around long enough, we both shook Sinatra's hand!" and Bank replies "Screw Sinatra's hand!", we know he deserves everything Danny and his crew are going to do to him for violating the code of honor among men that shook Sinatra's hand.

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* In ''[[Missing in Action]] 2: The Beginning'', Colonel Yin loses all respect when he reveals with a headshot to one prisoner that he only used empty guns in previous "executions" to bluff the others into thinking he's bluffing when he tells a prisoner he'll kill him for crimes against Vietnam. The worst part about it is, by the time that poor guy's head gets blown off, ''all'' the prisoners were completely fooled. He loses what little respect he has left some time later when he betrays Braddock's trust by convincing him to confess his guilt against Vietnam so he can administer some medicine to Franklin only to poison him, and when Frankiln's all ''but'' dead Yin burns him alive on a funeral pyre as Braddock watches and yells for him to stop it.

* Viktor in ''[[Underworld Rise of the Lycans]]'' crosses it when, with {{spoiler|''his own daughter's life''}} at stake, {{spoiler|he votes "aye", thus sealing her unanimous death sentence--and does so without pity despite Lucian calling him on it}}. And while the fact that he did regret ''that'' in the long run would normally disqualify it as a MEH, he then accuses Lucian of murdering {{spoiler|her}} ''even though he was present and chained up to the point where he couldn't even TOUCH {{spoiler|her}}''. Is it any wonder that you'd be polarized concerning the vampires and Lycans if you saw this installment in addition to one of the first two installments?

* In ''[[Zombi 3D (Film)|Zombi 3D]]'', General Morton, a [[Flat Earth Atheist]], crosses this either when he conducts a search-and-destroy operation in a hotel where he discovers the horribly mutated remains of the one nutjob that escaped alive after two of them had tried to steal the Death One virus his scientists were working on (and were trying to find a cure for on moral grounds), simply to contain the virus ([[Well Intentioned Extremist|though given that he may not have had access to infection screening technology at the time, this being the '80s and all, said search-and-destroy operation would likely be excusable]]), or when he burns said nutjob over warnings from the same scientists about the environmental impact his actions could potentially have. If he crossed it with the latter action, the following five carelessly-chosen and [[Genre Blind]] words definitely pushed him over: "That's ridiculous, pure science fiction!"

* In ''[[Zombi 3D (Film)|Zombi 3D]]'', General Morton, a [[Flat Earth Atheist]], crosses this either when he conducts a search-and-destroy operation in a hotel where he discovers the horribly mutated remains of the one nutjob that escaped alive after two of them had tried to steal the Death One virus his scientists were working on (and were trying to find a cure for on moral grounds), simply to contain the virus ([[Well-Intentioned Extremist|though given that he may not have had access to infection screening technology at the time, this being the '80s and all, said search-and-destroy operation would likely be excusable]]), or when he burns said nutjob over warnings from the same scientists about the environmental impact his actions could potentially have. If he crossed it with the latter action, the following five carelessly-chosen and [[Genre Blind]] words definitely pushed him over: "That's ridiculous, pure science fiction!"

* Johns has two in ''[[Pitch Black]]''. The first is when he steals the morfine from the crashed spaceship, so Fry's friend has to die in screaming agony. The second is when he suggests he and Riddick kill Jack and use her as bait for the creatures.

* [[Limitless]]: NTZ is a drug that gives you [[Super Intelligence]]. Another secondary effect of NZT is to let the user ignore the [[Moral Event Horizon]]:

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* ''[[Kickboxer]]'''s Tong Po, no matter how much of a [[Badass]] he may be, definitively crosses this line with his physical and sexual brutalization of Mylee, Kurt Sloane's [[Love Interest]], his way of reminding the viewers how much of a bastard he is and why one should root for Kurt to win the upcoming match with him.

* At first, Professor Moriarty from [[Sherlock Holmes (Film)|''Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'']] comes across as an [[Affably Evil]] [[Worthy Opponent]] to Holmes, but any possible claim to playing fair is utterly destroyed when he announces his intent to make Watson collateral damage for no other reason than to hurt Holmes, and in the same breath reveals that he has already {{spoiler|poisoned Irene Adler because she outlived her usefulness}}. And that's just the beginning; he speeds joyfully deeper into complete monster territory throughout the course of the movie. Disturbingly brutal torture is involved.

* In ''[[Thor (Film)|Thor]]'', Loki at first was given [[Well Done Son Guy|sympathetic]] [[Tomato in The Mirror|motivations]] for his actions and seemed decent if a bit misguided. Then he goes to a [[Brought Down to Normal|recently-depowered]] Thor, who was undergoing a [[Heroic Blue Screen of Death]] when he realized he could no longer lift Mjolnir, and [[Kick the Dog|lies to him]], telling him that their father Odin is [[Death By Despair|dead from grief at Thor's actions]] and their mother [[I Have No Son|forbade Thor from ever returning to Asgard]]. The kicker is that Thor, though devastated, ''[[Irony|thanks]]'' Loki for his troubles.

* In ''[[Thor (Film)|Thor]]'', Loki at first was given [["Well Done, Son" Guy|sympathetic]] [[Tomato in The Mirror|motivations]] for his actions and seemed decent if a bit misguided. Then he goes to a [[Brought Down to Normal|recently-depowered]] Thor, who was undergoing a [[Heroic Blue Screen of Death]] when he realized he could no longer lift Mjolnir, and [[Kick the Dog|lies to him]], telling him that their father Odin is [[Death By Despair|dead from grief at Thor's actions]] and their mother [[I Have No Son|forbade Thor from ever returning to Asgard]]. The kicker is that Thor, though devastated, ''[[Irony|thanks]]'' Loki for his troubles.