Saw It in a Movie Once: Difference between revisions

* pulls off some manner of complicated stunt like an old pro

 

 

The character who just amazed the crowd shrugs it off modestly, [[Stock Phrases|saying simply]], "Saw it in a movie once."

== Anime ==

 

* ''[[The World God Only Knows]]'': This is [[Dating Sim]] [[Otaku]] Keima Katsuragi's schtick. Whenever someone asks him how he could make a [[Insane Troll Logic|bizarre leap of logic]] or [[Awesome By Analysis|figure out something in an instant]], he replies, "It often goes like this. [[I Know Mortal Kombat|In games]]."

 

* In ''[[The Red Green Show]]'' [[The Movie|movie]], ''Duct Tape Forever'', Harold tries to stop the men after him and Red by dumping gasoline on the road to slip up the limo behind them. The reasoning? He saw it in a James Bond movie once. It works...kind of...just not the way you'd expect.

* Subverted in ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]'' when Lloyd (Jim Carrey) tricks a group of tough guys they encountered in a restaurant to pay for a meal for himself and Harry (Jeff Daniels), claiming he saw it in a movie. However, it turns out the plan wasn't as foolproof as they thought.

'''Lloyd Christmas:''' No, in the movie they catch up to him a half a mile down the road and slit his throat. It was a good one. }}

* ''[[The Goonies]]'': Mikey suggests a plan to escape from the pursuing villains in based on a ''[[Hardy Boys]]'' story.

* ''[[The A-Team (film)|The a Team]]'':

* Hilariously played with in ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' by one of the protagnoists, an actor, slowly going insane from withdrawal symptoms (due to being a junkie)

(Everyone stares at him for a moment before trying to find a more reasonable plan) }}

* In ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'', the [[Genre Savvy]] characters who have seen ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'' try to put a zombie down by [[Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain]], with [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|less than satisfactory results]].

'''Freddy:''' You mean the movie ''lied?'' }}

 

* ''The Golden Rendezvous'' by Alistair MacLean. The protagonist disarms the [[Big Bad]], who has a concealed shoulder holster, simply by yanking his jacket down over his shoulders, immobilising his arms. When the [[Big Bad]] calmly asks if the protagonist is a professional like himself, he replies "American movies."

* In ''[[Infinity Beach]]'', Solly gets the idea of blowing the alien Shroud out of ''Hammersmith'''s airlock from a movie (implied to be ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]''). Unlike in ''Alien'', it doesn't work.

 

== Live Action TV ==

 

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' parodies this in a third season episode "Lines in the Sand" when he conducts a differential in the lobby:

'''House:''' Devious. Saw it in a [[James Bond]] movie. }}

* Abed, in ''[[Community]]'', occasionally bursts out with this trope.

* ''[[Psych]]'' episode "Romeo and Juliet and Juliet" has Shawn mention "I saw this in a [[Jackie Chan]] movie..."

* ''[[The A-Team]]'' Season 3 episode "Breakout" has a couple of robbers coercing Murdock at gun point to drive [[Cool Car|the van]] to get away. Murdock, normally an [[Ace Pilot]], breaks out some [[Badass Driver]] skills:

'''Murdock (deadpan):''' I saw ''[[Cannonball Run]]'' five times. }}

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': Used very literally with Monica, whose superpower is being able to copy anything she's seen in person or on TV - carve a tomato into a rose, play the piano, kick a robber's ass with a flashy wrestling move, [[Ceiling Cling]]...

* Subverted in ''[[CROSS†CHANNEL]]''. In two different scenes, Taichi insists he can drive cars because he's seen how it works in manga. Naturally, this leads to hilarious results.

* Played straight but justified in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''. Trying to interpret the game board's story as a mystery rather than a fantasy story, various characters use knowledge gained from reading mystery novels.

 

== Web Comics ==

 

* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' many of [[Gadgeteer Genius|Molly's]] engineering feats are inspired by pop culture. [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20111101.html When she activated her] [[Transforming Mecha|transforming]] [[Snowlems|snow]] [[Siege Engines|ballista,]] she managed to include [[Shout-Out|shout outs]] to ''Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, [[Robotech]], [[Battle of the Planets]], [[Sailor Moon]],'' and ''[[Ultraman]].''

 

* In the ''[[Tale Spin]]'' episode "Citizen Khan", Clementine Clevenger attempts to escape a locked room with a [[Bedsheet Ladder]] while saying "This always works in the movies." Unfortunately, the knots get undone and she falls with her noting, "So much for the movies!" Luckily, she has a soft landing in a horse trough.

* One episode of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987]]'' has Donatello attempt to save an alien in a crashed vessel thus:

"...I heard it in a movie once..." }}

* A less modest version happens in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]''. Julie does the [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]] with {{spoiler|her pet, Ship}} and when Ben is surprised she pulled it off, she says, "You're not the only one who's seen 'Brain Stealers from Outer Space'."

* ''"It came to me in a dream. And I forgot it in another dream." - Professor Hubert Farnsworth''

* In the pilot episode of ''[[Storm Hawks]]'', Aerrow briefly breaks the fourth wall when he tells a rightfully worried Radarr that "it's okay, I saw this before in a cartoon" right before jumping off his Skimmer to perform a [[Final Fantasy]]-esque stunt.

* In ''[[Shrek]]'':

'''Shrek''': I read it in a book once. }}

** Justified in that Shrek's world is literally a land of fairy tales, and that the book he mentioned was specifically the tale about the very princess they were trying to rescue. Not only that, but said book was the one he was reading (and used as toilet paper) at the very beginning of the movie.

* One episode of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' featured Homer trying to stop an animal stampede by yelling "[[Jumanji]]". After it failed, Homer wondered if there was anything from movies worth learning.

* In an episode of [[Pinky and The Brain]]:

'''Brain:''' I've watch a lot of [[Dukes of Hazzard]]. }}

 

[[Category:Stock Phrases]]

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]