Storming the Castle: Difference between revisions

There are really only a few good ways to end an action movie. You've got your car chase, your [[Showdown At High Noon|mano-a-mano showdown]], your [[Battle Royale With Cheese|mano-a-mano-a-mano-a-mano-a-mano showdown]]<ref>That means that there are a lot of hands involved, not men.</ref>, and your grand, sweeping [[Final Battle]]. These are all well and good, but sometimes the Big Bad isn't gracious enough to come to you. In that case, you'd better go to them.

 

 

In [[Real Life]], particularly during the [[Middle Ages]], actually storming the castle was the tactic of last resort, due to how most fortifications are [[Death Course|built specifically to give the defenders every advantage possible]]. Hence why they're called "fortifications". Any sort of direct assault on properly built and manned fortifications required a hell of a numerical advantage, very solid morale, and often repeated attacks--and even then it would be an absolute bloodbath. More often sieges were won by cutting off the defenders from supplies and starving them to death or surrender (which could take years), or by [[Dungeon Bypass|breaching the defenses from the outside]] and marching in that way (not always practical). Going through the front door is almost always a suicide mission (assuming it's even possible), but [[Hollywood Tactics|don't tell that to any Hollywood directors]].

** Twice in ''The Inevitable Takeover'' -- first, Dib and Tak lead [[La Résistance|the Group]] in attacking Zim's base in order to stop his wedding to Gaz. This fails, since not only does Gaz not ''want'' to be saved (and she gives Dib a pretty brutal [[Hannibal Lecture]] to prove it), but Zim completely kicks Tak's ass.<br /><br />The second instance occurs at the climax, as the Swollen Eyeballs (who have forcibly drafted Dib and Tak by this point) launch a full-scale assault on Zim's European base, which happens to be an actual castle.

* The [[Final Battle]] of ''[[My Little Avengers]]'' occurs when the Avengers sneak into Canterlot Castle to confront [[Big Bad|Loki]] and the [[The Psycho Rangers|Dark Avengers]], who have occupied it.

 

 

* In the ending of the ''[[Wanted]]'' film, {{spoiler|Wesley attacks the Fraternity's hideout, using [[Chekhov's Gun|exploding rats]], followed by an [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|ultra-awesome]] [[Gun Kata]] run through a corridor... and then some.}}

* This is how the legend of ''[[The 47 Ronin]]'' ends, so every film version ends the same way.

* ''[[The Last Castle]]'' is actually an interesting reversal of the trope. The titular castle is a metaphor for a US military prison, and the entire plot is centered around the prisoners storming the castle ''from within'' in order to take it.

* This is the premise of a splendid battle sequence in the 1958 Kirk Douglas vehicle ''The Vikings''.

** He gets in through an unguarded air shaft at the top, because nobody would think of building a rope bridge or go in [[Batman]]-style, right?

* Subverted and then played straight in ''[[Timeline]]''. The French arrive to Castleguard prepared for a year-long siege, exchanging arrows and siege weapon fire with the English. Then [[Gerard Butler]]'s character blows a hole to the catacombs, allowing the French general and a dozen men to storm the castle from inside. They manage to open the gates, allowing the French army to enter. While, the end result is known, as [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] at the beginning of the movie, the battle is still on as the main characters are returning to their own time.