History BigDamnHeroes / Film

!!Films -- Animated

* ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' has one, right after Jafar says that nobody is coming to save them this time. Cue:
-->'''[[spoiler:Iago]]''': Hey, Jafar! [[BigShutUp SHUT UP!]]\\
'''Jafar''': TRAITOR!!!!
* ''Disney/TheLionKing'': Mufasa rescuing Simba from the hyenas.
** Timon and Pumbaa rescuing Simba from buzzards. And this was before he even met them.
** Pumbaa later saves Timon and Zazu from the hyenas. [[BerserkButton It didn't help the hyenas that they called him a pig.]] This movie has a ''lot'' of BigDamnHeroes moments.
* ''Disney/BrotherBear 2'': Rutt and Tuke pull off a [=BDH=] moment near the end when they help Kenai and Nita stave Edka off.
** Koda does one himself in the first movie, saving Kenai from [[spoiler:getting stabbed by Denahi]] (who didn't know that the bear was Kenai).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'': When it seems that Anya is about to fall into the icy river (Rasputin even ''says'' [[YouHaveNoChanceToSurvive "No one can save you!"]]), Dimitri swoops in to save the day by punching Rasputin in the face. Subverted in that he very quickly gets the living crap beaten out of him, though it does lead to Anya getting her revenge on Rasputin.
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': When Randall and [[spoiler:Waternoose]] are about to use the scream extractor on Boo, [[GentleGiant Sully]] bursts in with a roar, ''pulls the machine from its circuits'' and uses it to pin the two to the wall.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie'': Two moments - the first had Phil, Lil and Chuckie race back on the Reptar Wagon to rescue Tommy and Dil from the monkeys after realizing they were wrong for leaving the two behind in their anger. The second is when Spike rushes in to save the babies from a ''very'' hungry wolf.
* In ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', Ralph tries to undo the damage he cause in the game Sugar Rush by creating a beacon to attract the swarm of Cy-Bugs which invaded from the game Hero's Duty. To do so, he punches the Mentos ceiling of Diet Cola Mountain. The King Candy/Turbo/Cy-Bug captures him but he breaks free to give the ceiling one last punch as a HeroicSacrifice, but is saved at the last minute by his little friend Vanellope Von Schweetz.
* Near the end of ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'', Tod the fox manages to save his former friend Copper from a [[BearsAreBadNews massive black bear]], an animal capable of snapping his spine in half. ''And Tod won''. [[spoiler:Copper returns the favor when he steps between his master's gun and the weak exhausted fox, and Amos eventually lowers his gun]].
* The Beast from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' makes his presence known and saves Belle by grabbing the wolf that was attacking her, hoisting it into the air, and roaring in its face. Then he proceeds to beat up the rest of the pack all by himself.
* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', this happens multiple times in quick succession. First, Po arrives to save the Furious Five from Lord Shen and his army. Then, Masters Ox and Croc come in, followed by Master Shifu. Ultimately subverted however, when[[spoiler: Shen blows away all the reinforcements with his cannon, leaving it all up to Po]].
* [[spoiler: The box-trolls]] save Eggs at the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls''.
* The commando penguins in ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' managed to pull off one of these in all three movies.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', [[spoiler:Plankton/Plank-Ton comes in to save the other heroes, stops Burger-Beard by lifting his ship, and then powers up Spongebob/Invicibubble's bubbles to create a bubble wave that defeats Burger-Beard]].
* [[spoiler: The pizza planet squeeze aliens]] save all of Andy's toys from incineration at the end of ToyStory3, by comandeering a claw machine of course. To say that Mr. Potato Head was eternally grateful is an understatement.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' has Bear!Elinor trapped by her husband and his men (who don't know that the bear is actually their queen) until Merida comes to save her mother. Then [[BearsAreBadNews Mordu]] shows up and attacks Merida. Elinor (who had refrained from fighting to keep a hold of her bear side) [[MamaBear bursts free from the ropes tying her down and tackles Mordu away before fighting him head-on]], eventually killing him with a falling pillar.
* ''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'': Jasper and Horace have gotten the puppies cornered and are about to kill them, when suddenly Pongo and Perdita crash into Hell Hall just in the nick of time -- plenty pissed off at the would-be murders.
* Voley in ''WesternAnimation/TheFirstSnowOfWinter'' when he swings in to knock the fox away from Sean and Puffy. Admittedly, he doesn't last long when the fox gets back up but it was a valiant effort.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' has a minor one: During the final race at the Climax, it seems that Lightning [=McQueen=] won't be able to win, due to how out of focus he is; but suddenly, it's revealed that Doc Hudson, Mater and his friends from Radiator Springs are right there, at the pit stop to help him and cheer him up (Bonus points for the public recognizing Doc as the famous Hudson Hornet), so [=McQueen=] is now motivated and renewed to climb to the first place. [[spoiler:Although he sacrificed victory to help "The King" Weathers, who suffered a painful accident, to finish his last race.]]
* At the ending of ''WesternAnimation/ThumbelinaGoldenFilms'', Thumbelina brings the soldiers and swallows to fix the dam.

!!Films -- Live-Action
[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ReturnOfTheKing http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_damn_heroes.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Ride now!... Ride now!... Ride! Ride to ruin and the world's ending!]]]]
* In ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', Ned Land as played by Creator/KirkDouglas pulls a truly impressive one- we see him break out of a flooding holding cell as the ''[[CoolShip Nautilus]]'' is taking on water, break through a glass window with his feet to unlock the door from outside, makes it to the bridge to find the ship under attack by a giant squid- a creature he's ''never seen before in his life''- grabs a harpoon, kills it in [[ImprobableAimingSkills one shot]], then dives into the water to save [[BigBad Captain Nemo]], a man he hates. It turns into a funny moment with this dialogue afterwards;
-->'''[[AntiVillain Captain Nemo]]''': [[EmbarrassingRescue Mr. Land, you saved my life.]] Why?
-->'''[[BoisterousBruiser Ned Land]]''': [[VillainHasAPoint That's a good question]]. Well there's only one thing a fella can do when he's made a mistake as big as this...[[INeedAFreakingDrink get drunk!]]
* Every single time Film/{{Batman}} smashes through a window involves a Big Damn Hero entrance. The classic example is the scene in the 1989 Batman movie where Bats smashes through a skylight to save Vicki Vale who is being menaced by the Joker in the museum.
* ''Film/BatmanBegins'': After the Scarecrow's fear toxin has engulfed the Narrows, Gordon is the only unaffected man left on the island. The Commissioner, by radio on the outside, breaks it to him that all the reinforcements he's asking for are already on the island there with him, just as helpless as everyone else and he's on his own.
-->'''Commissioner:''' Gordon...there's nobody left to send in.
-->The Batmobile ''roars'' past him, flies over the raised bridge and to the rescue.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': The Joker's thugs spring a trap on the police truck carrying Harvey Dent. Just as Dent and the cops are worried that the Joker may actually kill them all, Batman enters with the Batmobile and evens the odds against the Joker.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': The police are about to take on Bane's army, despite being hopelessly outgunned. Then the Bat swoops in and blows up one of Bane's Tumblers.
* The first ''Film/{{Superman}}'' movie has one for Superman when he flies to rescue Lois Lane from the helicopter which got caught on the roof.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** A classic example occurs during the trench run scene in ''Film/ANewHope''. Just when Darth Vader has Luke's fighter in his crosshairs, the ''Millennium Falcon'' comes flying out of the sun, piloted by Han Solo, blasting one of Vader's two wingmen, surprising the last one who bumps into Vader, crashing and sending Vader spinning out of control, giving Luke a clear shot at the target needed to destroy the Death Star.
** Yoda plays the part to a T in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', despite [[PintSizedPowerhouse not being very big at all.]]
** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'': Happens quite a bit, but the Biggest Damn Heroes moment is [[spoiler:when Han, Chewie, and Finn are taken prisoner by the Stormtrooper unit on Takodana, only to have an opportunity to escape when Poe Dameron and a squadron of Resistance X-wings blast onto the scene with dramatic fanfare.]]
* Subversion: In ''Film/ElMariachi'', the prequel to ''Desperado'', the titular character (played by Carlos Gallardo instead of Antonio Banderas) arrives too late to prevent bad guy Moco from gunning down Domino, his love interest, in a fit of jealousy.
* In ''Film/BigGame'', just as Hazar is about to take the president away for seven days of torture and death, Oskari runs, jumps on the refrigator Moore's in and manages to save him yet again.
* ''Film/KungFuHustle''. In a scene lasting about three to four minutes, there are three Big Damn Heroes moments, one from each of the Three Heroes. The first is easily the most impressive, involving a lighter being caught by a coolie in a scene that would make the aforementioned Firefly crew green with envy, and the hero facing off against something on the order of a hundred gangsters. The others are less impressive, but only by comparison, involving a gay tailor sending a man through and beating the crap out of the gangsters swarming the first man, and a donut-making baker taking on three men armed with thompson machine guns with a pair of blunt sticks meant to roll out dough. Ain't they just Three Big Damn Heroes?
* From the perspective of Starfleet Command, Kirk does this in ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome''.
** ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''. When they beam down to the Khitomer Conference. Kirk [[spoiler:shoves the blind president out of the assassin's line of fire]]. [=McCoy=] [[spoiler:grabs the Romulan ambassador at gunpoint]]. Spock [[spoiler:shouts down Admiral Cartwright after showing Valeris was found out]]. Scotty [[spoiler: sneaks in behind the sniper and [[DestinationDefenestration defenestrates]] him with lethal phaser fire]]. And Sulu and his crew [[spoiler: beam into the exits just as Cartwright's about to book it]].
*** ''Excelsior'' just showing up take the heat off the beleaguered ''Enterprise'' also qualifies:
--->'''Captain Sulu''': Alright, now we've given them something else to shoot at.
** In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', the Borg are back and are slaughtering the Federation starships standing between it and Earth, including the Defiant, being commanded by [[TheWorfEffect Worf]]. The Borg lock on and begin crippling the ship...
-->'''Worf''': "Report!"
-->'''Helmsman''': "[[OhCrap Main power is offline, we've lost shields, our weapons are gone...]]"
-->'''Worf''': "Perhaps today IS [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy a good day to die!]] Prepare for [[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming speed]]!"
-->'''Helsman''': "Sir, there's another starship coming in...'''it's the Enterprise!'''"\\
Cue two torpedoes destroying the Borg cutting beam as the massive Enterprise swoops between the two ships ([[ThemeMusicPowerUp while the TNG theme pounds away in the background]]), drawing the cube's fire and suffering no damage! Picard then tops this by taking command of the fleet and ordering them to concentrate their fire on a single, non-vital spot, which opens up its secondary power relay to a direct assault from the Enterprise's quantum torpedoes. The formerly "invincible" Borg cube was destroyed within ''seconds''.
** In ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', two Romulan Warbirds unexpectedly de-cloak and join ''Enterprise'' in a battle that they were losing badly. They were taken out of the fight embarrassingly quickly but like with the ''Excelsior'', they at least managed to take some of the heat off the ''Enterprise''.
** The new ''Film/StarTrek'' film has a great moment near the end, after Nero orders a "FIRE EVERYTHING!" at Spock's ship... and the ''Enterprise'' drops out of warp with [[BeamSpam all guns blazing furiously]], picking off ''all'' of the Romulan torpedoes.
** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'':
*** [[spoiler:''Scotty'', of all people, saves the ''Enterprise'' from being finished off by rebooting all the ''Vengeance'''s systems.]]
*** [[spoiler: And when it looked like Khan was about to kill Spock, Uhura beams in and distracts him with a stunner long enough for Spock to knock him out.]]
*** [[spoiler: Chekov saves Kirk and Scotty from falling to certain death when the ''Enterprise'' is falling, and they end up hanging onto a rail for dear life.]]
** ''Film/StarTrekBeyond
*** Kirk [[spoiler: creates a diversion on a motorcycle using holographic versions of himself to distract Krall's minions so Spock and Bones can get the rest of the crew to safety. Jaylah also gets her moment by defeating Manas, who killed her father.]]
*** Bones and Spock [[spoiler: save Kirk in one of Krall's swarm ships before he gets sucked into space.]]

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'':
** The [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first movie]] had one of these at the very end where [[spoiler:Jack is about to be hanged and Will saves him just in the nick of time]].
** The [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third]] also has one at the very end when [[spoiler: Will, now the new captain of the Flying Dutchman,]] erupts from the sea to help the Black Pearl drive off the East India Trading Co.'s fleet.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'':
** Aragorn has this moment in the first film. The Ringwraith stabs Frodo, and just as he is reaching out (likely to get the Ring that Frodo still wears), Aragorn jumps in, torch and sword at hand and battles the five Ringwraiths, setting most of them on fire.
** Sam when he saves Frodo from Shelob (even if he doesn't know at the time).
** When the Witch-King and his fell-beast are about to kill an incapacitated King Théoden, and then Éowyn jumps in the way, hacked the beast's head off in merely a few strikes.
** End of helm's deep. All is lost, Aragorn looks to the East, and then... Gandalf and Éomer, mother-fucker.
** The Battle of Minas Tirath was essentially a series of dueling BigDamnHeroes moments for each side. First, the Rohirrim appear when all seems lost, then Mordor reinforcements arrive with oliphants, then Aragorn shows up leading an army of ghosts...
* In ''Film/{{Rambo|IV}}'', the Burmese soldiers have captured both the missionaries and their mercenary rescuers, and are lining them up for execution. They ready their weapons, prepare to fire...and then John Rambo rises up into view behind the soldier manning the Burmese troops' .50cal machinegun.
* ''Film/IpMan'': TrainingThePeacefulVillagers has been subverted, the factory workers are still getting their asses handed to them by the bandits - until Ip Man shows up and gives them the old what-for.
* ''Film/XMen'':
** [[spoiler: Magneto]], of all people - when the Blackbird is about to crash into the forest in ''Film/X2XMenUnited''.
** [[spoiler:Gambit and Sabretooth both save Wolverine at different points]] in ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine''.
** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': The boat just has a few meters left to go before total war between USA and USSR, and then the X-Men jet appears.
* In ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'', right when everything seems lost, seeing as though the first giant drilling machine was lost, AJ shows up with the (previously thought lost) second giant drilling machine to save the day.
* Lampshaded in ''Film/RoadToRio'', where Jerry Colonna leads a cavalry charge to save the day, to be still riding there long after everything is settled. "Exciting though, wasn't it?"
* DoubleSubversion in ''Film/IndependenceDay'': Russel Case gives the line "Sorry I'm late, Mr. President!" ...and then his missile jams. ...and then he makes a HeroicSacrifice to destroy the alien ship anyway.
* In the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'', these are somewhat plentiful and frequently awesome. Film 1 has Bumblebee saving Sam from a pack of [[AngryGuardDog angry guard dogs]], Bumblebee saving Sam & Mikaela from Barricade, Optimus saving Sam & Mikaela from corrupt government officials (though this one doesn't work out so well), and Bumblebee & Mikaela saving the soldiers from Brawl. Film 2 has Bumblebee saving Sam & his parents from the kitchen appliances brought to life by the Allspark shard, Optimus & Bumblebee saving Sam & Mikaela from [[spoiler:the revived Megatron]], Jetfire showing up in the final battle to kill Mixmaster [[spoiler:and Scorponok]], and Bumblebee saving Sam & co. from [[spoiler:Rampage & Ravage]]. ...Bumblebee gets to do a lot of these, doesn't he?
** The warehouse one is the best, especially if you don't see it coming. Sam is pinned down, the last several minutes have been very dark, culminating in a sadistic little bot centimeters away from cutting Sam's head open, with no apparent hope...and CRASH! Optimus busts through the ceiling, the heroic music instantly starting at full swing, immediately followed by Bumblebee making an entryway through a wall, and what was 15 seconds ago a quiet and disturbing scene is now a scene full of roaring weapons fire, shots flying everywhere, and hectic action. Oh, and Optimus kicking ass.
** This is Optimus's job at NEST. While the human soldiers and smaller Autobots hit the field first, Optimus hangs out in the main NEST cargo plane. If the ground troops aren't cutting it, he's airdropped directly into the thick of things to start kicking ass.
* ''Film/PlunkettAndMacleane'': The former of the two protagonists saves the latter from the gallows.
* Subverted in the short film ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYDquzEPLsw Pyrates]]''. Just as a pirate is about to be hanged, his captain and crew arrive to effect a daring rescue, [[spoiler:only to find out at the end of the film that they just wanted his part of the treasure map.]]
* In ''Film/{{District 9}}'' it looks like Wikus, in his PowerArmor, is going to run off and abandon Christopher to certain death. Just as Chris is about to be shot, Wikus has a [[ChangedMyMindKid change of heart]] and charges back in, using the alien weapons to kill the soldiers in a shower of LudicrousGibs.
* Gizmo may be a little guy, but he played the Trope to a T in ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch''. Near the conclusion, Kate and Marla were cornered - with Marla partially webbed up - by the Spider-Gremlin, when all of a sudden, Gizmo, who had gotten sick of being bullied by the gremlins all through the entire film, appeared from out of an air duct dressed up like Franchise/{{Rambo}}, and killed the thing with an makeshift bow and arrow tipped with an ignited bottle of white-out.
* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' franchise:
** In ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'', Neo shows up to save Morpheus and the Keymaker toward the end of the freeway scene. Morpheus even [[InvokedTrope invokes]] the trope when the situation looks hopeless.
---> '''Morpheus:''' Neo, if you're out there I could use some help.
** In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', an indirect version happens. Just as the humans in Zion are about to make their last stand, the encroaching Sentinels suddenly stand down thanks to Neo, who fought his way to the Machine city to negotiate peace in exchange for him killing Smith.
* ''Film/AFistfulOfDynamite'''s John Mallory shows up at [[JustInTime the last minute]] to save his friend Juan Miranda, from a firing squad, in typical explosive fashion.
* Subverted in ''Film/LandOfTheDead'' [[spoiler:as the heroes rush to join the final battle against the zombie horde, it appears this will be played straight and they will arrive just in time to save the terrified people trapped between the electric fence and the zombies. They actually arrive just in time to watch as the zombies feast on the people and all they can do is give those still alive a somewhat quicker death.]]
* Tom Cruise's return to the scene of the final aerial battle in ''Film/TopGun''.
* ''Film/IronEagle'' is entirely about a kid pilot and his CoolOldGuy mentor playing this trope to rescue the kid's shot down father from an [[{{Qurac}} anonymous Middle Eastern dictatorship]].
** Used in the film itself. After Doug has rescued his father, he's faced with the prospect of having to take on a pair of MiGs with only 80 rounds left in his chaingun. Cue a squad of F15's showing up and scaring off the enemy fighters.
* In ''Film/TheGoonies'', [[DumbMuscle Sloth's]] ShoutOut/Entrance at the climax: "[[Series/TheElectricCompany1971 Hey, you guys!]]" Cue [[ThemeMusicPowerUp heroic theme music]] and happy ending ahoy!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': "Hello, Oogie!" Badass. It's unusual that you have a BDH moment where the bad situation is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the hero's fault in the first place]], but even so.
* ''Film/GoldenEye'': Three words: [[ChaseScene Big Damn]] '''[[TankGoodness TANK.]]'''
* ''Film/{{Dogma}}'' serves up a good one. The heroine, Bethany, is about to be beaten to death by some wicked teenage hockey-playing demons. Just as they're about to strike, [[Film/TheViewAskewniverse Jay and Silent Bob]] leap into action to save the day by beating the crap out of them. "Snooch to the muthafuckin' Noooooooch!"
* Played with in ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy''. Ron tries this, utterly failing ("I immediately regret this decision!"), the rest of the news team does pretty well, but it's [[spoiler: Baxter]] who saves the day
* In ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', after crashing a helicopter into a hanger, the T-X advances on John Connor and Kate Brewster, who are powerless to stop it. Then, an '''even bigger''' helicopter slams into the hanger, grinding the T-X into dust, and setting the hanger on fire. Guess who pops out?
-->'''Terminator''': I'm back..
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' has The Terminator make no less than five Big Damn Heroic entrances:
** With the T-1000 chasing after John and drawing a gun, everything looks bleak... until a door busts open and in walks the Terminator, pulling a shotgun from a box of roses.
-->"Get down!"
** On a pithy 50cc bike and being chased down by the T-1000 in a truck, John has no idea that help is coming, until the Terminator jumps his bike off a 30-foot ledge and into the aqueduct they're driving in.
** The abusive staff of the Pescadero Mental Institute thought it'd be easy doping up Sarah for the millionth time. They didn't bank on the massive shotgun-toting biker cyborg.
** Sarah's trapped in a dead-end room surrounded by riot police who are shooting to kill. There's no way out of there, until the Terminator simply bashes the wall in and pulls her out.
-->"Get down!"
** John and Sarah are unarmed and cornered by the T-1000 with the Terminator nowhere in sight, until he appears over a steel processing conveyor with his trusty [[CoolGuns M79 grenade launcher]].
* In ''Film/LethalWeapon'', Murtaugh is about to be killed by the BigBad, who pauses to give his EvilGloating, ending with the line "There are no more heroes." At that exact moment, Riggs bursts in and dispatches him and his minions.
--> "Get down!"
* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', Eddie Valiant and Jessica Rabbit see the Toon Patrol in their black truck barreling at them when they're in Toontown. Jessica grabs Eddie's arm and tries to drag him off in one direction to flee, while Eddie tries to drag her in the other, jerking his thumb in that direction in the process. Suddenly, Benny the Cab races up and they climb in and they escape being mowed down by the truck in the nick of time.
--> '''Benny the Cab:''' So, Valiant, you called a cab or what?
** Later, in the Acme Factory, as Doom tells Eddie and Jessica [[spoiler:his plans to wipe out Toontown and replace it with a freeway]], Roger blasts into the warehouse through a drainage grate and tries to hold Doom and the Toon Patrol at gunpoint. In this case, this trope is subverted in that one of the Toon Patrol weasels also gets blasted up onto a Ton-of-Bricks hanging from the ceiling that he uses to bury the rabbit, giving Doom the upper hand.
* Film/TheSmurfs,where the entire smurf village comes to rescue Papa from Gargamel. [[spoiler:They brought forks,gold balls, and other things]].[[spoiler: Too bad this didn't last long until Gargamel used his dragon wand to trap the entire smurf village.]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FNGgFQGJ8k The soundtrack for that scene starts out like an old tribe about to fight. But later get's fun and exciting.]]
* ''Circus'' has a subversion; Leo is being threatened by a pair of {{Loan Shark}}s, when Leo's buddy Moose intervenes and beats up the sharks... because he blames Leo for the death of his mistress and [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou wants to kill Leo himself.]]
* ''Film/TrickyPeople'''s [[BigBad Reginald Charming]] [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty has Lyric right where he wants her]] up until Yello Dyno busts into his office and rescues Lyric from Charming's dastardly photo shoot.
* ''Film/HomeAlone'': In the first movie, Old Man Marley saves Kevin by knocking out Marv and Harry with a shovel, leaving them for the police. In the second movie, just when the two are about to ''shoot'' Kevin, the Pigeon Lady distracts them so Kevin can run to safety, then throws birdseed all over Marv and Harry so the pigeons will attack them; again, the police arrive to arrest them shortly after.
* Happens more than once in ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''.
* ''Film/{{Oblivion 2013}}'' :
** The drone coming to Jack's rescue during the Scavs' ambush on the remains of the New York Public Library, and the drones sent to intimidate the Scavengers when they capture Jack and Julia. [[spoiler: Although considering TheReveal that follows, they could be considered more of a VillainousRescue in action.]]
** When the drone on Tower 49 is reactivated, [[spoiler: killing Victoria]] and getting ready to shoot Jack, Julia saves him by blowing away the drone with the Bubble Ship's guns. [[spoiler: The fact that the later AerialCanyonChase has the drones getting shot repeatedly with the same guns with little damage making it also an example of WorfHadTheFlu, is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by Harper mentioning earlier that the drone isn't worth much without its armor.]]
** During the final shootout between the drones and the Scavengers on the bunker, one of the drones is about to shoot Julia [[spoiler: and some human civilians]]. [[DefiantToTheEnd Julia picks up a gun]] and [[FiveRoundsRapid shoots the drone ineffectively]]... but is enough of a diversion for Sykes to be able to shoot it InTheBack with no problem. [[RebelLeader Beech]] also mans a turret and shoots it out with one of the drones, destroying it although he ends up injured because of it.
* Used in the finale of ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'', when Willem Dafoe's character shows up to save the day.
* Done during the final battle of ''Film/SpiderMan3'', when [[spoiler: Harry]] comes in and saves Peter from being crushed by the Sandman.
* As is the norm, Superman gets several moments in ''Film/ManOfSteel''.
* ''Film/PacificRim'': Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha are down, Striker Eureka is disabled, and the Hansons have only just managed to piss off the {{Kaiju}} by shooting at it with flare guns. And then Gipsy Danger appears.
* ''Film/TheNewGuy'' has Gil Harris unmasked by his enemies at Homecoming. Certain social destruction is imminent - and then [[EccentricMentor Luther]] and the prison guards show up to save the day.
* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'': Zangief, the HuskyRusskie who's so damned stupid he's been duped into working for M. Bison ''without even being paid'', has a HeelRealization just in time to use his [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong massive Russian muscles]] to hold a blast door open long enough for everyone else to escape.
* ''Film/SpaceJam'', Creator/BillMurray's arrival just when it seems that the [=TuneSquad=] is on the verge of forfeit. Swackhammer ends up calling him Creator/DanAykroyd, though...
* ''Film/OOODenOAllRidersLetsGoKamenRiders'' has Kamen Rider V3 rescue OOO, the Den-O team and the Double Riders with the aid of the other main Riders. Soon after, Kamen Rider Birth arrives, leading the Secondary and Extra Riders to help with the final atack.
* In the horror anthology film ''Film/BodyBags'' at the end of "The Gas Station" segment, an early customer named Pete suddenly returns to help Anne beat the killer when he remembered he left his credit card behind.
* ''Film/OperationDumboDrop'': H.A. gets a moment when the crew finally gets the elephant to the village, but are caught by V.C.s, except him, since he caught his parachute in a tree. He drops down and rushes in.
* ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'':
** The Mutos seem unstoppable until Godzilla pimps into town to show them who's boss. The big reveal in the Honolulu airport suggests this trope, but really it's the final showdown in the San Francisco Bay that best captures it, [[spoiler:after Ford blows up the Female Muto's egg, she attempts to kill him. Cue atomic breath, allowing Ford to escape.]]
** Ford to Godzilla, ironically enough. When both Mutos were pummeling the snot out of Godzilla, [[spoiler:the explosion that Ford caused to destroy all the Muto eggs]] drew their attention, freeing Godzilla.
* ''Film/{{Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2}}'':
** [[spoiler:Neville of all people ends up saving Ron and Hermione from Nagini.]]
* ''Film/WouldYouRather'': Dr. Barden show up just in time to stop Julian's AttemptedRape of Iris. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] when [[spoiler:Bevan shoots him dead]].
* This exchange from ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', as Dredd lies badly wounded:
-->'''Dredd''': Wait...
-->[[spoiler: '''Judge Lex''']]: 'Wait'? Are you kidding me? Did you say 'wait'? Judge Dredd... ''the'' Judge Dredd, finally gets on the wrong end of a gun, and what he says... is 'wait'. You know what? I expected more of you. I mean, wait for what? Wait for me to change my mind? Wait for another two or three seconds of life because you're so fucking weak you just can't stand to see it end?
-->'''Dredd''': No.
-->''(Anderson blasts [[spoiler: Lex]] multiple times from behind.)''
-->'''Dredd:''' Wait for her to shoot you.
* In ''Film/HeiseiRiderVsShowaRiderKamenRiderWarsFeaturingSuperSentai'', Daigo of the ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' and the ''Series/ResshaSentaiTokkyuger'' race in to save the day when the Generalissimo of Badan finally rises.
* In ''Film/DasFinstereTal'', Greider is this for Luzi (and, by extension, the entire village).
* In ''Film/DumbAndDumber'' Harry pulls this twice. First, he smashes through a gas station bathroom stall to [[ItMakesSenseInContext put out the fire on his foot,]] which happened to be the same bathroom stall [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Lloyd was about to get raped by Sea-Bass in.]] The second time was a subversion when [[spoiler: Harry [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy fails to shoot the BigBad]], but distracts him long enough for [[TheCalvary the FBI to come in.]] ]]
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** A classic version of this occurs in ''Film/IronMan'' where an Afghan village is being terrorized. Just as the head thug is about to execute an innocent villager as his wife and children scream for them to stop, everyone hears something falling out the sky....Iron Man! Who then proceeds to lay the smackdown on all the terrorists in short order.
** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'':
*** Cap himself gets a good moment prior to Tony's big entrance, diving in at the last minute to save a defiant old German man from being vaporized by Loki and his magic staff.
*** The best BDH moment is when Bruce Banner arrives to bring muscle to the fight. On a scooter.
*** Film/IronMan makes a big damned entrance in when intervening to aid ComicBook/CaptainAmerica against Loki in Stuttgart, Germany. He even hacks the Quinjet's PA system to blast out some [=AC/DC=] as he makes his rescue.
--> '''Iron Man:''' Make your move, Reindeer Games.
** ''Film/IronMan3'':
*** Pepper gets her spot by [[spoiler:punching a remote controlled armor in the chest and throwing a missile straight into Killian's face]].
*** Another good moment comes before, when [[spoiler:the "House Party Protocol" is invoked, and an entire legion of Iron Man armors come in for the assist against the Extremis soldiers]].
** In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', when the Avengers can't evacuate a city [[spoiler:that has been turned into a FloatingContinent by Ultron, Nick Fury arrives with the old helicarrier to help]]
*** Prior to that, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch all came to aid Captain America from Ultron after they [[HeelFaceTurn changed heart]].
* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'':
** In ''Film/JurassicPark'', the ''TyrannosaurusRex'' of all things gets one when she [[spoiler: shows up to attack the raptors that have the human characters surrounded.]]
** That same ''T. rex'' gets ''another'', even ''bigger'' damn hero moment in ''Film/JurassicWorld,'' when [[spoiler:Claire [[SummonBiggerFish lets her out of her paddock]] and leads her to the rampaging new dinosaur ''Indominus rex'', allowing "Rexy" to ultimately save yet another cast of characters.]]
** In the latter incident, [[spoiler:the Raptor pack-leader "Blue" gets one when she comes to the aid of the downed Rexy, stopping the ''Indominus'' from finishing her off, letting the old girl [[HeroicSecondWind get back on her feet]] and work with Blue to double-team the monster]].
* In the trailer for [[Film/TheJungleBook2016 the 2016 Jungle Book movie]], Shere Khan pounces at Mowgli. However, Bagheera the panther tackles the tiger out of the way, and they fight while Mowgli tries to get away.
** In the actual movie, Kaa has Mowgli in [[GenderFlip her]] coils, ready to eat him. But just then, [[spoiler:Baloo]] arrives and fights off the snake, chasing her away.
* ''Film/JasonBourne'': When [[BigBad Dewey]] has Bourne at his mercy following a BreakingSpeech, [[spoiler: Heather arrives and quickly shoots Dewey down, saving Bourne.]]
* Lampshaded in ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'' when Creator/MichaelCaine's character quips that it would be bad form for TheCavalry to arrive ahead of schedule. "In the nick of time would do nicely." However the trope is averted when, just as it looks as though XXX Corps is going to break through to relieve the besieged paratroopers and make the plan a success, the Allied offensive runs out of steam just a mile short of Arnhem.
* ''Film/ThePurgeElectionYear'' has three of them.
** Joe and Marcos [[spoiler: shooting a gang of Russian Purgers dead and saving Barnes and Roan.]]
** Laney and Dawn [[spoiler: running down Kimmy's friends, then Laney shooting Kimmy in the head.]]
** Marcos [[spoiler: shooting Warrens in the head, then LaResistance killing the rest of the NFFA members.]]
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Doomsday uses his EyeBeams to crash the Batplane, then attempts to blast the downed Comicbook/{{Batman}}... and then Comicbook/WonderWoman jumps in JustInTime and blocks the monster's heat vision with her Amazonian bracelets, saving his life. As her [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome badass]] theme plays.
* In ''Film/SuicideSquad'', Captain Boomerang is pinned and helpless, about to be killed by TheDragon, when he's saved by Katana jumping in and chopping off the villain's hand with her [[KatanasAreJustBetter Soultaker Sword]].
* ''Film/XxXReturnOfXanderCage'' has [[spoiler: Darius Stone coming out of nowhere and blowing up mooks with a grenade launcher in the final battle.]]
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* Lampshaded in ''Film/RoadTo Rio'', where Jerry Colonna leads a cavalry charge to save the day, to be still riding there long after everything is settled. "Exciting though, wasn't it?"

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ReturnOfTheKing http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rohancharge_9.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The cavalry has arrived.]]