History ChekhovsGun / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/TwoHands'' combines a Chekhov's gun and a Chekhov's gunman - both are literal, but the gunman uses a different gun. A gun fails to fire twice, first in the middle of the film and then again at the end, because the thug it belongs to put it through the wash. The first time allows the protagonist to escape execution by Pando's men. The second time [[spoiler: it costs the thug his life when the boy from early in the film guns down Pando and his men]].

* ''Film/TheVillain'': A literal example. Handsome has [[spoiler: a seven-shot six shooter,]] which is established early on with a bit of dialog. At one point later, Cactus Jack [[spoiler: empties the bullets from the gun onto a table while counting them.]] Then, assuming the gun is now unloaded, [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace accidentally shoots himself.]]

* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII''
** The hoverboard is kept in the Delorean after Marty [=McFly=] uses it to beat Griff Tannen, the hoverboard plays an essential role in the third film, when Marty flies it over to Doc Brown, who is hanging off a speeding train. Not only are Doc and girlfriend Clara saved, but the hoverboard allows Brown to rebuild the technology, allowing him to create a [[CoolTrain FLYING TRAIN]]. Holy ''shit''.
** In a rare case of a Chekhov's gun being set on the mantle in one film intentionally to be fired in the sequel, [[spoiler: Marty walks into 1985-A Biff's hot tub room in ''Part II'' and sees him watching the scene from ''A Fistful of Dollars'' wherein Creator/ClintEastwood uses a metallic plate-like object as a makeshift bulletproof vest. When he ends up bumping into and knocking off a stove door in the Old West in ''Part III'' during a hectic pre-shootout sequence, he remembers this and it ends up saving his life.]]
** A similar rare Chekhov's gun is the notice of dismissal the older Marty receives in 2015. [[spoiler: The younger Jennifer took a copy of that print in ''Part II'' while hiding in a closet. It was erased after Marty refuses to race with Needles, when he is back in 1985 at the end of ''Part III''. Marty had learned from the past and did not react on Needles' teasing anymore. It proved he had finally overcome his BerserkButton of NobodyCallsMeChicken.]] However, an explanation for this two rare Chekhov's guns can be given: "Back to the Future" Part II and III were recorded at the same time, but released on a different date, something rarely seen in movie history. This made it possible to use Chekhov's Guns which were planned to be set in a previous part and fired in the next.
** In Part II, when confronting Biff about the Sports Almanac, Marty takes a match on Biff's desk, representing the casino. After the almanac is burnt, the logo changes to represent Biff's auto dealership, showing that history is back to how it should be.
** A very sneaky one: the dust jacket on the Sports Almanac. It seems to just be a setup for a joke about [=DustBusters=] being treated as memorabilia of a bygone era. Then [[spoiler:it leads to Marty chasing the wrong book and losing young Biff's trail for a while.]].

* ''Film/DudeWheresMyCar'' contains several examples. The most memorable is probably the nature show the boys are watching at the beginning which [[spoiler: provides the key to saving the universe]]. Many seemingly random people and events in this film are actually significant, but just as many (such as the pissing roommate) have no plot relevance whatsoever and are there solely for the WTF factor.

* In the live-action adaptation of ''Film/TheGuyver'', Fulton Balcus keeps and uses the old toaster Dr. Segawa swapped the Guyver out with. Much to his annoyance, though, it burns his toast..

* Played straight in ''Film/KickAss''. Half-way through the film, the bodyguard steals a bazooka off of a wall of guns. [[spoiler: It's used in the final scene of the movie to kill the BigBad.]]

* ''Film/MadMax''

* In the beginning of ''Film/SawI'', we see a key get sucked down the drain of the tub that Adam awakens in. We later learn that that [[spoiler: this was the key to the shackles he and Lawrence are in.]]

*** Ellis gave Holly a Rolex - too bad she had to lose it in order for McClane to save her (and kill Hans).

*** Tony Stark builds a electromagnetic device called an Arc Reactor to protect his heart, then upgrades the unit by having his secretary, Pepper, install a larger version in his chest. He tells her to throw the small unit away, but Pepper has it put in a display case for him. The miniature reactor becomes crucial later on, when [[spoiler: Obadiah Stane takes the larger reactor from Tony's chest while he's paralyzed, and he must rely on the smaller model to power his suit and his heart.]] Also, Tony's second attempt at the suit doesn't work out too well after ice builds up during a high-atmosphere flight.[[spoiler:He later uses this against the BigBad.]]

* I''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'':

*** Mai's "Sexy Voice", originally mentioned in a passing comment, is again recognized by Farrell when she impersonates the police dispatcher.

*** A passenger gives John advice about recovering from jet-lag, which involves removal of all footgear. This leaves John barefoot throughout the action.

*** Ellis gave Holly a Rolex - too bad she had to lose it to kill Hans.

*** Detective [=McClane=] has a really bad hangover and desperately searches for aspirins whenever he can. Simon Gruber suffers from migraines. This gives John the vital clue as to where Simon is hiding - he traces Simon's aspirin bottle.

*** Remember those fourteen stolen dump trucks mentioned offhand at the start? Simon uses them to transport the gold out.

** ''Film/Batman1989''. The Joker's helicopter first appears after Batman uses the Batmobile to blow up the Axis Chemicals complex. After the Joker and Vicki Vail climb to the top of a building, the helicopter appears again (after being summoned by the Joker) as a means of escape.
** ''Film/BatmanReturns'' (1992). Bet you forgot about that stungun Miss Kyle picked up before she became Catwoman!

*** A subtle one can be seen when Alfred is putting Rachel into a car to take her home. To lay her down in the back seat, he moves some random golf clubs out of the way. Why are they there...so Alfred can use them to beat down a henchman of the League of Shadows upon his return. Also in ''Batman Begins'', Bruce Wayne is subjected to ninja hallucinogens at the beginning of the movie, which are later revealed to be the same as the Scarecrow's weird gas poison.
*** The monorail built by Bruce's dad turns out to be a ChekhovsGun used by Ra's al Ghul to spread Scarecrow's gas.

* A perfect example of Chekhov's Gun can be found in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead''. While getting drunk in the [[MyLocal Winchester]], Shaun and Ed discuss whether the gun behind the counter is real. Later, while dealing with a rather unexpected [[ZombieApocalypse zombie problem]], they discover that the gun is in fact genuine.

* ''Film/Mortuary1983'': Early in the film, Greg and Josh find a machinegun stored inside a coffin at the mortuary warehouse. When Greg confronts [[spoiler:Paul]] neat the end, he grabs the machinegun and tries to shoot [[spoiler:him]] with it.
** [[spoiler:[[DefiedTrope Defied]]. There were no bullets in the gun.]]

** Kate's magnetized notepad (it allows her attach a pen to the side of the pad) which she uses in the hotel bar and keeps in her purse. This is what later throws the compass in the plane off and causes them to get lost.

* In ''Film/{Preservation}}'', Wit chides Mike for casually discarding a broken beer bottle on the way into the park. Later, she uses that same bottle to [[GrievousBottleyHarm stab one of the hunters in the throat]].

%%* In ''Film/GreenLantern'': Gravity's a bitch.

* In ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' [[spoiler: when the alien appears in the stranded ferry, it's chest opens revealing it's weak spot: it's beating heart. It was only vulnerable once, when the kid used another Chekhov's Gun: Dolarhyde's knife.]]

* In the Italian horror film ''Film/{{Demoni}}'', which is set in a movie theater, there is a mannequin of a samurai mounted on a dirt bike in the main lobby, complete with samurai sword, presumably as a movie promotion. In the film's climax, both of these items are put to good use.

* Averted, at least partially by accident, in ''Film/{{Willow}}''. As Willow Ufgood sets off on his quest, the leader of his village gives him three magic acorns which can turn what he throws them at to stone. However, throughout the entirety of the movie he attempts to use only two of them, missing a troll with one and hitting Bavmorda with the other only for her to overcome the stone transformation with her own magic. According to Warwick Davis's DVD commentary track the third acorn * was* used--in a deleted scene. Making the whole acorn thing * ding dong sound* entirely pointless.

* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', during the scene where Eddie visits the scene of Marvin Acme's murder, some of the cops on the site are seen fooling around with a portable hole and a mallet with a spring-loaded boxing glove in it. Both these props come in handy during Eddie's confrontation with Judge Doom at the end of the movie.

* ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' uses the trope masterfully when a simple poster of Rita Hayworth, requested for his cell by Andy Dufresne, turns out to be [[spoiler: the means by which Andy was covering up his escape tunnel]]
** Really, the whole ending was an entire movie's worth of Chekov's Guns going off one after another in rapid-fire succession. [[spoiler: The rock-hammer he asked Red for? Used to dig a tunnel. The Bible the warden gave him? Hollowed out to hide his rock hammer. The poster he got from Red? Hid the tunnel. The fake identity he used t launder the warden's money? He used it to steal the money to fund his new life, while also exposing the warden]]. Andy was way more of a MagnificentBastard then you would initially believe.