History HonorBeforeReason / FIlm

* William Turner of the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' trilogy is another suicidally selfless example of this trope. For an example, see the "You can't... I can," scene in the first movie. Even the initially selfish Captain Jack Sparrow seems to be infected by his idealism, and eventually obeys this trope as well. In Sparrow's case, though, he obeys the trope explicitly because he knows that it's the last thing people expect from him.

** Wayne takes this to even greater extremes in the 2008 sequel ''The Dark Knight'' where he refuses to kill the Joker despite how much easier it would make his life and how much safer it would make Gotham, just to prove that the Joker can't corrupt him.

* In ''Master of the World'' (based off of the JulesVerne novel), Phillip Evans exemplifies the more unpleasant end of this trope. He is obsessed with being an honorable and courageous gentleman, and doesn't understand why [[CharlesBronson John Strock]] doesn't openly defy [[VincentPrice Robur]]. He considers Strock a coward at best, and collaborating with Robur at worst, and talks down to him all the time. Strock attempts to explain that if he openly defied Robur, who has dozens of armed {{Mooks}} and what amounts to a [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld flying battleship]] at his disposal, he'd be ''very'' dead ''very'' quickly, and intends to stop Robur behind his back while only ''seeming'' compliant. Evans doesn't get it, and in fact this explanation makes him think even ''less'' of Strock, as he declares that Strock's subterfuge is dishonorable.

* In ''[[TheDarkKnightSaga Batman Begins]]'', when Bruce Wayne realizes Ra's Al Ghul's ninja clan is a den of insanely destructive fanaticism and refuses to help them inflict such harm on the innocent. When Ducard learns about Wayne's opinion, he dismisses it and Wayne has the perfect response to illustrate his honor.

* ''{{Titanic}}'': [[MenAreTheExpendableGender The fathers and husbands]] ''[[MenAreTheExpendableGender doing whatever it takes]]'' [[MenAreTheExpendableGender to let their wives and children live]] ''[[MenAreTheExpendableGender even if they freeze and drown]]'', which also happened ''in RealLife.''

* In ''Master of the World'' (based off of the JulesVerne novel), Phillip Evans exemplifies the more unpleasant end of this trope. He is obsessed with being an honorable and courageous gentleman, and doesn't understand why [[CharlesBronson John Strock]] doesn't openly defy [[VincentPrice Robur]]. He considers Strock a coward at best, and collaborating with Robur at worst. At one point, Strock attempts to explain to Evans that if he openly defied Robur, their captor, who has dozens of armed {{Mooks}} and what amounts to a [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld flying battleship]] at his disposal, he'd be ''very'' dead ''very'' quickly, and intends to sabotage Robur behind his back while only ''seeming'' compliant. Evans doesn't get it, and, in fact, this explanation makes him think even ''less of Strock, as he declares that Strock's subterfuge is dishonorable.

* In "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T", Bart goes to quite a bit of trouble to avoid waking Dr. T when he goes to break into the vault to steal some money...and then Bart leaves an IOU with his name for the missing cash. Of course, this winds up having nothing to do with him setting off the alarms and getting caught.

* Every incarnation of the ''{{Predator}}'' lives by this trope. They will not kill anyone who is unarmed, ill, pregnant, or any other factor that would make them a viable non-combatant. They will also respect the wishes of their enemy if they desire to face off in a melee duel, as seen in the 2010 film ''{{Predators}}''. They also may respect [[WorthyOpponent anyone who manages to kill one of their own]], as seen in the second film. But sometimes, usually when provoked, they just throw honor out the window and use every weapon at their disposal to obliterate the enemy regardless of fairness.

* ''{{Rambo}}'' from movie 2 onwards.

* In ''TheMaskOfZorro'', the villain Captain Love pulls a gun on Zorro, but then discards it and faces him in a SwordFight.

* Captain Kirk and his crew decide that court-martial is a better alternative than not trying to rescue their friend in ''StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''. This wouldn't necessarily be an example of the trope if they had just gone and never come back, but in the next film they all willingly go back to face that court-martial. They then of course save the Earth on upon their return, so the actual court-martial involves nothing more serious than Kirk being demoted to Captain and handed a shiny new Enterprise.

* The most noble live-action example would have to be IndianaJones in ''The Temple of Doom'', who could have escaped with fortune and glory, instead got captured to save a helpless little boy from being whipped to death. Not the smartest of moves, yes; but '''any''' illusions of him being a heartless and cynical mercenary disappears at this point, and we cheer for him all the way as he saves '''all''' of the children and defeats the evil of Kali-Ma.

* In ''TheMaskOfZorro'', the villain Captain Love pulls a gun on Zorro, but then discards it an faces him in a SwordFight.

* In ''An Affair to Remember'', Terry refuses to let Ken pay for her to get better and be able to walk again because she thinks Nickie wouldn't approve, she knows Nickie can't afford it, and she thinks it would be ungrateful of her to let Ken give her back her mobility and then go marry someone else.

* In ''{{Tangled}}'', Rapunzel promises to return Flynn's satchel with the stolen tiara if he agrees to escort her to the palace to see the flying lanterns, stating, "When I make a promise, I never break it." [[spoiler: Later, after Gothel stabs Flynn in the back, Rapunzel vows that [[{{Determinator}} she would never stop trying to escape her]]. She then tells her that she will not fight her or try to escape if Gothel lets her save Flynn's life with her magic hair. The trope is then averted when Flynn shears her hair off with a mirror shard, removing its healing properties [[HeroicSacrifice at the risk of his own life]].]]

** You say that as if they'd been able to do anything. Remember, not two minutes beforehand, there were thirteen Mangalores in that room as opposed to six. When Dallas showed up, he took a quick scope of the room before wiping out a majority of them without breaking a sweat, which prompted their leader to declare negotiations.

* Every incarnation of the ''{{Predator}}'' lives by this trope. They will not kill anyone who is unarmed, ill, pregnant, or any other factor that would make them a viable non-combatant. They will also respect the wishes of their enemy if they desire to face off in a melee duel, as seen in the 2010 film ''{{Predators}}''. They also may respect anyone who manages to kill one of their own, as seen in the second film. But sometimes, usually when provoked, they just throw honor out the window and use every weapon at their disposal to obliterate the enemy regardless of fairness.
* ''[[Film/BrokenArrow1996 Broken Arrow]]'': Rather than forcing Vic Deakin (John Travolta), who is out of bullets, to disarm a nuke there and then, Riley Hale (Christian Slater) drops his shotgun and accepts his former friend's challenge to [[GoodOldFisticuffs one final fistfight]].
** Well, Vic is holding the remote control that can detonate the nuke in single click; if Riley's just [[WhyDidntYouJustShootHim being practical]], the result [[EarthShatteringKaboom can be disastrous]].

* ''{{Titanic}}'': The fathers and husbands ''doing whatever it takes'' to let their wives and children live ''even if they freeze and drown'', which also happened ''in RealLife.''
* ''ConAir'': Cameron Poe (played by Nicholas Cage), one of only ''two'' decent human beings trapped on a prison transport aircraft populated by murderers, rapists and "every creep and freak in the universe", was a free man on parole who could have left the plane at any time to go back to his wife and daughter (who had never met him). Yet, the former Army Ranger in him would not allow him to "leave a fallen man behind," hence Poe gladly traded his freedom to save the life of his diabetic friend and the sole female guard eyed by the plane's worst rapist, "Johnny 23".

* In ''{{The Sound of Music}}'', after the Nazi takeover, Uncle Max says, "Well, the Anschluss happened peacefully, let's at least be grateful about that." Captain von Trapp replies, "Grateful?!". As he was brought up as a part of Europe's old warrior-caste he probably took the fact that Austria submitted peacefully as a personal insult.

* In the Disney adaptation of ''PeterPan'' having given his word of honor to ''not'' fly in his final duel with Captain Hook, Peter doggedly refuses to do so even when Hook proves to be the superior swordsman, having forced him to the corner of a mast leading to a fall that can kill him.
* William Turner of the ''{{Pirates of the Caribbean}}'' trilogy is another suicidally selfless example of this trope. For an example, see the "You can't... I can," scene in the first movie. Even the initially selfish Captain Jack Sparrow seems to be infected by his idealism, and eventually obeys this trope as well. In Sparrow's case, though, he obeys the trope explicitly because he knows that it's the last thing people expect from him.

* In ''BatmanBegins'', when Bruce Wayne realizes Ra's Al Ghul's ninja clan is a den of insanely destructive fanaticism and refuses to help them inflict such harm on the innocent. When Ducard learns about Wayne's opinion, he dismisses it and Wayne has the perfect response to illustrate his honor.

* Toward the end of the film ''{{Kingdom of Heaven}}'', King Baldwin IV offers Balian his sister Sybilla's hand in marriage. Sybilla is already married to Guy de Lusignan, but Baldwin IV offers to have Guy executed to allow the marriage to occur. It seems like a no-brainer, as it would allow Balian to ascend to the throne of Jerusalem, it would allow him to marry the woman he genuinely loves, and it would allow Balian to have a dangerous political rival eliminated. Balian, however, refuses, his piety not allowing him to have any part in Guy's death. Guy is allowed to live, and after Baldwin's death, ascends to the throne of Jerusalem, immediately inciting a war that allows Saladin's troops to overrun and capture Jerusalem. Had Balian accepted Baldwin's offer, Jerusalem would've remained in Crusader hands.

* In Warren Beatty's ''DickTracy'', Tracy is kidnapped and taken to his girlfriend's apartment building's boiler room where Big Boy Caprice tries to bribe him. Although the smart thing for Tracy would be to pretend to accept the money and then turn it in to the Police Department as soon as he's let go, Tracy decides to throw it back in Caprice's face on principle. Of course, the Kid is watching all of this in hiding, waiting for an opportunity to help, and is really impressed at the detective's fearless honor, but there is no way Tracy could have known he had an audience.

* In ''Lord of War'', agent Valentine will never break the law in order to arrest or stop Yuri Orlov.

* While O-Ren Ishii of ''KillBill'' is far from a good person, what with making her living as head of the Japanese underworld, she fights the Bride honorably, refusing to do the sensible thing and finish her off while she is on the ground. Honor doesn't really pay off against a {{Roaring Rampage of Revenge}}.
** Earlier (or later), The Bride had the perfect opportunity to finish off Vernita Greene, but but could not do the deed with Vernita's daughter present.

* Captain Kirk and his crew decide that court-martial is a better alternative than not trying to rescue their friend in ''{{Star Trek III The Search for Spock}}''. This wouldn't necessarily be an example of the trope if they had just gone and never come back, but in the next film they all willingly go back to face that court-martial. They then of course save the Earth on upon their return, so the actual court-martial involves nothing more serious than Kirk being demoted to Captain and handed a shiny new Enterprise.

** Well, at least until the movie that followed. And the movie that followed that.
** Actually, if they would kill Dyson, they would lose any access to T-800's arm and CPU. Also, the rest of the machine was taken by military, so they didn't ''prevent'' Judgment Day, but delayed it, along with the deployment of T-600 and other sophisticated terminators.

** Well, at least until the movie that followed. And the movie that followed that. Though some people [[DisContinuity would prefer they didn't exist.]]

* Don't forget the shining examples in 'ReservoirDogs'. Honor may just be a Tarantino thing. In the most prominent example in the film [[spoiler: Mr. Orange tells Mr. White he is in fact a cop, despite knowing that he would be killed. Note: he waited until after the police showed up. He actually managed to preserve his honor by performing his duty as a cop and was suicidally sincere with a man who just saved his life under false pretenses.]] If that isn't honor, I don't know what is.

* ''BrokenArrow'': Rather than forcing Vic Deakin (John Travolta), who is out of bullets, to disarm a nuke there and then, Riley Hale (Christian Slater) drops his shotgun and accepts his former friend's challenge to [[GoodOldFisticuffs one final fistfight]].

** Not a good example. The movie makes plain that Newt is a surrogate daughter for Ripley. Even had Ripley not made that promise, she still would have gone back to save her. The promise is indicative of her caring for Newt, not the impetus that causes her to try to rescue the girl.

* In ''Tangled'', Rapunzel promises to return Flynn's satchel with the stolen tiara if he agrees to escort her to the palace to see the flying lanterns, stating, "When I make a promise, I never break it." [[spoiler: Later, after Gothel stabs Flynn in the back, Rapunzel vows that [[{{Determinator}} she would never stop trying to escape her]]. She then tells her that she will not fight her or try to escape if Gothel lets her save Flynn's life with her magic hair. The trope is then averted when Flynn shears her hair off with a mirror shard, removing its healing properties [[HeroicSacrifice at the risk of his own life]].]]

* In ''Tangled'', Rapunzel promises to return Flynn's satchel with the stolen tiara if he agrees to escort her to the palace to see the flying lanterns, stating, "When I make a promise, I never break it." [[spoiler: Later, after Gothel stabs Flynn in the back, Rapunzel vows that she would never stop trying to escape her. She then tells her that she will not fight her or try to escape if Gothel lets her save Flynn's life with her magic hair. The trope is then averted when Flynn shears her hair off with a mirror shard, removing its healing properties [[HeroicSacrifice at the risk of his own life]].]]

*** Dear God. The real Balian of Ibelin must be turning over in his grave. Sybilla of Jerusalem too. Historically she rejected an Ibelin, Balian's elder brother Baldwin, to marry Guy de Lusignan who was a lousy King of Jerusalem but young, handsome and her true love. BTW exactly how is surrendering Jerusalem's Christian population to slavery if they can't pay ransom a 'good thing'.