History Main / ClimacticElevatorRide

It's time for Bob to face his final destiny. The Evil Overlord is on the roof]], preparing to launch his sinister master plan, and the only way Bob can is go up there and face him for the [[RooftopConfrontation showdown at the top]]. So, Bob gets in the lift, maybe saying a last few words to Alice. Bob and his team [[LockAndLoadMontage load and check their weapons]], make their peace, and watch as the indicator lights show the elevator slowly rising. The team waits tensely for the door to open at the top...

* Just before the final battle of ''[[Anime/CowboyBebop Cowboy Bebop: The Movie]]'', Spike takes an elevator up to the top of the tower to fight [[BigBad Vincent Volaju]] where he is initiating his terrorist attack on the Halloween parade.

* An interesting variation from ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'': ComicBook/LukeCage once fell off the top of a building while the team was fighting hand ninjas. He simply got up, took the elevator back to the roof, and got back into the fight.

* Happens a few times in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
** You get an elevator from the Core to New Home that takes longer than the other elevators in the game. There's even a track on the OST called "Long Elevator" that consists of the elevator sound effect used in the game. There is another elevator in New Home, but it acts as more of a shortcut so you don't have to walk all the way back should you want to backtrack.
** In the Pacifist ending, Alphys leaves a note in her lab revealing that her "Bathroom" is actually an elevator that leads to a truth she's been hiding but is now ready to reveal. Unlike most examples, the elevator actually goes down, but it's still a tense moment, especially when [[spoiler: it malfunctions and crashes due to a sudden power outage, leaving you trapped down there until you find all the necessary items to restore power]].
** After the above event, you go into another elevator and get a call from an unknown person, who ends their dialogue with "See you soon." Immediately after, the doors close and the elevator rapidly ascends to New Home, [[PointOfNoReturn and is then blocked as soon as you get out]], leaving you with no choice but to face the final boss.
** ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' also has one, though not right before the final boss. It takes place when the main characters are escaping from the castle's basement after [[spoiler: Susie's fight with Lancer, which results in her finally deciding to follow Kris' instructions instead of attacking every enemy she encounters]].

* ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'': In contrast to the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', Gordon has to ascend one long elevator ride to reach the top of the Nihilanth's Tower before he can face the Nihilanth himself; constantly harassed by Alien Controllers and forced to stop multiple times to get moving again. During which time, his Gluon Gun and Tau Cannon are supercharged by the Xenian Crystals; meaning that Gordon has free reign to wreck the enemies that invaded Earth and have been dogging him the entire time, all set to the epic Black Mesa OST "Ascension".
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'':
** Gordon and Alyx ride up an elevator before the final battle. Alyx takes this time to say a few things.
** Lets not forget Gordon's Epic and Long (Long!) ride up the tower in the prison unit. That should count as an elevator ride.

* Throughout ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', the Velvet Room has manifested as an elevator continuously going up. The last time the protagonist visits, right before the final battle, it arrives at its destination. It's more effective than it sounds.

* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' - Right before the final boss battle, Wild Dog takes Rachel hostage in an elevator. Richard has to take the other elevator to catch up.

--> ''Gaz'': The rightful order has been restored.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'': In the No Mercy campaign, the end of the penultimate stage involves traveling 25 floors up an elevator where some conversation takes place.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': the episode "The Real Deal" has a variant, as we don't know the elevator ride is a big deal until after everyone gets off. Coulson and Fitz chat briefly in the elevator, before Coulson points out that Fitz looks nervous, and that the elevator stopped a minute ago. They exit the elevator, [[ItMakesSenseInContext entering a forest]], where the rest of the team are waiting for them, and Simmons is wearing a white dress and holding a small bouquet, leading to Fitz and Simmons [[TheyDo getting married]].

It's time for Bob to face his final destiny. The Evil Overlord is on the roof]], preparing to launch his sinister master plan, and the only way Bob can is go up there and face him for the RooftopConfrontation. So, Bob gets in the lift, maybe saying a last few words to Alice. Bob and his team [[LockAndLoadMontage load and check their weapons]], make their peace, and watch as the indicator lights show the elevator slowly rising. The team waits tensely for the door to open at the top...

It's time for Bob to face his final destiny. The Evil Overlord is on the roof]], preparing to launch his sinister master plan, and the only way Bob can is go up there and face him for the [[RooftopConfrontation]]. So, Bob gets in the lift, maybe saying a last few words to Alice. Bob and his team [[LockAndLoadMontage load and check their weapons]], make their peace, and watch as the indicator lights show the elevator slowly rising. The team waits tensely for the door to open at the top...

It's time for Bob to face his final destiny. The Evil Overlord is on the roof, preparing to launch his sinister master plan, and the only thing to do is go up there and face him for the showdown. So, Bob gets in the lift, maybe saying a last few words to Alice. Bob and his team check their weapons, make their peace, and watch as the indicator lights show the elevator rising. The team waits tensely for the door to open at the top...

It's time for Bob to face his final destiny. The Evil Overlord is on the roof, preparing to launch his master plan, and the only thing to do is go up there and face him. So, Bob gets in the lift, maybe saying a last few words to Alice. Bob and his team check their weapons, make their peace, and watch as the indicator lights show the elevator rising. The team waits tensely for the door to open at the top...

The elevator ride serves as a good pause point in the action to resolve some loose ends, or just prepare for the final battle. The quiet ascent --or descent-- is the calm before the storm and really builds up what is about to unfold.

It's time for Bob to face his final destiny. The Evil Overlord is on the roof, preparing to launch his master plan, and the only thing to do is go up there and face him. So, Bob gets in the lift, maybe saying a last few words to Alice. They check their weapons, make their peace, and wait for the door to open at the top.

* ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'': In contrast to the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', Gordon has to ascend one long elevator ride to reach the top of the Nihilanth's Tower before he can face the ''BigBad/Nihilanth'' himself; constantly harassed by Alien Controllers and forced to stop multiple times to get moving again. During which time, his Gluon Gun and Tau Cannon are supercharged by the Xenian Crystals; meaning that Gordon has free reign to wreck the enemies that invaded Earth and have been dogging him the entire time, all set to the epic Black Mesa OST "Ascension".

* Jack rides up the elevator to the top of city hall to face the final boss in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}''.

* ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' - In the "Just A Peanut Matter" (song: "Survivor" by Music/DestinysChild) stage, the main character takes the freight elevator to the top of the peanut warehouse where the evil alien queen is.

--> '''Sebastian:''' If I get out of this alive, I'm never riding in an elevator again.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' has Gordon and Alyx ride up an elevator before the final battle. Alyx takes this time to say a few things.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' - In the No Mercy campaign, the end of the penultimate stage involves traveling 25 floors up an elevator where some conversation takes place.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' - In the first campaign, the survivors take an elevator down to the ground floor of the mall where Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s car (and their best chance of escape) is parked, just before hordes of zombies attack them ''for the rest of the game,'' either until they escape or get overwhelmed.
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' sets its final battle on top of the Aesir Corporation tower, which has Max riding in a number of elevators. The final ride (which transitions from "Nothing to Lose" to the final level "Pain and Suffering") has Max readying all his weapons one final time, intercut with pictures of the family he's about to take vengeance for.
-->'''[[PrivateEyeMonologue Max Payne:]]''' Valkyr had been meant to be a white-winged maiden that would lift you to a [[WarriorHeaven warrior's heaven]]. But it turned out to be a one-way demon ride to Hell. The Devil was in the drug. I knew. I had met him.
-->[''Max locks and loads his weapons'']
-->'''Max Payne:''' And now I was going to kill her -- the queen of the underworld who had tried to lift herself [[TitleDrop a bit closer to heaven]] with her drug money. No begging, no bribes -- she knew better. Honor among killers, "we who are about to die." Both of us knew how this would end: in [[TitleDrop pain and suffering]].

* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' - Reaching the final levels objective an elevator ride shows how the player raises beyond all the rest of the city's rooftops where the player has been running all game long.
* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'' has one halfway through the last level, when Price and Yuri ride an elevator to the final battle with Makarov and his goons.

* An interesting variation from ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'': [[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Luke Cage]] once fell off the top of a building while the team was fighting hand ninjas. He simply got up, took the elevator back to the roof, and got back into the fight.

* The final scene of Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory takes place in the Great Glass Wonkavator: so called because it can go not only up and down, but sideways and backways and slantways and squareways and frontways and any other way that you can think of.