History Main / JumpOffABridge

* ''The Bronze Horseman'' by Paullina Simons. Alexander escaped from the train taking him to a Siberian gulag by jumping out while it was crossing a river. His chances of survival were so small the guards never even bothered stopping the train to look for him.

* Played with in ''MenInBlack'' during the ColdOpening, when Jay is seen chasing a perp who jumps onto a tour bus full of {{Japanese Tourist}}s. Instead of watching the perp get away, Jay jumps down after said perp.

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* ''USMarshals''. Mark Sheridan jumps off the top of a building holding a rope, swings over and lands on top of a passing train.

* ''TheFugitive'' (1993). In order to escape Deputy U.S. Marshall Gerard, Doctor Kimble does a Peter Pan off the side of a dam into the river below and is swept away by the current.

A very frequent type of stunt in action movies, it is sometimes subverted [[PlayedForLaughs humorously]] by having the character faceplant painfully on the ground beneath the bridge, or dramatically by having him or her only ''pretend'' to take such a leap or otherwise mislead pursuers into thinking he or she has done so (by, for example, throwing a cell phone or other piece of trackable electronic equipment onto the back of a passing vehicle). It's just as often played straight, however.

* Wolf attempts to ull it off in an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOjVeqTMn9k episode]] of ''NuPogodi'', jumping off a bridge to land on his runaway motorcycle. He just barely misses.

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* Comical variation in ''{{Change 123}}'': When one of the heroine's [[SplitPersonality Split Personalities]] is about to start a fight, she suddenly jumps off the footbridge -- not to ''escape'', but because she had recklessly put away her purse onto the railing and later pushed it down with her elbow, so she has to jump down (onto a truck) to fetch it.

Our heroes/heroines are on the run, whether from the bad guys or misinformed agents of the law. They attempt to flee over a bridge or overpass, only to find that their pursuers have sealed the other end of it and are closing on them. They're cornered. What do they do? Surrender? Go down in a blaze of glory? Why no, they look off the bridge, spot an accommodating looking vehicle passing beneath it (depending on what's under the bridge, it could be a truck, train, boat, or any number of other possibilities), and take a well-timed leap, landing safely on the back of it and escaping.

* ''Just For Men''. A female neighbor asks to borrow some milk, which the guy doesn't have. He jumps out a window onto a truck passing by underneath.

* ''ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid''. Butch and sundance are forced to jump off a cliff to escape a pursuing posse: they land in a river and are carried away downstream.

* Can involve falling off a high place.

* ''ButchCassidyAndTheSunddanceKid''. Butch and sundance are forced to jump off a cliff to escape a pursuing posse: they land in a river and are carried away downstream.

Can involve a jump from any high place, including buildings, cliffs, etc.

!!Examples

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* ''DeadFantasy 5''. Heavily wounded and surrounded by {{ninja}}s, Tifa jumps from the top of a building and lands on a passing train below.

* Played with in MenInBlack during the ColdOpening, when Jay is seen chasing a perp who jumps onto a tour bus full of JapaneseTourists. Instead of watching the perp get away, Jay jumps down after said perp.

Can (but doesn't have to) involve a NoEscapeButDown.

* In {{''Salt''}}, Evelyn Salt escapes from her pursuers by leaping off a highway overpass onto a truck.

* In {{Salt}}, Evelyn Salt escapes from her pursuers by leaping off a highway overpass onto a truck.

A very frequent type of stunt in action movies, it is sometimes subverted [[PlayedForLaughs humorously]] by having the character faceplant painfully on the ground beneath the bridge, or dramatically by having him or her only ''pretend'' to take such a leap (as in ''TheDaVinciCode'' when one of the characters throws a cell phone onto the back of a passing truck to fool her ursuers into thinking she's leaped onto it herself). It's just as often played straight, however.

A very frequent type of stunt in {{Action Movie}}s, it is sometimes subverted [[PlayedForLaughs humorously]] by having the character faceplant painfully on the ground beneath the bridge, or dramatically by having him or her only ''pretend'' to take such a leap (as in ''TheDaVinciCode'' when one of the characters throws a cell phone onto the back of a passing truck to fool her ursuers into thinking she's leaped onto it herself). It's just as often played straight, however.