History SadisticChoice / Film

* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': When Mei finds out that the 4*Town concert and the red moon ritual are on the same night, she must decide between attending the concert which will disappoint her family and undergoing the ritual which will disappoint her friends.

* ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' features a rare example of the ''hero'' giving the ''villain'' a SadisticChoice. At the climax of the film, Mater, having had a TimeBomb strapped to him that only the BigBad can deactivate, quickly deduces that said Big Bad is [[spoiler:Sir Miles Axelrod]] and confronts him in public. [[spoiler:Sir Miles]] is thus forced to choose between [[HoistByHisOwnPetard getting blown up by his own bomb]], or deactivating it and [[EngineeredPublicConfession outing himself as the villain]]. He chooses the latter [[JustInTime at the last possible second]], and is swiftly arrested.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': Imelda's condition to send Miguel back to the Land of the Living is to abandon music forever, with the blessing being revoked if he so much as grabs a guitar. Miguel's other option is to stay in the Land of the Dead longer to find his great-great grandfather and hope that he'll be able to send him home, in turn risking the possibility of being trapped in the Land of the Dead forever. To add insult to injury, he angrily shouted to his family that he didn't want his picture on the ofrenda. This means it would only be a matter of time before he suffers his true death if he couldn't make it back before sunrise. Miguel chooses the latter option, seeking out Ernesto de la Cruz to try and receive his blessing.
* At the climax of ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', Anna is trying to run to Kristoff in hoping that a TrueLovesKiss would thaw a frozen heart but then she heard the sound of a clanging sword and saw Hans about to murder Elsa. Anna has to choose to either get a kiss from Kristoff that would possibly thaw her out of the curse but will lose her sister's life in the process, or save her estranged sister from being slain by Hans at the cost of her own life. She unhesitatingly chose the latter, [[spoiler:which ends up being a better choice for her]].

* ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': When held hostage by Captain Hook, Wendy, John, and Michael are faced with such a decision: either join his crew and become pirates, or walk the plank. Wendy chooses the plank, and she is miraculously saved by Peter before the big splash to throw them off.

** There's also Lando Calrissian's [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Darth Vader]] in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Things in the [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse EU]] like the radio dramatization and an [[ForWantOfANail Infinities comic]] that involves him refusing make his line about "I had no choice. They arrived before you did." much clearer. He was Baron Administrator of a ''city'' of people, and to save it and get the empire to leave, he had to betray a friend. Vader never mentioned the torture, or that Boba Fett would get Solo, and he [[ILied lied]] about [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo leaving Solo's friends]] on Cloud City. At some point during this Lando protested strongly enough that his city was explicitly threatened, and eventually he tried to TakeAThirdOption, which was... marginally successful. Things worked out well enough in the end.

* In ''Film/LetMeIn'', Owen is given the choice by his three bullies of either standing underwater for three minutes or they would poke his eye out. However, it is implied that they just wanted to drown him. But Owens vampire lover Abby takes the third option by giving the bullies [[AssholeVictim what they deserve]].

* In the end of ''Film/MadMax1'', one of the people who [[spoiler:killed Max's wife]] is trapped under a burning car. [[spoiler:Max gives him a choice -- sever his leg to escape, or die in the explosion.]] The choice is made off-camera.

* ''Film/SpiderMan1''e is [[TropeNamers where this trope gets its name]]. In a homage to "ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied", the Green Goblin kidnaps Spidey's perennial love interest Mary Jane... but instead of just killing her, he forces Spider-Man to choose between her and a cable car full of innocents. ([[TakeAThirdOption He rescues both]] but is forced to [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies reject Mary Jane out of fear of his harsh superhero life]]. It all works out by the second one.) However, in this case, the only real challenge is the cable car's ''weight.''

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Six characters are forced to choose between saving one person important to them and (by obtaining or not giving in an Infinity Stone) saving half the universe. Three of them choose the former: [[spoiler:Loki and Gamora refuse to sacrifice their siblings (Thor and Nebula) as an ActOfTrueLove, and Doctor Strange won't let his ally Tony Stark die as a part of a BatmanGambit. All the chosen persons are spared by Thanos and survive the Snap.]] The other three characters decide to sacrifice their loved ones: [[spoiler:Peter Quill and Wanda attempt to kill their romantic partners at their request, but it is AllForNothing because Thanos won't let them proceed and murders the victims anyway, and Thanos himself tosses his daughter off a cliff to get the Soul Stone.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' films seem to like this.
** In ''Film/BatmanForever'', ComicBook/TheRiddler gives Batman a choice to save ComicBook/{{Robin}} or Chase Meridian. [[spoiler:He not only figures out it's a false choice and Riddler will kill both, [[TakeAThirdOption he]] ''[[TakeAThirdOption rescues]]'' [[TakeAThirdOption both]]. He's the goddamn Batman.]]
*** A similar scene happened in the comics. Robin was given the choice to save either Batman or a judge from Two-Face. It's subverted when [[spoiler:Robin chooses the judge, but forgets about Dent's obsession with the number two; there was a second trap in place and the judge was killed. Poor Robin never really had a chance.]]
** In ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', Mr. Freeze sets Batman up with the choice to either thaw a frozen Robin or apprehend him. He seems to already know Batman is going go with the former though, being Batman and what not, and trots away merrily before Batman can even choose, sealing his exit behind him
** Happens several times in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', since ComicBook/TheJoker loves these so much that the only thing that keeps him from following through with one is making up new ones: Reveal Batman's identity, or people will die. Kill the accountant or I blow up a hospital. Then, save Harvey or save Rachel. Blow up the other boat or be blown up by them (or me). And last but not least-- Break your "one rule", or watch Gotham's finest kill a child. True to form, he seldom keeps his word; [[spoiler:lying about which hostage is where and screwing them over, not knowing or caring what they actually choose.]] Joker doesn't just do this out of raw sadism, though, but the added intention of showing people that ''anyone'' can become a monster like himself.
*** The boat scene is an example where [[spoiler: the potential ''victims'' are in a very tight spot and only the timely intervention of a man who won't give up offers them the [[TakeAThirdOption third option that he didn't get]]]].
*** ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' deconstructs the above scene, making everyone on one of the boats either unable to get the gist, or acting realistically in response to a dangerous situation. The Joker ends up getting really frustrated explaining things and saying they can't make realistic choices, and then ends up getting knocked out by Batman while he's doing so.
*** By the end of the film, Two-Face has also bought into this trope, [[spoiler:asking Gordon to choose which member of his family he loves the most because that's the one whose survival he'll flip a coin over. Gordon notably ''doesn't'' choose, but his reaction when Two-Face points a gun at his son tips his hand anyway]].
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Jonathan Crane presides over a KangarooCourt that judges and condemns Gotham's elite. The condemned are offered a choice between either death or exile. If they choose "exile", they are sent to walk away from Gotham over its frozen river--they invariably fall through the ice and die. It turns out to be a [[MortonsFork false choice]], however, as anyone who chooses death is condemned to "death by exile" (precisely the same punishment).
* In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Comicbook/LexLuthor offers [[Comicbook/{{Superman}} Clark]] one. Kill Comicbook/{{Batman}}, or [[spoiler:Martha Kent]] dies. Clark decides to TakeAThirdOption by asking Batman to help him save [[spoiler:his mother]], but since Lex has been [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating and secretly feeding Bruce's paranoia]] about Superman, Bruce [[UnstoppableRage isn't about to listen to reason]].
* The end of ''Film/TheBox''. [[spoiler:James Marsden's character can either shoot and kill his wife, or let their son live the rest of his life deaf and blind.]]
** This [[spoiler:tends towards HeroicSacrifice as well. The husband is too distraught to make a decision, so the wife insists that she die so their son can have a better life]].
** This also appears to happen over and over again and appears to serve to show that HumansAreBastards. When [[spoiler:Creator/CameronDiaz's character presses the button, another woman is shot by her husband for the exact same reason as above. When ''she'' dies, yet another woman is shown pressing the button]].

* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', the HYDRA spy attempts to make Steve Rogers choose between going after him or saving a little boy he's held hostage. Before Steve can do anything, the spy tosses the kid into the water. [[spoiler:As it turns out, [[SubvertedTrope the kid's a good swimmer]], as he then encourages Steve to go get the spy.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' features a rare example of the ''hero'' giving the ''villain'' a SadisticChoice. At the climax of the film, Mater, having had a TimeBomb strapped to him that only the BigBad can deactivate, quickly deduces that said Big Bad is [[spoiler:Sir Miles Axelrod]] and confronts him in public. [[spoiler:Sir Miles]] is thus forced to choose between [[HoistByHisOwnPetard getting blown up by his own bomb]], or deactivating it and [[EngineeredPublicConfession outing himself as the villain]]. He chooses the latter [[JustInTime at the last possible second]], and is swiftly arrested.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': Imelda's condition to send Miguel back to the Land of the Living is to abandon music forever, with the blessing being revoked if he so much as grabs a guitar. Miguel's other option is to stay in the Land of the Dead longer to find his great-great grandfather and hope that he'll be able to send him home, in turn risking the possibility of being trapped in the Land of the Dead forever. To add insult to injury, he angrily shouted to his family that he didn't want his picture on the ofrenda. This means it would only be a matter of time before he suffers his true death if he couldn't make it back before sunrise. Miguel chooses the latter option, seeking out Ernesto de la Cruz to try and receive his blessing.
* ''Film/ComeAndSee'': A Nazi death squad locks the residents of an entire village into their church and then announces that the adults will be allowed to climb out by the window... if they leave their children behind. Few people climb through the window.

* At the climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Anna is trying to run to Kristoff in hoping that a TrueLovesKiss would thaw a frozen heart but then she heard the sound of a clanging sword and saw Hans about to murder Elsa. Anna has to choose to either get a kiss from Kristoff that would possibly thaw her out of the curse but will lose her sister's life in the process, or save her estranged sister from being slain by Hans at the cost of her own life. She unhesitatingly chose the latter, [[spoiler:which ends up being a better choice for her]].

* The 1993 film ''Film/TheGoodSon'', starring young Creator/MacaulayCulkin and Creator/ElijahWood, ends in such a scene, determined by fate instead, with both boys dangling over the edge of a cliff. The mom must pick between saving her evil son Henry (played by Culkin) or kindhearted nephew Mark (played by Elijah Wood.) [[spoiler:She saves Mark.]]
* In the made for TV movie ''Series/{{Hercules}}'', this is forced upon the lead character during the climax: [[spoiler:Eurystheus has him at arrow point and orders him to surrender while a soldier keeps his son Hylus hostage, threatening to kill him if he doesn't comply. Hercules knows that if he stands down, Eurystheus will kill them both anyways so he has a choice: either shoot Eurystheus and having his son killed, or shoot the soldier holding Hylus and be killed by Eurystheus himself]]. He takes a third option when [[spoiler:he chooses the latter, and deflects Eurystheus' arrow with his [[ChekhovsGun snake armband]] while Hylus kills the BigBad by throwing a knife at his chest after being freed]].
* In ''Film/TheHobbit'' (film only), the trolls tell the dwarves to surrender or else they will [[spoiler:rip Bilbo's arms out]]. The dwarves surrendered.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld'', Grimmel presents a bound and helpless Toothless with a choice: the life of his new love interest, the Light Fury, or order his flock of dragons into slavery. [[spoiler:He chooses the Light Fury, and in a rare display for this trope, the narrative never calls his leadership skills into question for this and there are no consequences.]]
* In ''Film/TheHunchbackofNotreDame'', during Frollo's [[PrayerOfMalice evil prayer of a song]], he prays to the Virgin Mary to force one of these upon Esmeralda, to either live the rest of her life as his very own sexual playtoy or burn in Hell. He even tries to carry this out himself by having her burned at the stake. Fortunately, [[BigDamnHeroes Quasimodo shows up in time to save her.]]
* Film/JamesBond:

* In ''Film/LetMeIn'' Owen is given the choice by his three bullies of either standing underwater for three minutes or they would poke his eye out. However, it is implied that they just wanted to drown him. But Owens vampire lover Abby takes the third option by giving the bullies [[AssholeVictim what they deserve]].
* In the Swedish film ''Literature/LetTheRightOneIn'', Oskar is ambushed in the school swimming pool and given the "choice" to drown himself, or to [[EyeScream have his eyeball gouged out]]. He is twelve years old. [[spoiler:When Eli shows up and saves Oskar, there is no mercy for the bully responsible]].

* In the end of ''Film/MadMax1'', one of the people who [[spoiler:killed Max's wife]] is trapped under a burning car. [[spoiler:Max gives him a choice -- sever his leg to escape, or die in the explosion]]. The choice is made off-camera.
* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'' Clark Kent is left with three options: [[spoiler:Kill the rampaging General Zod, let Zod carry out his promise to kill everyone else on Earth in front of Clark or let Zod kill him, leaving Earth in his hands? After a prolonged fight (against a better fighter quickly learning to use his superpowers) and failing to keep Zod away from the increasingly damaged Metropolis Clark chooses the first option.]]

* In the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''-featured film, ''Film/TheUndead'', female protagonist Helene is faced with such a choice: Run away with Pendragon, avoiding her fated wrongful execution for witchcraft, and none of her future reincarnations will ever come to be. Go back and accept an unjust death, the cycle is restored and the future "hers" live on. [[spoiler:Helene chooses to go back.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': When held hostage by Captain Hook, Wendy, John, and Michael are faced with such a decision: either join his crew and become pirates, or walk the plank. Wendy chooses the plank, and she is miraculously saved by Peter before the big splash to throw them off.

* The ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' series is full with them, especially the [[Film/SawVI sixth movie]], where William is forced to make these ''twice''. The first time, he has to choose between a diabetic, middle-aged mother and a healthy loner. [[spoiler:He chooses the mother.]] The second time, he has to choose which two of his six junior associates will get off a deadly carousel and live. [[spoiler:He saves a single mother and, [[MenAreTheExpendableGender inexplicably]], [[DoubleStandard another woman]]]].
* in {{Film/Se7en}} the unseen perpetrator of a number of grisly murders, disfigures a beautiful but vain woman, then gives her the choice: sleeping pills to kill herself or a phone to call for an ambulance. We figure out what choice she made as the police are examining her corpse.
* In ''Film/SelfLess'', [[spoiler:Damien]] is faced with one of these once he [[spoiler:learns that the medicine he's been taking is all that stands between his continued existence and Mark Bitwell, the original owner of the body Damien's in, returning. If Damien continues to take the medicine, he'll live but Mark will fade away forever. If he stops taking the medicine, he'll fade away but Mark can return to his family. In the end, Damien chooses the latter.]]
* In the 1916 film ''Film/{{Snow White|1916}}'', Queen Brangomar tells Berthold that he must kill Snow White and give her the girl's heart or she will throw his children into a dungeon and starve them to death.
* ''Film/SophiesChoice'', both film and novel. Upon arrival at Auschwitz, Sophie is told to choose which of her two children will go to the gas chamber immediately, and which will live for some time longer in the camp. Since the story is cynical, TakeAThirdOption doesn't come up. The movie was popular enough that the term "Sophie's Choice" is occasionally used to describe similar sadistic choices. This sort of thing did happen there, too, and before it, as described in the nonfiction book ''Treblinka''. On leaving the ghetto, parents had to choose which road to send their children down, the left or the right. One of them led to another ghetto and hard labor; the other to the titular death camp. They were not told which was which. To make this even more awful, the first female and first Jewish Mayor of UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, Sophie Masloff, spent money on trash cans with the words: "Sophie's Choice -- A Clean City" on them. Seriously.
* The first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie is [[TropeNamer where this trope gets its name]]. In a homage to "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn the Green Goblin]] kidnaps Spidey's perennial love interest Mary Jane...but instead of just killing her, he forces Spider-Man to choose between her and a cable car full of innocents. ([[TakeAThirdOption He rescues both]], but is forced to [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies reject Mary Jane out of fear of his harsh superhero life]]. It all works out by the second one.) Although in this case, the only real challenge was the cable car's ''weight.''
-->'''Goblin:''' Make your choice, Spider-Man, and see [[BeingGoodSucks how a hero is rewarded.]]\\

* Although no kidnapping was involved, the choice faced by Princess Leia in ''Film/ANewHope'' of giving up the location of the Rebel base or watching her home planet of Alderaan be destroyed by the Death Star was a perfect example. Especially since, in a notorious KickTheDog moment that kicked Grand Moff Tarkin across the MoralEventHorizon, he ordered the planet destroyed anyway after Leia gave a false location in hopes of keeping the Rebellion alive. Tarkin's reasoning? "Dantooine is too remote to give an effective demonstration."[[note]]Which, incidentally, would probably have also been the case if she'd given up the real location.[[/note]] Alderaan, on the other hand, was a core world.

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'':
** During Andy's playtime, Woody is forced to choose between a captive Bo Peep being eaten by a shark, or thrown to the evil monkeys. Woody [[TakeAThirdOption chooses]] [[BigDamnHeroes Buzz.]]
** Later, Woody faces a much more serious choice: leave Andy and his old friends behind to go to Japan and live a long life as an admired (but not ''loved'') toy museum exhibit, or go home to Andy and cherish his remaining years with him, even if that means Andy will outgrow him and that Jessie and Bullseye will go back into storage. Again, Woody comes up with a third choice: "Hey you guys! Come with me!"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Muntz gives Carl one after trapping Kevin and setting his home on fire: save the bird or the house.
* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' has to make this choice at the request of King Candy: [[spoiler:either destroy "Glitch" character Vanellope Von Schweetz's car, along with Ralph's friendship with her, or allow Vanellope to race, get on the roster, glitch, and have the game get pulled from the plug, which would kill her since she cannot escape to Game Central Station because she's a glitch. Only after he made his choice did he find out that King Candy wasn't entirely truthful and wanted Vanellope out for ulterior motives.]]
** Plays with the trope in that King Candy only asked Ralph "to talk a little sense into her." [[spoiler:Destroying the cart]] was a conclusion Ralph came to on his own.
* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'': After being psychically paralyzed by Charles Xavier, the BigBad Shaw is at the mercy of Magneto. Despite Xavier's pleas, Magneto decides to murder Shaw. This leaves Charles with a choice -- he can release Shaw from his grip, but then the villain will definitely kill Magneto, and there's a high risk he will regain his anti-psychic helmet Magneto stole, murder all the X-Men and start World War III. Or he can keep Shaw paralyzed and let Magneto ''drive a coin through his brain'', which, due to the psychic link, Charles will feel every second of him doing. He chooses the latter.
* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': The eponymous villain offers Professor X one: if Charles immediately surrenders (which would fulfill Apocalypse's plan for world domination), then the lives of the "weaklings" (Mystique and Quicksilver) will be spared, or if he continues to hide, then Apocalypse will murder both mutants, and it's only matter of time before Apocalypse finds out where Xavier is. Professor X decides to [[spoiler:TakeAThirdOption: he initiates a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind instead, which distracts Apocalypse, and thus Mystique's and Quicksilver's executions are delayed]].

* In ''Film/TheHunchbackofNotreDame'', Frollo claims in [[VillainSong Hellfire]] that Esmeralda must choose to either live the rest of her life as his very own sexual playtoy, or burn in Hell. Then he attempts to burn her at the stake to force her to choose. Luckily [[BigDamnHeroes Quasimodo shows up in time to save her]].

* The 1993 film ''Film/TheGoodSon'', starring young [[Film/HomeAlone Macaulay Culkin]] and [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Elijah Wood]], ends in such a scene, determined by fate instead, with both boys dangling over the edge of a cliff. The mom must pick between saving her evil son Henry (played by Culkin) or kindhearted nephew Mark (played by Elijah Wood.) [[spoiler:She saves Mark.]]

** In ''Film/BatmanForever'', ComicBook/TheRiddler gives Batman a choice to save ComicBook/{{Robin}} or [[HotScientist Chase Meridian]]. [[spoiler:He not only figures out it's a false choice and Riddler will kill both, [[TakeAThirdOption he]] ''[[TakeAThirdOption rescues]]'' [[TakeAThirdOption both]]. He's the goddamn Batman.]]

* The 1993 film ''Film/TheGoodSon'', starring young [[Film/HomeAlone Macaulay Culkin]] and [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Elijah Wood]], ends in such a scene, determined by fate instead, with both boys dangling over the edge of a cliff. The mom must pick between saving her evil son (played by Culkin) or kindhearted nephew (played by Elijah Wood.) [[spoiler:She saves Frodo.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' features a rare example of the ''hero'' giving the ''villain'' a SadisticChoice. At the climax of the film, Mater, having had a TimeBomb strapped to him that only the BigBad can deactivate, quickly works out that said Big Bad is [[spoiler:Miles Axelrod]] and publicly confronts him. [[spoiler:Miles]] is thus forced to choose between deactivating the bomb and [[EngineeredPublicConfession outing himself as the villain]], or being [[HoistByHisOwnPetard blown to bits by his own bomb]]. He chooses the former option ([[JustInTime at the last second]], naturally), and is arrested.

* WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph has to make this choice at the request of King Candy: [[spoiler:either destroy "Glitch" character Vanellope Von Schweetz's car, along with Ralph's friendship with her, or allow Vanellope to race, get on the roster, glitch, and have the game get pulled from the plug, which would kill her since she cannot escape to Game Central Station because she's a glitch. Only after he made his choice did he find out that King Candy wasn't entirely truthful and wanted Vanellope out for ulterior motives.]]

** Happens several times in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', since ComicBook/TheJoker loves these so much that the only thing that keeps him from following through with one is making up new ones: Reveal Batman's identity, or people will die. Kill the accountant or I blow up a hospital. Then, save Harvey or save Rachel. Blow up the other boat or be blown up by them (or me). And last but not least-- Break your, lying about which hostage is where and screwing them over, not knowing or caring what they actually choose.]] Joker doesn't just do this out of raw sadism, though, but the added intention of showing people that ''anyone'' can become a monster like himself.

* At the climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Anna is trying to run to Kristoff in hoping that a TrueLovesKiss would thaw a frozen heart but then she heard the sound of a clanging sword and saw Hans about to murder Elsa. Anna has to choose to either get a kiss from Kristoff that would possibly thaw her out of the curse but will lose her sister's life in the process, or save her estranged sister from being slain by Hans at the cost of her own life. She unhesitatingly chose the latter.

* The first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie is where this trope gets its name. In a homage to "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn the Green Goblin]] kidnaps Spidey's perennial love interest Mary Jane...but instead of just killing her, he forces Spider-Man to choose between her and a cable car full of innocents. ([[TakeAThirdOption He rescues both]], but is forced to [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies reject Mary Jane out of fear of his harsh superhero life]]. It all works out by the second one.) Although in this case, the only real challenge was the cable car's ''weight.''

** At the end of ''Film/NoTimeToDie'', [[spoiler:Bond is infected with {{nanomachines}} by [[BigBad Safin]]. Said nanomachines are genetically programmed to kill his LoveInterest Madeleine and their daughter Mathilde, and they can't be neutralized in his body. So he has the choice between either killing himself or live far away from his love and daughter forever. He chooses the [[HeroicSacrifice first]] [[TheHeroDies option]]. Besides, he's severely wounded by Safin's gunshots, so he was probably going to die anyway.]]

* During the climax of ''Film/{{Spectre}}'', [[spoiler:[[BigBad Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] forces [[Film/JamesBond James Bond]] into this when he lures 007 into the ruined [=MI6=] building and informs him that he's abducted the BondGirl and imprisoned her somewhere inside. He offers him two choices: he can escape the detonation that is to happen in 3 minutes (and presumably catch and arrest/kill Blofeld), but live forever with the guilt and pain of the fact that he chose to leave the girl to die, or he can try to rescue her and risk dying in the explosion. Bond chooses a 3rd option -- and he not only manages to rescue the BondGirl, but also steals a boat and escapes the exploding building to give chase to Blofeld.]]

** Happens several times in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', since ComicBook/TheJoker loves these: Reveal Batman's identity, or people will die. Kill the accountant or I blow up a hospital. Save Harvey or save Rachel. Blow up the other boat or be blown up by them (or me). And last but not least-- Break your "one rule," or watch Gotham's finest kill a child. True to form, he seldom keeps his word; [[spoiler:lying about which hostage is where and screwing them over , and not knowing or caring what they actually choose.]] Joker doesn't just do this out of raw sadism, though, but the added intention of showing people that ''anyone'' can become a monster like himself.
*** The boat scene is an example where [[spoiler: the potential ''victims'' are in a very tight spot and only the timely intervention of a man who won't give in offers them the [[TakeAThirdOption third option that he didn't get]]]].

* The 1993 film ''Film/TheGoodSon'', starring young [[Film/HomeAlone Macaulay Culkin]] and [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Elijah Wood]], ends in a scene with both boys dangling over the edge of a cliff. The mom must pick between saving her evil son (played by Culkin) or kindhearted nephew (played by Elijah Wood.) [[spoiler:She saves Frodo.]]

* In ''Film/TheHobbit'', the trolls tell the dwarves to surrender or else they will [[spoiler:rip Bilbo's arms out]]. The dwarves surrendered.

*** The boat scene is an example where [[spoiler: the potential ''victims'' are in a very tight spot and only the timely intervention of a man who won't give in offers them the [[TakeAThirdOption third option that he didn't get]].