Line #23 Anvilicious/Film


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12	* Most of the pre-1970s driver's education films were notorious for this. Keeping in mind this was an era long before HIPAA and privacy laws, many of these films used actual footage from real fatal accidents (many provided by state patrol agencies). An example is the 1959 film ''Film/Signal30'', which showed the bloody aftermath of several accidents; repeatedly, viewers were shown broken and mangled bodies, and at least twice the victims were charred so badly dental records were needed to identify the body. Throughout, the narrator related what caused each of these accidents -- speed, reckless driving, failure to obey stop signs, racing trains to the crossing, falling asleep behind the wheel and more -- and relating a very clear moral: Even one mistake behind the wheel, no matter how seemingly minor, could be your last ... and it surely could prove deadly for innocent people as well. The fact that many "ScareEmStraight" driver education films of the era came without disclaimers (and oftentimes, the teacher never warned his students) made these films even more anvilicious.
13	* UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} films in general tend to bring over their various messages (parental tyranny is bad, true love is the best thing ever, fight for freedom, Brits are awful...) by tacking them to a brightly-colored anvil and dropping that into a huge dance routine.
14	* Creator/DWGriffith. Anyone who has taken film school and been forced to watch his films, from ''Film/BrokenBlossoms'' to ''Film/{{The Birth of a Nation\|1915}}'', knows that the father of modern cinema was not exactly a master of subtlety.
15	* Silent-era director Lois Weber dropped her anvils from 10,000 feet. In ''Film/{{Shoes}}'', it isn't enough to show the grinding poverty Eva is suffering from the meager food on her family's table or how her shoes are falling apart. No, she has to show a clawed hand with the word "POVERTY" stamped on it reaching for Eva as she sleeps. In ''Film/{{Hypocrites}}'', a lesson about bad parenting is driven home by showing a little girl dying after eating a box of candies labeled "INDULGENCE", while her brother reads a book labeled "SEX".
16	* Creator/SpikeLee doesn't risk leaving any audience members wondering what they are supposed to think by the end of his films:
17	** ''Film/DoTheRightThing'' has the entire cast look directly into the camera and scream, "Wake UP!"
18	** ''Film/MalcolmX'': After a pretty even-handed, warts-and-all biography of Malcolm X, the film ends on a montage in which Ossie Nelson speaks directly to the audience, telling them to forgive Malcolm X's flaws and revere him.
19	** ''Film/BlacKkKlansman'': After depicting real-life events of the 1970s, the film ends on a montage directly paralleling Ku Klux Klan rhetoric of the 1970s with 2010s-era Alt-Right rhetoric, including footage of the infamous Unite the Right rally.
20	** ''Film/Da5Bloods'': A lot of run-time is devoted to characters criticizing historical events and social issues, with archival footage and photographs inserted over the words like a [=PowerPoint=] presentation.
21	* While his movies haven't ever exactly been subtle, especially with the HumansAreTheRealMonsters message (literally every "zombie" movie Romero has made, including ''Film/TheCrazies1973'' as well as ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' and sequels has the main characters almost encounter still living people who are just as, if not more, dangerous as the monsters), Creator/GeorgeARomero cranked the anvils up in ''Film/DiaryOfTheDead'', where the main character flat out asks if humanity is worth saving at all over a clip of two guys using zombies for target practice. He could honestly be said to live on this trope.
22	* Creator/AaronSorkin seems to have this as part of his brand. His latter-day screenplays are arguably less and less guilty of this, though.
23	** ''Film/TheAmericanPresident'' has a famous example of this, with the president's (Creator/MichaelDouglas) press conference at the end. It's even worse when you realize that ''most'' of the subject matter, in this case, arguably has ''precious little to do with the rest of the movie''!
24	* Practically every single film by Creator/OliverStone. In particular:
25	** His first critical success, ''Film/{{Salvador}}'', sets the tone for the rest of his career: the underlying message that UsefulNotes/ElSalvador during The80s was ruled by a bunch of right-wing brutal fanatics that the US Government should not have supported is not particularly subtle, nor is expressed in a subdued way.
26	** ''Film/{{Platoon}}''. Just in case we didn't get the subtle subtext involved in Stone placing an evil sergeant and a good sergeant in charge of plastic-faced Charlie Sheen's raw recruit as the devil and angel on his shoulder, Stone has Sheen provide a wildly anvilicious voiceover monologue at the end of the movie. "I felt like a child born of these two fathers fighting over my soul."
27	** ''Film/WallStreet''. There is only one reason and one reason alone Gordon Gekko gives the "richest one percent" speech near the climax of the film: Stone really seemed to feel the need to lecture the audience about the disturbing power and influence of corporate raiders like Gekko. Story-wise, there's no reason at all Gekko would suddenly lecture Charlie Sheen's character on the subject.
28	** ''Film/BornOnTheFourthOfJuly'': Two messages to hammer home: UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar was bad-''bad''-''BAD'' (and anyone who thinks otherwise is either dumb, a {{Jerkass}}, or otherwise seriously misguided), and we must take care of our veterans.
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32	* ''WesternAnimation/AstroBoy'' (the 2009 film), while for the most part a cute, fun movie, takes its War And Warmongering Politicians Are Very Bad to absurd levels. Subtle it ain't, particularly when said politician attempts to manufacture a war with a weaker power to make himself look like a strong protector, even claiming they have weaponry they just don't have.
33	* Anyone who watched ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' can easily see as the plot, CharacterDevelopment the characters undergo and the relationship between Belle and Beast are obviously supposed to send the message, "TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside" or "Don't judge a book by it's cover".
34	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' makes no bones about its mission to take a sledgehammer to some of the nastier aspects of Latin American culture (bullfighting, machismo, etc.).
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'': Parents should let their children choose their own fate instead of controlling their life. Numerous scenes are devoted to this, including a 10 minute speech at the end. But children should listen to the knowledge and wisdom of the elders and both should have the wisdom to listen to the other.
36	* ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'' is all about the cycle of revenge, and why you shouldn't kill wildlife needlessly.
37	* ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' is also a case of dropping the moral anvil. The basic message is that organic alternative fuels are good while oil companies are evil. Too bad that people hate this particular movie because of how violent it is and how Mater hogs up screen time.
38	* TheMovie for ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' has the rather unconventional message that vulgar humour doesn't need an {{Aesop}} tacked on to the end to justify itself. Ironically for a show that tries to put down other {{Grossout Show}}s for being too preachy, it is very preachy about this particular message... and it's really hard to tell if they were trying to be ironic about it or not.
39	* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'':
40	** The film's main message of [[BeYourself being yourself]] is delivered with all the subtlety of a baseball bat to the face.
41	** Hi-5's [[ItsAllAboutMe character flaws]] are deeply exaggerated just so that he can learn the value of friendship and humility. Even then, his CharacterDevelopment consists of him being an unlikable, attention-seeking {{Jerkass}} for the entire film until he just ''[[ShowDontTell says]]'' that he isn't one anymore.
42	** The character of Jailbreak has been criticised for existing solely to complain about “patriarchy” [[PanderingToTheBase in an attempt to represent and get praise from the feminist community]]. Ironically, her [[{{Jerkass}} unlikable personality]], the [[FridgeLogic nonsensicalness within the universe]] and heavy-handedness of her complaints, and how her arc's conclusion leads to a BrokenAesop all come off as [[StrawFeminist unintentionally insulting]] to feminists.
43	* ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen\|2013}}'' gives two lessons that put it at odds with many of Creator/{{Disney}}'s earlier films. One: There is no such thing as LoveAtFirstSight. Only by getting to know and understand someone can you possibly fall in love with them. Two: An act of true love isn't about romance. It's about loving someone with all your heart, unconditionally.
44	* ''WesternAnimation/HappyFeet'' has a couple in it, including the BeYourself aesop and the [[GreenAesop environmental message]] that pervades about the last quarter of the film.
45	* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' was 86 minutes of "don't judge a book by its cover" and "extremism is bad". Oddly, it went both ways -- Kent Mansley shouldn't have assumed that the giant robot was a war machine that should be destroyed at any cost, and Hogarth shouldn't have assumed that the giant robot ''wasn't'' an alien superweapon. The film being set during The Cold War helps mitigate the anvil-ness somewhat.
46	* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'' is about how you need to stop dreaming about travelling the world and experiencing life outside the place where you grow up, because it's your duty to settle down and behave yourself. Trying to find happiness outside domestic pursuits is dangerous and will get you in trouble.
47	* The 2012 film adaptation of Creator/DrSeuss' ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lorax\|2012}}'' frequently takes the original book's anti-corporate, pro-environment message to an extreme, beat-the-viewer-around-the-head-with-it extent, especially in the numerous musical numbers. This is in stark contrast to [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax1972 the '70s animated special]], in which the VillainHasAPoint, when the Once-ler asked "What about all the people who work here? What would they do if I closed shop?" Even the titular Lorax can't provide a good answer.
48	* Anyone who watched ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' without realizing that the lesson of the story is "keep moving forward" clearly wasn't paying attention. It is repeated over and over again both directly and thematically.
49	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' makes the message that sometimes you must learn to take caution for yourself very evident. How so? By having [[ObviouslyEvil absurdly evil people]] [[InvasionOfTheBabySnatchers kidnap children with abandon]], [[ForcedTransformation turn them into donkeys]], [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil sell them into slavery]], [[KarmaHoudini and get away with it]].
50	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Racism is bad. One of the villain's lines in song is: "They're not like you and me, which means they must be evil!"
51	* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot''. After watching it, people are likely to ask "could they hammer home the lessons about teamwork and ThePowerOfFriendship ''any'' harder?"
52	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfTheHunchback'' is not subtle at all, specially with the moral of the story: TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside. It keeps saying that by making it a constant discussion, [[AsTheGoodBookSays telling that the Bible tells you that you should respect ugly or deformed people]], and putting a full song with that purpose.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zombillenium}}'': The movie, like the comics, does not shy away from its pro-labor stance. The entrance of the ghost train even displays a massive stained glass window of zombie miners with the line "[[Creator/KarlMarx Zombies of the world, unite]]".
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57	* Invoked by the title character in ''Film/SevenFacesOfDrLao'' throughout the film, but taken to the absolute limits in the finale. The movie centers around a town about to sell out to a tycoon, with a few people believing that what they have in their town (friendships, etc) is too important to abandon for money. These intangible things are too subtle for most of the town to appreciate though, a point that Dr. Lao seems to understand. In the finale, he uses magic to tell a story, which draws close parallels to the current situation to say the least; for example, the characters in the story are identical to the townspeople and tycoon. In the story, the townspeople sell out, causing a violent rapture which seemingly kills everyone. Then, in the real town, everyone is magically teleported back to town hall to vote on the sale.
58	* ''Film/AmazonWomenOnTheMoon'' ended with another parody of this.
59	* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': Plundering other cultures for their materials is wrong! Embracing other cultures is good! Oh, Creator/JamesCameron, [[SarcasmMode you're so subtle.]] The DVD was released on Earth Day, in case the film was too subtle for you.
60	* ''Film/{{Baraka}}'' (1992), which accomplishes the great deed of being subtly (using no words or explanations) Anvilicious (War is bad, the modern world will drive us crazy, monks and tribes are so exotically close to the real things, oh noes!) The movie's director was the cinematographer to the similar ''Film/{{Koyaanisqatsi}}'', which was less subtle.
61	* The documentary about steroids, ''Bigger, Stronger, Faster'' gives the message on how using steroids to get an edge over everyone else is morally wrong, but at the same time, points out how those that do use it, often get over and find success while the ones that don't use and compete honestly, get cheated in the end. He concludes that the reason is because of the American cultures obsession to win, no matter what. This point is brought home when one of the narrator's brother uses steroids to win a lifting competition before the ending credits. Everyone in the family knows he won because of steroids, but they cheer for him and act like nothing is wrong, including the narrator who admits it.
62	* ''Film/{{Birdemic}}'' is composed almost ''entirely'' of GlobalWarming anvils, despite ostensibly being a romantic comedy/monster movie.
63	* ''Film/BlackChristmas2019'' is ''very'' on the nose about its themes and metaphors about sexual assault, misogyny and toxic masculinity, to the point that most reviews called the movie out for caring about its themes way more than the plot or characters. And this is by design, because the movie's director has declared she put 'message before plot'.
64	* ''Film/BladeRunner2049:'' Lieutenant Joshi drops one on the audience when she states: "Am I the only one who can see the fucking sunrise here? This breaks the world, K!" Heavy? Certainly. Subtle? As an anvil with a neon sign attached to it with duct tape flashing the word "Important!".
65	* ''Film/BoogieNights'', is not, on the contrary a morality tale against pornography, but rather hubris and not keeping up with the times. First of all, the actors do cocaine because it's the Seventies, not necessarily because they're in the porn industry, which in turn fuels their downfall by making them overconfident, irrational and unable to perform. Secondly, Little Bill killed his wife not because she was a porn star, but because she was cheating on him, and very publically. The other characters barely bat an eye at this, further emasculating him. Note that there are no cameras around the times he catches her. Oh and DrugsAreBad mmm'kay.
66	* ''Film/TheBookOfEli'' The Bible is the source of all good and is so powerful it can convert anyone and make them an ardent believer with just a few passages. It is the only thing that will save humanity. Bonus Points awarded for it also being the cause of the global apocalypse. Furthermore, true belief (or the ability to memorize the entire book) will give you super powers.
67	* ''Film/ACaseOfSpringFever'': The short absolutely goes out of its way to drill the importance of springs into the viewer's head by showing in what ways they're used for everyday contraptions.
68	* ''Film/CharlieWilsonsWar'' featured anvils of assorted necessity, which is unsurprising since it dealt with the UsefulNotes/ColdWar and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The worst offender is at the very end, when Charlie and his friends are celebrating the Russians being run out of Afghanistan thanks to the weapons they helped smuggle in. Charlie's CIA liaison pulls him aside and warns him that religious zealots are starting to show up, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything just as plane roars over Charlie's apartment which happens to face the Pentagon.]] The next scene shows him failing to raise a few million dollars (after he had increased the defense budget by literally 500%) because normalizing relations with Russia is more important than building up Afghanistan. The real Charlie Wilson resented the idea that they had basically armed the Taliban.
69	* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' movie ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' is one big anvil (made of several slightly smaller anvils). Wishing you were more attractive is equivalent to wishing you were never born and taking gold that is lying about - with no obvious reason not to -- will turn you into a dragon (or, alternatively, into a gold statue).
70	** Explained better [[Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader in the book]], where Lewis specifies that it's Eustace's greed that turns him into a dragon, not taking the gold. So far as Lucy's wish that she were more attractive, the movie has her wish that she were as beautiful as her sister, which is reinterpreted as her wishing she ''were'' Susan. The intended message is "BeYourself, don't worry about your looks," but the sequence does turn it into a bit of a SpaceWhaleAesop.
71	* ''Film/TheCraftLegacy'''s aesops are generally unsubtle (though for some viewers this worked okay, such as with Timmy's storyline), but the message about toxic masculinity gets particularly heavy-handed: the BigBad is revealed to be a [[StrawMisogynist blatantly]] [[HeManWomanHater misogynistic]] [[spoiler: warlock]] who [[spoiler: leads a 'men's rights' cult]], [[spoiler:murders a bisexual boy just for being 'weak' and 'unmanly', ''literally'' tries to steal a woman's power]], rants about men being the 'natural' rulers of women and appears to have no motivation beyond being an evil woman-hater, while the young women opposing him are consistently portrayed as heroic and righteous; even when they think they've screwed up by [[spoiler: inadvertently causing someone to commit suicide via a spell gone awry]], it later turns out it was actually the villain's fault and they quickly make up.
72	* ''Film/{{Crash}}''. Apparently racism is not a good thing. But then everyone in Los Angeles is racist so it's normal.
73	* ''Film/CSATheConfederateStatesOfAmerica'' is largely about hammering in that racism is bad and, frankly, a backwards way of thinking. While the Confederate States barely manages to survive into the 21st century, it has become a pariah state with CreativeSterility and a declining economy. On the other hand, Canada, a nation that embraces diversity and human capital, not only prospers, but even outstrips the Confederate States, despite having ''far less'' population and land. Even John Ambrose Fauntroy V, one of the beneficiaries of the Confederate States' racist system, [[LaserGuidedKarma is himself accused of carrying "Negro" blood]], regardless of whether this claim is true.
74	* ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow'' has a subtle suggestion that if we don't take care of the environment, the world will end and freeze up to the tropics, causing the equatorial nations to open their borders to the refugees from the US and Europe.
75	* ''The Day the Earth Stood Still''. Both of them. [[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951 The original]] with its message of "the United Nations needs more power if it is to keep us safe" and [[Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill2008 the remake]] with its less subtle message of "the only way to save the Earth from global climate change is by stopping our use of any and all electricity RIGHT NOW!"
76	* ''Film/ADayWithoutAMexican''. The film's only purpose is to showcase the benefits of Mexican immigration to the U.S.
77	%%* In ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'' one of the teachers says: "Think for themselves? Of course we shouldn't teach the boys to think for themselves!' It's almost as if the film-makers didn't ''want'' us to like him. The death of [[spoiler: Neill]] could be seen as another example of the anvil. The short-sightedness is inconsistent with the character's previous behavior and a direct clash with the oft-repeated theme of the film. Taking a year away from one's dream of acting would be tough, but taking the dirt nap is about as far from "carpe diem" as you can get.
78	* The film of ''Film/TheDevilsArithmetic'' is one long anvil, and includes the line "Why didn't I listen to my grandfather more!?"
79	* The promotional material for ''Film/{{District 9}}'' isn't dropping anvils as much as it is rapid-firing them from a gravity gun. The plot involves refugee aliens being separated from humans in South Africa (apartheid!), humans demanding weapons from the aliens (Humans Are Greedy!), humans saying the aliens probably eat dogs (FantasticRacism, also apartheid), and taglines to report non-humans (apartheid again). The film itself is much less overbearing, though. WordOfGod from writer/director Neill Blomkamp says that he never intended to make an overtly anvilicious movie -- [[WriteWhatYouKnow this was just the environment in which he grew up.]]
80	* ''The Doctor'' tries to show physicians should show humanity toward their patients -- by making every single physician, including the protagonist, a complete and utter unfeeling JerkAss. Aside from the LittlestCancerPatient, there are almost no sympathetic characters.
81	* The "coming of age in the hood" parody ''Film/DontBeAMenaceToSouthCentralWhileDrinkingYourJuiceInTheHood'' lampshades the anvils by having the postman, played by producer Keenen Ivory Wayans, pop up whenever a character is delivering a particularly anvilicious speech to loudly exclaim "Message!" directly to the audience. In itself {{lampshaded}} when the main character gives a long-winded, confusing speech that pretty much summarizes every other anvil up to that point in the longest way possible, the Postman arrives, looks at the camera confused, and then says: [[BreakingTheFourthWall "The fuck is he talking about?"]]
82	* ''Film/DontLookUp'' was downright called by writer-director Creator/AdamMcKay as "the most thinly disguised metaphor in the history of metaphors" regarding how the in-universe treatment of a planet-threatening comet, bringing up greed, denial and such, reflects the real-world response to GlobalWarming.
83	* ''Film/{{Elysium}}'': Impoverished, Spanish-speaking citizens of Earth trying to illegally immigrate to a space station owned by the English/French-speaking 1%? Bonus points for name-dropping the Department of Homeland Security. Yeah, this film is not subtle with its allegories regarding illegal immigration, universal healthcare, and the Occupy movements.
84	* ''Film/TheFarm'' is a movie about a cannibal commune that raises humans for meat and milk. It's not hard to see the comparison between this movie and the treatment of livestock on many farms. That said, the message is so on-the-head about it that it has [[AudienceAlienatingPremise numerous scenes where people are tormented, with one infamous scene involving an infant]]. As such, it tells its aesop just fine as one would expect about a hamfisted lesson regarding animal cruelty... but the ''method'' it delivers this aesop pushes people from wanting to watch it.
85	* The 1949 adaptation of Creator/AynRand's novel ''Literature/TheFountainhead'' is as Anvilicious as the novel it was based on.
86	* Left alone, ''Film/{{Gattaca}}'' is already a borderline case of this - any real life prejudice could be applied to [[FantasticRacism the one suffered by the non-genetically engineered people]] - but some of the cut scenes on the DVD ''really'' drive the point home.
87	* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'':
88	** The whole sequence in ''Film/MothraVsGodzilla'' where the human protagonists ponder the horrors of nuclear testing and atomic war is really hamfisted in its messaging.
89	** InUniverse in ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}''. When asked by the admiral why he doesn't want to use nukes to kill the [=MUTO=]s, Serizawa hands him his father's watch, stopped at 8:15, referring to the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki. In the original Godzilla film, the monster itself was an anvilicious allegory for the horrors of nuclear weapons.
90	* ''Film/TheGreatDictator'' concludes with a 4 1/2 minute speech delivered directly to the camera. While Chaplin's political views were complicated, the clear takeaway is "Down with Hitler."
91	* ''Film/TheGreatGatsby2013'' gives the message that it's not wise or beneficial to hang on to one's past, or believe one can make things in the present, like they were in the past. It's best to face ones current reality and act towards the future. This hasn't stopped people from [[MisaimedFandom wanting to be like the titular Gatsby]], and [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20543_the-5-most-insanely-misunderstood-morals-famous-stories.html throwing parties inspired]] [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing by the ones Gatsby threw]].
92	* ''Film/TheHappening''. Just in case you didn't get the environmental message pervading every second of the film, there's a crazy scientist on TV at the end whose sole purpose is ''to drill this into the audience''. Oh, and ThePowerOfLove can subvert nature. Creator/CleolindaJones' ''Movies in 15 Minutes'' version of the film comments on this with the line "and angry trees lob an anvil towards the audience" (yes, the link was in the original text).
93	* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic''. Johnny having the "cure" to an obvious AIDS reference, and that the villain is the medical companies for whom selling the treatments that don't work is more profitable than selling the cure.
94	* The DiseasePreventionAesop in ''Film/TheKillerThatStalkedNewYork'' is anything but subtle. For instance: the narrator describes the horrors of smallpox vividly, extolls the virtues of the public health efforts repeatedly, and dismisses the opposition to the vaccination campaign as lacking good sense. This is pretty understandable, as the film is based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_New_York_City_smallpox_outbreak a real outbreak of smallpox in New York City in 1947]], which was successfully contained. Perhaps the least subtle moment is a scene in a barbershop where the customers discuss the outbreak--some of them are sceptical that the outbreak is something they need to worry about, and think the vaccination campaign is a waste of money. One of the other customers disagrees, saying that for all they know, the guy currently getting his hair done could have been infected without even knowing it, and the next person to get in the chair would then be at risk of contracting smallpox merely by sitting in the same chair. The scene ends with the guy who is next in line declining service, saying that he's going to get vaccinated instead.
95	* ''Film/LittleWomen2019'', an adaptation of an already Anvilicious novel, quotes a letter by Louisa May Alcott in case the thesis of the story wasn't clear:[[note]]The trailers are partly to blame; they cut out Jo's next line, which is "but I'm so lonely" -- and it's clear in the scene that Jo's worried more about whether a desire for companionship is selling out her morals.[[/note]]
96	-->'''Jo March''': Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for. I’m so sick of it!
97	* ''Film/TheLostWeekend'' expounds its "alcoholism destroys lives" theme with very little subtlety.
98	* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' is not subtle about its [[http://www.shakesville.com/2015/05/liss-and-ana-talk-about-mad-max.html feminist]] message. The bad guys are all men. Every woman is a good guy. Even the title character is a SupportingProtagonist to a strong, independent woman who ultimately takes power from a patriarchal regime. An early ArmorPiercingQuestion is "who killed the world?" with the implication that it's the men in power who are the cause of the Crapsack World of the setting and the movie makes no attempt to claim otherwise.
99	* The UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film ''Film/MainHoonNa'' is mostly a silly action comedy, but a key plot point involves a reconciliatory prisoner exchange between India and Pakistan that is taken extremely seriously.
100	* In ''Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'', Nelson Mandela gives an especially anvilicious televised speech near the end of the film.
101	-->'''Nelson Mandela:''' Someone gave me this note when I was leaving Boi Patong, and I want to read it to you. ''[reads from note]'' It says, "No peace; do not talk about peace. We have had enough. Please, Mr. Mandela, no peace. Give us weapons, not peace." Here is my answer: There is only one way forward... and that is peace.
102	* ''Film/ManOfSteel'' goes out of its way to portray Superman as some sort of messiah for the human race. He adopts a CrucifiedHeroShot multiple times in the film and has lines such as, "I will save them all, father."
103	* The ''[[Franchise/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' sequels, ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' and ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' were heavily criticized for being full of lengthy philosophical pontifications by several characters, including Councillor Hamann, The Oracle, The Merovingian (twice), Agent Smith, and Morpheus. Most of these speeches were extremes between HumansAreTheRealMonsters and RousseauWasRight, from both sides of the war. Perhaps the series was less anvilicious and more of a failed MindScrew or [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory ontological discourse]] to some.
104	* ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'' has the theme of reconciliation between labor and management. It ends with the very direct statement to this fact: "The mediator between head and hands must be the heart."
105	* The film ''Nappily Ever After'' is a two-hour anvil preaching about the Natural Hair Movement. While a subject that [[DontShootTheMessage could use more airtime]], the script has Violet blatantly announce her disdain for a little girl wearing her hair in an afro. Violet's obsession with straight hair is an obvious and un-subtle metaphor for her perfectionist nature -- and she blatantly announces to the audience that the experience of [[ImportantHaircut shaving her head]] "forced me to give up all my vanity".
106	* In Creator/StevenSeagal's ''Film/OnDeadlyGround'', Seagal battles the thugs of an evil oil company. In the end, he delivers a speech about how evil oil companies are. Written and directed by Seagal himself, the film is one big AuthorTract.
107	* ''Film/TheOxBowIncident'' is not very subtle with its message that vigilantism is a bad thing, and indeed, the film would not be half as effective without it.
108	* ''Film/PacificRim'' delivers a really heavy-handed GreenAesop right in the middle of its otherwise straightforward "giant monsters on giant robot fight" action, by revealing that the evil aliens had visited Earth in the prehistoric times, but couldn't colonize it because the environment wasn't to their liking, so they decided to wait until somebody pollutes it enough. Which we did. 60 million years later. [[SpaceWhaleAesop And that's why there're giant monsters roaming the planet]]. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment This storyline never goes anywhere either]], [[AbortedArc the acquired knowledge isn't used in any way]], and [[BrokenAesop the world is saved with a nuclear bomb]].
109	%%* "I have not spoken since I was six years old. No one knows why, not even me." ''Film/ThePiano'' keeps laying it on, thicker and thicker, until you get to the point where the titular instrument is ''literally'' pulling the main character underwater.
110	* ''Film/ThePoseidonAdventure''. Christian symbolism list: Climbing a Christmas tree to salvation? Check. Religious figure in charge? Check. Other religions make a HeroicSacrifice? Check. Lake of fire? Check. Crucifixion scene? Check.
111	* The UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} film ''Film/RabNeBanaDiJodi'', loosely translated as ''A Pair Matched by God'', takes the theme that one sees God in the face of one's beloved to extremes. There's a song called "I See God in You"; the male love interest tells the heroine that he sees God in her; the heroine prays to see God's face, and lo and behold! sees her husband walk toward her. Ultimately, [[spoiler: she decides to stay with her husband because she realizes she sees God in him. This is good news for the husband because he sees God in her, too.]]
112	* The [[ScareEmStraight "educational film"]] ''Film/ReeferMadness'': Notorious for the sheer ludicrousness of the anvils it drops against marijuana -- or as it spells it, "marihuana". Apparently, pot makes you a horrible driver, (the one thing that was admittedly true about the film), can drive you insane... [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and lets you play the piano really fast]]. Even worse: the movie is just so ''wrong'' on every level that modern audiences consider it [[{{Narm}} unintentionally hilarious]] and [[TheStoner advocates of pot legalization]] use it to promote their cause. The film was later parodied with ''Film/ReeferMadnessTheMusical''. It sends up the original by [[RefugeInAudacity going even further]] (for example, claiming marijuana causes ''cannibalism'')... but then turns around and drops its ''own'' anvils against censorship with the last number. (Yes, ''real'' subtle with the book-burning cheerleaders...)
113	* Creator/FrankMiller, Irvin Kershner, Jose Padilha and especially Paul Verhoeven are not aiming for subtlety in ''Franchise/{{RoboCop}}'' (in fact, Verhoeven has never even heard of such a concept). The movies gleefully raise Anviliciousness to an art form, bombarding the viewer with DrugsAreBad, ThereAreNoGoodExecutives, and [[AIIsACrapshoot Drone Warfare Is A Crapshoot]].
114	* ''Film/SaveMe'' is more than a little this way in its anti-ex-gay message -- justifiably perhaps, but certainly not subtly.
115	* Jigsaw's speech about the evil of insurance companies in ''Film/SawVI'' after [[spoiler:William rejects one of his claims for coverage after he finds a potential treatment for his cancer.]]
116	* Almost every movie ever made that includes drug use, with two exceptions: stoner movies (for obvious reasons), and ''Literature/AScannerDarkly'', which demonizes the war on drugs more than drugs themselves.
117	** At the end of both the book and movie versions, a list of all the author's friends who died or were brain damaged by drug use is included. This is also the implied fate of most of the characters in the story. The users aren't [[{{Demonization}} demonized]] but an anvil is definitely dropped about hard drugs and the user lifestyle.
118	** One of those names is "Philip." As in "Philip K. Dick". As in ''the author'' (who died of irreparable damage to his pancreas caused by his drug abuse not long after the book came out).
119	* ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'': Remember, kids, corporate greed and focusing on money over creativity when it comes to music are bad, bad, horrible, terrible, and bad! The BigBad's catchphrase (literally "WE HATE LOVE. WE HATE JOY. WE LOVE MONEY.") is the tip of the iceberg on this one.
120	* ''Silenced'' (''Dogani''), before Hwang Dong-hyuk broke out internationally with ''Series/SquidGame'', his 2011 movie ''Silenced'' became famous in Korea for shining a light on the subject of sexual abuse of children and the disabled at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing impaired by authority figures who were protected by corruption in the legal system. The outcry that the film inspired would lead to the ''Dolgani bill'', which ended the statue of limitation on sex crimes against children and the disabled.
121	* ''Film/SilverLode'''s point about turning against one's neighbours because an (ostensible) authority figure makes accusations is not exactly subtle, and the message is made even more abundantly clear by having the bad guy be named [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy McCarty]].
122	* ''Film/TheSinisterUrge'': The diatribe about pornography being worse than murder and kidnapping.
123	* The first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie was like this with its theme of "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." One gets the feeling that perhaps anvils are neither big nor heavy enough for this message while watching the movie. It's pretty obvious that many people felt that way, as the "with great power comes great responsibility" line has been made fun of many times in numerous other films and TV shows since then; for example, ''Film/KickAss'' was advertised with the tagline, "With no power comes no responsibility."
124	* ''Film/SpyKidsAllTheTimeInTheWorld'': At one point in the film, Carmen tells the new spy kids "A spy is more than his gadgets." Later, the boy is trying to punch open a door with his gadgets. But when they fail to do the trick, he sits there with an upset and puzzled expression on his face, then his face lights up like he saw he was getting 50 Christmas presents and he yells out "A SPY IS MORE THAN HIS GADGETS!" He proceeds to think of a new way to get through, without any gadgets.
125	* ''Film/Switch1991:'' Sexism is so bad that premeditated murder in this life and eternal damnation in the next (unless you manage to find the exit just in time) are just what's coming to you.
126	* ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'' has quite a bit to say about the War On Terror and American foreign policy.
127	-->'''Gary Johnson''': "[[{{Eagleland}} We're]] dicks! We're [[DestructiveSaviour reckless]], [[ItsAllAboutMe arrogant]], [[UnwantedAssistance stupid]] dicks! And the [[FunWithAcronyms Film Actor's Guild]] are pussies! And [[UsefulNotes/NorthKorea Kim Jong Il]] is an [[{{Jerkass}} asshole]]! Pussies don't like dicks, because [[MightMakesRight pussies get fucked by dicks]], but ''[[BlackAndGreyMorality dicks also fuck assholes]]''. Assholes who just want to shit on everything. Pussies may think that [[PeaceConference they can deal with assholes their way]], but [[GoodIsImpotent the only thing that can fuck an asshole is a dick]]... [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption with some balls]]. The problem with dicks is that sometimes [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill they fuck too much]], or [[DisproportionateRetribution fuck when it isn't appropriate]] -- and [[WhatTheHellHero it takes a pussy to show them that]]. But sometimes, [[StrawCharacter pussies get so full of shit that they become assholes themselves]]... [[{{Metaphorgotten}} because pussies are only a half-inch away from assholes]]. I don't know much about this crazy world, but I do know, that if you don't let us ''fuck'' this asshole, we're going to get our dicks ''and'' our pussies all covered in shit!"
128	* ''Film/TheyThem2022'': While the anti-conversion therapy and pro-inclusivity message [[DontShootTheMessage isn't bad on its own]], a number of critics have lambasted that the message is pushed so hard that the film forgets it's supposed to be a horror movie at times.
129	* Before the 2000s ''Film/{{Left Behind\|2000}}'' series, which is certainly Anvilicious, there was a terrible miniseries in The70s or so released on video titled ''A Thief in the Night''. It had a theme song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," by Larry Norman with the lyrics, "There's no time to change your mind, the Son has come... and you've been left behind!" The videos were about all of the horrible things that would happen to non-Christians at the end of the world. It was like having your TV grab you by the face and scream, "You're going to die horribly, and then you're going to Hell! Repent! Repent!" On the plus side, it doesn't gloat about those sent to hell like its contemporary does.
130	* ''Film/{{Unplanned}}'' has an extremely heavy-handed anti-abortion message, including [[{{Gorn}} graphic]], [[BloodyHorror disturbing]] abortion scenes intended to show how awful and traumatic the procedure is (according to the movie), comparing abortion to slavery and the Holocaust, and presenting people who support abortion as either ignorantly misguided or as callous, self-serving jerks who only care about money. Women who seek abortions are depicted as either naive, fragile people who are manipulated into it, or as selfish for "killing babies for convenience".[[note]]the movie ignores or glosses over many other legitimate arguments for abortion, including medical abortions (non-viable pregnancies, assistance with late-term miscarriage, pregnancies that pose severe risks to the person carrying it), pregnancies resulting from rape and/or abusive relationships, and people who aren't in a position to go through a pregnancy and adequately care for a child for various reasons (financial issues, lack of support system, health conditions etc).[[/note]] While it does try to insert nuance by portraying one group of anti-abortion activists more negatively due to them being overly-aggressive and openly slut-shaming, it's undermined due to getting a lot of things about abortion and Planned Parenthood [[ArtisticLicense factually wrong]] to present them in the worst light. Many people criticised the film for its one-sided, inaccurate and emotionally-manipulative presentation of a complex and sensitive subject (with even some viewers who do have issues with abortion [[DontShootTheMessage disliking how the movie handles it]]).
131	* ''Film/{{Untraceable}}'' was pretty anvilicious from beginning to end. The whole plot is one big anvil about how much modern culture sucks due to its lack of empathy and glorification of violence. That being said, the internet comments that the movie ended on ''were'' amusingly accurate depictions of what one finds on various chat boards.
132	* ''Film/{{Vamps}}'':
133	** The WhoWantsToLiveForever message at the end gets hammered in too hard and too fast for some fans' taste.
134	** Goody's NewMediaAreEvil feelings about computers and social media get repeated several times.
135	* In ''Film/{{Volcano}}'', after volcanic ash covers Los Angeles, a child mentions how everyone looked the same now (cue shot of black guy next to white guy).
136	* The 1916 silent film ''Film/WhereAreMyChildren'' talks openly about birth control, but it definitely draws the line at abortion. To the movie's credit, at the time of its release, illegal, or "back-alley," abortions were very risky to the woman undergoing one. [[spoiler:That's what Lillian and Mrs. Walton learn the hard way when the former dies from a botched abortion and the latter becomes barren as a result of her overindulgence in abortions]].
137	* ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' has general pro-gay connotations, but the negative response from Bobby's mom spells it out so clearly, it's now a TropeNamer:
138	-->'''Madeline Drake''': [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster Have you tried... not being a mutant?]]
139	* In ''Zero'', a short stop-motion film, a narrator states that all the cute little yarn people in the story are judged by a big number printed on their chest (which totally isn't a metaphor for anything). On this basis, we see all types of horrors acted out, such as child abuse, Jim Crow/Apartheid-style segregation and discrimination, and even eugenics. Problem is, the brown skinned Zeroes are the only ones we see treated badly, while the blonde haired peach puppets ranked 1-9 mingle freely. You never see any of the white puppets treat each other badly based on number alone, despite the narrator stating outright that those ranked 5 and below are considered mediocre. Thus the ranking system is reduced to thin camouflage for a message steeped in white guilt.
140	[[/folder]]
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Context Anvilicious / Film