LCDR. Worf: [holding his head and groaning] Romulan ale should be ... illegal.
LCDR. Geordi La Forge: [matter-of-factly] It is.
LCDR. Geordi La Forge: [matter-of-factly] It is.
Examples of Gargle Blasters in Live-Action Films.
- It's not alcohol (probably) but Wednesday and Pugsley make some rather fiery lemonade when they try to make money selling it in The Addams Family. When they give a free sample to Lurch, he feels some discomfort for a minute after drinking it, then breathes fire, scorching a wooden statue of an Indian. (Then he just shrugs and continues on his way.) Sadly, we never see a scene where they sell any to an actual customer.
- In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor brings a very small flask of an unnamed thousand-year-old Asgardian liquor to the Avengers' victory party. He and Captain America (who Never Gets Drunk as a result of his Super-Soldier biology processing alcohol four times faster than a normal person) are the only people at the party capable of drinking it. A group of WWII veterans lead by Stan Lee demand that they be allowed to try it, and end up completely plastered after downing a single shot.
- In Back to the Future Part III, "Authentic Frontier Whiskey" is strong enough to cause the bar to smolder. Doc, who Can't Hold His Liquor anyway, downs a glass and drops like a brick at the most inconvenient time. Also, when they try to fuel the DeLorean with some of the bartender's strongest whiskey, it destroys the car's fuel injection system.
- The Disney flick Condorman has the title hero (a comic book writer pretending to be a CIA agent) order an "Istanbul Express" for a Russian spy he's trying to impress — and a double for himself. The waiter, shocked, says, "Nobody orders a double!" He promptly makes it a triple. As a spoof of the trope, the drink is actually served on fire, resulting in a hilarious Fire-Breathing Diner scene.
- Darby O'Gill and the Little People: Poitin—Irish moonshine, which Darby uses to trick King Brian during a drinking game. How potent is it? It's so potent that Darby never actually pours himself a drink, instead preferring to "act" progressively more intoxicated.
- At the ship's dance in Doctor at Sea, Easter serves surgical spirit and pretending it to be a cocktail he calls "fire alarm". Trail finds it tremendous, but it proves to be too strong for Jill, his dance partner.
- The French movie French Fried Vacation 2 has an iconic scene
(itself inspired from a similar one in a theater play by the same actor team, Santa Claus Is a Stinker) involving a Gargle Blaster. Since they got themselves lost in the mountains, the protagonists are given shelter by local villagers. After a Masochist's Meal, they are offered a drink that is described as "shallot liquor". Inside the bottle is a large toad, with a lovely description of how it was dehydrated before being put inside. One of the villagers says "You gotta drink it fast, else it stings the tongue," then downs his glass without problem. When the protagonists finally (and very reluctantly) try out the beverage, the effects are varied. Gigi immediately faints; Jean-Claude's face turns red and he bursts into tears; Bernard starts coughing violently because his mouth is burning; Nathalie falls head-first on the table; Jérôme and Popeye get stomach pain... and Gilbert finds it rather tasty. - In The Great Escape, Americans Hilts, Hendley and Goff celebrate the Fourth of July by distilling some homemade booze and sharing it with the others. It appears to be powerful stuff.Bartlett: In the three years, seven months, and two weeks that I've been in the bag, that's the most extraordinary stuff I've ever tasted. It's shattering!
MacDonald: [mildly] Well, I think it's rather good. - In House on Bare Mountain, Granny's home-brewed hooch is so potent that a single sip is enough to knock out an entire squad of cops.
- Quint gives Brody a glass of something he made himself in Jaws. Brody can't handle a sip of it without spitting it out, and tells Hooper not to drink it. Hooper downs it anyway, and merely coughs, so maybe Brody is just a lightweight. The "something" is apricot brandy, according to Quint. Of course, Brody's reaction may be because he's a New York "shot and a beer" type.
- Subverted in Leprechaun 2 with the bartender's signature "redwater". It's actually just flat cola and water. Morty uses knowledge of this to challenge the Leprechaun to a drinking contest, redwater vs. whiskey. The Leprechaun loses.
- In The Matrix, The crew of the Nebuchadnezzar introduce Neo to Dozer's unique brand of moonshine, which is allegedly "good for two things: degreasing engines, and killing brain cells.'' By contrast, Cypher is shown drinking red wine in the Matrix and marveling at its simulated taste.
- Mister Roberts: After giving away a half bottle of whiskey as a bribe to secure a visit to a liberty port, the officers discover that Pulver had promised it to a nurse, so they craft a subsitute out of medical alcohol, Coca-Cola, iodine and hair tonic.
- The Nutty Professor (1963) features the "Alaskan Polar Bear Heater", a drink invented by the lead character and dictated to a barman. Although Buddy drinks it without any noticeable effect, the barman takes a sip and loses consciousness.
- In The Outlaws IS Coming!, the Sunstroke Kid forces the Stooges to partake of a local concoction called a 'Tarantula Fizz': containing day old whiskey, tequila, new gin, and a twist of 'cactus juice'. It turns the Stooges in Fire Breathing Diners.
- Revenge of the Nerds. Another Alpha Beta brother asks Stan Gable to try a drink called simply "Fireball". He has one sip straight from the bottle and promptly spits it out all over. As it turns out, it has a ridiculously high proof, and Haystack later spits it through a lighter's flame and burns down the AB house.
- Tommy Wiseau's Cult Classic The Room (2003) features a scene in which the main character's wife gets him drunk to have sex. Inexplicably, the alcohol of choice is equal parts scotch and vodka, mixed at room temperature. The fans have since dubbed the drink the "Scotchka".
- Another Disney flick, Snow Dogs, features "soup", which is stored in a hip flask. When questioned about the quotation marks, the maker replies, "Well, there's soup in it."
- In So's Your Old Man, Sam drinks from a jug that is actually filled with roach poison. After figuring this out his buddy gives him the similar-looking jug that holds the moonshine. After smelling the moonshine, Sam goes back to drinking the roach poison.
- Star Trek: Romulan ale, which originated in the TOS movies.
- Neatly encapsulated in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country:Kirk: Chekov, do you know anything about a radiation surge?
Chekov: [exhausted] Only the size of my head. - And combined with The Worf Effect in Star Trek: Nemesis.LCDR. Worf: [holding his head and groaning] Romulan ale should be ... illegal.
LCDR. Geordi La Forge: [matter-of-factly] It is.
- Neatly encapsulated in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country:
- Old Panther brand Whiskey (Distilled Yesterday) from The Three Stooges certainly counts. Anytime the Stooges down even a stein full of the stuff it burns badly, alarm bells start going off and is generally nasty to taste.
- A very famous scene from the French movie Les Tontons flingueurs revolves around the gangsters partaking in a bootleg hooch their gang used to distribute and talk about their Glory Days. (This whole scene was intended as a homage to Film Noir Key Largo.) Some of the best parts, translated, can be found on the quotes page. There was a persistent legend that the actors were actually sloshed while filming. They weren't — you can't film a long, complex scene like that while being drunk.
