History CombatPragmatist / Film

* ''Film/LastActionHero'' parodies this. In school, Danny is watching a film version of the scene in ''{{Hamlet}}'' where Hamlet has an opportunity to kill Claudius but refuses due to Claudius being in prayer. Danny starts whispering to himself, "Just do it", and then has a fantasy sequence of an action movie version of ''Hamlet'' with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role. In the scene where Hamlet discovers Polonius hiding behind a curtain, Polonius says "Stay thy hand, fair prince" to which Hamlet replies "Who said I was fair?" and shoots him with an [[CoolGuns MP5K]], then mows down several palace guards with it.

* Film/{{Hellboy}} is definitely one of these.

* Due to his smaller size compared with his opponents the title character of ''Film/Bumblebee'' relies on this trope.

* ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'' has Ash do this to Evil Ash. Evil Ash taunts Ash and starts beating him up with clownish tactics, until [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Ash shoots him in the face with his double-barrel shotgun]]. There's also the beginning of the movie, when he shoots the king's sword's blade in half, as the king was challenging him to a sword fight.

* In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', the Queensberry rules are one of many things that were lost in the apocalypse. The fight between Max and Furiosa, for example, is best described as a no-holds-barred beatdown involving whatever's to hand, including bolt cutters, car doors, chains, pistols, shotgun butts, and so on, and Immortan Joe is no more concerned about such niceties than the main characters.

* ''Franchise/{{Scream}}'': When pinned down by the killer in [[Film/{{Scream 1996}} the first film]], Sidney doesn't hesitate to do anything to regain the upper hand, up to and including jamming her fingers into a wound she'd inflicted earlier. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite her in [[Film/{{Scream 4}} the fourth film]], when Jill Roberts - the killer - does the exact same thing to her]].

** In ''Film/ANewHope'' while Obi-wan is dueling with Darth Vader, as soon as Obi-wan deliberately lowers his defenses, Vader immediately strikes with his lightsaber, [[ItWasHisSled killing Obi-wan]].

** In ''Film/{{Solo}}'', this is how Han [[spoiler:defeats his mentor, Tobias Beckett. He knows that Tobias is better at quick-drawing than him, so he ends up subverting the ShowdownAtHighNoon and fatally shoots him before he could even draw his own gun]].

** The scene between Greedo and Han Solo, where Han shoots Greedo from beneath the table. [[TheDogShotFirst We have to mention it in as many pages as possible.]]

** Rey displays some shades of this in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' during her [[spoiler:fight against the praetorian guards.]] At one point, she escapes a headlock by dropping her lightsaber, and catching it so that her arm is free to slice her opponent, in a clever-but-unorthodox move. Justified in that she’s self-taught and inexperienced with a lightsaber.

** ''{{ComicBook/Superman}}'' gets a dose of this in ''Film/ManOfSteel''. He [[spoiler: smashes Zod's helmet in their fight, knowing that Zod will be overwhelmed when his helmet no longer filters his SuperSenses.]] He also [[spoiler: snaps Zod's neck at the end, although the whole Metropolis-wrecking fight prior to it is Superman trying to ''not'' be a Combat Pragmatist, as he has no non-lethal means of neutralizing a skilled Kryptonian fighter sworn to kill everyone on Earth]].

--> '''Will:''' [[CaptainObvious You cheated]]!\\

** Will eventually learns (from Jack, of course) a few things about fighting dirty; Elizabeth, on the other hand, takes to it like a duck [[BuffySpeak presented with something ducks feel very at home in.]]

** Barbossa is not above punching/kicking people during a sword fight. [[note]]A good deal of sword-fighting manuals show that this was encouraged even by "honorable" fighters.[[/note]]
*** In ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd At World's End]]'', he also pulls a gun and shoots someone [[spoiler: shortly after marrying Will and Elizabeth]] in the final battle, [[LargeHam with a cackle thrown in for good measure.]]
** Also Commodore Norrington, to some extent. He kicked Will in the chest, kicked sand in Will's face and tripped Jack [[spoiler:[[MeleeATrois during the fight over the key]] in ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest Dead Man's Chest]].]]
*** Although that may have been more about mercy than pragmatism; while all three men wanted [[spoiler: the key]] very badly and wanted the other two to know how serious they were about it, and while Norrington had significant grudges against the other two, none of them really wanted each other dead. Those kicks and trips could easily have been stabs or slashes.

** The Jedi and the Sith usually subvert this in terms of weapons, only using lightsabers and refusing to use blasters, but the Sith, being the villains, are more willing to fight dirtier. This is somewhat justified in that the Jedi teach restraint-start fighting too dirty, and you might fall to the Dark Side.
*** Usually. Obi-wan ends up taking out Grievous with a blaster, though he does complain about it afterward.
*** In ''Film/ANewHope'' while Obi-wan is dueling with Darth Vader, as soon as Obi-wan deliberately lowers his defenses, Vader immediately strikes with his lightsaber, [[ItWasHisSled killing Obi-wan]].
*** There is also Tarkin. Tarkin, ah, yes; showing [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatism]] extends to overall strategy, he [[spoiler:extorts a Rebel base location out of Princess Leia on pain of blowing up Alderaan.. then blows it up ''anyway'', for strategic reasons as well as the possibility she was feeding them a line of bull (which she was).]]
*** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' Luke grabs a broken pipe that is spraying exhaust and uses it to blind Vader, while Vader uses the Force to throw tons of large debris at Luke.
*** Han himself doesn't waste any time pulling his gun on Vader. Unfortunately for him, Vader can make an effortless BulletCatch.
*** In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', though it's part of Palpatine's plan, Luke Force grabs his lightsaber and attempts to kill the unarmed Emperor. When Luke turns off his lightsaber and tells Vader [[SheatheYourSword he will not fight him]], Vader still attempts to strike him (though he gives Luke a small warning, telling him "You are unwise to lower your ''DEFENSES''"). Palpatine tells Luke that since he will not turn to the dark side he will die, but rather than attempt to kill Luke with a lightsaber or challenge him to a lightsaber duel, Palpatine immediately uses Force Lightning.
*** In ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', the battle between Darth Maul, Qui-gon Jinn, and Obi-wan features kicks and punches as well as lightsaber dueling. [[spoiler:Maul eventually gets the drop on Qui-gon by hitting him in the face with his lightsaber handle, stunning him just long enough for Maul to run him through.]]
*** The scene in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith" when Obi-Wan and Anakin are dueling. [[IHaveTheHighGround You know which.]]
*** This is continued into the Sequel Trilogy: In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', Kylo Ren takes advantage of his saber's cracked crystal by installing vents on the side of the hilt, like a crosshilt. In his fight with Finn, he uses these as weapons when forced into close combat.
*** Rey displays some shades of this in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' during her [[spoiler:fight against the praetorian guards.]] At one point, she escapes a headlock by dropping her lightsaber, and catching it so that her arm is free to slice her opponent, in a clever-but-unorthodox move. Justified in that she’s self-taught and inexperienced with a lightsaber.
*** In ''Film/{{Solo}}'', this is how Han [[spoiler:defeats his mentor, Tobias Beckett. He knows that Tobias is better at quick-drawing than him, so he ends up subverting the ShowdownAtHighNoon and fatally shoots him before he could even draw his own gun]].

** ''Film/{{Thor}}'': [[Characters/MCULoki Loki]] is a big fan of distracting his foes with illusions of himself and then shooting at them from a safe distance. His magical throwing knives are the only ranged weapons used by Thor's group. Everyone else had to get up close and personal with the Frost Giants to hit them, which turned out to be a bad thing after Volstagg learned the hard way that the Jötnar could freeze by touch. When a Frost Giant who speared Fandral is moving in to finish the job, Loki is able to take down the Jötunn before the latter can reach his target.

* In Creator/GuyRitchie's ''Film/SherlockHolmes'', Holmes and Watson find themselves in a fight with a number of dirt antagonists. Both Watson and Holmes are willing to improvise. Pots, pans, cans, etc abound. In fact each is the quintessential dirty fighter, going so far as to [[GrievousHarmWithABody throw one bad guy into another.]] Holmes at one point uses a live electrode to electrocute one mook through exposed copper piping, effectively launching him into another mook that Watson was fighting. [[AvertedTrope Averted]], in the same fight, when Holmes and his opponent both, at different times, politely request a momentary break in the fight to recover (because, after all, Holmes is an Englishman).

* Rather appropriately, in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', the entirety of the team are shown to be this to various extents, with Tony using taunts/JARVIS' help with Loki, Steve not even approaching the realm of 'fair fight' when dealing with *anyone*, even Iron Man and Thor (choosing to smack them with his shield rather than any other method of stopping their fight), and of course Black Widow and Hawkeye are shown biting and pulling hair respectively in their fight, and Thor deploys wrestling moves on Loki. Hulk sort of goes without saying.

* ''Film/DCExtendedUniverse'':

** Then in ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' he defeats the much more powerful [[spoiler:Koba]] by [[spoiler:defending against his strikes until he tires out and then repeatedly hits the gash in his side when he opens himself.]]

* In ''Film/TheQuietMan'', John Wayne's brother-in-law challenges him to a fight using Queensbury rules. As soon as John agrees to it, his in-law kicks him in the face.

** ''QuantumOfSolace'' also has a stellar fight sequence with Bond fighting a knife-wielding opponent. In the course of about 30 seconds, Bond slams him through two doors and attacks him with no less than 5 improvised weapons.

** The film's [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade main villain]], Colonel William Tavington, is a firm believer in this trope but his actions are really more [[SociopathicSoldier out of sadism]] than wanting to win. He's more than willing to [[WouldNotShootACivilian kill civilians]], (including [[WouldHurtAChild children]]), [[LeaveNoSurvivors kill retreating troops]], [[SinkTheLifeBoats execute wounded troops begging for mercy]], burn down the homes of civilians for "harboring the enemy" (meaning they took in and gave care to wounded troops from both sides), and even [[MoralEventHorizon sets fire to a church full of the families of the militia's men after having promised them that if they told him the location of the militia's base, they would be forgiven]]. The only time he shows any restraint is when he orders Gabriel to be hanged rather than just having him shot, and even that is only so his body can be put on display as a warning. As he explains to Cornwallis, "I advance myself only through victory." However, in this case Cornwallis is correct in his disapproval of Tavington's tactics. He explains to Tavington that the Americans "are our bretheren, and when this conflict is over, we will resume commerce with them", and tells him later that it's Tavington's fault that Cornwallis's army is still stuck in South Carolina and hasn't advanced northward; Tavington's brutality has gotten results but has angered the colonists and given more support to the Revolutionary cause. Indeed, it's Tavington killing Martin's son, Thomas, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain that causes Martin, who previously had no interest in the Revolution, to join the Continental Army]]. TruthInTelevision, due to the Continental Army's guerilla tactics, the British sometimes had to result to cruel tactics against American civilians, which ended up causing them to support the revolution.

** Then in ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' he defeats the much more powerful [[spoiler:Koba]] by [[spoiler:defending against his strikes until he tires out and then repeatedly hits the gash in his side when he opens himself.]]
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* In ''Film/CanyonPassage'', Logan has no scruples about breaking a bottle or a chair over Bragg's head, or tricking him into punching a post.

* ''Film/IShotJesseJames'': Robert Ford shoots UsefulNotes/JesseJames [[InTheBack in the back]] when Jesse turns away from him and is separated from his guns. TruthInTelevision, as this was how the real Jesse James was killed (though he was actually shot in the back of the ''head'', not the back).

* In ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014'', April is clearly outclassed by virtue of being a normal human against other normal humans with guns and training [[spoiler:and one ninja master in PoweredArmor. April takes every opportunity she gets to screw with the Shredder, from, stabbing him in the back to distracting him before he can kill a helpless Leo]].

* ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' has a sniper use a rather dirty tactic on a squad of Marines; shooting one who was sent to scout ahead but deliberately only wounding him and not killing him, causing him to lie there screaming in pain. When another Marine in the squad comes to help him and drag him back, the sniper shoots him as well. When another Marines does not come, the sniper puts more bullets into the two wounded Marines causing them to scream loudly in pain with the rest of the squad now having a SadisticChoice; watch and listen to the two wounded Marines screaming in pain or try to retrieve them most likely getting themselves shot as well?

* During the climactic battle in the ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'', [[spoiler:Sentinel Prime has no problem calling for an air attack on Optimus when he starts losing the fight. Shortly therafter, he is shot in the back by Megatron.]] Throughout the series, both sides tend to be absolutely ruthless, bringing guns into melee fights as their baseline. Also in the third film is [[spoiler:effectively taking America--yes, ''all of it''--hostage in order to force the Autobots off Earth. And while they're leaving, they shoot their ship with a missile, just to be sure.]]

* The 2000's ''[[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga Batman]]'' films saw his fighting style noticeably updated to reflect this, moving away from the flashier style he is usually shown to have in live action media. This was a deliberate choice by Nolan and Bale

** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' sees ComicBook/TheJoker sucker punch, use a knife [[HiddenWeapons hidden in his boot]], trick an entire gang of robbers into killing each other, pull off the [[EyeScream now famous 'magic trick']], violate MookChivalry, use a cop as a HumanShield, use a bomb [[spoiler: inside a guy's stomach, triggered by a cellphone]], [[spoiler: disguise hostages as the hostage takers and vice versa]] and sic dogs on Batman before going in on him with a lead pipe. However, it's slightly averted at one point with the Joker telling a cop that he prefers to kill people with knives than guns since guns do it too quick and don't allow him to savor their final moments... which [[MultipleChoicePast given how true anything the Joker said about himself]], might [[PlayingWithATrope actually not be played straight]], but rather is used to [[spoiler: [[JustifiedTrope push all of the wrong buttons of the cop guarding him, leading to a fight in which the cop loses]].]] Shortly after the Joker is arrested, it's rather comical as to how many knives the police take off of him. What's even more comical is that in the shot where they're laying the knives out on the table, the last one is a ''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking POTATO PEELER]]''..., and the cop handling it clearly takes a second look as if to say "wtf?"
** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': Bane counts as well. To wit, GoodOldFisticuffs, [[UseYourHead headbutting]], [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kicking them while they are down]], with a good dose of TheBerserker when [[spoiler:Batman cuts of his supply of anesthetics, resulting in RapidfireFisticuffs.]] [[WordOfGod Nolan]] has even stated that he wanted Bane's fighting style to be pragmatic and ruthless. And then [[spoiler:Catwoman just shoots him with an artillery cannon when his back is turned, making her one, too.]]