History Main / DesperateObjectCatch

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

** The Infinity Stone in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' is a powerful gem that destroys everything it gets into contact with. Ronan forges it into his [[DropTheHammer warhammer]], but during the film's climax, it gets blown out and threatens to destroy the planet on contact with the ground. Both the villain and the hero dive for the stone in dramatic BulletTime fashion. Guess who saves the day.

* ''Manga/MyDressUpDarling'': In the very first episode, when Gojo gets caught by Marin sewing in the crafts' classroom, the surprise makes him accidentally toss his Hina doll head into the air. He quickly scrambles to save it.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* Happens repeatedly with the Ramu egg in the hunting scene from ''WesternAnimation/TheCroods''. Sometimes it's a Crood that catches it, other times a competing egg-eater or the mother Ramu, but they ''all'' try to keep it from cracking.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress'', a BellyScrapingFlight by the dirigible that hauls Santa's sack of gifts to his sleigh knocks the star off the Christmas tree in Santa's courtyard. A team of elf skydivers drop from the dirigible to catch it in midair.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* During the climax of ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIII'', the villain attempts to throw the time-traveling scepter off a roof while he escapes, which would trap the turtles in feudal Japan if it breaks. Mikey grabs the scepter, but almost falls off the roof until the other three turtles manage to pull him back up.
* In ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', Kira throws the Shard to Jen just before she's stabbed so he can heal the Crystal when the three suns align.
* In ''Film/IRobot'', Sonny throws the canister of nanites to Spooner, allowing the police detective to [[spoiler:deactivate BigBad V.I.K.I.]] while the robot saves Calvin.

* An early demonstration of Peter's super-reflexes in ''Film/SpiderMan1'' has him catching a flung lunch tray, complete with all its scattering contents, in about one second. Not life or death, but it ''does'' spare Mary Jane from being spattered with food, which is pretty important to Peter.
* ''Film/SpiderMan3'': Peter loses his grip on Aunt May's engagement ring that he's intending to offer M.J. and has to frantically grab, swing, and web-shoot to try to recover it while fending off a Green Goblin attack by Harry.
* In ''Film/{{Legion}}'', a character drops a baby and Bob dives to catching the little thing before it hits the ground.
* ''Film/AirplaneIITheSequel''. One of the passengers aboard the Lunar Shuttle has brought a bomb on board. During a struggle the bomb is thrown up into the air and a dog jumps into the air to catch it before it hits the floor and detonates.
* In ''Film/RushHour'', during a shootout at an exhibition of ancient Chinese art, one of the mooks tries to knock over a very large artifact. Detective Lee catches it, gets kicked several times while keeping it from falling, manages to get back up, set the piece back level... just in time for a stray gunshot to shatter it.
* Symbologist Robert Langdon holds a cryptex while Sir Leigh Teabing points a revolver at him in ''Film/TheDaVinciCode''. Robert simply flings the cryptex to one side. Leigh makes a desperate effort to catch it but, being lame, fails. [[TheChessmaster Teabing]] is left in tears as vinegar runs through his fingers, certain that the cryptex's failsafe is dissolving the papyrus note inside, destroying a critical clue to the location of the Holy Grail.
* The ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' franchise has a situation in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'', in which the ''baddies'' try to catch the object. The prophecy everyone is after is confined in a glass globe that's about to hit the floor. Lucius Malfoy makes a desperate grab for it but misses and it shatters.

* In ''Film/FinalEncounter'', Stoner is cornered by enemy troops on the opposite side of a corridor from Southerland. He makes a HeroicSacrifice by throwing a critical MacGuffin to his companion, fatally exposing himself to enemy fire.
* In ''Film/RiskyBusiness'', Guido the pimp throws Joel's mom's crystal egg award at Joel, so Joel has to catch it so it doesn't break.
* ''Film/ReturnToOz'': Scarecrow saves a [[PricelessMingVase green vase]] in the Nome King's collapsing ornament room. Good thing too; [[spoiler: the vase was Jack Pumpkinhead and Bilina]].
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** The Infinity Stone in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'' is a powerful gem that destroys everything it gets into contact with. Ronan forges it into his [[DropTheHammer warhammer]], but during the film's climax, it gets blown out and threatens to destroy the planet on contact with the ground. Both the villain and the hero dive for the stone in dramatic BulletTime fashion. Guess who saves the day.
** In the opening battle of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', Crossbones's crew have stolen a bioweapon from an infectious-disease institute. Black Widow confronts two of the men, one of whom threatens to drop the vial in a crowded marketplace and kill hundreds. Natasha quickly takes down both of them, then catches the vial when it flies from the falling henchman's hands.
** In the climax of ''Film/AntMan1'', Scott gets lost in the Quantum Realm, unable to activate his suit to grow back to normal size. He fumbles while retrieving his last grow-disc from his belt, and barely manages to grab it before it can drift out of reach.

* In ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead'', Cort is forced into public gunfights with a single bullet in his pistol. When his first shot injures but fails to stop Spotted Horse, he pleads with the audience for someone to find him a second bullet. The blind boy digs one from an ammo box by feel and tosses it to him, allowing him to finish off Spotted Horse before the wounded man's wild shots can connect.

* In ''Film/TheRock'', Goodspeed has his hands full with one of the packages of spheres that contain the V-X nerve gas, when one of the balls that hold the deadly chemical agent falls off the end of its chain. Unable to grab for it, he cushions its fall with the springy laces on top of his shoe, then sets the other spheres down ''very carefully'' and dives to catch the runaway before it can roll off a ledge and shatter.
* In ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', capturing the occamy requires Tina to catch an object flung across the room by Jacob. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Said object is a live cockroach, which she must catch with a teapot.]]
* Used repeatedly in ''Film/TheSand'', as the characters toss items to one another so as to avoid contact with the deadly tendrils of the sand-burrowing jellyfish-monster. Nastily subverted when one character's overextended reach for a thrown towel sends him tumbling over the lifeguard hut's railing to his messy death.
* In ''Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare'', Freddy alters Carlos's hearing aid to make the teen hypersensitive to sound, then drops a pin from a high balcony. Having already experienced the bone-rattling roar of water dripping from a faucet, Carlos frantically dives to catch the pin before it can crash to the floor. [[spoiler: He catches it, but Freddy (being Freddy) follows up by dropping a whole ''handful'' of pins.]]
* In ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks : Chipwrecked'', Dave tosses Alvin the pocketknife he'd confiscated earlier, so Alvin can cut the leash that's got Jeanette snared.
* At the climax of ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'', Harley scoops up Deadshot's pistol and throws it to him, allowing him to set off the explosive device which Croc hurled into Enchantress's WorldWreckingWave-generator.
* In ''Film/{{Waterworld}}'', Deacon ''deliberately'' tosses a lit match at the open hatch leading to the oil tanker's petroleum tanks, ''just'' so he can watch one of his henchmen make a DivingSave to keep it from falling through and potentially blowing the entire vessel to hell.
* In his fourth test in ''Film/Saw3D'', Bobby has to guide a blindfolded Cale across some precarious planks, then toss him a key to unlock a cable that will hang Cale if the time runs out. [[spoiler:He throws it ''just'' too high, and it bounces off Cale's chest and through the space between the planks, dooming Cale to hang.]]
* Sallah from ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' saves Indy from poisoning himself with a drugged date by snatching the tossed morsel in midair, just short of Jones's mouth. Sallah'd noticed barely in time that eating from the same bowl of dates had proven fatal for a hungry monkey.
* In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Rose's sister performs a HeroicSacrifice by launching her vessel's cargo of bombs at a massive First Order warship, knowing she'll be caught in the backblast. Her efforts are impeded because the control box to launch her bomber's payload is teetering at the top of a ladder, there's no one else alive on board to retrieve it, and she's sprawled on her back after falling down the ladder. In desperation, she kicks the ladder until the control box tips over the edge, snags it one-handed before it can plummet out of her vessel's bomb bay, and triggers the payload's release.

* In ''Film/Derailed2002'', Galina attempts to take the vials back after Cole opens the case, but the case goes flying. Natasha makes a desperate dive and manages to catch it, but the one of the vials breaks, exposing everyone on the train to the virus.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** In ''Literature/SmallFavor'', Harry's gloved left hand snatches a slain Denarian's coin out of the air before it can touch his own skin, potentially subjecting him to demonic possession.
** In ''Literature/SkinGame'', Harry throws a blessed sword's hilt to Charity Carpenter, hoping that her faith will be sufficient to restore its power. [[spoiler: It bounces off her open palm into the hands of another character, whose faith renews it.]]

* In Creator/KenFollett's novel ''Literature/TheManFromStPetersburg'', the bad guy, a Russian anarchist, is carrying a nitroglycerine bomb. Cornered by the authorities he chucks the bomb into the air and runs for it. The good guy dives and catches the device before it hits the ground, thus saving everyone's life.
* The season three novel of ''AudioPlay/LeDonjonDeNaheulbeuk'' has Gluby the northern forest gnome catch a vial of alchemist fire dropped by the dying BigBad.

* In ''[[Literature/ThievesWorld Beyond Sanctuary]]'', Niko offers Randal a glyph-marked orb from the BigBad sorcerer's gear as battle-spoils, and tosses it to the young mage. It's unclear whether it would've simply smashed, or unleashed some terrible magical backlash, had Randal not dived to catch it.

* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In book 4 (''Beyond the Blue Moon''), an assassin/sorcerer under powerful magical protection takes the infant king hostage, and demands that the Queen Regent trade her life for the boy's. At the last moment, the Queen's father tosses a protective amulet for his royal daughter to catch, and its power lets her bypass the assassin's shielding spells and cut his throat with her own concealed dagger.
* Double subversion: In "Darkly Through A Glass Of Ale", a short story set in the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms, one of several treacherous spies threatens to drop a glass sphere containing smoke powder and an ignition chemical, thus blowing up himself and everyone else in the tavern. When a third party disrupts the stalemate and everyone involved in the confrontation starts killing each other, the spy is shot in the head and a guard captain on the scene frantically snatches the incendiary device out of the air. Then ''he'' drops it because his gloves are slippery, but another participant in the brawl strikes his knees from behind, causing his feet to shoot out from under him, so the explosive sphere lands in his lap, undamaged.

* On ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'', the team must save a woman who's been equipped with a [[ExplosiveLeash necklace bomb]]. When the one holding the detonator reveals himself, the team sniper shoots his wrist and he drops the device, which another team member dives to catch ... fortunately, right-side up, so the trigger button isn't depressed.
* Another villain version in ''Series/BlakesSeven''. Tavis has sent an android disguised as a female RebelLeader with a tiny sphere of virus to Blake's ship. Our hero discovers the plot, and reprograms the android for a HostageForMcGuffin trade so it will drop the sphere on a verbal command or (unstated) movement. After Blake beams out with the real rebel leader, Travis tries to edge close to the android...then makes a desperate lunge as she opens her hand, grabbing the sphere before it hits the ground. This cuts no ice with Supreme Commander Servalan, who has him relived of command for [[YouHaveFailedMe getting them into that situation in the first place]].
* An episode of ''Series/GetSmart'' ends by toying with this trope, as Max breaks up a KAOS group that was planning to steal the British Crown Jewels. He bluffs the other side into surrendering by threatening to blow them all up with a [[ChekhovsGun vial of nitroglycerin]], then scoffs when the KAOS agents give up, claiming it was empty and throwing it into the air derisively. 99 and [[DaChief Chief]] scream in terror, as it ''really wasn't empty''. Thankfully, the Chief catches it.
* In the season two finale of ''Series/AgentsOfShield'', a dying Gordon throws a contaminated Terrigen crystal in the air as a TakingYouWithMe gesture. Coulson catches the falling crystal before it can shatter and release a mist that would turn everyone else in the room to stone, but doing so causes his hand to start turning to stone. Coulson only lives because Mack cuts his hand off with an axe to stop the spread of the transformation.

* At the end of the ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' episode "Mrs. Parker's Revenge", the murderer who'd been out to steal a lethal virus sample is accused by Jessica, so he threatens to drop the vial and kill everybody in the area if his fellow-spies don't back off. A struggle over the vial erupts, and several characters miss their attempts at a Desperate Catch before [[spoiler: it hits the floor and breaks, prompting Jessica to reveal that she ''also'' deduced the murder victim had swapped out the ''real'' vial for a harmless decoy]].

* On ''Series/OddSquad'', Odd Todd throws a shrunken building to distract the Squad members while he and Shapeshifter escape, and Olive catches it with a DivingSave.

* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' has an episode where the gang gets caught in a GroundhogDayLoop caused by a magic artifact when it falls on the ground during a fight with [[DesertBandits marauders]]. At the end, Iago makes a lunge for it when it falls, and actually manages to catch it, thus breaking the loop.
* In the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/SoulMusic'', Susan tosses the lifetimer of one of the Assassins towards him, sending him diving desperately to catch it because he'd die if it shattered.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE24FearOfVictory Fear of Victory]]", Scarecrow tosses a vial of fear-inducing powder off the overhead scaffolding at a Gotham Knights football game. Robin fights through a previous exposure to the powder and snatches the plummeting vial in mid-air. Lampshaded (kind of) by the sports announcer's simultaneous narration about a "fumble" and a "recovery" on the playing field.
* On ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', Jet gets a bit carried away with a gravity experiment and thoughtlessly tosses Sean's telescope off the treehouse balcony. Sunspot dives underneath it and puffs up his belly like a balloon, so the telescope bounces back up again where Sean can reach over the balcony and grab it safely.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'' episode "Heat Wave," Tooey attempts this when he knocks over the fan. It didn't work, and it gets broken.

** The stakes are emotionally higher in ''Film/SpiderMan3'', when Peter loses his grip on Aunt May's engagement ring that he's intending to offer M.J., and has to frantically grab, swing, and web-shoot to try to recover it while fending off a Green Goblin attack by Harry.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03256673436523af737f6a4dcb7a80fb.jpg]]]]

** In the climax of ''Film/AntMan'', Scott gets lost in the Quantum Realm, unable to activate his suit to grow back to normal size. He fumbles while retrieving his last grow-disc from his belt, and barely manages to grab it before it can drift out of reach.