History RunningGag / Film

* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'': Jameson keeps yelling for '''"HOFFMAN!"''' who keeps appearing faster and faster as the movies progress, much to Jonah's confusion, eventually culminating in Jameson screaming his name while turning around, only to be face to face with Hoffman ''before he finished saying his name''.
* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'':
** ''Film/AShotInTheDark'':
-->"Do you have a License for x?" [[WackySoundEffect BEEBEEBEEBEEEEEEP! BEEBEEBEEBEEEEEP!]]
** ''Film/TheReturnOfThePinkPanther'': Dreyfus's constant confusion between a lighter that looks like a gun and a REAL gun.
*** Graham Stark's Character and his unfortunate hands.
* ''Film/{{Airplane}}''
** "Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up..." is a great example.
** So is the series of literal responses to "What is it?" [[labelnote:Answer]][[ComicallyMissingThePoint It's a response that describes the place where the situation is taking place, rather than the situation itself which the questioner wants to know more about, but that's not important right now.]][[/labelnote]]
** I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.
** These Running Gags have given me a drinking problem. [[IncrediblyLamePun (Splashes a glass of water)]]
** Ted's boring ramblings causing people to [[DrivenToSuicide kill themselves]].
* ''Film/{{Clue}}'':
** " Well, I didn't do it!!!"
** Communism was only a red herring.
* ''Film/ForrestGump'':
** It's subtle, but in every photo of Forrest, his eyes are closed.
** In a darker extent, many celebrities that Forrest met or talked about end up getting killed, most of them getting shot.
* ''Film/MeanGirls'':
** Damian uses one PaperThinDisguise after another (robber, Santa, guy with hoodie and sunglasses), yet nobody except Cady seem to recognize him.
** Cady's "word vomit." In one scene, it becomes actual vomit.
** Big yellow school buses.
** In the original script, the SoundEffectBleep was this, used whenever a character dropped an F-bomb.
* ''Film/HotFuzz''. Among others, many others...
** SWAAAAAAAAN!
** "For the greater good."
*** "The greater good."
*** "Shut it!"
** "WhatHeSaid".
** [[ShoutOut "By the]] [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 power of Greyskull]]..."
** The Living Statue.
** "He's a doctor. He can deal with it."
** "Well, official vocab guidelines state..."
** Tim's spelling errors.
** PC Thatcher's [[DoubleEntendre unsubtle innuendos]], followed immediately by PC Walker [[DontExplainTheJoke explaining the joke]].
* When anyone takes a seat in ''Film/HotShots'', they end up sitting on the same Chihuahua each time.
** Also, the Admiral's various war injuries and artificial body parts.
* In ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'', every time Snake meets a new character, they will observe that they thought he was dead.
** Which was done previously in ''Film/BigJake'' with John Wayne.
** In ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' the gag changes to everyone commenting [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller they thought Snake would be taller]].
** [[spoiler: Snake having all of his allies get killed in the end]] is sort of a RunningGag from the first movie to the second.
* Similarly, in ''Film/RoadHouse'', people tell Patrick Swayze, "I thought you'd be bigger." What it lacks in humor it makes up for in [[HoYay homoeroticism]].
* ''Film/TheLongGoodbye'', which features an anachronistic '50s private eye in the '70s has the protagonist not only be the only character that smoked, but as a RunningGag has him light a cigarette in every single scene. It also has the title tune shoehorned in many different times (on a car radio, at a Mexican funeral...).
* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Women seem to have a tendency to slap Jack Sparrow... or anyone representing him.
** '''[[InsistentTerminology Captain]]''' Jack Sparrow.
** Will Turner has a habit of getting knocked out during the pivotal point of a fight.
** Why is the rum always gone?
** It got away with sea turtles, mate. A pair of them strapped to the bottle.
** Were they eunuchs?
** Well, they did have a NiceHat. A really big one.
** They also tried to Parley with me.
** But that doesn't matter since the Pirate's Code is more like a guideline than actual rules.
** [[CatchPhrase This is the day that you will always remember as the day that]] [[CatchPhraseInterruptus y--]]
** Enter mascot dog with keys in mouth.
** Thank you, Jack.
** I hate that monkey.
** Barbossa's hat getting blown off in the [[HilariousOuttakes outtake reel]] of the third movie.
* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': INCONCEIVABLE!
* ''Film/BigGame'': Oskari's inability to draw a bow is played both for laughs and drama multiple times.
* ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'': Swallows, coconuts, people not dying.
** They got better.
** Also, Arthur's inability to count to five.
*** "Three sir!"
** "Get ''on'' with it!"
** AndThereWasMuchRejoicing.
*** Yaaayyy!
** It also uses MediumAwareness as a running gag, as in the murder of the historian, and the old man from Scene 24.
* The "dogs can't look up" gag in ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' is notable not only because it's an effective RunningGag within the film, but is something of a real-life running gag, having originated with Nick Frost during the filming of ''Series/{{Spaced}}'', as referenced on the DVD commentaries for both works. Also the "He's not my boyfriend!" is carried over.
** "[[MeaningfulEcho You've got red on you.]]"
** "Cornetto." (It's an ice cream.) Appears in all their movies.
* ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'': Creator/MelBrooks' King Louis XVI spouts off the infamous line "It's good to be the king" seemingly a half-dozen times in five minutes. Gets a CallBack in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' and ''Film/TheProducers'' (2005), but not spoken by Brooks.
* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': What happens whenever someone says "Frau Blücher" ([[SelfDemonstratingArticle *WHINNY*]])
* A running gag in ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' is that Shannon Hamilton likes to have sex in a very uncomfortable place.
*** What... like the back of a Volkswagen?
** "It's a sailboat."
** Also, telekinesis.
* ''Film/{{Clerks}}'':
** "What smells like shoe polish?"
** "I'm not even supposed to be here today."
** "Thirty-seven?!"
** "I heard she's getting married to an Asian design major."
* ''Film/TheWeatherMan'' has people throwing fast food at Nicolas Cage's character throughout the movie because they're so resentful of how easy his job is. It gets a lot less funny at one point when someone throws a [=McDonald=]'s apple pie at him, since he picks it up and runs after the people, throwing it back at them while screaming that he has kids and now he has to see them with pie on his clothes.
* ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' did this a lot in the sequels.
** "Hey [=McFly=], I thought I told you never to come in here."
** "He's a/an (noun)!"
** "There there, now, you're safe and sound now back in good old 1955."
** "So why don't you make like a tree and get out of here?"
** "Say hi to your mom for me."
** "Chicken?"
** [[BerserkButton "Nobody calls me Chicken!"]]
** "Slacker!"
** "This is heavy."
** "There's that word again!"
** "Great Scott!"
** "Manure! I ''hate'' manure!"
** "Mom? Mom, is that you?"
* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' has lots of them, ranging from the obvious, such as "We're on a mission from God!" to the subtle, like Jake constantly checking his watch which was declared broken in the first scene. (And other people's watches getting broken as well.)
* The gum in ''Film/NickAndNorahsInfinitePlaylist'' is a true running gag (some people can't stop gagging for hours after seeing it...).
* ''Film/BetterOffDead'': Has several, the most famous being one [[TheDeterminator very determined]] paperboy: "I want my two dollars!!"
* ''Film/SpaceCowboys'': (after a while) "You notice that everyone we know is dead?"
* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'': Sarah gets Hoggle's name wrong almost every time she talks to him.
** Sarah does this at first, but quickly learns his name. Jareth is the one that never gets Higgle's (HOGGLE!) name right.
* ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' anyone? Tallahase and his inability to find any twinkies.
* ''I Love You, Man.'' "...Why does everything I say sound like a leprechaun?"
* ''Film/ImGonnaGitYouSucka''
** "Do you want to go through [[TheWindowOrTheStairs the window (over the side, etc.), or take the stairs?]]"
** "You aren't selling Amway products, are you?"
** "How did he go to the bathroom with all those gold chains on?"
* ''Franchise/StarWars Episodes 4-6:''
** "I have a bad feeling about this." (Uttered at least once by Luke, Han, and Leia. Arguably by Chewie, too.)
*** Yoda, too: "Bad feeling have I."
** Also used by Obi-Wan and Anakin in all three prequels. And by various characters in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''. And all over the Expanded Universe. And in various other franchises as gags: from ''Fanboys'' to ''Lost''.
*** It's so common that there's [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/I_have_a_bad_feeling_about_this an article on the Star Wars Wiki]] devoted to cataloging all the appearances of the line.
** I sense a disturbance in the Force
*** [[VideoGame/JediKnightJediAcademy You always feel a disturbance in the force.]]
** C-3PO is constantly pissing off other characters by showing off his intelligence in situations where it doesn't actually help, leading to him being cut off mid-sentence [[OncePerEpisode at least once in every movie]] in the Original Trilogy. In ''Film/ANewHope'', he gushes about his language and programming skills to Uncle Owen until he finally buys him just to shut him up. In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', he's always calculating the characters' probability of surviving dangerous situations, culminating in Leia loudly shutting him up while the ''Millennium Falcon'' engages the ''Avenger''. And in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', EV-9D9 cuts him off in Jabba's palace before he can even finish saying his signature line "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication!"
* ''Film/TheGreatEscape'': Hilts's habit of bouncing a baseball against the wall every time he gets stuck in the Cooler.
* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'': Landa's insistence on using American idioms and getting them slightly wrong.
* During the filming of ''Film/RushHour2'', a real life running gag showed up: As shown in the outtakes, Chris Tucker ''cannot'' remember to call Jackie Chan by his character's name.
* ''Film/AHardDaysNight'' - Paul's grandfather. He's very clean.
** "Who's that little old man?"
* ''Film/{{Kingpin}}'' had two major running gags. One was Roy Munson referring to his 1979 championship ring as "this", only for people to think he's talking about the rubber hand it's situated on (this gets reversed at the end when he actually is talking about the rubber hand). The second is different characters referring to being put in an unwinnable situation as being "Munsoned".
* ''Film/AnyGivenSunday'' had the third-string quarterback, Willie Beamen to throw-up in the middle of the game. Every time the Sharks were playing.
* ''Film/{{Paul}}'' - 'Three tits? Awesome.'
** Also, everyone asking if Graeme and Clive are gay.
** "Who the hell is Adam Shadowchild?"
* In many of the ''Film/HarryPotter'' films, if Seamus is on screen chances are he's about to [[Funny/HarryPotter accidentally blow something up]]. Given a fantastic send off in ''Deathly Hallows Part 2'', where [=McGonagall=] tells Neville [[spoiler: to enlist Seamus' help blowing up the bridge due to his "proclivity for pyrotechnics."]]
** Ron's dislike for spiders is a [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes cruel irony]] in the second movie, but becomes lighter later, with things like Ron mumbling in his sleep, "The spiders. They want me to tap-dance. I don't want to tap-dance," and Harry mumbling back "You tell those spiders Ron."
** Hagrid saying "I shouldn't've said that" in the first movie.
* ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'': "What was the middle one?"
* ''Film/MysteryTeam'': Jason's [[PaperThinDisguise disguises]]
* Several in ''Film/TheGumballRally''. Lapchick's madness, Franco's womanizing, the Rolls-Royce...
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Kirk trying to find out Uhura's first name (a shout-out to the fact that she never had one in the original series).
*** Chekhov's accent.
*** A ''literal'' running gag: Kirk suffering from various adverse reactions to a vaccine he was given, running down the halls trying to get to the bridge as [=McCoy=] repeatedly gives him shots to counteract the symptoms.
** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': This isn't the first time Kirk and Scotty have an adventure before returning to the ''Enterprise''.
*** Scotty has to yell at his assistant Keenser to get down from places that he shouldn't be sitting on...like an experimental torpedo.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Film/IronMan1'':
*** The running gag of one of Tony's inept helper bot arm... things... having a propensity to hose him down with a fire extinguisher at a drop of a hat. First time is when his jet boots fail (in that they were set too high and flung him face first into the ceiling). Second time was him threatening the bot ''not'' to do it. Third time was at the end of his Mk 2 flight; First, Tony breaks the ceiling and floor of his house, then smashes a grand piano, then one of his expensive cars... then gets hosed off by the extinguisher bot again. Tony can only lie his helmeted head down in tired frustration.
*** Speaking of the car scene, Iron Man unintentionally wrecking other people's cars occurs a couple of times per movie.
*** Also, there's Agent Coulson insisting on stating the full acronym for S.H.I.E.L.D. ("Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division") several times when introducing himself to others.
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' has a rather literal example: On your left!
** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': In the opening battle, when Iron Man says "Shit!", Captain America reprimands him by saying, "Language!" Iron Man promptly calls him out on this, and ''Cap'' is the one who says "I know, I know, it just slipped out." For the rest of the movie, whenever Cap swears--or sometimes even when he doesn't, and just uses strong but not explicit language--he gets teased for it.
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' has Rocket Racoon being called something other than a raccoon, and often demeaning, such as "Trash Panda", "Triangle-faced monkey", "Puppy", etc.
** Every ''Film/{{Thor}}'' film features a shot of the Son of Odin's face getting smushed into a window. When he's drugged in in the first film, when he's fighting Malekith over London in the second film, and when he wakes up in Valkyrie's ship in the third film.
*** Also, he keeps falling victim to [[{{Irony}} tasers]] or similar devices.
* The American version of ''Film/{{Godzilla 2000}}'' has [[IntrepidReporter Yuki Ichinose]] and the word "[[UsefulNotes/{{Baka}} imbecile]]."
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'': "Myth! Myth!" "Yeth!"
** Lost? Have you tried Hare Krishna?
** Also lampshaded in ''The Muppet Family Christmas.''
* In ''Lethal Weapon'' films, starting with the [[Film/LethalWeapon2 second movie]], Riggs would occasionally dislocate his shoulder (though in the second movie he does it intentionally to break loose of a strait jacket) and then bang it on a wall to put it back in its place. It occurs in the [[Film/LethalWeapon3 third movie]] when Riggs falls off a bridge while on a motorcycle then in the [[Film/LethalWeapon4 fourth movie]] during the final showdown with [[BigBad Wah Sing Ku]] when the villain dislocates his shoulder.
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'': Bruce gets gear that "comes in black" to be Batman.
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': Miranda Tate being referred to as "quite lovely".
* ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'': Colton calling Lady Jaye [[AccidentalMisnaming "Brenda"]].
* Several in ''Film/TheHeat''.
** The Jesus-themed Boston sports teams paintings that Mullins' family has.
** The leftover sandwich Mullins has in her fridge.
* In [[Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Lightning Thief]]: Grover getting flirted with by hot girls, from the camp to the ''underworld'' counts.
* Men just can't resist the urge to touch Red's ivory prosthetic leg in ''Film/TheLoneRanger''.
* ''{{Film/Holiday}}'': Addressing the Potters as "Porter".
* ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'':
** "''Another'' place, Edward."
** Margaret Lord forgetting who Mike is.
* ''Film/TheMadMissManton'': ''Oh, you're always talking communism!"
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** Thanks to his recurring nightmares of his DarkAndTroubledPast, it's a bad idea to share a bed with Wolverine or to be near him when he's unconscious. [[Film/XMen1 Rogue]], [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Silverfox]], [[Film/TheWolverine a veterinarian (student), and, very nearly, Mariko,]] learn this lesson the hard way. Surprisingly enough Mariko seems completely unperturbed by almost being impaled and CONTINUES SLEEPING WITH HIM!
*** [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast Later]], [[spoiler: Shadowcat]] learns it the hard way. Not for sleeping with him, just for being too close during one of his episodes.
*** His discomfort when it comes to flying plays out across the various films.
*** Likely unintentional, but in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' whenever he tries to confront Magneto, he ends up thrown through the air.
** In ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', every time Nightcrawler meets someone new, he ''has'' to introduce himself with a long speech... and gets cut off nearly every time.
* Whenever the two detectives in ''The Jigsaw Murders'' go see the photographer whom they (rightfully) suspect of being the killer responsible for bodyparts turning up around the city, they have to chase away two guys trying to break into their car. This has dramatic consequences later on as they succeed on a third try and steal their radio, which forces the main character to confront main villain by himself.
* In the second film in the Spanish ''Torrente'' series, Cañita Brava dropped the line "Me debes 6000 pesetas de whisky". [[labelnote:Eng]]You owe me 6000 pesetas' worth of whisky[[/labelnote]] It was so popular, he was asked to appear again in all three following films just to repeat that line, translated into euros in the third and fourth movies, and back to pesetas for the fifth.
* Mikey's crush on April in ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014''.
* In ''Film/{{Annie 2014}}'', the social services woman is a kleptomaniac and is seen constantly slipping things into her purse.
* The flock of pigeons who pop up whenever ''Film/{{Paddington}}'' tries to take a bite of his marmalade sandwich.
* In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1'', after Effie finally leaves her self-imposed isolation in District 13, she is never shown wearing her jumpsuit the same way twice.
* The Creator/WCFields short ''The Fatal Glass of Beer'' contains one of the most famous running gags in movie history. Whenever Fields character goes out into the raging blizzard or comes back in, he pauses in the door to declare "This aint' a fit night out ... for man nor beast" and then gets a handfull of snow thrown in his face.
* In ''Film/TwoForTheRoad'', Mark keeps losing his passport.
* ''Film/TheMoreTheMerrier'' has Mr. Dingle losing his pants in interesting ways and then finding them again —to his confusion.
* ''Film/BringingUpBaby:'' "I'll be with you in a minute, Mr. Peabody!"
* ''Film/ShallWeDance:'' The hotel manager's confusion about whether the connecting door between Peter and Linda's hotel suites should be unlocked (if they are married) or locked (if they are not).
* ''Film/HotTubTimeMachine'':
** The bellhop repeatedly failing to lose his arm in situations where he should have.
** In the deleted scenes, it's revealed that Miss Only-Does-Two-Guys-At-A-Time ensnared a significant percentage of the male cast during the night, but each time one of them running off.
* ''Film/TheLastWitchHunter'': 37th Dolan asking at least once per car ride to be given some weapon, and Kaulder stubbornly refusing to give him any.
* ''Film/AChristmasStory'': Any time Ralphie tells an adult about his desire to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas, he's always told the same thing: "You'll shoot your eye out!"
* ''Film/TheWomanInRed'': Ms. Milner (Gilda Radner) constantly attacking Teddy's car.
* In ''Film/TheHatefulEight'', characters repeatedly having to nail the broken door shut any time someone enters or leaves so the blizzard doesn't blow it open.
* ''Film/{{Help}}'':
** John: "[[MadLibsCatchPhrase Getting nowhere, are you, jeweller/mad scientist/superintendent]]?"
** People and things being referred to as "The ''famous'' X" ("the famous Beatles", "the famous Ringo", "the famous ring", "the famous temple", and so forth) primarily by the Superintendent, although the Beatles themselves as well as the written narration pick up on the trend.
* Each member of the Central Committee arriving at Stalin's dacha and kneeling in the puddle of [[UnusualEuphemism 'his indignity']] as they attempt to show their grief in ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin''.
* ''Film/TheBastardSword'': "Grande Warrior!!!"
* ''Film/NannyMcPhee'' has the running gag of the title character repeatedly seemingly mysteriously appearing in a room out of nowhere and startling people, only to declare "I did knock."
* ''Film/HolmesAndWatson'' has Holmes experimenting with different hats, trying to find one that suits him. It is not in any way funny.
----

* ''Film/SpaceCowboys'': (after a while) [[BadAssGrandpa "You notice that everyone we know is dead?"]]

* ''Series/HolmesAndWatson'' has Holmes experimenting with different hats, trying to find one that suits him. It is not in any way funny.

* ''Film/StarTrek'': Kirk trying to find out Uhura's first name (a shout-out to the fact that she never had one in the original series).
** Chekhov's accent.
** A ''literal'' running gag: Kirk suffering from various adverse reactions to a vaccine he was given, running down the halls trying to get to the bridge as [=McCoy=] repeatedly gives him shots to counteract the symptoms.

* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': This isn't the first time Kirk and Scotty have an adventure before returning to the ''Enterprise''.
** Scotty has to yell at his assistant Keenser to get down from places that he shouldn't be sitting on...like an experimental torpedo.

* ''Film/NannyMcPhee'' has the running gag of the title repeatedly seemingly mysteriously appearing in a room out of nowhere and startling people, only to declare "I did knock."

* ''Film/TheBastardSword'' "Grande Warrior!!!"

* Each member of the Central Committee arriving at Stalin's dacha and kneeling in the puddle of [[UnusualEuphemism 'his indigity']] as they attempt to show their grief in ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin''.

* ''Film/XMen'':

** Every ''Film/{{Thor}}'' film features a shot of the Son of Odin's face getting smushed into a window. When he's drugged in
*** Also, he keeps falling victim to [[{{Irony}} tasers or similar devices]].

** Every ''Film/{{Thor}}'' film features a shot of the Son of Odin's face getting smushed into a window. When he's drugged in the first film, when he's fighting Malekith over London in the second film, and when he wakes up in Valkyrie's ship in the third film.

** Every ''Film/{{Thor}}'' film features a shot of the Odinson's face getting smushed into a window. When he's drugged in the first film, when he's fighting Malekith over London in the second film, and when he wakes up in Valkyrie's ship in the third film.