History TakeAThirdOption / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjay'' part 2: After the war is over, Katniss and the other victors get offered to send some of the Capitol's children into a Hunger Games in lieu of executing hundreds or thousands of torturers, game makers and Peacekeepers of the Capitol. [[spoiler: Katniss chooses to kill president Coin instead, thereby preventing any further violent deaths afterwards.]]

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', Nicolas Cage's character is given a choice by the feds; [[spoiler:do nothing and go to prison, or help the feds rescue the stolen Declaration of Independence from [[EvilBrit Ian]] and [[MortonsFork still go to prison]] ("[[But [[GoodFeelsGood you'll feel better on the inside]]").]] Initially, Cage accepts the second option but when the plan goes south, [[spoiler:he declares, "Sadusky, I'm still not against you. But I found door #3, and I'm taking it." He then makes his escape via diving in the Hudson river.]]

* In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Lando Calrissian is [[SadisticChoice forced]] into a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Vader]] - he betrays his old friend so Han will be bait for a trap, and afterwards the crew will [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo be safe on Cloud City]], and the city itself will then be ignored by the Empire, which will kindly not destroy it. But the deal [[ILied gets altered repeatedly]]. So Lando made plans to free the crew of the Falcon and get the citizens to flee, though he could only execute them after Han had been frozen in carbonite. The third option was only partially successful, but things turned out all right in the end. Even Cloud City apparently escaped harm - the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse tells us that it fell under Imperial control, but never got destroyed (perhaps the gas mines were too profitable), and eventually the New Republic got it back.
** And in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' Luke has the option of either killing Vader and Palpy or joining them. What does he do? He chooses to die, and in the process inspires his father to save him, killing both Sith in the process and [[ChosenOne bringing balance to the Force]].

** ''[[Film/XMen1 X-Men]]'': Magneto is using Rogue as a LivingBattery for his machine (which will her) in his plan to turn humans into mutants (except the machine accidentally kills humans instead). Cyclops states if he just shoots the thing that will probably kill her too, so Wolverine tries to manually tear it apart (why that wont kill her is unclear) only to be stopped by Magneto. When it looks like their only options are to sacrifice Rogue to save the city or let the machine run its course, Cyclops takes a third option [[spoiler:and shoots Magneto]].

* Parodied in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. As the crate containing the Cat's dimension is starting to leak, Conrad and Sally argue over whether they should pursue Nevins (their dog, who's run off with the crate's lock), or stay and call their mother for help. The Cat dramatically proclaims that there's a third option - "''[[MurderIsTheBestOption Murder]]''" - before admitting he just made that up because the kids both had options and he wanted one as well. They then go with Option A, and leave to pursue Nevins while weighing down the crate's lid with [[ItMakesSenseInContext their sleeping babysitter]].

--> '''Snake:''' Disappear. (proceeds to shut off the entire world's electricity)

* In ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (1947 version), Fred's CourtroomAntic of claiming Kris is sane because he is the one true Santa Claus initially puts the prosecutor in the position of admitting before an open court and ''his own son'' that there is no Santa Claus or dismissing the charges and letting Kris off. Instead, the prosecutor puts Fred on the defensive by conceding the point that Santa Claus is real, but pointing out that that doesn't necessarily mean Kris is Santa Claus.

* Subverted by ''TheProposition'', in which outlaw Charlie Burns is given a SadisticChoice: find and kill his older brother Arthur, or his younger brother Mikey will hang. [[spoiler: He and Arthur attack the jail and rescue Mikey, but because of a meddling SmugSnake, Mikey dies soon after. And then Charlie ends up killing Arthur anyway, but for a different reason.]]

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', Nicolas Cage's character is given a choice by the feds; [[spoiler:do nothing and go to prison, or help the feds rescue the stolen Declaration of Independence from [[EvilBrit Ian]] and still go to prison ("But you'll feel better on the inside").]] Initially, Cage accepts the second option but when the plan goes south, [[spoiler:he declares, "Sadusky, I'm still not against you. But I found door #3, and I'm taking it." He then makes his escape via diving in the Hudson river.]]

* In ''Film/MinorityReport'', PreCrime Chief John Anderton reveals that Director Burgess is guilty of murder and will murder Anderton to cover it up. Anderton reveals Burgess' dilemma: if he kills Anderton, PreCrime [[spoiler: which arrests people who commit crimes in the future]] will be validated but Burgess will go to prison for murder; but if Anderton is spared, PreCrime will be discredited and shut down due to it's ultimate flaw: [[spoiler: once people are aware of their future, they are able to change it.]]. Burgess kills himself instead.

* In''Film/MiracleonThirtyFourthStreet'' (1947 version), Fred's CourtroomAntic of claiming Kris is sane because he is the one true Santa Claus initially puts the prosecutor in the position of admitting before an open court and ''his own son'' that there is no Santa Claus or dismissing the charges and letting Kris off. Instead, the prosecutor puts Fred on the defensive by conceding the point that Santa Claus is real, but pointing out that that doesn't necessarily mean Kris is Santa Claus.

* In ''Film/MinorityReport'', PreCrime Chief John Anderton reveals that Director Burgess is guilty of murder and will murder Anderton to cover it up. Anderton reveals Burgess' dilemma: if he kills Anderton, PreCrime [[spoiler: which arrests people who commit crimes in the future]] will be validated but Burgess will go to prison for murder; but if Anderton is spared, PreCrime will be discredited and shut down due to it's ultimate flaw: [[spoiler: once people are aware of their future, they are able to change it.]]. Burgess kills himself instead.

** And as Beck attempts to leave the bar with an angry, handcuffed Travis in tow, in walks [[ChristopherWalken Cornelius Hatcher]], who refuses to let Beck leave with Travis.

* In ''Film/FrightNight2011'', when Charley and [[spoiler: Vincent]] make their final stand against Jerry, they end up [[spoiler: getting trapped in a beam of sunlight in his basement with Vincent starting to turn into a vampire. Jerry tells Charley that he can’t stay there forever and that the sun will eventually set. Charley chooses instead to set himself on fire and chain himself to Jerry before staking him.]]

* In ''Film/{{Snatch}}'', [[UsefulNotes/IrishTravellers Irish Traveller]] character Mickey is given two choices: perform in a fixed ForcedPrizeFight that he has to lose by knockout in the fourth round, or watch as the gangsters forcing him to do this murder his entire clan. ([[spoiler:And just to prove they will, they set fire to his mother's caravan -- [[MoralEventHorizon with her inside]].]]) Instead, they decide on a third option. [[spoiler:Mickey and the entire clan bet a shitload of money on Mickey knocking out his opponent, which he does, and before the gangsters can do anything about it the clan kills all the gangsters assassins and the head of the mob as well. Moral of the story: don't fuck with Pikeys.]]

* In ''Who Am I?'', JackieChan's character is confronted by two thugs on the roof of a building, who give him two choices: "Give us the disk and jump off," said disk being the MacGuffin of the movie, or "We take the disk and throw you off." Instead, Jackie says, "I like the third choice: I keep the disk and throw you both off." ([[spoiler:During the ensuing fight scene, nobody actually gets thrown off.]])

* In a slight subversion in ''Film/{{Willow}}'', the main character and two others are asked by the village's High Aldwin (town wizard/leader), holding up his hand, which finger contains the power of magic. Each chooses a finger, and the Aldwin declares that they're all wrong. Later, in private, Willow tells the old man that [[GuideDangIt he had thought of choosing his ''own'' finger]], but rejected the idea. The Aldwin confirms that [[SecretTestOfCharacter this was, in fact, the correct answer]].

* ''Film/XMen'':

* Played with in the third ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, when Will is trying to decide between [[spoiler: killing Jones in order to save his Dad, which would mean he would become the new undead captain of the Flying Dutchman]] or [[spoiler:remaining alive and marrying Elizabeth]], Jack proposes that he "avoid the choice entirely. Change the facts" by [[spoiler:letting someone else kill Jones]]. In the end, this doesn't work out, because [[spoiler:Jones stabs Will, and in order to save his life, Jack helps Will stab Jones' heart]].
* In the Film/JamesBond film ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', [[spoiler:Bond and General Gogol confront each other over possession of the ATAC nuclear weapons transmitter, after killing the BigBad, Kristatos. Bond then destroys the ATAC by throwing it over a cliff, then comments, "That's détente, comrade. You don't have it, I dont have it."]]

* Towards the end of ''The Bank'', the father who blames the bank's CEO for his son's death bursts into the CEO's office with a shotgun with the intention of killing him. The CEO tells the man that while his son's death was tragic, he doesn't consider himself responsible, but to go ahead and do what he thinks he has to do. As the man contemplates whether to go through with it and spend the rest of his life in prison or forgo his revenge and possibly still do some time, [[spoiler:the phone rings. The CEO insists on answering it. The man realises the CEO would rather die than miss the call, so he shoots the phone, then goes outside and shoots the fuse box.]]

* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Erik asks Mystique, "Are you still Charles' Raven... or are you Mystique?" (What Magneto is truly referring to with the latter is if she's still his soldier.) In the end, she chooses [[spoiler:her own path. She doesn't adhere to her foster brother's pacifism, and she rejects her former lover's warmongering]].

* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': When Katniss and Peeta [[spoiler: decide to take the poison berries to kill themselves rather than one having to kill the other]].

* In ''Film/StuartLittle 2'', George doesn't want to let Stuart leave the house alone, but Stuart needs George to cover for him. Then they realize that they can ask Snowball to do the former.

* In ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' starring ''Mike Myers'', while the kids argue whether to get the dog or not, the Cat claims, "There is a third option... but it involves...[[MurderIsTheBestSolution murder]]."

* While Andy is playing in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', with Hamm making Woody choose Bo Peep's fate.
-->"I choose Buzz Lightyear!"
-->[[LampshadeHanging "What? That's not a choice!"]]
** Also done in the FakeOutOpening for ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', where Woody has to choose which of his friends will he save.
-->"I choose Buzz Lightyear!"
-->"Wait a minute, he's not one of the options!"

* Played with in the third ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, when Will is trying to decide between [[spoiler: killing Jones in order to save his Dad, which would mean he would become the new undead captain of the Flying Dutchman]] or [[spoiler:remaining alive and marrying Elizabeth]], Jack proposes that he "avoid the choice entirely. Change the facts" by [[spoiler:letting someone else kill Jones]]. In the end, this doesn't work out, because [[spoiler:Jones stabs Will, and in order to save his life, Jack helps Will stab Jones' heart]].

* Coach Halas does this in ''BriansSong'' when he can't decide if Brian Piccolo or Gale Sayers should start. He decides to switch Piccolo to fullback so he can have both players in the starting lineup.

* James P. "Sulley" Sullivan is left in charge of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' with a dilemma: continue to operate the company harvesting the screams of small children, after [[HeelRealization seeing how terrified it makes them]]? Or let the company collapse, leaving him in poverty and shame and Monstropolis in an eternal electrical blackout? [[spoiler: Sulley goes public with the discovery of laughter, a power source ten times more potent than screams, compatible with existing Monsters, Inc. technology, and entirely kid-friendly.]]