Gondor Calls For Aid / Live-Action Films

aka: Film

• In Angels & Demons, Langdon finds himself unable to save Cardinal Baggia, the fourth Preferiti, from his near-death in a fountain, and screams desperately: "HELP, SOMEBODY!" After a tense minute, various passerby rush into the fountain and help save the cardinal.
• In Army of Darkness, Ash calls upon Duke Henry the Red, last seen about to be put to death by Arthur, to help defend the Necronomicon from the Deadites. And while he does show up fashionably late, he does eventually bring his armies to Arthur's castle to assist.
• Avatar uses this twice. First, Jake Sully uses his new position as Toruk Makto to summon other Na'vi tribes to fight the RDA who seek to strip their home moon dry. Second, Eywa, the mother goddess of Pandora herself summons the Pandoran wildlife to reinforce the united Na'vi army just as their about to be wiped out, winning the battle. Bottom line, don't fuck with Eywa.
• Avengers: Endgame: After travelling to the past to borrow the Infinity Stones, the Avengers create a new Infinity Gauntlet to try to reverse Thanos' Snap. A past version of Thanos becomes aware of this plan and hijacks the Avengers' quantum tunnel time machine to arrive at the present, so he can stop them. He destroys the Avengers' base, but not before Banner uses the Gauntlet to unSnap the universe. Thanos battles Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, until only Cap is left standing, and then calls in his army. It looks like Cap is about to take on all of Thanos' forces by himself, until he hears Falcon in his earpiece say, "On your left." A portal opens up, and Black Panther, Shuri, and Okoye step through. Then another portal opens, bringing in Valkyrie, Korg, and Miek. Then Falcon, Bucky, Groot, and Scarlet Witch come through another, and another one brings in Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Star Lord, Mantis, and Drax. More and more portals open all over the field, and the Wakandan military, the army of Asgard, the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the Ravagers, and more begin pouring onto the battlefield. Giant Man emerges from the rubble, bringing Hulk, Rocket, and War Machine with him. Wasp pops up to normal size, and Pepper Potts drops from above in her Rescue armor. Tony and Thor are able to get back on their feet and ready their weapons. With a renewed look of confidence, Cap tightens his shield to his arm and shouts, "Avengers! Assemble!" And the Final Battle begins with the Avengers' theme swelling to triumphant heights.
• In Black Panther, T'Challa asks Chief M'Baku of the Jabari tribe for help after being dethroned and nearly killed by Erik Killmonger, which he refuses. While he helped save T'Challa's, life it was only out of gratitude for T'Challa sparing his own days earlier, and he has no desire to sacrifice any of his warriors or endanger his people by aiding in a battle that his completely isolated tribe has no stakes in. However, after thinking it over and realizing the danger W'Bari and Killmonger pose to Wakanda, he does ultimately decide to help, arriving with his warriors just as all seems lost.
• In Breaker! Breaker!, Arlene manages to escape from Judge Josh's goons and find a working CB radio, which she uses to put out a desperate call for help, as JD (Chuck Norris) is about to be killed by the town's corrupt police. Cue every trucker in hearing range — all of whom presumably are friends of JD's and/or were screwed over by Judge Josh and his minions — massing into one giant Convoy of Destruction massive enough to make the ground shake at their approach. Of course, thanks to the film's limited budget, this was about seven or eight older trucks. Still enough to knock the town flat, though.
• The same thing happens in the 1978 film Convoy. When a trucker named Spider Mike leaves the eponymous convoy, he gets arrested and beaten in Texas by a sheriff, working with the main antagonist of the film. The janitor of the local jail gets on the CB to call for help and various truckers pass the word to the leader of the convoy, Rubber Duck, who heads out to rescue him. The next morning, Rubber Duck and eight other truckers line up outside of town, deliver an ominous, spine-chilling blast on their horns, and wreck the town to free Spider Mike.
• Parodied in Duck Soup. Firefly (Groucho Marx) gets on the radio and calls: "Mayday, mayday! Rush to Freedonia! Three men and a woman are trapped in a building. Send more men at once! If you don't have any men, send three more women!" Cue Stock footage of fire engines, police motorcycles, Olympic runners, monkeys, elephants, and dolphins.
• Parodied in Fahrenheit 9/11 when Michael Moore lists the names of the countries that answered US calls for aid in defeating Saddam Hussein, whether or not they had a military.
• Happens all the goddamn time the Godzilla series whenever the military can't handle a monster and calls another monster to help them. Perhaps the most notable example can be found in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964). In that movie, Mothra is very angry with Japan for the nuclear testing that trashed her home island and the refusal to return her egg to her, but when Godzilla attacks Mothra shows up at the last minute to help based on some sincere Japanese citizens' pleads for help.
  • In later films, beginning with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, it was Godzilla himself who was summoned to aid the JSDF or other forces of good when they were in over their heads.
• Independence Day gives us a twofer. First, the Air Force recruits any civilian who knows how to fly a plane to fight the aliens, and then this trope plays out on a global scale as the US uses a telegraph to unite the Russians, the Chinese, the Israelis, the Arabs and many other nations into one coordinated counterattack.
• In Iron Sky, the US space ship is severely outgunned by the Nazi Cool Airships and desperately calls for reinforcements - promptly provided by everyone but Finland, who have opted for not violating space armament treaties.
• In It's a Wonderful Life, when George is on the verge of bankruptcy, Potter snidely tells George Bailey that if he were to ask the "riff-raff" he spent much of his adult life helping for aid when he needed it, they would turn on him. Fortunately for George, Rousseau Was Right, and all those who George had helped over the course of the movie are more than happy to help him.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. From the Pirate Lords of the Seven Seas, using the Nine Pieces of Eight.
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over ends with the Cortezes calling on their immediate family, then (in the vein of the running theme of "family") various people they had met over the course of their adventures to fight the Toymaster's robots.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, naturally. In the film, Denethor refused to light the signal fires due to a combination of bad blood between Gondor and Rohan, and due to a misguided notion that Gondor needed no aid (Denethor being under the influence of Sauron affected his decision making somewhat). Pippin manages to sneak into one of the towers and lights the fire himself. Théoden, when the subject was first broached by Aragorn, was bitter over Gondor not sending any help to Rohan during their devastating fight... when he actually gets the call, though, he personally leads The Cavalry. (Worth noting, in the book, even under Sauron's corrupting influence, Denethor had the presence of mind to send for help before the heroes arrived, and was waiting for the reinforcements.)
• Parodied in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. At a bar, Ron Burgundy calls his news friends by using a horn, yelling "NEWS TEAM, ASSEMBLE!". Ron's dog, Baxter, who'd been thrown off a bridge, answers from a distant location, but it turns out Ron's friends were already at the bar.
• The Music Man. During the film's climax, Marian saves Harold Hill from the wrath of the town after his con is revealed by appealing to individual townspeople whose lives Harold improved during his time in River City. One by one the townspeople stand up in support of Harold until the Mayor agrees to relent.
• Star Wars:
  • Subverted at the end of The Last Jedi. The entire plot of the film is about the Resistance getting to Crait so they can summon their allies...and they don't respond, leaving the Resistance with nothing but gutted speeders to fend off against the entire First Order.
  • Played epically straight in The Rise of Skywalker. As the remnants of the Resistance prepare to launch a desperate attack to stop the Final Order (an armada of Star Destroyers equipped with planet-destroying weaponry) from being unleashed on the galaxy, they send Lando out on the Millennium Falcon to call for help from the free worlds. During the Final Battle, just as it appears the Resistance is going to be overwhelmed, the Falcon returns at the head of millions of ships from across the galaxy, which instantly turn the tide in the Resistance's favor.
    General Pryde: Where did they get all these fighters? They have no navy!
    Commander: This isn't a navy, sir. They're just... people.

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