Movies where the underdog wins at the end


The thing I love about the original Rocky is he lost. In the set-up scene before the fight he's telling Adrian he just wants to go the distance. And at the end the announcer is announcing the winner as Rocky finds Adrian and they embrace. So he wins even though he lost.

How about Animal House? They get tossed out but ultimately exact their revenge.
 


They won by getting away.
But given the Rebels lost at Hoth, Luke lost his hand, Han got frozen in Carbonite. Leia said "I love you" and didn't get it reciprocated... it's enough for me to put it in the "L" column.

If I was being generous, I might call it a no decision. But it certainly wasn't a win.

Also, the Empire Strikes back was part of a bigger story. So that doesn't really count.
Given that the subject was "movies" and not "series of movies" I feel that looking at Empire as a standalone is fair game.
 
They won by getting away. Darth didn't get his prize. Also, the Empire Strikes back was part of a bigger story. So that doesn't really count.

Yes - the good guys "win" the moment Luke lets go, refusing to give in to the temptation to join the Dark Side. Sure, they took some knocks and some other stuff had to be resolved, but that was the victory right there.
 
But given the Rebels lost at Hoth, Luke lost his hand, Han got frozen in Carbonite. Leia said "I love you" and didn't get it reciprocated... it's enough for me to put it in the "L" column.

If I was being generous, I might call it a no decision. But it certainly wasn't a win.


Given that the subject was "movies" and not "series of movies" I feel that looking at Empire as a standalone is fair game.

They won by not getting obliterated. Oh and on a related note from another part of the trilogy, Han shot first.
 


Yes - the good guys "win" the moment Luke lets go, refusing to give in to the temptation to join the Dark Side. Sure, they took some knocks and some other stuff had to be resolved, but that was the victory right there.

They won by not getting obliterated. Oh and on a related note from another part of the trilogy, Han shot first.
OK so there are two moral victories postulated here. Luke not giving in to the dark side is easily the stronger of the two. And yet it's dampened by the fact that at no point does one believe that he's going to join - because at that point he doesn't believe Vader's assertion that "I am your father". But if you want to give him a small moral victory, sure.

Meanwhile, "winning" by not getting obliterated is a weak argument. By this logic, the Oakland Raiders "won" their game last week versus Kansas City despite scoring 9 points to Kansas City's 40. These are not wins. They are simply not complete losses.

And Han absolutely shot first.
 
OK so there are two moral victories postulated here. Luke not giving in to the dark side is easily the stronger of the two. And yet it's dampened by the fact that at no point does one believe that he's going to join - because at that point he doesn't believe Vader's assertion that "I am your father". But if you want to give him a small moral victory, sure.

Meanwhile, "winning" by not getting obliterated is a weak argument. By this logic, the Oakland Raiders "won" their game last week versus Kansas City despite scoring 9 points to Kansas City's 40. These are not wins. They are simply not complete losses.

And Han absolutely shot first.
The whole objective was to get Luke. They failed. That's not a moral victory. That's a victory.
 
OK so there are two moral victories postulated here. Luke not giving in to the dark side is easily the stronger of the two. And yet it's dampened by the fact that at no point does one believe that he's going to join - because at that point he doesn't believe Vader's assertion that "I am your father". But if you want to give him a small moral victory, sure.

Meanwhile, "winning" by not getting obliterated is a weak argument. By this logic, the Oakland Raiders "won" their game last week versus Kansas City despite scoring 9 points to Kansas City's 40. These are not wins. They are simply not complete losses.

And Han absolutely shot first.

Yeah, but I think Luke did "know it to be true" - he just didn't want to admit it. I would say it was a huge moral victory for Luke and a defeat for Vader, though less so for the Emperor.

I do agree that "not getting obliterated" is not really a victory, but that's not really what the movie is about.

To me, Han shoots whenever George Lucas says he did. George would know after all.
 
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To me, Han shoots whenever George Lucas says he did. George would know after all.
George might know, but he certainly keeps changing his mind about it.

Han shot first. Greedo shot first. They shoot at about the same time. Greedo makes a noise, and then someone shoots. Makes me think that sometimes, he can't help but tinker.

The whole objective was to get Luke. They failed. That's not a moral victory. That's a victory.
Look, you keep moving the goalposts, so agree to disagree here.
 
George might know, but he certainly keeps changing his mind about it.

Han shot first. Greedo shot first. They shoot at about the same time. Greedo makes a noise, and then someone shoots. Makes me think that sometimes, he can't help but tinker.

Yes, but it's George's prerogative. I'm one of those rare SW fans that pretty much thinks all of the changes made have improved the films. None of it bothers me and I generally agree with Lucas's reasons for doing so.
 
I'm sort of half and half. It bothers me but at the end of the day it was his playground. So I don't like it, but I accept it.
 
I kind of like the twist where the underdog doesn't win at the end. Tin Cup, Kingpin, Moneyball. Heck - I lived through the real version of Moneyball so it was hardly a surprise.
 
Um, but he lost to Apollo Creed at the end.
The thing I love about the original Rocky is he lost. In the set-up scene before the fight he's telling Adrian he just wants to go the distance. And at the end the announcer is announcing the winner as Rocky finds Adrian and they embrace. So he wins even though he lost.

That’s what I was thinking- that he was a winner because he went the distance!
 

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