Another Top 10 What Have I Done Movie Scenes

It seemed like a good idea at the time . . . Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we're counting down our picks for another top 10 what have I done scenes in movies.



For this list, we're looking at moments in which characters realize the folly of prior decisions. If you didn't see your favorite “What Have I Done” scene, be sure to check out our original list. And because some of these reveal plot details, a spoiler alert is in order.

“Reservoir Dogs” (1992)

The dramatic irony is palpable. In Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic about a diamond heist gone wrong, mob boss Joe Cabot suspects a setup . . . which, as the audience, we’ve known for a while: Mr. Orange is an undercover cop. But as Joe prepares to kill him, Mr. White, the relatively moral member of the group, leaps to his defense. The Mexican standoff between Joe, White, and Joe’s son Eddie ends . . . well, not well. Having made the ultimate sacrifice, White cradles Orange in his arms . . . only to learn that his long-time friend Joe was right all along.

“Great Expectations” (1998)

Estella is the ultimate ice queen. Since she was a little girl, she’s been trained to capture and break hearts by embittered aunt Ms. Dinsmoor, who was once jilted at the altar. And she’s pretty good at it . . . Estella is Ms. Dinsmoor’s revenge on the world, but when the spinster reveals to lovelorn, puppy-eyed painter Finn Bell that Estella was just using him to make her fiancé jealous, Finn takes her hand, and repeats back at the same words she once told him. She releases a heart-wrenching cry as she realizes what she’s become.

“The Game” (1997)

It’s all fun and games until you wake up entombed alive in Mexico. Investment banker Nicholas Van Orton thinks he’s under attack, and he has pretty good reason. A secretive company that operates an enigmatic, life-changing “game” has installed cameras in his home, seems to have drained his bank accounts, and sent troops to kill him . . . Turns out it’s all an elaborate hoax for his 48th birthday to teach him to appreciate life . . . which he only finds after believing he’s accidentally shot his own brother . . . and then trying to kill himself.

“Mystic River” (2003)

Sometimes you can’t escape the past. The same night Jimmy’s daughter is murdered, his childhood friend Dave comes home covered in blood. Abducted and molested as a child, Dave is still haunted by inner demons. The police are suspicious, and so is Jimmy’s wife . . . so Jimmy takes matters into his own hands. Only when police catch the real killers, who murdered Jimmy’s daughter in a prank gone wrong, does Jimmy realize his mistake . . . Dave did kill someone - a child molester, not Jimmy’s daughter.

“The Green Mile” (1999)

When sadistic prison guard Percy Wetmore sabotages an execution, the results are more than he can handle. It is established earlier on that in electric chair executions, a sponge soaked in brine is placed between the skull and electrodes to better conduct the lethal shock. By leaving the sponge dry, Percy causes inmate Delacroix to cook in his own skin. Unfortunately, the scene has real life precedent: in 1990, flames shot out of Jesse Tafero’s head when a synthetic sponge was used instead. As Delacroix burns, Percy is forced to watch - and seems, for once, horrified at what he’s done.

“Primal Fear” (1996)

It should be a moment of triumph. Successful Chicago defense attorney Martin Vail has won yet another case, with his client Aaron Stampler, accused of murdering an Archbishop, found not guilty by reason of insanity. But before he can go home to cut another notch in his belt, something Stampler says makes him pause. Stampler claims to lose time when his sociopath alter-ego “Roy” takes over . . . so how can he remember attacking the prosecutor in court? As Vail realizes Stampler faked multiple personality disorder, he’s awarded with a slow clap . . . pretty much the opposite of how he feels inside.

“Ender’s Game” (2013)

We all hate final exams. But some are worse than others. After rigorous training, boy genius Ender aces his final test, but discovers the simulation was actually real . . . meaning he’s annihilated an entire alien homeworld. Since he just wanted good marks, not to commit genocide, he’s devastated. Grizzled colonel Hyrum Graff tells Ender the deception was necessary, and reassures him that he’s a hero. But Ender isn’t having it. For Ender, it isn’t just about winning the game. It’s also how we win.

“Oldboy” (2003)

It’s a mistake that would be hard to get over. After being abducted and locked up for 15 years, Dae-su is out for vengeance, but the joke is on him . . . and it’s the worst dad joke ever. In high school, he spread the word that schoolmate Woo-jin was sleeping with his own sister, which drove said sister to suicide. In revenge, Woo-jin orchestrated events so that Dae-su would fall in love with chef Mi-do, who he reveals is Dae-su’s own daughter. And who Dae-su just had sex with.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007)

Some say revenge is a dish best served cold. Others say that it’s best baked into a piping hot meat pie. Murderous barber Sweeney Todd has covered his tracks by letting accomplice Mrs. Lovett bake his victims into her pies, but his vengeful murder spree comes to an abrupt and tragic end when he cuts the throat of a strange beggar woman. When he looks into her face, he realizes . . . it’s his own wife, who didn’t take her own life after all. He’s horrified . . . but also furious, since Mrs. Lovett knew the truth all along.





Before we reveal the identity of our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:



Ludicrous Speed

“Spaceballs” (1987)





Magneto Cripples Xavier

“X-Men: First Class” (2011)





Kirk Destroys the Enterprise

“Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (1984)

“The Usual Suspects” (1995)

Nothing beats a well-spun yarn. Customs special agent Dave Kujan has rounded up the suspects, but now he needs to fit them to the crime: a massacre on a ship in San Pedro Bay. Agreeing to spill the beans, con man Roger “Verbal” Kint weaves an increasingly convoluted tale, and is released. It’s at that moment when Kujan realizes: Verbal’s entire story was a lie, thrown together from things around his office. The stunned expression on the agent’s face is perfect, especially as he arrives outside to find Verbal already gone.