Top 10 Movie Traps That Failed
#10: Castle Booby Traps
“Scooby-Doo” (2002) In Mystery Inc.’s live-action debut, the meddling kids – or rather, adults – investigate a strange island resort that’s supposedly haunted. When they first “split up and look for clues,” they are caught up in a haunted castle theme-park attraction gone wrong. The animatronics seemingly go haywire; Daphne gets trapped on a rollercoaster, Shaggy and Scooby get wrapped up in fake food, and Fred and Velma… let’s just say they have to watch their heads. If you’re an OG fan of the franchise, chances are you’ll recognize these traps from the gang’s Hanna-Barbera days. They survive thanks to Velma’s quick thinking and Fred’s dumb luck, and end up shutting down the haunted castle. It’s a great callback to older adventures and charmingly campy with great performances by the cast.
#9: Mysterio’s Illusion
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” (2019) A trickster managing to rival Loki, Mysterio’s deceptions are notorious throughout Marvel Comics. In his MCU debut, this proves just as true when Spider-Man is caught in a nightmarish hologram Mysterio projects all around him. Peter Parker’s reality warps every which way, toying with his fears of losing MJ and grief over Iron Man’s death. The physical damage, though, that’s as real as ever. All this culminates in Mysterio abruptly luring Peter onto a railroad to be hit by a train. While the villain certainly comes close to killing Spider-Man, the webslinger is as resilient as ever, albeit bloodied and nearly broken, both inside and out.
#8: An Elaborate Rat Trap
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“The Great Mouse Detective” (1986) The story of this Disney cult classic follows the Sherlock Holmes-style mouse, Basil, as he works to solve a conspiracy put together by arch nemesis Professor Ratigan. After capturing Basil and co., Ratigan sets up an elaborate trap involving a hatchet, a pistol, an anvil, and, of course, a mouse trap. But, like any good detective, Basil finds a way to narrowly escape death and save his friends. It’s a finely animated sequence that shows how a complicated situation can be solved with a simple solution. Also, who doesn’t love a classic Rube Goldberg machine? Even if it did fall apart in the end…
#7: The 55-Mph Bus
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“Speed” (1994) In this 90s action-thriller classic, mad bomber Howard Payne, played by the late Dennis Hopper, rigs a public bus in Los Angeles to explode if it goes under 50mph, all the while demanding nearly $4 million in ransom. Working to save the people on the bus and to keep it from detonating in a populated area, officer Jack Traven, played by Keanu Reeves, devises a plan to trick Payne into viewing a looped recording of the bus interior while offloading the passengers onto another bus. This plan just barely succeeds, thwarting Payne’s hostage scheme and giving us a satisfying explosion that takes out the bus and, as a bonus, a plane. Plus no one was hurt. Not even that one guy.
#6: The Zombie Rope Trap
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“I am Legend” (2007) Robert Neville survives alone with his dog in New York City as he tries to find a cure for a vampiric-zombie outbreak. It only takes lowering his guard once for Neville to be caught in a steel-wire trap that the zombies placed to catch him. As night falls, he narrowly escapes and fends off several infected dogs before returning to his secured home. The trap mirrors one he used earlier in the film to capture a zombie for his experiments and also shows how the infected may not be as mindless as Neville thinks. While this is a trap that doesn’t manage to kill Neville, his dog does get infected, leading to a gut-wrenching mercy kill.
#5: Buried Underground
“Kill Bill Vol. 2” (2004) Part two of Quentin Tarantino’s magnum opus sees Beatrix Kiddo, aka the Bride, going after the last few members of her former hitman squad and their leader, Bill. However, Bill’s brother, Budd, is ready when the Bride comes for him and takes her out with a shotgun blast before burying her alive. Unwilling to accept her fate, the Bride channels all her strength and the teachings of her martial arts master, Pai Mei, to literally punch her way to freedom. Budd’s brutal use of rocksalt shells mixed with his insults make for a real nail biting moment. Still, the Bride’s focus and sheer willpower prevail in a scene that shows how easily Tarantino can put together arthouse and grindhouse cinema together in a seamless fashion.
#4: The Laser Trap
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“Goldfinger” (1964) When 007 begins to unravel the conspiracy of “Operation Grand Slam,” the mastermind Auric Goldfinger has the agent bound in a laboratory to be vertically cut in half with a laser. Boasting about how he expects Mr. Bond to die, Goldfinger’s judgment is swayed when 007 tricks him into thinking he knows about his master plan. This scene is probably one of the most iconic moments in the Bond series, with the high powered laser burning through metal with ease and making its way up to James’... nether region. Sean Connery and Gert Fröbe both give outstanding performances, with the former appearing genuinely frightened and desperate, while the latter is perfectly smug… Before inevitably being filled with doubt, of course.
#3: The Water Cube
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“Saw V” (2008) No list of traps would be complete without one entry from Saw. This test is for Peter Strahm, who’s on the trail of the current Jigsaw killer, Mark Hoffman. Getting too close to the answers, Strahm gets his head encased in a glass box slowly filling with water. In a Jigsaw test that seems foolproof, Strahm has to think fast and take drastic measures. For instance, stabbing himself in the neck to perform a tracheotomy. The snare is an elaborate and impressive display of practical effects in the franchise, with the brutality coming from the act of escape rather than failure. Even though it goes without razor-sharp blades or grinding gears, this trap is still just as effective and lethal.
#2: The Battle of Endor
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“Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi” (1983) Admiral Ackbar said it best. To bring the war between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire to an end, Palpatine purposefully leaks intelligence to lure the Rebels into a trap between the new Death Star and the Imperial Fleet. However, against all odds, the native Ewoks fight back against the Imperial ground forces, allowing Han Solo and Princess Leia to shut down the Death Star’s shield generator, and Lando to destroy the power station. On top of this, Darth Vader finally turns back to the light in order to save his son, killing the Emperor in the process. Decades of planning, corruption, and war across the galaxy all goes down the tubes!
#1: The Rolling Boulder
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“Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) Archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is introduced to audiences as he explores a temple in Peru, seeking a Golden Idol surrounded by deadly snares that scare or kill off his crew. After a suspenseful scene of trying to take the Idol, the temple begins to fall apart, forcing Jones to flee from a massive boulder rolling down the entrance ramp. Indy’s frantic flight and the boulder’s speed make for an incredibly thrilling moment that had movie goers on the edge of their seats. The build up to this trap is a masterclass in suspense by Steven Spielberg, and Harrison Ford’s performance and stunt work in the scene make for one of the most iconic moments in cinema history. And that’s just the first act!