Top 10 Smartest Action Movie Decisions (That Still Got People Killed)

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#10: Breaking Into the Source

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“The Matrix Reloaded” (2002)
In “The Matrix Reloaded”, the war between humans and machines has reached an impossible point. So the humans decide to infiltrate the Source - essentially the hard drive that keeps the Matrix running. The humans don’t have enough manpower to defend an assault, but Neo as the One and his friends are powerful enough within the Matrix to fight their way through Agents, swordspeople, werewolf programs, all to get to the heart of it all. Unfortunately, in the process, they lose a whole ship of their allies, as well as the benevolent Keymaker and Trinity - though the latter is resurrected by Neo. Striking the machines at the heart of their greatest creation was clever, but setting fire to a beehive will always get you stung.

“Executive Decision” (1996)
A hijacked plane with 400 passengers and a deadly nerve agent is only the first problem the US government faces in this action thriller. In order to avert catastrophe, US intelligence agent Dr. Grant, Lt. Colonel Travis and a special forces team execute an unorthodox move - using a stealth aircraft to board the plane… while it’s still in flight. Naturally, complications arise. During the transfer, Travis allows himself to get sucked out into the air due to a pressurization issue, and the subsequent battle against the terrorists claims the lives of several passengers and the plane’s pilots- as well as the terrorists themselves. Given the circumstances of their high-flying undertaking, the team is pretty lucky that they only lost a few passengers and Steven Seagal.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (2012) & “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014)
After smart ape Caesar escapes from an animal shelter in 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, he soon figures out he’s going to need allies. The next stage in his plan is breaking more apes out of a testing facility - including Koba, another ape of extraordinary intelligence. Koba is instrumental in defeating the humans on the Golden Gate Bridge, leading a flanking attack on the mounted police. But Caesar underestimated the deep trauma and resentment Koba held against humanity from his time in the lab. When Caesar attempts to make peace with humans in the 2014 sequel, Koba betrays him, starting an all-out war, leading to both human and primate deaths. It turns out that sometimes your friends today become enemies tomorrow.

“2012” (2009)
As the world crumbles around society, nations band together to build giant arks to save what they can of its people. But Ark 4 starts sealing its doors early, leaving hundreds of people vulnerable to the turbulent elements. In order to avoid being left at the mercy of an ongoing apocalypse, the main characters of the film sneak in through the Ark’s hydraulic systems. It gets them inside, but one of their crew gets crushed in the gears, and another drowns from floodwater. The team made use of their ingenuity to get into the Ark, but poking around colossal machinery has its risks… In the end, they did save humanity, but a couple of them still didn’t make it.

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (2007)
In his quest to reclaim his identity, Jason Bourne interviews a journalist, Simon Ross, who seems to be on the cusp of exposing CIA black ops arm Treadstone, and its successor Blackbriar. But the CIA is already on Ross's tail. Bourne attempts to guide Ross through the station, telling him when and how to avoid cameras, as well as covert agents. Though Bourne keeps Ross safe for a little while, eventually Ross loses patience waiting and attempts to bolt for the exit, just in time for a sniper to take him out. In the end, it was Ross’s fear that led to his death, even though Bourne’s plan could have gotten them both out alive. When panic sets in, it’s often better to trust the experts.

“13 Assassins” (2010)
How do you kill an evil lord who has 70 men guarding him? Simple - hire 13 samurai. Okay, 12 samurai and 1 hunter. In this flick, the titular assassins set about killing Lord Naritsugu and his army with tactics. They empty a town along the convoy’s route, and turn it into a booby trap - employing explosives, arrows, and even flaming bulls to destroy their adversary. However, en route, Naritsugu has picked up additional men, so instead of facing 70 soldiers, the 13 face well over 200. Their traps ensure their martial superiority over almost all of their opponents throughout the following blood-soaked melee. But only two of the original 13 survive. Their mission was successful, but the numbers didn’t help. Sometimes honor requires sacrifice… even if you need to plan ahead.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)
There are few characters in cinema who lay more on the line than Charlize Theron’s Furiosa. To save the slaves of warlord Immortan Joe, she hijacks the war rig - a tanker converted into, well, a tank, and smuggles the women out to get to “the green place.” On the brutal trek, many of her allies fall in battle - including Splendid, a wife who dies while trying to protect the others, Nux, a war boy who decides to defect, and several of the battle-hardened ladies who come to their aid. But her costly decision still overthrows Immortan Joe’s regime and reclaims the Citadel for the people. While it was smart and brave, it cost more than a few lives for true change to happen.

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#3: Playing Into Silva’s Hands

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“Skyfall” (2012)
Daniel Craig’s James Bond relied less on gadgetry than his predecessors. At least until “Skyfall,” where he pulled a classic spy’s trick. To discover who was behind the bombing of MI6 headquarters, he followed the breadcrumbs, and let himself get captured - with Q’s radio transmitter in his pocket. This decision puts him in the wolf’s mouth, but also allows MI6 to capture Silva. However, Silva had another trick up his sleeve, and what should have been an easy capture becomes a cat-and-mouse game where for each one of MI6’s plays, Silva has a counterplay. By the end of the film, henchmen, MI6 servicemembers, and Judi Dench’s M are all dead…

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#2: Using Harvey Dent as Bait

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“The Dark Knight” (2008)
While Gotham sweats under the Joker’s terror, Bruce Wayne prepares to reveal himself as Batman. But at the last minute, DA Harvey Dent pretends he’s Batman, using himself as bait. His plan works, and the police capture the Joker… But not without injuring and likely losing more law enforcement officers. The Joker obviously has a contingency plan, and his capture sets in motion events that would lead to the deaths of more criminals, cops, and even Dent’s girlfriend, Rachel. To defeat the clown prince of crime, you need to go above and beyond… and Dent did. Harvey Dent was braver than most politicians, but he ended up putting more than just his own skin - or at least half of his face - in the game.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016)
Facing the most deadly weapon in the galaxy is no mean feat, and the rebels have their task cut out for them in “Rogue One.” Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and their crew execute an elaborate heist to steal the death star plans, disguising as imperials, infiltrating a base, stealing the data, and beaming them to a command ship. This was a mission they wouldn’t survive from the beginning, but every one of the crew knew that if no one did this, then the rebellion would be doomed. Jyn, Cassian, and everyone on the heist die in order to get these plans, and without them, the Galaxy never would have shaken imperial rule. To paraphrase Cassian’s cellmates in “Andor”, they only had “one way out.” So they took it.