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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Movies about Revenge?

Kim Frank said:
One thing I notice in my list is, that it's nearly always Rape or Death that sets up at he beginning and justifies the Revenge.
Are these really the only two things that deserve Revenge in Storytelling?
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In 'One-Eyed Jacks', abandonment/betrayal is the catalyst for revenge and the theme carries through a few different situations (and the motivations change accordingly).

'Cruel Intentions' and 'Heavenly Creatures' deal with love/passion/jealousy as motives for revenge.

On the list of revenge films that use violent acts as catalysts I would add 'Road to Perdition' and 'A Better World'.
 
Liam's right
probably more than half the western genre is based on revenge. In the constant thrust and counterthrust between good and evil a la Star Wars /Harry Potter series , revenge movies start with an evil thrust , someone the protagonist cares for is killed or at the very least the protagonist is mistreated , then the whole movie is about the counterthrust . the "evening up", " extracting justice" - revenge.
When I think of revenge films, to me, Eastwood's Josey Wales is the perfect revenge movie. It is established that he is an innocent, humble man, a sodbuster. His family is killed and he is scarred by " Redlegs Turrell's sword. This is all shown within a matter of minutes, even before the credits roll. Simple,economic, Good film making. When josey kills Turrell at the end , clicking empty gun chambers, split second inserts of the opening scenes are intercut ( ramming home the revenge to the audience), then killng by that very sword.

Eastwood used all he learnt from Sergio Leone ( Once Upon a Time in the West, etc) .

Sorry 'bout the rant ... could I have said it any shorter?

Brent
 
braveheart and the patriot both come to mind as well

are you up for reading, cause there are books with stories in them as well...
 
Rape-Revenge is a large part of the exploitation genre.

You have some good examples there Kim, although some of those have elements of revenge in them but they aren't what I would consider revenge films or what you describe as the main intention.

Clockwork Orange a revenge film? Sure there is a chapter in the story where both society and his former gang take revenge when he most helpless but is it a revenge film?

Taken is not a revenge film in my mind. I know a lot of people class it as such but how can it be? Neeson's character does kill a lot of people, but I would only class one killing as a truly vengeful (the nails in the leg). His only goal is to rescue his daughter, and to make sure no-one stands in his way.

True Grit was about a killer being brought to justice, but I suppose Justice is a sort of legal revenge for a crime.

Mystic River is about the killing of the girl that was an act of jealousy, Sean Penn's character wrongly took revenge but the film was a murder mystery.

Payback he just wanted his money back (and not a penny more) but was he out for revenge? I can't remember...I just thought that all he wanted was his money back but maybe that was a fascade for wanting revenge.

One of my favourites is Chabrol's Que la bête meure (This man must die)
If I remember correctly revenge was as the heart of Haneke's Hidden.
A recent but not particularly good one was Straighthead's but it does tick all the boxes.
Another Peckinpah revenge comes to mind is The Osterman Weekend.
Trier's Dogville was a film about Revenge and Forgiveness.
Lucky Number Slevin,
Raw Deal,
Death Wish,
The Sting,
Hannibal,
The Big Heat,
Carrie,
Nightmare on Elm Street series.
Mad Max,
Desperado,
Bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia,
The Osterman Weekend - Another Peckinpah revenge.
Ben Hur,
Gladiator,
Hamlet - kurosawa's Bad Sleep Well was based on it too.
The Virgin Spring,
Sweeney Todd
Both Star Trek: Wrath of Khan and the Abbrams Star Trek.
Miike's Audition is a general revenge film where the girl is enacting her vengeance against men in general.
A hell of a lot of Samaurai films are based on revenge and honour.
A lot of Takeshi Kitano's films have revenge as the main driving force behind them.

When people mention Kill Bill, they also should mention in the Same breath Truffaut's The bride wore black.

One of my favourites is Claude Chabrol's Que la bête (This man must die).
A recent one that was not a great film but ticks the boxes, is Straightheads.
Haneke's Hidden if I remember correctly was essentially a revenge plot.
 
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