When we think of the world’s most heroic movie protagonists, ranging from superheroes such as Superman and Iron Man, to the likes of The Terminator’s Sarah Connor and Mad Max: Fury Road’s Furiosa, we think of them as brave, unflinching badasses who have an innate power to save the day and escape from danger. While many of them are backed up by superpowers and hi-tech suits, plenty of them have their luck to thank for their triumphs. Let’s take a look at five movies where lucky breaks saved the day.
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park as a whole is widely regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, but one scene in particular sticks out. At one point in the movie, the characters Alan and Tim find themselves stuck in a tree. While this isn’t such a terrible position to be in when you’re trying to stay out of the reach of dinosaurs, it is when a car is about to fall onto you. Grant and Tim have their quick reactions and luck to thank for this daring escape as the two are able to scramble out of the tree before the car crashes down on top of them.
Lottery Ticket
The trope where winning the Lotto saved the day is a familiar one seen in many television shows and movies. The TV show Lost made a series of lottery numbers world-famous, Columbo features a divorced man who wins the lottery, while The Simpsons had three separate episodes about lottery winners (including one in which Homer wins a million). The 2010 movie Lottery Ticket also takes on this trope, as in this movie, several lottery winners try to keep their winnings a secret over one weekend. The stores are closed and they’re unable to redeem them. In one scene, when the character Kevin is being chased by an enemy named Lorenzo, Kevin jumps onto a train but Lorenzo quickly follows. It’s down to some good luck that Kevin is able to jump off the train just in time for the doors to close, leaving Lorenzo on it and speeding away.
GoldenEye
Another iconic movie scene is in the James Bond blockbuster, GoldenEye. After an infiltration mission goes wrong, James has to get out fast and he does so in explosive style and ends up riding a motorcycle off of a cliff in order to chase after an airplane. Once inside the plane, James must steer it to safety but because this is a movie, he manages to do so. What a very lucky super spy.
Just My Luck
Just My Luck is a romantic comedy all about luck and who has it and who doesn’t, meaning that it’s full of lucky breaks for Ashley and Jake, the lucky and unlucky people (respectively) who trade places. A choice lucky break scene includes Jake being signed by a major record label.
The Fugitive
And finally, we have the dam scene from The Fugitive. This action flick sees Harrison Ford jump off of a huge dam in order to escape from some bad guys. The drop is so high that watching Ford’s character fall from it is almost comical but again, this being a movie, he manages to survive, able to carry on with his impressing escape.
Not everyone feels that they have been blessed by luck, but these movie protagonists show that luck can sometimes strike in surprising ways. Won’t your try yours?
