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Sometimes, the cruelest twist a story can deliver is turning a character's greatest triumph into their ultimate defeat. Join us as we count down the most brilliant and gut-wrenching ironies ever put to film! Our countdown includes movies like "The Sixth Sense," "Fight Club," "The Godfather" trilogy, and more! Which movie irony left you speechless? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00Dr. Crowe, you believe my secret, right?
00:04I don't know how to answer that call.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at films where characters end up in ironic twists
00:11that go against everything they set out to achieve.
00:14Look, memory can change the shape of a room, it can change the color of a car,
00:18and memories can be distorted.
00:20They're just an interpretation, they're not a record.
00:24Number 10. Teddy Is Latest, Shutter Island.
00:27Your profession, doctor, psychiatry.
00:30Yes.
00:30I always heard it was overrun with boozes and drunks.
00:34Not that I noticed.
00:36In this mind-bending Martin Scorsese thriller,
00:39U.S. Marshal Edward Teddy Daniels investigates a missing patient named Andrew Latest.
00:44It isn't long before the stifling environment creates a sense of paranoia,
00:47making it seem like everyone around Teddy has sinister intentions.
00:51I started doing some checking on Ashcliff.
00:55A lot of people know about this place, but no one wants to talk, you know?
00:59It's like they're scared or something.
01:02However, the reason why Teddy could never find Latest was simple.
01:06We were looking at him all along.
01:08Teddy is Latest.
01:10Even his name, Edward Daniels, is an anagram of Andrew Latest.
01:14Latest underwent a mental breakdown after his wife claimed the lives of their children,
01:18leading him to kill her.
01:19We spend the entire film rooting for the main character's search for answers,
01:23only to realize he was the mystery himself.
01:26You reset, Andrew.
01:28Like a tape playing over and over on an endless loop.
01:32Number 9.
01:33Deesu's freedom is his punishment.
01:35Old boy.
01:47After being held captive for 15 years,
01:50protagonist Deesu is mysteriously released.
01:52Determined to make his captors pay,
01:54he goes on a quest for revenge.
01:56From tracking down clues to learning martial arts
01:59and entering a romance with a young woman named Mido,
02:02things seem to be looking up for him.
02:03Of course, the climax flips everything around in the wildest of ironies.
02:22As it turns out, his enemy, Woojin,
02:24orchestrated everything as a way of getting back at Deesu
02:27for exposing Woojin's illicit relationship with his own sister.
02:30How, you ask?
02:31That would be because Mido is actually Deesu's own daughter.
02:35This horrific revelation turns Deesu's freedom
02:38into a setup for the ultimate punishment,
02:40leaving him with a mistake he can never take back.
02:55Number 8.
02:56Mark loses all his friends.
02:57The social network.
02:59I'm a little intoxicated.
03:01I'm not gonna lie.
03:02So what if it's not even 10pm and it's a Tuesday night?
03:04The Kirkland Facebook is open on my desktop
03:06and some of these people have pretty horrendous Facebook pics.
03:09How does it feel to create a platform designed to connect people
03:13only to have no friends of your own?
03:15Just ask Mark Zuckerberg.
03:16Although he's hardly the most socially tuned person at the start of the film,
03:21Mark is still part of a close-knit circle,
03:23has a girlfriend and a loyal best friend.
03:25By the end, he is friendless and alone,
03:27facing multiple lawsuits and fixated on his ex's Facebook profile.
03:32You signed the papers.
03:33You set me up.
03:34You're gonna blame me because you were the business head of the company
03:37and you made a bad business deal with your own company?
03:39This is gonna be like I'm not a part of Facebook.
03:40It won't be like you're not a part of Facebook.
03:42You're not a part of Facebook.
03:43Despite becoming the face of the ultimate social network
03:45and a billionaire in his 20s,
03:48Mark is arguably worse off than when he had nothing to his name.
03:51So if there's one lesson here, it's this.
03:54Don't tell your friend's embarrassing chicken story to strangers.
03:57Especially on the internet.
03:59This is absurd.
04:00I'm being accused of animal cruelty.
04:02It's better to be accused of necrophilia.
04:03It is better to be accused of necrophilia.
04:05I'm gonna have to explain this to my father.
04:06I'm gonna have to explain this to everybody.
04:08Number 7.
04:09The Nazis seal their own fate.
04:11Raiders of the Lost Ark.
04:12Well, I mean that for nearly 3,000 years,
04:15man has been searching for the Lost Ark.
04:19That's something to be taken lightly.
04:23No one knows its secrets.
04:24The first Indiana Jones installment follows the protagonist
04:28racing against the Nazis for the Ark of the Covenant,
04:30which they believe will grant them untold powers.
04:33By the climax, the bad guys seem to have won,
04:36capturing Indy and Marion,
04:38securing the Ark,
04:39and opening it to receive their reward.
04:41But their prize isn't quite what they imagined.
04:51Despite technically beating the hero
04:53and achieving their goal,
04:54the Nazis end up sealing their own fate.
04:57Ironically, they would have survived
04:59had they let Indy claim the Ark
05:00or just left it alone.
05:02Instead, they're destroyed by the same artifact
05:04they plan to use as the ultimate weapon.
05:07Suffice it to say,
05:08they chose poorly.
05:13It's beautiful!
05:27At the heart of it,
05:29this Christopher Nolan thriller
05:30is about the cost of vengeance,
05:32as Robert Angier sacrifices everything
05:34to defeat his rival, Alfred Borden.
05:36Obsessed with cracking Borden's seemingly magical act
05:39of teleportation,
05:40Angier turns to extreme and violent methods
05:43to replicate it.
05:44By the end,
05:45he has killed scores of his own clones
05:47and condemned Borden to death,
05:48only to be defeated anyway.
05:51You always were the better magician.
05:53You'd be best with that.
05:55Whatever your secret was,
05:57you have to agree.
05:59Mine is better.
06:00Ultimately, there was no magical trick.
06:03Borden was an identity shared by twin brothers.
06:06Angier destroys his life's work,
06:08his morality,
06:08and his legacy,
06:10all for a trick
06:11with the simplest explanation.
06:13I've made sacrifices.
06:16Yes.
06:17It takes nothing
06:19to steal another man's work.
06:22It takes everything.
06:24Number five.
06:25Tyler Durden and the narrator
06:26are the same person.
06:27Fight Club.
06:28You want me to deprioritize
06:30my current reports
06:31until you advise them
06:32a status upgrade?
06:33Make these your primary action items.
06:35Here's your flight coupons.
06:36Call me from the road
06:36if there's any snags.
06:37When we first meet
06:38the unnamed narrator,
06:40he's stuck in a dead-end lifestyle.
06:42Things change
06:43after he meets
06:43the charismatic Tyler Durden.
06:45For most of the film,
06:47Tyler seems to be
06:47everything the narrator isn't.
06:49So when Tyler's
06:50revolutionary plans
06:51get out of hand,
06:52it's easy to see
06:53why the narrator
06:54struggles to defy him.
06:55But the truth is,
06:56he was never fighting Tyler at all.
06:58He was fighting himself.
07:00Literally,
07:00in this case.
07:01You need to forget
07:02about what you know.
07:03That's your problem.
07:04Forget about what you think
07:04you know about life,
07:06about friendship,
07:07and especially about you and me.
07:08Ultimately,
07:09the man the narrator idolized,
07:11feared,
07:12and thought he could never be
07:13was himself all along.
07:15He just didn't know it.
07:17Maybe that's what happens
07:18when you break the first
07:18and second rules
07:19of Fight Club.
07:20Say it.
07:22Because.
07:26Say it.
07:29Because we're the same person.
07:32That's right.
07:33Number four.
07:34Leonard is responsible
07:35for his own loop,
07:36Memento.
07:36He destroyed my ability to live.
07:42You living?
07:45Only for revenge.
07:46With its non-linear narrative
07:48and complex storyline,
07:49it can be hard to keep up
07:50with everything that happens
07:51in Memento.
07:52But by the time it's over,
07:54we learn that protagonist
07:55Leonard Shelby's
07:56constant loops
07:57are his own doing.
07:58Because of his
07:59short-term memory loss,
08:00Leonard hunts his wife's killer
08:01through a series of notes,
08:03photos,
08:03and tattoos to guide him.
08:05When the truth
08:05finally unravels, though,
08:07it's revealed that he
08:08actually disposed
08:09of the culprit long ago.
08:10In fact,
08:11I was sure of it,
08:12but you didn't!
08:16That's right.
08:17The real John G.
08:19I hope you find him
08:20over a year ago.
08:21He's already dead.
08:23Rather than accept it,
08:24Leonard trapped himself
08:25in an endless cycle
08:26to give his life meaning.
08:27By twisting his warped
08:29sense of justice,
08:30Leonard denies himself
08:31any chance of closure
08:32or peace,
08:33becoming the architect
08:34of his own pain.
08:35Do I lie to myself
08:36to be happy?
08:38In your case, Teddy,
08:42yes, I will.
08:43Number three,
08:44Michael Corleone's Downfall,
08:46The Godfather Trilogy.
08:47I think he's gonna be
08:48Consigliere.
08:49What's that?
08:51That's, um,
08:53like a counselor,
08:54an advisor,
08:54very important to the family.
08:56From the golden child
08:57to feared mob boss
08:59to the ultimately lost soul,
09:01the tragedy of Michael Corleone
09:02spans a lifetime.
09:04What's the matter?
09:06What's bothering you?
09:12I'll handle it.
09:14I told you I can handle it.
09:16I'll handle it.
09:17After his family
09:17finds itself
09:18on the verge of collapse,
09:19it falls on Michael's shoulders
09:21to protect it
09:21by any means necessary.
09:23But his good intentions
09:25twist into
09:25a constant bid for power,
09:27making him far more ruthless
09:28than anyone
09:29could have ever imagined.
09:30Who had Frank Pantangeli killed?
09:34The Rosado brothers.
09:36I know.
09:38But who gave the go-ahead?
09:40I know I didn't.
09:42After embracing his role
09:43as Don Corleone,
09:44Michael's need for control
09:45becomes impossible to contain,
09:47even ordering the death
09:48of his own brother.
09:49And by the time
09:51he seeks redemption,
09:52it's already too late.
09:53In the cruelest of ironies,
09:55the man so obsessed
09:56with family dies alone,
09:58with only his dog
09:59as his final witness.
10:11Number 2.
10:12They were on Earth
10:13all along.
10:14Planet of the Apes.
10:16In my world,
10:16when I left it,
10:17only kids your age
10:19wore beards.
10:20Beards?
10:22I don't go in for fat.
10:25Somehow,
10:27it makes you look
10:28less intelligent.
10:29After crash landing
10:30on a seemingly distant planet,
10:32astronaut George Taylor
10:33assumes he's in a new world
10:35dominated by apes.
10:36After struggling to survive
10:38in a society
10:38he considers primitive,
10:40Taylor finally arrives
10:41at the Forbidden Zone,
10:42expecting answers
10:43to the strange alien world.
10:45Instead,
10:46he finds the ruins
10:47of a statue
10:48that hits a lot closer
10:49to home,
10:50New York City specifically.
10:51Oh my god.
10:54I'm back.
10:57I'm home.
11:00All the time.
11:01It was...
11:04We finally,
11:06really did it.
11:08You maniacs!
11:11You blew it up!
11:13Having spent the entire story
11:14judging the ape world
11:15as a lesser civilization,
11:16he's left with the horrific truth.
11:18Humanity destroyed itself.
11:21In the end,
11:22Taylor was never too evolved
11:23for this world.
11:24He was right where he belonged.
11:26I see you've brought
11:27the female of your species.
11:29I didn't realize
11:30that man could be monogamous.
11:33On this planet,
11:34it's easy.
11:35Still,
11:36it could be worse.
11:36At least he didn't find himself
11:38looking at the ape
11:39Lincoln Memorial
11:40like Mark Wahlberg did.
11:41Before we unveil
11:43our top pick,
11:44here are some
11:44honorable mentions.
11:46Lester's death,
11:47American Beauty,
11:48killed just when he
11:49finally begins
11:50to appreciate life.
12:02Louise's choice,
12:04Arrival.
12:04She chooses
12:05to experience love now
12:07despite knowing
12:07it won't last.
12:08If you could see
12:09your whole life
12:10from start to finish,
12:13would you change things?
12:17The main characters
12:18are the ghosts,
12:19the others.
12:20The house's haunted presence
12:21was their own.
12:23Children,
12:23if you're dead,
12:25why do you remain
12:26in this house?
12:27We're not dead!
12:29Darth Vader
12:29is Luke's father.
12:31Star Wars Episode 5,
12:32The Empire Strikes Back.
12:34The galaxy's savior
12:35is the son
12:36of its greatest oppressor.
12:37Obi-Wan
12:38never told you
12:39what happened
12:40to your father.
12:53Jigsaw was there
12:54the whole time.
12:55Saw,
12:56the elusive villain,
12:57was hiding in plain sight.
12:59Most people are so
13:00ungrateful
13:01to be alive.
13:04But not you.
13:06Not anymore.
13:17Before we continue,
13:19check out this single
13:20from Sound Mojo's
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13:21Songs from Iran,
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13:29My heart belongs
13:31to you.
13:42Number one,
13:43Malcolm is a Ghost 2,
13:45The Sixth Sense.
13:46The city of Philadelphia
13:48proudly bestows
13:49upon its son,
13:50Dr. Malcolm Crowe.
13:52That's you.
13:53The mere citation
13:54for professional excellence.
13:56At the start of M. Night Shyamalan's
13:58classic thriller,
13:59Malcolm Crowe is shot
14:00by his former patient Vincent.
14:01The film then skips forward,
14:03implying he survived,
14:05helping nine-year-old Cole
14:06out of guilt
14:07for failing to save Vincent.
14:08For the most part,
14:09the movie seems to be
14:10a story about healing,
14:11with Malcolm guiding Cole
14:12to accept his ability
14:13to see the dead.
14:14How often do you see them?
14:20All the time.
14:25They're everywhere.
14:26However,
14:27the finale flips the premise
14:28on its head,
14:29revealing that Malcolm
14:30never survived
14:31his interaction with Vincent.
14:33Malcolm's need to fix others
14:34was the very thing
14:35that tethered him
14:35to the living,
14:36preventing him
14:37from accepting reality
14:38and moving on.
14:39The man who helped
14:40a child come to terms
14:41with death
14:42was, ironically,
14:43dead all along.
14:45Good night, Malcolm.
14:52Good night, sweetheart.
14:54What other films
14:55do you think
14:55deserve a spot on this list?
14:57Let us know in the comments.
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