Movies where the event in the title does not end up happening *

*spoiler alert here*


I'm trying to think of another movie that has the same interesting feature as The Dinner Game. That is, this titular event never actually happens. They never had the dinner that everyone was gearing up for. Imagine The Great Escape that ends without the attempt even starting or The Return of the King with the returning of the king.

I remember being so surprised when the movie was over, realizing this, and thinking that it was an interesting way to name a movie.

In the preview for the American remake, it does seem that dinner is happening.

So, any others?

 

Responding to myself 10 years later.

I just watched Across The Pacific (1942) and realized that it fell into this category. The main part of the movie is supposed to be a journey that starts in Halifax and finishes in Yokohama. That is, they'll be traveling through the Atlantic Ocean, Carribean Sea and then across the Pacific. But the journey never even makes it to the Pacific Ocean, as the ship stops in Panama.

 

The Rise of Skywalker is obviously the most recent example...

 

“The Kids are Alright” does not have the song by The Who

The 1940 film “Northwest Passage” with Spencer Tracy and Robert Young is based on a novel by Kenneth Roberts. The film is primarily the first part of the book, a partly fictionalized telling of the St Francis raid of the French and Indian War (Seven Years War). At the very end the troops are shown marching to Detroit. A sequel was never made.

 

Metalstorm - The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983).

Not only is Jared-Syn not destroyed, he escapes through an energy portal in anticipation of the 'still-waiting-for-it' sequel.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences showed their extreme dissatisfaction of the misleading title by not nominating this film for a single Academy Award, instead piling the Oscars onto the much-less-entertaining Terms of Endearment.

 

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.

 

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
I don't recall seeing any tigers or dragons in that film. Maybe it was because they were hidden... or crouching.

 

Debbie Does Dallas.

Neither Debbie nor anyone else travels to Dallas. The entire film takes place in New York.

 

Naked Lunch.

Nobody gets naked. Nobody has lunch.

 

Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

The entire film takes place on Earth.

 

I’ll never forget a joke Steve Martin told at the Oscars: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sounds like something Siegfried and Roy do on vacation.”

 

Waiting for Guffman.

 

Since the title is an idiom, this would be almost the same as expecting a metaphor to actually happen...

 

I don't think Bruce Willis actually dies in any of the Die HARd movies.

 

Jurassic Park never opened. I suppose Jurassic World did though.

 

What does that have to do with the accuracy of the title? It's not called "Jurassic Park Is Open For Business"!

 

The entire series of 5 films takes place on Earth.

The series should be retitled:

The Planet Earth
Beneath the Planet Earth
Escaped from and Returned to the Planet Earth
Conquest of the Planet Earth
Battle for the Planet Earth

 

In that case the event in the title has happened before the movie begins...

 

I’ve never actually seen Armageddon but they save the world in that don’t they?

 

Pennies From Heaven (somebody would've got killed if it happened..)
Mission Impossible (they completed the mission)
Blazing Saddles (nobody got burned riding a horse)

etc.

 

Chariots Of Fire...never happened.

 

Shoulda been "Mission: Really Difficult"!

 

Some of you are taking idioms or figures of speech too literally.

 

Dustin Hoffman never runs a marathon in MARATHON MAN. In fact, he has trouble completing his run around Central Park.