History CombatPragmatist / LiveActionFilms

* Azog the Defiler from ''Film/TheHobbit''. After Thorin cut off his arm in their first encounter, he doesn't hesitate to use every advantage he has the second time they meet, rather than just rush head-on like an average orc. Later on, he ambushes Gandalf as Gandalf searches for him in Dol Guldur. His son Bolg is equally as dirty, if not more. He's not above shooting Kíli with a [[PoisonedWeapons Mordor Arrow]], siccing his Mooks on Legolas during a one-on-one fight, or throwing Legolas into his Mooks to make a getaway.

** While it can be difficult to see, Godzilla does adapt to his opponents based on their strengths and weaknesses. [[spoiler:It's also how he kills them most effectively.]] This may also be why he seems to avoid the boats by diving under them and does not destroy the Golden Gate Bridge until he literally falls through it.

* ''Film/Halloween2018'': One of the only concessions given to Michael Myers' [[EvilOldFolks age]] is that he rarely attacks victims head-one anymore as in previous installments, preferring subterfuge, ambushes, and using the terrain to his advantage. This is something he shares with [[NeverMessWithGranny Laurie Strode]]; Laurie has been preparing for Michael's eventual return for decades and is similarly pragmatic in her tactics, most notably [[spoiler:wiring her house into a gigantic bomb and trapping Michael inside, which nearly works in killing him for good.]]

* Azog the Defiler from ''Film/TheHobbit''. After Thorin cut off his arm in their first encounter, he doesn't hesitate to use every advantage he has the second time they meet, rather than just rush head on like an average orc. Later on, he ambushes Gandalf as Gandalf searches for him in Dol Guldur. His son Bolg is equally as dirty, if not more. He's not above shooting Kili with a [[PoisonedWeapons Mordor Arrow]], siccing his Mooks on Legolas during a one-on-one fight, or throwing Legolas into his Mooks to make a getaway.
* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': Katniss Everdeen increasingly becomes this as the movies progress, though moreso during the games. This applies to her opponents as well who are ''very'' willing to sneak up on someone from the back and kill them. [[spoiler:And of course the 13th District bombs with double detonator, one of them delayed a few tens of seconds, just enough for medics to arrive on place to help the wounded.]]
* ''Film/{{Hush}}'' sees a deaf novelist, Maddie, living in near-seclusion in the woods with only a nearby married couple as neighbors, pursued by a masked serial killer. Obviously, seeing as to how she has the significant disadvantage of not being able to hear him at all, she has to be very creative when it comes to outsmarting him and staying alive. After a night of the killer toying with Maddie, having already killed the married couple, and trying to get into the house at every turn, she realizes that she can't run, hide, or fight him, so she resolves to kill him. Eventually he does get into the house, where upon his entry, she grabs her specialized smoke detector, designed to be loud enough to cause vibrations for her to feel, and a bright flashing light so she can notice it, and holds it directly in his face, disorientating him. She then blinds him with bug spray during their struggle, and when he has her pinned to the floor and has nearly strangled her to death, she reaches across the floor, grabs a nearby corkscrew, and drives it through his neck, delivering the killing blow.

* The One-Armed Boxer from ''Film/MasterOfTheFlyingGuillotine'' is not above tricking other martial arts masters into ambushes and booby traps to survive. He lures the barefoot Muay Thai fighter into a hut with a metal floor. His entire martial arts school arrives to lock them inside the hut and light a fire beneath it so the Thai boxer roasts from the feet up. For the blind Flying Guillotine, however, One-Armed Boxer first manufactures a field of bamboo targets to destroy the master's signature weapon. Then he lures him into a coffin shop that he has booby trapped with birds to deafen the master, and axe-throwers to chop him down to size. And then there's "Wins Without A Knife" Y. Yamasaki, who in the movie's tournament wins his fight by... using a hidden knife.

* In ''Film/MirrorMirror'', the seven dwarves train Snow White in fighting; they quickly explain that fighting fair isn't an option since everyone is bigger and stronger than them, and since Snow White is a small woman, she will have to as well. When Snow White faces Prince Alcott in a sword fight, she has to pull out every trick in the book just to keep up, like throwing snow in his face and stomping on his foot, as the Prince is stronger and more skilled despite his adherence to the rules. Snow White wins by throwing a rock at a branch, making snow fall on a horse and inducing it to kick the Prince.

** Anna has a both a hidden wrist blaster and another blade in the heel of her boot to give her an edge in combat -- in battle with Rustwater's slavers it turns an overhead kick into a OneHitKill.

* ''Old School'' Frank gets into a fist fight with Dean Pritchard. While getting beat badly, Frank starts saying "Time out", which Pritchard ignores and keeps hitting him.

* ''Film/PacificRim'' brings some dirty, ''dirty'' fighting to the mix of {{Kaiju}} vs Mecha. Double-teaming, flares to the eyeball, oil tankers, watchtowers and storage containers getting swung around, feigned deaths, faces pushed into volcanic vents, everyone has their share of filthy tricks, but Gipsy Danger in particular brings most of these to the table,

--->'''Martin''': That Gates is a damn fool. He spent too many years in the British army. Going muzzle-to-muzzle with Redcoats in open field. It's madness.\\

** RealLife General Lord Charles Cornwallis does not believe in this trope at all and invokes it with both his enemies and his own side. Earlier in the film he gets angry at one of his officers, the film's main villain, Colonel Tavington, after explaining how King George III has rewarded him (Cornwallis) with 400,000 acres of land for his conduct in the war, explaining "This is how His Majesty rewards those who [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen fight for him like gentleman]]". Later in the film he brings this up again in a meeting with Martin in regards another example of this trope; the militia's targeting of British officers during engagements. He tells Martin of the chaos that can result from leaderless armies on the battlefield. Martin replies that their doing this is in response to the British Army's even dirtier tactics of attacking civilians. A few moments later, Martin says he wants to arrange a prisoner exchange of some captured British officers for some of his own captured men which results in this exchange.

** The film's [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade main villain]], Colonel William Tavington, is a firm believer in this trope but his actions are really more [[SociopathicSoldier out of sadism]] than wanting to win. He's more than willing to [[WouldNotShootACivilian kill civilians]], (including [[WouldHurtAChild children]]), [[LeaveNoSurvivors kill retreating troops]], [[SinkTheLifeBoats execute wounded troops begging for mercy]], burn down the homes of civilians for "harboring the enemy" (meaning they took in and gave care to wounded troops from both sides), and even [[MoralEventHorizon sets fire to a church full of the families of the militia's men after having promised them that if they told him the location of the militia's base, they would be forgiven]]. The only time he shows any restraint is when he orders Gabriel to be hanged rather than just having him shot, and even that is only so his body can be put on display as a warning. As he explains to Cornwallis, "I advance myself only through victory." However, in this case Cornwallis is correct in his disapproval of Tavington's tactics. He explains to Tavington that the Americans "are our brethren, and when this conflict is over, we will resume commerce with them", and tells him later that it's Tavington's fault that Cornwallis's army is still stuck in South Carolina and hasn't advanced northward; Tavington's brutality has gotten results but has angered the colonists and given more support to the Revolutionary cause. Indeed, it's Tavington killing Martin's son, Thomas, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain that causes Martin, who previously had no interest in the Revolution, to join the Continental Army]]. TruthInTelevision, due to the Continental Army's guerilla tactics, the British sometimes resorted to cruel tactics against American civilians, which ended up causing them to support the revolution.

** Also Commodore Norrington, to some extent. He kicked Will in the chest, kicked sand in Will's face and tripped Jack [[spoiler:[[MeleeATrois during the fight over the key]] in ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest Dead Man's Chest]].]] Although that may have been more about mercy than pragmatism; while all three men wanted [[spoiler: the key]] very badly and wanted the other two to know how serious they were about it, and while Norrington had significant grudges against the other two, none of them really wanted each other dead. Those kicks and trips could easily have been stabs or slashes.

* In ''Film/TheQuietMan'', John Wayne's brother-in-law challenges him to a fight using Queensbury rules. As soon as John agrees to it, his brother in-law kicks him in the face. Furthermore, nearly every blow the brother-in-law lands during the course of the fight is some kind of sucker punch or cheap shot.

** Best exemplified in Film/RamboLastBlood, where he gets sex trafficker Hugo Martinez and his men to attack his home, which Rambo had prepared by setting deadly traps and has an elaborate network of underground tunnels. Which has trapdoors from which Rambo can pop out of to quickly attack before slipping back in. And they are also laden with traps and hidden weapons for him to use after his enemies enter to try and attack him.

** He defeats Rocket by luring him out into the main room of the refuge centre and then clubbing him with an oil can over the back of the head, [[spoiler:and then [[SummonBiggerFish threatening to sic Buck on him]] if he doesn't back down]].
** Against the humans in the final battle on the Golden Gate bridge, he uses the fog to attack the human roadblock from above and also sends his subordinates to climb the struts under the bridge to attack from below. He orders them all to attack from all sides all at once, crushing the police handily.
** Then in ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' he defeats the much more powerful [[spoiler:Koba]] by [[spoiler:defending against his strikes until he tires out and then repeatedly hits the gash in his side when he opens himself]].

* Played hilariously straight in ''Film/{{Safe 2012}}'', when [[spoiler:Alex]] and Luke both drop their guns and it looks like they're going to have a good ol' fashioned beatdown. Wrong. [[spoiler:Mae]] shoots [[spoiler:Alex]] in the leg with the pistol he just dropped the moment he turns his back, giving Luke a second to finish him off... by immediately picking his gun back up and emptying it into [[spoiler:Alex's]] face and chest. Kinda justified, though, considering [[spoiler:Mae]] saw [[spoiler:Alex]] butcher a bunch of armed mooks with a ''pencil''.
* ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'': Like the ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' sniper, the German sniper that kills [[spoiler:Caparzo]] just leaves him to bleed out in the street, knowing that he is a) no longer a threat, and b) bait for further targets. This is an actual warfare tactic, BTW.

** Kambei shaves his head within his first scene (to samurai, this was a symbol of shame) so he can trick a bandit into thinking he is a monk and save a child. Heihachi mentions how he usually runs away from battle when he's about to die. Other samurai mention less-than-noble (from the standpoint of a samurai) tactics used for survival. The film takes place before the Edo period, when samurai really took HonorBeforeReason seriously.
** When the farmers of the abandoned outlying houses try to desert the militia because they feel marginalized, Kambei threatens to personally execute them rather than let them go, citing that [[DividedWeFall the individual who fights for the individual not only dies as an individual, but endangers the rest of the group]] (and kills morale before the fight even starts).
* Chon Wang in ''Film/ShanghaiKnights'' finds himself completely outmatched in a sword fight. Once he realises he can't win he cuts the ropes supporting the platform they are both standing on, throwing his opponent and himself off the top of a tower.
* In Creator/GuyRitchie's ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', Holmes and Watson find themselves in a fight with a number of dirt antagonists. Both Watson and Holmes are willing to improvise. Pots, pans, cans, etc abound. In fact each is the quintessential dirty fighter, going so far as to [[GrievousHarmWithABody throw one bad guy into another.]] Holmes at one point uses a live electrode to electrocute one mook through exposed copper piping, effectively launching him into another mook that Watson was fighting. {{Averted|Trope}}, in the same fight, when Holmes and his opponent both, at different times, politely request a momentary break in the fight to recover (because, after all, Holmes is an Englishman).

** The Borg drone who is slashed up by Worf makes a small hole in the knee of Worf's spacesuit, forcing him to pause and try and close the leak. Of course by then, it's too late for the drone.

* Creator/DanielCraig's incarnation of Film/JamesBond is particularly appealing due to being this kind of character, not that the previous Bonds were averse to getting a little dirty themselves.
** Most notably, in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' Bond faces a trained martial artist in a karate match. When the other man bows, Bond kicks him in the throat. The next opponent comes and bows while keeping a careful eye on Bond to prevent getting sucker kicked himself.

* ''Film/LastActionHero'' parodies this. In school, Danny is watching a film version of the scene in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' where Hamlet has an opportunity to kill Claudius but refuses due to Claudius being in prayer. Danny starts whispering to himself, "Just do it", and then has a fantasy sequence of an action movie version of ''Hamlet'' with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role. In the scene where Hamlet discovers Polonius hiding behind a curtain, Polonius says "Stay thy hand, fair prince" to which Hamlet replies "Who said I was fair?" and shoots him with an MP5K, then mows down several palace guards with it.

* ''Film/LastActionHero'' parodies this. In school, Danny is watching a film version of the scene in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' where Hamlet has an opportunity to kill Claudius but refuses due to Claudius being in prayer. Danny starts whispering to himself, "Just do it", and then has a fantasy sequence of an action movie version of ''Hamlet'' with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role. In the scene where Hamlet discovers Polonius hiding behind a curtain, Polonius says "Stay thy hand, fair prince" to which Hamlet replies "Who said I was fair?" and shoots him with an [[CoolGuns MP5K]], then mows down several palace guards with it.

** Later in the same film, Indy tries plenty of dirty tactics against a Nazi GiantMook that challenges him to GoodOldFisticuffs. He starts off the fight by [[LookBehindYou distracting him]], then kicking him [[GroinAttack in the groin]]... which [[BallsOfSteel has little effect]]. When he's grabbed, he [[ManBitesMan bites the man's arm]] to escape, and when he's knocked to the ground, [[AHandfulForAnEye throws some sand in his opponent's face]] as he gets up. He even tries to grab a gun to repeat the same trick as the above example, only not doing so because his opponent blocks him from reaching it. Unlike the above example though, all these tricks barely slow his enemy down, at best just keeping Indy alive against someone who physically outclasses him.

* In ''Film/MirrorMirror'', the seven dwarves train Snow White in fighting. They quickly explain that fighting fair isn't an option since everyone is bigger and stronger than them. When Snow White faces Prince Alcott in a sword fight, she has to pull out every trick in the book just to keep up, like throwing snow in his face and stomping on his foot, as the Prince is stronger and more skilled despite his adherence to the rules. Snow White wins by throwing a rock at a branch, making snow fall on a horse and inducing it to kick the Prince.

** [[PunchClockVillain Dark Jedi]] are equally as dirty as the Sith. Though the Sith [[KickTheDog look down on them]], ironically more Dark Jedi survived (and for longer periods). The Dark Jedi are eerily similar to real life [[Main/Ronin Ronin]], in which they lack any real master (such as a Grandmaster or Lord), serving only themselves with moderately lower ambitions, than the Sith.

* The newest incarnation of Film/JamesBond played by Daniel Craig is particularly appealing due to being this kind of character, not that the other Bonds were averse to getting a little dirty themselves.

* ''Film/ThePatriot'', a 2000 film about UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, brings this up throughout.

** Budd easily defeats the Bride, by [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretending that he's not aware of her sneaking up on him]], and lying in wait with a shotgun full of rock salt. Unfortunately for Budd, Elle works in the same way, and [[spoiler: kills him with poison, just as she did Pai Mei.]] Despite being a Pragmatist, Elle falls victim to a related trope [[BondVillainStupidity by insisting that Budd make the Bride suffer rather than just kill her]]. It comes back to bite her hard. Oddly enough, Budd's final fate ([[spoiler:a horrible death by concealed Black Mamba]]) shows an inversion or even aversion to this trope: [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shooting your opponent]] sounds like the smartly pragmatic thing, up until you discover way too late that you pissed off your victim's WorthyOpponent and she decides you need to die like a dog because said victim "deserved [a] better [death than being shot by some trailer-trash slob]".

* Liam Neeson from ''Film/{{Taken}}''. He only fights "fair" if he needs you alive for questioning. [[GroinAttack Attacking other people's nuts]]? Check. [[TortureAlwaysWorks Torturing someone for information]]? Check. [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Killing him AFTER receiving the information]]? Check. [[spoiler:[[KilledMidSentence Shooting someone in mid-sentence]] while the guy tried to negotiate?]] Check. [[AssholeVictim It's]] [[KickTheSonOfABitch hilarious]]. The movie probably should have been named "Combat Pragmatism -- The Movie". Of particular note is his use of the (rarely-used-in-movies) trick of dealing with imminent reinforcements by simply {{playing possum}} in a room full of dead enemies, then blasting said reinforcements a few moments after they arrive.

* ''Film/NineteenFortyOne'':
-->'''Wally Stephens:''' I know I can't beat you in a fair fight.
-->''''Stretch' Sitarski:''' ''[scoffs]'' Stupid, I don't fight fair.
-->'''Wally Stephens:''' Neither do I!
-->''[kicks Stretch [[GroinAttack in the crotch]], then hits him across the face with a belt of .50 calibre machine-gun ammo. Stretch smiles dumbly for a second then falls over]''

** The scene in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' when Obi-Wan and Anakin are dueling. [[IHaveTheHighGround You know which.]]

** The Jedi and the Sith usually subvert this in terms of weapons, only using lightsabers and refusing to use blasters, but the Sith, being the villains, are more willing to fight dirtier. This is somewhat justified in that the Jedi teach restraint-start fighting too dirty, and you might fall to the Dark Side. Usually. Obi-Wan ends up taking out Grievous with a blaster, though he does complain about it afterward.