History Main / WireDilemma

* Played straight in ''Film/Armageddon1998'', where the Pentagon activates the nuclear bomb on the shuttle because they believe the mission is doomed to failure, and the Air Force nuclear specialists on the mission have to disarm it. In this case, the airmen can't shut the bomb down directly because it has been remotely activated, and they have to cut the wiring. The usual dilemma is subverted; the airman disarming the wires briefly hesitates when determining which wire to cut, but he remembers exactly which one to cut after a second of thought. Justified in that they weren't trying to disable the bomb, as they still needed to use it. They just needed to disable the activated timer and stop the Pentagon-ordered detonation. It's also unclear if cutting the wrong wire would cause the bomb to detonate, stop the countdown but render the bomb useless, or just fail to stop the countdown.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'':
** Parodied in the episode "Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko". With less than 10 seconds until the stolen bomb detonates, Donatello, without hesitation, cuts the purple wire because it matches his eye mask.
** In the episode "Convicts From Dimension X" when inter-dimensional criminals trapped the turtles in a force field with a time bomb set up nearby. They freed themselves and Donatello has to decide which wire to pull.

* ''ComicBook/SupermanAndSpiderMan'': A variation occurs when Superman and Spider-Man work together to stop Characters/DoctorDoom's super-reactor from going critical and threatening to destroy the world. While Superman tries to contain the reactor elements from within, Spider-Man has to shut off the reactor, but if he throws the wrong switch it will only accelerate the meltdown. When he touches one switch it triggers his Spider-sense, making him realize he needs to trigger the other switch.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/GHOSTSquad''. One of the sequences in the first stage has you cutting the wires of a bomb in the specified order. This can be a pain if your hands are unsteady, since you (the player) are using your gun to move the wire clippers.

* The page picture is not of a an actual bomb, but of a novelty alarm clock shaped like one. You can interrupt it from ringing during the 10-second delay by cutting the right wire, which are easily replaceable.

-->'''Holmes:''' Unlike in the various movies you say are good but are in fact not good, bomb-makers do not design intricate testaments to engineering, they design things that go "Bang".

* ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'':

** In ''Trauma Team'', Naomi has to defuse a final bomb [[spoiler:that's in a teddy bear.]]

* Subverted (maybe more downright averted) in episode 13 of ''Anime/MasterKeaton''. There is an attempt at a more realistic bomb threat scenario where the trickiest parts of disarming the bomb are in fact having to find and open it. There are still more wires than would probably be necessary, and there is mention of how disarming a false timer would set the bomb off, but ultimately the whole thing is resolved without cutting any wires at all.
* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Anya discovers that a terrorist group planted a bomb inside a clock tower. When she tries to defuse it by cutting the red wire (as seen on TV) she realizes that all of the wires are black. Fortunately, the bomb does not have a timer, but is rigged to blow when a door is opened. Anya writes a warning over the door to prevent it from being opened. [[note]] Not that Anya would have known, but the bomb looked to be C4. Meaning she would have just had to disconnect the wires from the blasting caps. Meaning the solution would have been to cut ALL the wires.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'': PlayedForLaughs when Majima decides to work on this, in spite of stating that "How the fuck should I know how this tangly-ass rainbow shit works?!". In the end he uses his instincts and the Japanese equivalent of eeny-meeny-miny-moe to figure it out.
* ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}'': The Mad Bomber series of side cases involve homemade bombs, but instead of cutting the wires, [[CuttingTheKnot Yagami elects to rip the wires out, breaking the connection between the timer and the bomb.]] Luckily for everyone involved, this works.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Anya discovers that a terrorist group planted a bomb inside a clock tower. When she tries to defuse it by cutting the red wire (as seen on TV) she realizes that all of the wires are black. Fortunately, the bomb does not have a timer, but is rigged to blow when a door is opened. Anya writes a warning over the door to prevent it from being opened.