Any moments where movies kill off extras just so that the main characters can have the spotlight?

Submitted by Extolord111 t3_11bgm6i in movies

Some examples I have include:

Stargate, where the Abydonian boys that went inside the pyramid with the main characters, most of whom were wielding MP5s, get killed by the Horus Guards (there were like 8-10 extras that could've easily shredded the guards). Correction: There were only 3 extras, but it's still weird how they were the only ones who died (yes I know about plot armor).

Stargate Continuum, where the two Jaffa that were helping the main characters fend off incoming enemies get killed even though they were camping the single teleporter ring with two M9s + one extra mag, an AK with an extra mag taped on it, two staff weapons that have infinite blasts, and a zat gun with infinite zats. They did have their death coming at them though, as they gave the intruders enough time to react and start shooting, but it's still convenient that they died as everyone could've shredded the 5-6 enemies that come through the teleporter ring at a time.

Edit: Another example would be the 10s or 100s of people in Tomorrow War that got drafted into a war in the future. You can guess who survives the entire thing.

What examples do you guys have where the movie conveniently kills off extras so that the main characters have to fend for themselves?

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estine1979 t1_j9y7hny wrote

Alien Resurrection when the staff are slaughtered so it leaves a few people to carry out the rest of the story.

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lucia-pacciola t1_j9ydqj9 wrote

That makes sense, though, as the staff were closer to the source of the problem. The story we get is the story of the bystanders who weren't caught at ground zero and actually had a chance to escape.

I understand the OP to be asking about situations where there's a mixed group of actors - leads and supports - that narratively have equal chances of surviving. Like two soldiers in a trench. Grenade goes in the trench, who do you think eats it? It's always the supporting actor, never the lead.

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Extolord111 OP t1_j9zfa47 wrote

Yeah I'm talking something like that, just with extras that no one looks at. I also want to know about about moments where the extras just die and no one cares about them for the rest of the movie, like the Abydonian boys in Stargate, they just die and none of the main characters care. Yet when a side or main character dies, it's the biggest deal ever, like bro 10 of your friends just died. I see this killing extras thing a lot in military or sci-fi related movies.

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TrueLegateDamar t1_j9zu48f wrote

Raymond Cruz's character dying always pissed me off so bad, especially when he starts out as a background extra soldier who still outlived half the cast and made it to the ship.

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lucia-pacciola t1_j9ye102 wrote

Deep Blue Sea. Superintelligent sharks terrorize an ocean research facility.

There are two black characters. One makes an inspirational speech about teamwork and survival. The other is preoccupied with making the perfect omelette. Guess which one is the "extra" and which one is the main character.

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AHorseNamedPhil t1_ja1hpg8 wrote

Probably every movie with a battle scene where the two sides get involved in hand to hand combat. Doesn't it usually boil down to both the protagonist and antagonist for some reason being the best fighter in each army, slicing their way through hordes of nameless extras until they meet somewhere in the middle of the field for solo combat? Also once engaged in a fight with each other the extras seemigly become content to ignore them and let them have their solo duel.

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