Great Movies where the Bad Guys Win!

[Lord Krunk]

the dark knight

But the Joker didn't. The boat-guys didn't puss out like he thought they would, and Harvey's image was still upheld despite his corruption.

I'll jump on the bandwagon and say Watchmen. Although, the 'hero' and 'villain' aspect was left up to interpretation.

 

[Iron Criterion]

Nineteen Eighty-Four. The regime beats Winston and shows no sign of being over thrown any time soon.

 

[FlakAttack]

Then there's...

Spoiler

The split personality theory. It's never confirmed, but a lot of scenes hint towards it.

Billy and Dr Horrible use separate phones. Billy would never ignore Penny or skip the a laundry date. Dr Horrible however, does. He acts different when in and out of costume as well.

But it's true... the only real winner is Bad Horse.

I really wonder where the sequel is going to take us. It might actually answer some of these questions. Yet at the same time, the fact you're left with so many questions about the characters is what I found to be one of the stronger point of the thing.

I think that it is less that he acts differently in uniform, and more that the uniform represents what way he is acting. Obviously he is conflicted though, and it seems that if the relationship with Penny had continued, he may have at least reconsidered his way.

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Massive snip

Spoiler: V for Vendetta

He died in the film too, but without Evey taking the mask herself. However, death does not automatically disqualify you from victory (see Gladiator) - the point I was making is that V's status as hero is debatable, and thus it could be argued that, by virtue of him fulfilling his aims, the villain may have 'won'.

As for your watchmen point (which wasn't aimed at me), I agree. I'm pretty sure that the aim of Veidt's plot was to disrupt humanity from a constant cycle of war by providing an alternative threat. The Ender's Game series is a brilliant example of humanity's tendency to war amongst itself without the presence of an external adversary. It's also a brilliant example of writing and storytelling.

 

[JEBWrench]

Soylent Green is the only one I can think of.

There's more, but you win a few internets simply for mentioning such a great movie first.

Another one to mention: Rosemary's Baby (which is a great film except for the goddamned ending).

 

[kc_lax]

i'm tempted to say the 1st battle royale to be different sure you can argue that they survived but they are wanted terrorists by the nation (trying to avoid spoilers) though its a good movie not sure you could call it a great movie

 

[I Max95]

the dark knight

the joker didnt win he was thrown in jail
and Two face died

i dont catch your meaning

 

[I Max95]

Spoiler

300 the persians may have lost in real life but just speaking in terms of the movie's time line
they won the battle but not the war

 

[Catchy Slogan]

The Secret Window. That counts right?

Or The Machinist. But it's kinda crap. Watch Fight Club instead.

 

[hermes]

Spoiler: Wall of text filled with Watchmen spoilers

You know, it really annoyed me how it is just assumed in the comic (didn't see the movie) that if anyone knows what Veidt did, then global war will break out and everyone would die. Why is that? You know, the Russkies invaded Afghanistan in real life, and the world didn't blow up. Why, exactly, would world peace have been ruined if anyone knew that Adrian Veidt blew up New York? Would everyone have been like "Oh, it wasn't aliens, let's go back to nuking each other"?
I just think that, despite how good the comic was, the whole concept of not being able to tell anyone about the atrocity or MOAR PPL WOOD DIEDED!!! is stupid, because it is totally outside the realm of what real human beings would do.

Although, I suppose that an all-powerful, blue, naked man is not exactly realistic either.

The world of Watchmen is a fictional world because of the existance of superheroes, especially an all-powerful, blue, naked man... While in our history the invasion of Afghanistan didn't ended up with the world being blown up, the people in Watchmen's world has little doubt URSS retaliation would destroy the world... Also, the all-powerful, blue, naked man, who can see the future, kind of confirmed it.

And, back to topic... No Country for Old men. I could menction Swordfish, but you said "Great movies".

 

[sievr]

Watchmen is the only one I can come up with

Spoiler

I thought Rorshack (I have no idea how to spell that) won, seeing as his diary or what it was (been a while since I saw it) was found by the guy I don't remember who is, and thus it is insinuated that the story will be known to the world. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I've watched it.

Spoiler: Watchmen ending

Rorschach sends his diary to a newspaper. They need something to fill the paper with, something stupider from a read to fill up a slot. Whether or not they actually pick up his diary and run with it is a mystery.

If they do, the new world built up by Ozymandias will crumble and everything will have been for nothing as the world slips back into war.

If they don't, the bad guy wins in creating world peace.

No one knows what happens. Kinda adds to the ambiguity of the ending and whether or not it Ozy's actions were justified.

Even if they actually got around to un-burying Rorschach's journal, and even if they actually believed it was genuine (big if, since it is in the crazy person pile already and to be honest, Rorschach IS a crazy person), the newspaper isn't much more than a tabloid anyway. It's unlikely that Ozymandias' world would crumble based on that alone. Besides, it was going to crumble all by itself anyway.

 

[Ickorus]

Ravenous.

It may not have been the intended victory but he did get what he wanted in a sense.

Spoiler

The General still ate the Knox stew and got a taste for people meat.

 

[I Max95]

SAW films.Jigsaw wins most of the time....

I thought the title said "Great" movies where the bad guy wins. OH SNAP!

Truth be told though, I thought the first Saw was really good.

your entitled to your opinion but saw needs to die
not the character the entire movie series

that would be the only time id be happy about anything having to do with Saw
anything with that many sequals (excluding Harry potter and possibly final fantasy)
has to be stopped

 

[WINDOWCLEAN2]

the dark knight

The Bad Guy (Joker) doesn't win however.

He is beaten by Batman when he sacrafices his chance at a normal life by becoming 'The Dark Knight' in order to make sure Harvey/Two face's reputation wasn't undone by Joker's mind games which would have thus released criminals back onto the street.

End =
Joker is caught
Criminals are in Jail
Harvey Dents reputation is kept
Gordan is commisioner
Peoples good will wins out


It's a Victory on the basis of 'Freedom isn't Free' meaning that they had to pay in blood to win their freedom from the Joker.

OT: The Matrix trilogy

This is due to the fact that
1. Neo is Dead
2. Humanity is in ruins
3. It is stated by the oracle that the peace will most likley not last.

AKA...Humanity is SCREWED

 

[MgsTheFury]

Watchmen