Deus Ex Machina endings that work

[Drooling Iguana]

Would the T. Rex coming in to save the day at the end of Jurassic Park qualify here? It made no sense that an animal that size would be able to sneak up unnoticed like that, but it was sure satisfying watching her fling the raptors around.

[The Original Nex]

Would the T. Rex coming in to save the day at the end of Jurassic Park qualify here? It made no sense that an animal that size would be able to sneak up unnoticed like that, but it was sure satisfying watching her fling the raptors around.

Never mind her getting inside the building in the first place I think that's a pretty good example of it, and it worked for me!

[Shroom Man 777]

Aha! That horrible old-people music in Mars Attacks that made the Martians' heads explode! If that's not a Deus Ex Machina, I don't know what is!

Speaking of which, the common cold in War of the Worlds! Does Jeff Goldblum's computer virus count in Independence Day? Nah.

The water in Signs! Oh shit, that ending most definitely did NOT work!

[Sam Or I]

The common cold seemed to work. We knew about it from our own history, but did not apply it to the plot until it happened.

[saveyour]

i like the shaun of the dead deus ex machina. military kicks down the door and kills zombies, the day is saved. the end

[CarsonPalmer]

The Indiana Jones ending, at least to me, seems to fit with a general theme of the movie. The Nazis wanted the Ark because they thought they could use it as a weapon, and Balloq wanted the Ark because he thought that it was a transmitter for speaking to God. The only one who was actually afraid of what the Ark might be able to do was Indiana Jones; he survived because he didn't believe that he could bend the Ark to his will, while arrogance brought down Balloq and the Nazis.

[Gramzamber]

Speaking of which, the common cold in War of the Worlds!

Doesn't really work for me. Were the Martians really so rock-stupid that they didn't consider an alien world with indigineous life would have dangerous contageons? Or use spacesuits? Or just not all come out of their doomships at the same time?

[Bakustra]

Speaking of which, the common cold in War of the Worlds!

Doesn't really work for me. Were the Martians really so rock-stupid that they didn't consider an alien world with indigineous life would have dangerous contageons? Or use spacesuits? Or just not all come out of their doomships at the same time?

Yes. The British, after the events of the novel, speculated that they had eliminates all dangerous pathogens from their environment, and eventually all bacteria/viruses altogether. Of course, the idea of a rhinovirus infecting a Martian, even if they are DNA-based and have the same handedness of their proteins as Earth life, is still the more ridiculous. Of course, Wells only added that ending because he needed a happy one for people to buy the book.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Speaking of which, the common cold in War of the Worlds!

Doesn't really work for me. Were the Martians really so rock-stupid that they didn't consider an alien world with indigineous life would have dangerous contageons? Or use spacesuits? Or just not all come out of their doomships at the same time?

Yes. The British, after the events of the novel, speculated that they had eliminates all dangerous pathogens from their environment, and eventually all bacteria/viruses altogether. Of course, the idea of a rhinovirus infecting a Martian, even if they are DNA-based and have the same handedness of their proteins as Earth life, is still the more ridiculous. Of course, Wells only added that ending because he needed a happy one for people to buy the book.

It was never viral; it was bacteria that felled the Martians.

[Stark]

Doesn't really work for me. Were the Martians really so rock-stupid that they didn't consider an alien world with indigineous life would have dangerous contageons? Or use spacesuits? Or just not all come out of their doomships at the same time?

Have you even read the fucking book? They were INJECTING HUMAN BLOOD INTO THEMSELVES. Spacesuits would not protect them from this. They're still stupid for not at least testing the blood, but the book describes them just jacking the stuff in straight away.

[Blayne]

Aaaah guys remember he wrote this in the 19th century when armies invaded regions routinely without any defense or medicine for their troops at all, 90% of casualties in that period is probably from basic bacterial infection it could be possible they did know about it but decided to invade anyways thinking the attrition rate would be manageable.

[Gramzamber]

Doesn't really work for me. Were the Martians really so rock-stupid that they didn't consider an alien world with indigineous life would have dangerous contageons? Or use spacesuits? Or just not all come out of their doomships at the same time?

Have you even read the fucking book? They were INJECTING HUMAN BLOOD INTO THEMSELVES. Spacesuits would not protect them from this. They're still stupid for not at least testing the blood, but the book describes them just jacking the stuff in straight away.

I was thinking more of the 50's movie than the book, which I haven't read in quite a while.
Given the time it was written I suppose the alien's unsafe practices might not have seemed as bad then. It still makes it's subsequent adaptations in later times a total deus ex machina based on a total lack of Martian foresight and regard for safety.

[Bakustra]

Yes. The British, after the events of the novel, speculated that they had eliminates all dangerous pathogens from their environment, and eventually all bacteria/viruses altogether. Of course, the idea of a rhinovirus infecting a Martian, even if they are DNA-based and have the same handedness of their proteins as Earth life, is still the more ridiculous. Of course, Wells only added that ending because he needed a happy one for people to buy the book.

It was never viral; it was bacteria that felled the Martians.

Bacterial makes a lot more sense; it's been years since I last read War of the Worlds, I admit. Bacteria are far less species-dependent than viruses, after all.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Indeed viruses hadn't even been discovered when the book was written.

[Silver Jedi]

i like the shaun of the dead deus ex machina. military kicks down the door and kills zombies, the day is saved. the end

I don't know if that counts. Wasn't their entire plan to hold up in the pub until the military showed up?

[open_sketchbook]

The plan was more just, hold up in the pub... and that was pretty much it. Ed and Shaun are not ones for long-term planning.

[Gramzamber]

Still military intervention is the logical thing. Only standard zombie movies and zombie apocalypse wankers think that the entire military with guns will be overwhelmed by zombies with teeth and fists.
Sure it's a plot convenience that the military swoops in just at that moment to save the day but not really a deus ex machina.

[adam_grif]

I'd say it is a Deus Ex Machina, because that the military was going to be coming was never established at any point. We're given the impression that there is no hope, then a previously unmentioned thing comes out of nowhere to save the day. It wasn't like they ever picked up a transmission telling them to hold out until the cavalry arrived.