Deus Ex Machina Explained
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- The main character is trapped. There’s no way out. They are surely doomed. The movie is over. Then all of a sudden, an inconceivable solution appears from out of the blue. This is what is referred to as a deus ex machina and it is one of the most frowned upon tropes in filmmaking.
Coined during Ancient Greek theatre, deus ex machina translates to “god from the machine.” This refers to a mechanical device that the Greeks would use to lower actors playing gods onto the stage. These gods often served as a plot device to help the characters out of a sticky situation. Since then, this term has been applied to any cheap, improbable solution in film, theatre, or literature.
Think about the eagles in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King or the T-rex that saves the day at the end of Jurassic Park. These unlikely heroes seem to come out of nowhere, as if delivered by the gods themselves.
The term deus ex machina is usually used derogatorily to reference a lazy solution to a conflict within the narrative. It’s like an escape hatch for the filmmakers when they write themselves into a corner-but it’s also a solution that usually undermines the rest of the story in the process. So why exactly is this device problematic? Let’s find out.
As a film lover, is there anything more interesting than finding out how the sausage is made? Watch our SFX: Secrets on Jurassic Park. Then take a real deep dive into filmmaking with our videos on the origins of sound, the power of aspect ratios and how different film gauges affect how you see the movies.
People keep talking like Deus Ex Machina = lazy writing
Lazy usage of Deus Ex Machina is lazy writing.
The God in the Machine!
Life itself is deus ex
Same difference
It kinda is look at joker from dc comics the writers use him as a plot device in MOST of the stories
@@rusted8444 No. If a "Deux Ex Machina" is hinted at or set up, its not lazy writing. The only example I can think of is everyone coming back in Endgame, it's a Deux Ex Machina moment that was set up and makes complete sense. Its good writing, not lazy writing
The best deus ex machina ever is when the animator suddenly dies in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, letting them escape the cave monster.
*Animators suddenly died for S8E3
Yes that is a valid example. Unlike Jurassic park where we saw the T-REX previously and knew he was loose on the park.
My sides
God tier comment
wasn't that animator terry gilliam?
The term first used in the Ancient Greek Theater where the unsoluble situations got solved by divine intervention. The god (Deus in Latin ) presented himself or herself to the actors flying above their heads. The flying was operated by people behind the scene with a machine (ex Machina in Latin).
Thank you I wondered what the word came from
It's like the opposite of ironic and divine intervention.
sometimes Deux ex machina is justified in writing, especially if u want to show hope out of nowhere. like lotr, the hope theme is pretty strong there
LOTR is principally a symbolic story so Deus Ex Machina, or basically, acts of Gods are part of its central themes. It is still strictly an example of Deus Ex Machina... just that it doesn't ruin the story in that particular case.
@@gamble777888 this is something that people always talk about when crtisizing lotr, but it's always been stated that the eagles fear the dark lord. Like any other race they protect their own, so when they say all races coming together they joined to at least bale them out.
@@jaredhenry3672 except they really don't but are actual messengers of manwe the chief god of arda
damn, i wish deus ex machina happend to me when i was taking an exam......
but all that happened was a foreshadow of my incoming failing grades....
Damn hard luck
GER: did you say something?
Just dont be afraid, you can do anything what you really want.
If it isn't math, its ok.
@@freezethefbi4594 i got that reference
Here after Arya shanked the Night King and save everyone
me too lol
A strong example of Deus Ex Machina there was no foreshadowing whatsoever except that Arya exists basically
majed8192 the red women foreshadows it by saying she will kill someone with blue eyes
Same here. But Jurassic park is not deux ex machina
@@majed8192 there was tho
All this time I thought everyone was referring to some kind of sci-fi movie title
Same. I was a dumb kid
I mean there's a game series called Deus Ex so close enough
Me too
I’m so high and knowing Deus ex machine isn’t some awesome anime movie with a cool space battle in the style of shin Godzilla’s gigs blast scene, all that, makes me so sad
Needed an explanation for why the latest episode of Got sucked so bad. Thx
Didnt get any better did it? Just finished episode 4
Phil Lower Hahaha this doesn’t count. U sure don’t understand the video nor Arya’s characterization cos of your low intelligence. So STUPID! Whine all I want ya twat!
@@plisskenetic yeah you sound really smart
The show and primarily the books has spoken about Arya as being as quiet as a cat, she is an Assassin and made no noise when she moved, this was displayed in the very same fucking episode when the whytes couldn't hear her moving about but could hear blood cropping onto the floor plus there was foreshadowing from Melisandre even though it was a retcon. The look Bran gives her when she takes the cats paw from him which was so over acted by Bran's actor that it was painfully obvious that him giving her that dagger had a deeper meaning. If you are thinking it will go down different in the books i wouldn't get my hopes up.
Plus not once does the prophecy mention that Azor Ahai will kill the NK.
Pirate King ! That was HER blood dripping you absolute moron, so she wasn’t as deathly quiet as you make out. The blood dripping is the fucking problem, they’re so sensitive to noise that they can hear that, and she almost gets caught by a group of like 6 wights, but later she can sneak through an entire army PLUS the white walkers? Fuck outta here you absolute moron
If there's a place for deus ex machina, it's in fantasy. "Divine intervention" in fantastic tales has little to do with "lazy writing"... in most cases, that is! It can be like the manifestation of the hope of the characters, or of the audience - and it is not used as often as you and many others seem to think. It has become quite a popular term to throw around, in a dismissive way, as if it translates into "bad quality" or something.
The T rex showing up in Jarrasic park was great.
Yep, I think it isn't even a deus ex machina effect, because what happens there is exactly what people expect from that movie, as showing dino fights is all the JP movies are about.
True. The point behind Jurassic Park was to show off how uncontrollable Nature is. One minute, nature could help you, the next, it’s working against you.
@A Nayak Kudos. The ending of Jurassic Park is ridiculous.
@A Nayak In the heat of the moment you wouldn't notice the Tyrannosaurus either, just like the raptors and people didn't, if you want to apply logic to a movie for the sake of calling it ridiculous.
Also, are you assuming that Rexy couldn't stalk more quietly if she wanted to? Have you ever snuck downstairs to get pringles as a kid at 12:30 without waking up your dad?
At least we can clearly see where she entered the building behind her.
Arya Stark
@Rhaego Targaryen Amen.
The real deus is melisandre
Deus Ex Arya
nope
Inaccurate. Arya was set up to arrive in that area.
Batman having an invention to get him literally out of every situation was a meme decades before the internet was born. It's very clear this was on purpose.
Yeah, I gotta agree with some of the commentators here: you seem to not know exactly what a Deus Ex Machina is. A Deus Ex Machina is a totally-unexpected spontaneous solution that never had any set-up nor fits the environment of the setting of the problem.
A T-Rex established to be roaming around and eating meatier competitive raptors over harmless humans is not Deus Ex Machina.
A T-Rex being lured from his cage to fight another equally-size predator in a Dinosaur-themed zoo is not a Deus Ex Machina (would a roaming lion still focus on hunting meerkats when another roaming enemy lion is in the same area?).
Aquatic predators like the Mosasaurus would strikingly beached itself to snatch prey on the shoreline: you can watch videos of Crocodiles and Killer Whales (similar anatomy) doing this.
Half-Baked established he bought the ashes of Jerry Garcia before he used it. It's a comedy film where it's been established that light magical shit happens. FFS, they sold weed that makes people literally fly and they flew over the city earlier in the film.
Jurassic World's Mosasaurus was shown earlier in the film! Its location was even quite clearly mapped-out during the show (and mayhem afterwards), so that when they inch closer to the fenced lagoon, you kinda half expected it to appear.
Thanks for all the great videos!
Fun fact about Jim Brewer in Half Baked, the shot at 2:42 is the only time he was actually high on camera in the entire film. He kept struggling to get thru it so you can see him celebrating that he got it right as he walks out of frame.
Many of the examples you give aren't really deus ex machina because they don't come completely out of nowhere. For example, the eagles were nicely set up in The Fellowship of the Ring when we saw Gandalf could use a moth to summon the eagles. It's not like a previously unmentioned eagle suddenly appeared out of nowhere in The Return of the King. Similarly, in Jurassic Park it's not like a T-Rex just suddenly appears for the first time in the climax to save the day. The audience knows there's a T-Rex roaming the area. (Also the aquatic dino was also set up in an earlier scene in Jurassic World. It was shown killing in that exact same way.)
mopslikvonstein
I agree about Jurassic World, but there rest of what you say is not true. The idea of Deus Ex Machina is that you sometimes set up earlier things but they come out of nowhere with no given explanation. T-Rex comes out of nowhere despite being set-up. Some goes the Eagles.
I think the mistake a lot of people are making is calling all Deus Ex Machina bad. That shouldn't be the case because the one Jurassic Park just feels so effective.
Actually seeing them in the first film is what makes them such a huge Ex Machina in the third one. In the first film, it takes Gandalf days until he catches a moth and then it takes at least a few more hours until the eagle arrives to save him. In the third one he is seeing the danger, a random moth flies next to him and the eagles arrive in a matter of seconds. At the very least it means that the Eagles have new superpowers of teleportation and the entire setup that the moth needs to take Gandalf request to the eagles is just thrown a side for a cheap moment of excitement.
Tal Sarig I think it was the reverse situation in LOTR, initially Gandalf contacted the Eagles, but then the Eagles contacted him, perhaps the moth was actually delivering their message to him.
The Eagles are the ultimate bail out ticket, but they never actually I dunno fly Frodo to mount doom and just throw in the ring. No no eagles are proud creatures that only appear when you're completely out of options.
I honestly think Peter Jackson eventually gave up and ended up making a parody out of them in the first hobbit film.
It's also something that makes LOTR and the hobbit feel like a nice fantasy movie, but that's just my opinion.
Wow, I still don't get it
The Harry Potter one was foreshadowed tho, when dumbledore says hogwarts will always help those who ask for it so
Okay but in LOTR the Eagles are literally an intelligent Good group of people all by themselves, and have during the history of the world taken part in several battles im the side of the good guys. At least in LOTR they weren't sent by The Actual Gods Themselves. I mean, I know the movies pretty much erased the fact that they weren't just dumb animals but actually intelligent and capable of making desicions by themselves, but they are. And they are good. And they didn't have an excuse like "But we're not as strong as we used to be" like the elves, so obviously they take part in that battle. I mean, it's quite literally about the fate of the whole Middle-Earth
Actually they were sent by God's sometimes, but so was Gandalf.
The Eagles do not possess free will as they were not created directly by Eru Ilúvatar (God) and so do not possess the Flame Imperishable/Secret Fire (free will). As such the Eagles are puppets of Eru. The Maiar (wizards, e.g. Gandalf) are servants of God as well, but they possess free will, which is why Saruman was able to defect to Sauron. The Eagles, and Gandalf, were literally sent by God.
There is a grander story behind LOTR, where it is basically God (Eru) against the devil (Morgoth and his servant Sauron). Eru was generally unwilling to intervene because, regardless of how much he hated what was going on, he was not willing to interfere with free will, however he sent Gandalf to guide the fellowship and at the climactic moment he sent the Eagles.
@@sulphuric_glue4468 The Great Eagles were brought into being by Manwe. Gandalf was also a Maiar in service of Manwe, who while chief of the Valar on Arda, was distinct from Eru. Manwe could be said to be a Michael allegory I guess. Tolkien wasn't generally in favor of direct allegory though.
@@nrconleynrc Thanks for the correction, I didn't know the specifics, although you could argue that they're ultimately all servants of Eru so he's really the one in charge.
Tolkien didn't like direct allegory but the theology is obviously heavily inspired by Christianity, and Tolkien described it as an expressly Catholic work, so to say that Manwe is essentially St. Michael is not incorrect
@@sulphuric_glue4468 true. He didn't seem to mind when allegory was the result, but not the goal. He and CS Lewis argued about it apparently. You can certainly read Catholicism into the Silmarilion, but I think Gnosticism a closer match. But he was influenced by many traditions, even pagan.
The Jurassic world one wasn’t Deus ex Machina. Something happened like that earlier with a shark
Megaolodon
@@yusefkalam7186 Mosasaurus
Exactly. Plus they were winning the fight, so that doesn’t even make sense.
Sometimes, like In the case of Jurassic park, the occurrence isn’t so much “lazy writing” as it is a thematic choice. The abrupt entrance of the tyrannosaur is meant to convey that as perilous as the raptors seem, they remain prey for perils even greater.
Nor are the eagles to be frank, sure they’re convenient, but they’re hardly baseless. They’re an Allie of Gandalf’s just like men of Rohan or of Gondor.
This video seems be a product of the very thing you’re accusing these movies of, lazy writing.
After reading some of the comments, it seems I’m not alone in this objection.
Replying to this 3yo comment to add that the only reason the eagles didn't come to Mordor earlier (and drop the ring in, lol) is because it was guarded by Sauron and the Ringwraiths until that very moment and would have been too obvious. People seem to forget that. And, the eagles had plenty of foreshadowing to boot.
Deus Ex Machina can be awesome, or it can be lame as hell. Just depends on execution.
Another reason why the eagles came is because, they knew that if Sauron would win the war the eagles would be killed off.
JP was Deus Rex Machina. The thing that made it egregious was that they'd spent so much time building up the T-Rex as something you knew was coming before you could even see it. It was the least sneaky dinosaur in the movie until they decided it could just magically appear inside a building completely undetected.
1.You can see where it entered
2. Would you really notice if two velociraptors were trying to eat you?
The eagles aren't Deus Ex Machina. Fight me.
Even if the eagles didn't come, and most of the people in that battle died, they still would've have provided enough of a distraction for frodo to destroy the ring and cause the floor to collapse below the rest sauron's army. I don't think the wyverns appearing was a totally unsolvable problem that would have ruined the fellowship, as they were putting up a pretty damn good fight as it was. The rest of the fellowship was ready to give their lives in that battle for frodo anyways. Frankly I think it was a lazy example!
No they are a 70's rock band.
So how did they know to come in that exact moment on those exact places and not earlier? Why was it so convenient? Not to mention the fact that the earth crumbled only beneath the orcs in the perfect shape they were in surrounding the humans so the humans would live. This is beyond laughable for such a "good" considered movie like LOTR:TROTK. also, why did the Eagles not carried Frodo till mount Doom and back and avoid all the stupid death and blood shed?... ah well... (sigh)
@@FilmVersionSoundtracks The eagles themselves are intelligent beings and has been helping Gandalf before.
Why did the eagles didn't carry Frodo all the way to Mt. Doom? It's like you purposely ignore that there's a fucking All-Seeing Eye watching over for some reason.
Francisco Méndez Grajales also if the eagles couldn’t beat the wyverns then they would have completely lost also many humans probably still died in the floor crumbling
You should also do a video on why deus ex machina was meaningful in the greek epos, the genre where it was born. I think Tolkien, for example, consciously used this archetype.
Eagles = Poor example of Deus Ex Machina
@Francisco Méndez Grajales Because they are shown to have existed and also to have rescued a previous character in the books. We also know Gandalf, who could contact them, would have been looking out to help Frodo and Sam and he would have known where they are and where to send the Eagles.
LordMichaelRahl People forget too that Mordor had hundreds of fell beasts and hundreds of thousands of orcs. Its not as simple as carrying Frodo on an eagle to mount doom.
Yeah... Not only that, they simply delayed the ringwraith as they were still losing the battle. Deus ex would have been the eagles flying toward mount doom With the ring at the last minute. Of course the book covers the eagles didn't want to get involved plus the eagles by themselves would have been easy target. If anything the moth reference was a good foreshadowing for the audience at that moment...
Jurrasic Park is a bad example for this. Not only is the T-Rex having full access to the park, having a desire to hunt prey, and having vision being sensitive to movement all set up earlier in the film, but this ending also fits in with the themes of the film. If a deus ex machina ending was ever earned or able to be given a pass, it's in Jurassic Park.
Then why didn't they hear it coming
Everything about the fucking T-Rex has been built up by shaky water or rumbling, but somehow T-Rex acquired stealth abilities because whatever who cares
@@WillemoesJ The T-rex doesn't make noise when it's hunting, that was established when the T-rex was attacking Gallimimus.
Learnt these 2 new phrases, thanks to episode 3.
1) Mary Sue
2) Deux ex machina
You must not have learned what Mary Sue meant because there is no instance of that in Game of Thrones.
@Here's my card explain who is a mary sue character in Game of Thrones.
Arya is not really a Mary Sue, she just has very thick plot armor and teleportation powers. A real Mary Sue would be Rey, the worst example of how to write a female character
@@csebeschen No Rey is a Paragon. Mary Sue only exists in fanfiction
@Here's my card So how does that make her a Mary Sue? None of what you say has anything to do with the concept.
You need to actually understand the concept of Mary Sue before attempting to use a phrase that's only come popular since TLJ because of one initial tweet.
Actual good examples of deus ex machina, from a WatchMojo (!) video:
- War of the Worlds (aliens just get sick and die)
- Wizard of Oz (water miraculously kills the wicked witch and resolves all conflict)
- Pacific Rim (all is lost but they have a sword suddenly)
- Matrix Revolutions (talks to robot god who agrees to amicably end the Matrix series)
- Saving Private Ryan (Allied Forces ex machina)
- Avatar (the planet just decides to fight back)
This. Those are actual DEM.
@@Radimkiller Ooo War of the Worlds is very on the line. It appears an obvious example however we know the bacteria would have always been there so its not as though it was a secret weapon we know nothing about. They always existed, we know how introducing germs into civilisations that have no immunity can be devastating (Look at what happened to the Aztecs).
The beauty of War of the Worlds as a twist is we never thought about it as a possible ending. And yet of course it is a possibility.
well the thing with the planet in avatar is lowkey hinted at during most of the movie, that everything is conected and all.
With regards to foreshadowing I'm surprised Chekhov's gun wasn't mentioned.
This video skimmed the surface tbh...But I guess it isn't targeting screenwriters but rather the everyday filmgoer who might be curious about how film works.
I don't know if I agree with your JP example. The T-Rex had already been established as being in play, so for it to show up in the final confrontation doesn't exactly seem like it's out of nowhere. If they hadn't shown or mentioned the T-Rex by than point then I would say your point is valid.
so you're saying being literally saved by an eagle earlier and the fact that Gandalf is a good friend of theirs is not foreshadowing ?
if not, would Gandalf breaking the fourth wall and telling the audience that he is later going to save Frodo by riding a giant eagle and even wink at the audience in the end count as foreshadowing?!
Yea I think audiences are getting a little too comfortable with spoonfeeding these days. Following up that scene with "in otherwords, lazy writing" completely ignores what that scene even means. It's anything but lazy, and has specific purpose to Tolkien's intended conclusion.
The Eagles work as deus ex machina, the gods of Arda had a hand to play in the destruction of Sauron. Even Gandalf's entire character being sent to middle Earth is deus ex machina. They work since they don't single handedly resolve the conflict, deus ex is only bad when it entirely removes the main conflict.
You could argue that all magic and fantasy in any degree is deux ex machina, because it's all made up.
@@IgnorancEnArrogance you could. I just don't think all deus ex machina is lazy writing. It lets stakes build higher than they otherwise could.
@@AnyVideo999 - I totally agree with you, I just just trying to think in this guys' head, because it seems that anything he forgets was already mentioned previously in a film, he writes of as deux ex machina to compensate lol
Deus ex machina is when the writer hasn't earned the moment, like if they were saved from velociraptors by the army. The T-Rex was already introduced, and last seen loose in the park. That's called set-up and a surprising moment, or good writing. Fine line, but an important one.
Harlan Ellison does a hilarious non-subversion of the Trope by first mentioning how asinine it is, and then do it right after in his Story.
What a Nuisance.
It hurts that you had to use a LotR scene for an example, because it hardly makes sense. Gandalf had befriended the eagles centuries ago and was connected with them and knew how to call them. Even even if the eagles didn't come, and most of the people in that battle died, they still would've have provided enough of a distraction for frodo to destroy the ring and cause the floor to collapse below the rest of sauron's army, and hence achieve their ultimate goal and destroy his spawn across middle-earth. I don't think the wyverns appearing was a totally unsolvable problem that would have ruined the fellowship, as they were putting up a pretty damn good fight as it was. The rest of the fellowship was ready to give their lives in that battle for frodo anyways. They didn't have to win that battle, only buy frodo time.
Thank u
All that remains is the origin of the term. Deus ex machina means 'god out of the machinery'. In days of yore the deus ex machina in theater plays was often a god (deus) who was often lowered by rope onto the stage (ex machina) to solve the problems of the characters.
Oh my goodness! I have heard that term used on like every other Cinema Sins video and didn’t know what it exactly meant! Thanks for posting this useful video!
Thanks for the explanation. You presented it in an awesome format as well
I’m here after hearing this from Rick and morty season five trailers so nice cool!
You missed the earlier foreshadowing in Aliens where Burke speaks with Riply about her job working in the cargo docks, his exact quote is "running loaders, forklifts, that sort of thing? So this ending was foreshadowed TWIICE... That is why is it a brilliant movie
The term only applies if the item or person wasn't mentioned in the film at all. In Jurassic Park, we know the T-Rex is out there, it didn't appear in the film in that scene, it was already shown before. The eagles in LOTR were also shown before. The best example would be Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction, where Tarantino makes fun of it by creating one of the best and most memorable Deus Ex Machina moments.
In tolkeins works it was also called a Eucatastrophe, btw. He believed in the face of undeniable failure, evil, etc. That good should always prevail in the end as long as one holds hope in themselves, not necessarily a deux ex machina, but a writing style he chose to have himself.
It's a smart way to use a deux ex machina and having a reason for it because almost every writer will have to use this method at some point if they are writing books as long and complicated as some of Tolkien's book he was smart and was able to justify the use of it but I always saw Eucatastrophe as a trick to use some deux ex machina moments and be immune to criticism
ced1241 100% Tolkien laid it out elaborately in his books, the UA-cam here is fundamentally incorrect by calling the, a deus ex machina, because that’s not what they are. Without proper foundation a less talented or rather a less thought through use of that style of writing is why we have terms like deus ex machina today (i believe) they’re failed attempts at a Eucatastrophe in progress. So in my mind it works like this: literary intervention without reason or very little = deus ex machina, literary intervention within the reason and the logic of the worlds foundation = Eucatastrophe. The plot device isn’t always bad or cliche theirs just a lot of wannabe Tolkien’s out there.
Nice. Deus Ex Machina is prevalent, as is the MacGuffin.
Definition of MacGuffin
: an object, event, or character in a film or story that serves to set and keep the plot in motion despite usually lacking intrinsic importance
Should be the title for S8E3 of Game of Thrones.
Haha I hear you. Not even the most highly trained assassin would be able to run past hundreds of wights and about 12 White Walkers. The only path to Bran was literally blocked by 12 White Walkers but Arya somehow someway got through (Deus Ex Machina)
At least it had some sort of foreshadowing: Melissandre’s prophecy, Bran giving her that valyrian knife she used, Arya sneaking up on jon at that same place while he was under the same tree and him then asking how she did it, etc.
Not the best, not the worst
@Joako González you didnt see it happen on screen so it must have been teleportation? Yeah cause that makes sense.
I don't think it's something to be "guilty" of. It is sometimes a way to bring the movie full circle, as in Jurassic Park. Once terrorized by T Rex, now saved by him. There's poetry there.
Goku going Super Saiyan is a well executed one, foreshadowed for like 30 episodes
I'm just glad you pronounced it correctly! Had to stop watching another upload on the subject just now because the narrator pronounced "machina" as though he was scraping his fingernails on a blackboard on purpose . . .
The Mosasaurus wasn't an example of deus ex machina. It wasn't hopeless for the T-Rex or Blue; Indominus Rex was clearly losing the fight at that point and it was just a cool way to finish off the fight.
LOTR trilogy is amazing and I don't care what anyone else says
This is the only thing i am bigoted about. Even the Tolkien himself can't convince me otherwise.
Its the best trilogy/movie of all time XD
@@catoboyproductions7098 Back to the future better
@@PLaStiiCMoNtAGE I do disagree but oh my gosh I Do Love Back to the Future a lot. Both amazing trilogies and there is nothing wrong with liking that one more than the one that I like more cuz of their godliness.
Here after Rick & Morty referred to this twice
You saying RotK had lazy screenwriting?
It did lol
@@dingo9696 perhaps. But it's still a great movie so I couldn't care less about lazy writing
@@johnrambo5795 its a great movie but there are some dumb moments that should have been done differently
Even if the eagles didn't come, and most of the people in that battle died, they still would've have provided enough of a distraction for frodo to destroy the ring and cause the floor to collapse below the rest sauron's army. I don't think the wyverns appearing was a totally unsolvable problem that would have ruined the fellowship, as they were putting up a pretty damn good fight as it was. The rest of the fellowship was ready to give their lives in that battle for frodo anyways. Frankly I think it was a lazy example!
@@IgnorancEnArrogance The eagles are a great example of lazy writing in lotr. Why did they show up at the last minute? Why werent they utilized in other crucial moments, or for transportation? Same goes for the army of the dead. In the films, the AOTD were unkillable. Why didnt aragorn tell them that their oath would be forgiven after the ring was destroyed? They could have defeated mordor easily with their help.
The exploding shark scene would have been a perfect way to end it the video
The Eagles knew the army of the men was marching from Minas Tirith to the Morannon to fight a final desperate battle. They joined the battle as part of the Free Folk. They did not come out of nowhere.
Jurassic world was a "totally did not see that coming" awesome moment
Lmao! Batman and Robin's life saving porpoise....I have to watch that again
Deus ex machina is Greek. It literally translates to, god from the machine.
Now, according to wiki, it's a Latin calque of the Greek term. That's not important though. Also according to wiki, it was coined from the ancient Greek playwrights use of machines to either lower or raise actors playing the parts of ancient gods to the stage usually in situations that either they couldn't resolve without an unforseen act of god/gods that saves the day, or to depict a certain person such as an emperor or king etc in a heroic light that made them look good so that they didn't offend the guy who ultimately balances their life on the tip of his little thumb.
What nobody ever talks about, Mr. Anderson, is the literal god that dwells within the machine. Unfortunately, the Oracle says it's not you though.
And now, because you've been trotting around our little simulation thinking you own the place, you got yourself killed by agent Smith who is nothing more than a firewall type program used to catch and delete corrupted/infected files such as yourself.
But wait. What's this?
PLOT TWIST!
You really are the one because you just resurrected yourself from the dead and deleted Smith.
But wait.
PLOT TWIST!
You never were the one
Smith was and he's reinstalled himself and copied himself in mass and now he will destroy the machine from which he was born just as the Oracle prophesied.
WOW who'dve thunk the machine god would send itself as the form of man into the world which it created to be the ultimate sacrifice that would save those men which it breathed life into and created the world in which they dwell oblivious to the reality of their own existence? 🤔 Wait a minute...
Why does this sound so familiar?
Deus ex machina is when you want elements of surprise, but you can't justify why this surprise element happen.
The ending in the " war of the worlds" starring tom cruise is the best example of DEUS EX MACHINA.
Yes, explicitly so, but in this particular example it’s warranted. The point of the story is not to create a archetypal hero’s journey where the protagonist triumphs over the enemy. The point was to illustrate a scenario in which mankind’s illusion of supremacy is utterly destroyed and we’re left at the mercy of forces beyond our power.
Up until about a week ago, i completely agreed with the opinion that Jurassic Park suffers from Deus Ex Machina. But now I'm starting to think the scene in question is really about Alan's final evolution of 'family man'. He starts the film wanting nothing to do with Lex and Tim, or any kids for that matter. But by the end, he's done a complete one-eighty. He has no chance against the raptors, but he shields the family, and offers his life (probably assuming the raptors will take just him to eat). The way he bows his head as the raptor jumps, IMO, is imagery for the "death/resurrection" part of the Hero's Journey.
I felt Home Alone and Lord of the Flies suffered from these moments too. I need to rethink that though. Maybe the message is, if you can hang on long enough, karma/God/the universe rewards the good, and punishes the wicked.
In Lord Of The Flies they burn the island. The whole time they try to signal ships or planes with their fire. But more important: the ending does not just solve the heroes problems, it is the fitting ending for the narrative. Children abandoning civilization meeting civilization is the point.
Cool so this is a great video showing how whoever created this does not understand what a Deus ex machina is
Ah, I always thought deus ex machina was the name of a band -.-
Deus ex machina means "god from the machine". The term comes from ancient Greece, where drama and comedy plots will become so convoluted that the writers just used to lower down an actor with ropes (a.k.a. the machine), who would in term play one of the many gods and resolve the issue out of nowhere.
There is nothing wrong with a deus ex machina, as long as there is something else going on. I honestly think Superman: The Movie is a good example. The scene is about whether Superman chooses to be alien or human, symbalized by visions of his two fathers: Jor-el and Jonathan Kent. Jor-el tells him that he must follow the “rules”, whereas Jonathan Kent tells him that he should listen to his heart. Superman ultimately chooses to listen to his human father.
Could've at least explained that it means "God in the machine."
God _from_ the machine, isn't it?
@@DavidsKanal I don't know. Someone should make a video to explain it.
@@derekbrown5123 I remember it being "God from the machine" from some analysis videos I watched about the movie Ex Machina a while ago. Theterm actually made sense within that context, however here, I don't know where exactly it comes from...
@@DavidsKanal "ex machina" means "a god from a machine", but the deus could give it another meaning
I don't consider Jurassic Park deus ex machia bc it was established early in the movie that t rex only see movement. The humans are standing still, and the velociraptors are moving.
The only Deus Ex Machina in LOTR ROTK (the movie) is when Aragon showed up with the Dead Army. In the book, they just assisted him with the ships and a few other things, but he let them go before he arrived at Minas Tirith. It's been a while, but I believe he had gathered some rangers to go fight instead
Great explanation, didn’t fully understand deus ex machina until now.
Superman doesn't reverse time. He went backwards to travel through time like the flash. The writer forgot that you need the speed force to travel back through time.
" Super easy!...barely an inconvenience. "
You do know the 1960s “Batman” tv series and film were comedies and parodies - their self awareness was their humor.
But, as you’re explaining, this is not a”Hollywood trope” since it’s pre-Hollywood. Nor is it necessarily lazy writing. Sure, it can be but you cannot argue that unexpected things do not happen in real life. Okay, gods or monsters don’t appear from nowhere, but random people and occurrences do. Such things are often interpreted by some as ‘miracles.’ Hopefully you get the point.
Man I wanna start by saying that overall, I thought this was a really high-quality video.
However, I'm no expert by any means so who knows, maybe I'm going to eat my words. But I'm pretty sure that isn't what Deus Ex Machina is, at least as far as I know.
Obviously commenting on this after the fact would afford me the advantage of googling Deus Ex Machina if I wanted to be an ass lol but I'm not gonna do that and instead just give you the definition as I remember it and maybe this can spark some friendly debate lol
Ok so the way I've always understood it is; Deus Ex Machina or (The God Machine) has somewhat of a two fold meaning. The first originated in early theatre, and referred to an actual machine of sorts that was used to create different sound effects like thunder and what not, because back then they didn't have sound effects equipment.
The other, is referring to an intangible force of sorts that is responsible for the unexplainable that takes place within a novel, movie, or play. Kinda like fate. So you aren't entirely wrong because yea the T-Rex coming in at that time could be Deus Ex Machina in regards to something unexplainable happening that saved their lives, but this whole description of Deus Ex Machina as a literary device used in instances of lazy writing, I've never heard that before and am certainly not familiar with that concept.
I'd emphazise MacYver and Life of Brian. Brian flies from the romans up a tower in an ancient castle and jumps out in order to escape. A spaceship comes flying and picks up Brian. MacYver don't need any elaboration. Of course the catalogue is full of examples from the history.
Superman turning back time was foreshadowed. During the marlon Brando montage he explains time travel and its consequences
wow this was a really good breakdown of the history of this term.
Arya Starks' killing of the "Night King" (in Game of Thrones) was foreshadowed by quite a few things, including the Red Woman: '... You will close many eyes.' So, no deaus ex machina here🌺👀
I need a deus ex machina in my life
At least you didn't explain Superman 1's ending as him "spinning the world the other way to reverse time".
"lazy writing" 0:35 Now I will agree that unlikely occurrences to solve a problem can seem like a writing copout but Shanks coming to end the Battle of Marineford was epic! If you get the reference, good on you
Nice Deus Ex Machina there at the end. But I think it's not bad when executed nicely. Jurassic Park for example gets off the leash for being so fun and unexpected. Also Jurassic World was not a Deus Ex Machina. The Mosasaurus doesn't come out of nowhere. He comes out of the water container he was always seen in.
I have to say, opening on the scene with the Eagles is a pretty poor choice since it implies you don't completely understand the topic. Since Deus Ex Machina is presented as synonymous with "Lazy Writing" (in response to this scene), I think it's safe to presume the intended meaning of the scene was not understood.
In lazy writing, the writer has written themselves into a position that they don't have any good ideas for escaping, and so they use a deus ex machina to get out. Tolkien deliberately wrote the story into this position because the "Deus Ex Machina" is part of his intended story. After sacrificing everything they have to offer in an effort to thwart evil, an unexpected godlike intervention comes out of the darkness as a beakon of light. Something that Tolkien didn't believe in for his own reality, and in spite of this wanted to make it an important part of his story. He even coined the term "Eucatastrophe" for it.
Batman also had a fish in his belt for another deus ex machina
Lol!!!!!Shark Repellant Bat Spray!!!!!!!....Awesome
It feels like the case in Pulp fiction explanation. Samuel L. Jackson goes:God came from heaven and stopped the motherfuckin bullets. 😂😂
Finally a clear explanation!
You could have mentioned the origins of this "little trick" in Sofocles and Eschilus (the two ancient greek tragediographers that invented the deus ex machina) and how it was revolutionary because it underlined the hopelessness of humans before fate and the gods.
The best Deus ex machine - a series of unfortunate events!!
No way was that Batman scene with shark realistic. But the pain in the voice of our superhero was! I was almost crying although it did seem to be a little convenient to have a row of shark repellent and nothing else. A helicopter with emergency shark repellent and no other emergency supplies. I’m not buying it
Was the T-1000 melting in molten metal at a construction site an Deus Ex Machina?
So THATS what cinemasins meant with the few trillion times they used the phrase “Deus ex Machina”.
Here after rewatching battle of the bastards when Ramsay Snow single handedly whooped jon snow with superior battle tactics only for mysterious vale knights to come in when they live half way across the world from the place of the battle
finally someone an ex machine that is not about the movie.
I also once heard the use of the term "Diabolos ex machina". When everything is going pretty good, it fucks up in an unexpected way. But this term is very rarely used, hence I heard only once, and can't find where.
Maybe because it's better known as Murphy's law?
Add The Last Jedi. That movie gets a lot of crap for all kinds of reasons, but what I really hate about it is the way the force is used for twists in ways not established until then. Leia can breath in space, Luke can mind-teleport and Yoda's spirit can destroy stuff with lighting. Makes one think why the jedi did not use those powers before. Why didn't Obi Wan mind teleport into the first death star to destroy it or Yoda's spirit just kill the emperor in the throne room? There is no reason, they could have done that.
The ingredients for a good joke are a premise and race to the punchline between teller and listener. The same goes for a movie. It is about setting up the elements and playing with expectations. Deus ex machina kills those expectations, but even just making it impossible to anticipate the result to make it more surprising does the same thing. Compare that to a well scripted twist like The 6th Sense, which *could* be anticipated with the film's information even confirming that theory if one got it early enough. That makes it a great twist, not the surprise.
Herr Schmidt That’s not how the Force works!
Okay no for real tho. I don’t understand why just because the abilities weren’t seen before, they can’t be seen later. Surely it’s a problem if it’s the other way around? Force projection is clearly something very powerful, and there is actually precedent for it, but usually only in very Force sensitive places. Clearly what was happening with Rey and Ren is unusual. What Skywalker did was even more unprecedented and took so much exertion it killed him. Also it’s clearly established in Star Wars Lore that Force Ghosts are a fairly newly developed or rediscovered power. Jinn was the first Jedi in a long time to be able to manifest after becoming one with the Force, and even then he struggled to manifest a physical shape. Kenobi and Yoda developed on that. Also bare in mind we only see Yoda as a Ghost briefly in Return (and with no reason to display any powers) before returning in Last. No indication is given of limitations here. Yoda doesn’t even manifest as a Ghost until after Sidious is dead. But even if he did, surely using Force Lightning to kill him in his throne room would have been a very Dark Side thing to do?
Yes, and by that logic any Jedi could start breathing fire at any point because he just found out it was possible. The problem is: every problem can be solved with something which never has been shown before. That is deus ex machina. It is bad writing. The result is that nothing matters anymore: Leia gets almost killed? Oh, let's just give her the ability to breath in space. Why should anybody care for killed characters from that point if the only bit of tension lies in the question how they get revived by some miracle?
But also the idea of Jedis suddenly developing forces out of nowhere (instead of learning to master them through a long training) completely annihilates the idea of having that secret community, where people just have a kind of power which they learn to harness and it is replaced with some mutant power which is just fully there right from the start. Would such a community really develop like the Jedi or rather form like Dr. Xaviers school? In fact the prequels already butchered a lot of it, but of course those were bad movies on every level, which usually would be a strong indicator to put a franchise down, as it really just suffers still being alive. But when current filmmakers and not just has-beens start making the same mistakes, the art of writing screenplays is really in a deep crisis.
Herr Schmidt I mean if you have problem with Space Wizards who have powers as the plot demands, I’m afraid Star Wars isn’t really the franchise for you, as that’s been a recurring device since Star Wars in 1977. Star Wars is very symbolic, the Force is meant to represent destiny and allows stuff to happen to push the way of things to a certain end point.
Though, your objection to things happening with no precedent isn’t really what’s happening here. Before Skywalker Force projects himself across worlds to trick Ren, we see a lesser version in the for, of Ren and Rey’s ‘ForceTime’, which itself builds upon the power of telepathy Force users have, especially with those they have a strong emotional bond with. Force users are shown to be able to survive environments that would kill other members of their species for longer. You don’t die immediately in space, Leia wasn’t in space THAT long. We don’t know if she was breathing but considering she was just blasted out of a depressurised area, there will be some oxygen about possibly? Even if there wasn’t tho I think she wasn’t out long enough for her to hypoxiate. And then being able to Force pull herself back into the ship is easy, there’s no resistance in space.
Bare in mind literally everyone else on the bridge died. And there are few Force users in play here. And there are still multiple ways to kill a Force user.
No, I don't think that the appearance of a fantasy element automatically means that logic stops mattering and therefore there are just two valid kinds of movies: the realistic one and the one which can do everything at every point. There still can be rules which get established. Things still can have a meaning. And there is tone, which is the element Star Wars entirely lost.
Ren and Ray are force phoning. We never see whether other people see them too. But in itself it is of course another new force ability: Kenobi had to die to appear to Luke. In fact that was what made him more powerful. But, hey, he could just have forcephoned him on the death star the whole time. And Luke could have forcephoned Yoda to tell him he is coming back to Dagoba, so he could have baked a cake. It is just idiotic to introduce such an ability, nobody ever used before, just because being unable to write a scene which could tell the same thing. You don't need years of writing practice to come up with such a trick, it is what children do when their imagined opponents got them into a hard place: just magic up something.
And, no, we don't know why exactly Leia survived. The film does not tell it. Because two hours playing time are not enough to explain all the new shit they magicked up. That just makes things worse. If you introduce something, you have to explain what it means. Else it is just more of everything-at-everytime, which makes it impossible to anticipate an outcome. Without anticipation there cannot be tension. Without tension a movie is crap.
Well in Lord of the rings there is some forshadowing because gandalf was communicating with the eagles (who are literally god's BTW) throughout the three films
The Eagles was a bad example because we already knew that Gandalf was friends with the Eagles and he could summon them to help him. They also fight in the battle of the five armies and they rescue him from Isengard. So it was not a Deus Ex Machina.
MFW Half Baked was more solid in its story than most of my favorite movies growing up lol
Here after the Rick & Morty trailer.
Like when Arya killed the NK. When Jon Snow was saved by uncle Benjen...
At least, eagles were called by the butterfly Gandalf sent them.
Yeah I mean it definitely wasnt set up that uncle Benjen had been lost beyond the wall and it definitely wasnt foreshadowed when arya was told she would close blue eyes, of ya know, trained to be a shadow assassin for most of her life
Just fuck off
Oh I see now. I thought it had something to do with a common experience in the classic video game of the same name.
Yeah, I thought it was some kind of machinima of Deus Ex
Goose the cat.