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There's nothing quite like a good shock at the movies. And while everyone loves to see their heroes live happily ever after, sometimes audiences need a reminder that life isn't all sunshine and roses. Here are a few movies where the villain actually wins.
The Star Wars universe is no stranger to a villainous victory or two, with warring space factions trading constant blows back and forth across various conflicts. Rogue One and Revenge of the Sith certainly end on some down notes, for example, but the series' most iconic Dark Side victory came in the middle chapter of the original trilogy. Following the first film, which left off on a Death Star-destroying high, The Empire Strikes Back came crashing back down to reality when it opened with the crushing defeat of the rebel forces on Hoth. While the movie splinters at that point, with various characters heading off to do their own thing, the paths of the protagonists ultimately lead back to Lando Calrissian's floating haven of Cloud City.
Unfortunately, when Darth Vader and his minions show up in Calrissian's city, things quickly go south for pretty much everyone. Han Solo is tortured and used as a test subject for carbon freezing, leaving him in suspended animation. Calrissian loses Cloud City to the Empire. Meanwhile, Luke is lured into a trap and confronted with one cinema's greatest ever twists. Needless to say, there's no doubt that Empire's final act is a home run for Vader and the Empire from start to finish.
The 2008 film Valkyrie is inspired by the failed assassination attempt made against Adolf Hitler in the summer of 1944 by a cabal of German officers aiming to overthrow the Nazi regime. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg joins Major-General Henning von Tresckow and a number of other conspirators, who set up a plan to kill off the dictator and use the Reserve Army to maintain order and establish themselves as the new government. From there, they plan to use their power to negotiate favorable peace terms with the Allies, who at that point are on the clear path to victory.
The film follows the story just as it actually unfolded, with everything seeming to move towards victory for von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators. In fact, the movie does it so well it almost makes you forget that you already know what's about to go down. But alas, Valkyrie is ruthlessly tethered to reality. Initially, the assassination comes tantalizingly close to success, with the planted explosives going off successfully and Operation Valkyrie being put into action. But before long, reports surface that Hitler survived the explosion, and from there the whole plot collapses. The movie ends with Hitler still alive and the film's heroes executed for treason, which is about as bad as things possibly could have gone. Keep watching the video to see 10 great movies where the villain actually wins.
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The Empire Strikes Back | 0:14
Valkyrie | 1:12
Avengers: Infinity War | 2:21
Se7en | 3:24
The Dark Knight | 4:16
Memento | 5:12
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | 6:11
X-Men: First Class | 7:09
Life is Beautiful | 8:08
1984 | 9:08