In the lengthy history of cinema, many scenes of raw emotion are summed up in one word: “No!” Few things are as memorable or recognizable as an instance when a movie character, dealing with intense rage, hopelessness, or anger, lets out their cry. Some lean comedic and are employed for an over-the-top effect, others are pure drama and showcase the character’s pain.
The selected moments on this list explore some of these unforgettable “No!” moments in movie history. Whether a character is mourning a death, a secret has been revealed, or the word is uttered as an act of defiance, these big emotional releases transcend language barriers and resonate with audiences everywhere. Let’s go on a journey through these iconic cinematic exclamations, both human and animal alike.
The Lion King
The Lion King contains one of the all-time heartbreaking screams of “Nooo!”. Simba (voiced by Jason Weaver) is lured into a trap by his evil Uncle Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons). Simba finds himself trapped in a gorge during a wildebeest stampede. As Simba hangs on for dear life while the stampede rages on, Scar alerts his brother Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones), the King and Simba’s father. Mufasa manages to save Simba but as he tries to claw his way up the steep sides of the rocky gorge, Scar attacks. Piercing Mufasa’s paws with his claws, Scar then releases Mufasa who falls backward into the constant charge of the wildebeests while Simba can only watch and scream, helpless and hopeless, as his father dies.
Millennials everywhere can speak to the memory of this scene as a point of trauma. In Disney’s loose retelling of Hamlet starring big cats, Simba’s reaction to the death of Mufasa is haunting.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
After three movies of marching toward Mordor to destroy the One Ring, the Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) finally arrive at Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The Ring was forged in Mount Doom and it is the only place it can be unmade. With the destruction of the Ring, all of Middle Earth will be free from the oppression and domination of the evil Sauron. Frodo and Sam stand over the churning lava inside of Mount Doom, their lengthy journey finally at an end. All Frodo has to do is drop the Ring into the fire but The Ring tortures and seduces him with its power and forces him to put it on.
When Frodo slips the Ring on and vanishes, Sam screams in disbelief, feeling defeated and disappointed in his friend. Howard Shore’s epic Academy Award-winning score swells as Sam lets hit out his emotional cry, getting the attention of the Eye of Sauron which fixes itself directly on Mount Doom.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
In Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, British super-spy Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is thawed out in 1997 after being cryogenically frozen since the 1960s to face his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil (also Mike Myers). Austin breaks into Dr. Evil’s underground lair to stop him from carrying out his diabolical plan: drilling a nuclear bomb into the Earth’s core and detonating it to cause volcanic eruptions around the world. Austin and his partner Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) hijack a steamroller, which moves relatively slowly.
One security guard (an uncredited cameo from Michael McDonald) stands in the steamroller’s path frozen in fear, repeatedly shrieking the word “No!”. As the score becomes more frantic and director Jay Roach cuts away to show the wide distance between the guard and the steamroller, the joke soars. It reaches a climax with the squishing sounds of the inept guard getting steamrolled. His gruesome fate could have been avoided. All he had to do was step to the left.
Scary Movie
In the first two films of the Scary Movie franchise, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) finds herself at a dramatic crossroads with no other option but to scream the word “No!” to the heavens. Scary Movie wraps up with the discovery that the developmentally delayed Doofy (Dave Sheridan), a special officer for the police force, was faking his handicap and was the killer the whole time. After he drives off into the sunset, Cindy and the police chief find a backpack with a Ghostface mask and a knife, prompting Cindy to look up and shout before getting hit by a car.
Scary Movie 2
In Scary Movie 2, after Cindy and her friends survive a haunted house and its very creepy butler Hanson (Chris Elliott), she returns to college. While out with Buddy (Chris Masterson), Cindy comes face to face with Hanson who is posing as a food cart worker. Incredulous and shocked, Cindy throws her arms up and dramatically shouts. This time around, Cindy avoids being hit by a car. Hanson, unfortunately, does not.
Spider-Man 2
Sam Raimi returned to the director’s chair for 2004’s Spider-Man 2. Tobey Maguire returns as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and in this installment, he faces off against famed scientist and personal hero to Peter, Dr. Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina). After a tragic accident during a demonstration of his fusion reactor, Dr. Octavius is comatose, a widower, and has four massive mechanical arms fused to his spine and connected to his brain.
When surgeons try to remove the arms, they awaken on their own and wreak havoc in the operating room in a sequence that calls to mind Raimi’s horror roots. The robotic tentacles attack as the surgeons fight for survival using whatever tools are at their disposal. The arms dispense with every doctor in the room before Dr. Octavius wakes up and realizes what just happened. Molina as Octavius bellows the word “No” upon seeing the destruction and the robot arms seemingly mimic his actions, almost mocking him.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
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The third chapter of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith finally treats fans to the official genesis of Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones). Following a dramatic confrontation with his pregnant wife Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) and an epic battle against his former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is left covered in horrifying burns across his entire body. Anakin is saved by the evil Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) and taken to safety to be rehabilitated.
Once the transformation is complete, the iconic mask is locked into place, and that haunting breathing emerges from its face, Vader is informed by Palpatine that Padme is dead. Vader’s emotions and confusion wash over him as Palpatine stands to the side with a perverse grin before Vader lets out a heartbreaking howl for his departed love.
Wreck-It Ralph
Disney’s charming 2012 animated comedy is about a video game named villain Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) who dreams of becoming a hero. In an attempt to save his new friend, the glitching precocious misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), from competing in a race that could result in getting her game unplugged, Ralph does the only thing he knows how to do: wreck. Up to this point, he has already expressed his genuine desire to do good instead of evil, so this moment is even more heartbreaking for Vanellope. The feisty kid tries to fight off the hulking Ralph but he picks her up, hangs her from a candy tree by her overalls, and proceeds to destroy her race car with his fists, leaving her distressed and in anguish as she cries “Nooo!” while he crushes her car, and her dreams, with his bare hands.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
In director Rupert Wyatt’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, his modern reboot of the long-running Apes franchise, genetically altered chimpanzee Caesar (Andy Serkis) is taken from his home following an episode of accidental aggression towards a neighbor. Chemist Will Rodman (James Franco) has been raising Caesar since he was a baby and now Caesar is in lab captivity, taunted by other apes and one human in particular named Dodge (Tom Felton). One evening, Caesar escapes from his cage and stands charged, waiting.
Dodge has a habit of abusing the primates in the shelter and when he attempts to assert his dominance over Caesar with a callback quote to the 1968 original, the intelligent ape grabs Dodge’s weapon and screams the word “No!”. This act of defiance shocks the humans in the room and starts to amp up the other apes in the cages, setting the stage for their eventual uprising.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The first film in Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring features an agonized cry from Frodo (Elijah Wood). The Fellowship, including Frodo, ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and wizard Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen), are at the beginning of their journey to destroy the One Ring. As they travel and try to outwit the evil Saruman (Christopher Lee) and the Orcs, they end up in the cave dwelling of the Balrog, a hulking horned demon made of fire and brimstone. The creature chases them down and the Fellowship crosses a narrow bridge to safety. Gandalf emphatically shouts and harnesses magic to protect himself from its attacks. The Balrog falls under the crumbling bridge and is almost defeated before capturing Gandalf. Frodo looks on in horror as Gandalf urges them to run before falling into the endless chasm. Frodo unleashes a pained “No!” as his mentor and friend seemingly falls to his inevitable death.
I Am Legend
Will Smith turns in a virtuosic performance in the sci-fi thriller I Am Legend. Seemingly the sole survivor of a worldwide pandemic, Dr. Robert Neville (Smith), a virologist for the U.S. Army, lives with his German Shepherd Sam in an uninhabited Manhattan. To deal with being alone, Neville sometimes has conversations with mannequins he has set up around town. While out with Sam, he sees a mannequin he named “Fred” out of place and standing in front of Grand Central Station. Neville races toward “Fred” to see if the mannequin has been alive the whole time. He yells and questions how “Fred” got there before shouting “Nooo! No!” and shooting the mannequin.
Smith’s raspy yell echoing through the canyons of Manhattan is dramatic and effective as he has spent the movie talking to no one, hoping for the tide to turn in his quest to save the survivors of the pandemic who are now bloodthirsty mutants called Darkseekers.
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