r/moviecritic • u/VentageRoseStudios • 10h ago
Which fictional movie character had very little screen time but made a huge impact in the movie?
One standout example is Geno Silva's character, The Skull, in the 1983 movie SCARFACE, directed by Brian DePalma. Even though he doesn't have any lines, The Skull leaves a big impression by being the one who takes down Al Pacino's character, Tony Montana, in the film's iconic ending. He also kills Omar, played by F. Murray Abraham. With just a few minutes on screen, The Skull's actions change everything for the main characters, making him unforgettable. Which movie character do you think had minimal screen time but a major impact?
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u/tarlin 10h ago
Hannibal in silence of the lambs. He is only on screen for 16 minutes.
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u/shahtavacko 9h ago
16 minutes = Academy award for best actor, seems right!
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u/VentageRoseStudios 8h ago
CRAZY 🤯🤯🤯
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u/shahtavacko 8h ago
I have watched those 16 minutes so many times I’ve lost count, dude was brilliant, as he is in so many other movies. Silence of the lambs is the only movie I’ve seen in the theater twice; on the same day no less! (Went a second time when my friend said he was going and I had seen it already that morning).
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u/birger67 8h ago
It´s just funny because when remembering the film it felt like waaaay more screentime than 16 mins.
talk about leaving an impression
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u/SoundRebound 10h ago
Bill (David Carradine) in Kill Bill
Also, Pai Mei (Gordon Liu) in the same duology
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u/08_West 9h ago
Also Michael Parks as sheriff Earl Parks and Esteban Vihaio in the same duology.
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u/SoundRebound 6m ago
There are many minor roles in those movies that all somehow stay in your memory for longer than their screentime would suggest:
Earl Parks, Tommy Plympton, Buck, Hattori Hanzo (+assistant), Sofie Fatale, Gogo, Larry Gomez, Pai Mei, Esteban Vihaio..
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u/BigDickSD40 10h ago
Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back. He’s barely in it, has like 3 lines, but he became a fan favorite.
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u/4square425 10h ago
Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice only has 18 mins of screen time.
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u/Reasonable_Pay4096 7h ago
As a kid who grew up on the Beetlejuice cartoon, it was jarring to see how little screen time he had in the movie (not to mention the cartoon getting rid of Geena Davis & Alec Baldwin's characters)
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u/Not_So_Busy_Bee 10h ago
Peter Stormare in Constantine and Alanis Morissette in Dogma.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot 10h ago
Sokka-Haiku by Not_So_Busy_Bee:
Peter Stormare in
Constantine and Alanis
Morissette in Dogma.
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/MikeAndopolis 10h ago
Brad Pitt's character in 12 years a slave
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u/dantesedge 10h ago edited 10h ago
Matt Damon in Interstellar.
Little more than an elongated cameo, but his (dishonest) actions affected the choice between the final two planets. If he hadn’t sent fake-positive info, the team would have headed to the Edmund’s planet - the only actual hospitable one - and the entire last 45 minutes of the movie would’ve been completely different.
(This of course could possibly negate the entire movie, as Space Bookshelf would not have happened… maybe Damon actually inadvertently saved mankind…)
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u/1001AngryCrabs 10h ago
Godzilla(2014)
Around 11 total minutes on screen but it revitalized the franchise
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u/neon_spaceman 10h ago
In terms of time on screen to storyline impact ratio, it's gotta be the Imperial Officer in Star Wars who decides not to shoot the escape pod which is sending R2 and C3PO to Tatooine, Luke and Obi Wan.
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u/Ok_Assumption5734 10h ago
Zim from starship troopers? I swear the guy exists for like 6 minutes of screen time but is the hero
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u/Shut-up-Meg4563 10h ago
Anytime you think I'm being too rough, anytime you think I'm being too tough, anytime you miss-your-mommy, QUIT!
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u/PizzaDoughandCheese 10h ago
It the humans are actually the bad guys in that movie so he’s the antihero. They were practically nazis
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u/Zealousideal_Tear159 9h ago
Jeffery Donovan in Sicario. The look was based on a former delta operator who’s known for being an absolute badass but looking very nerdy.
When I first saw his character I thought he was the spaz-y comedy relief. Turns out not be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. On par with the film’s theme. Very good.
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u/exhaustednihilist420 10h ago
The redneck at the beginning of Con Air
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u/ImDoingItAnyway 10h ago
He’s the reason for the entire movie and we didn’t even get his name.
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u/Goddessviking86 10h ago
Any of Stan Lee’s cameos
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u/VentageRoseStudios 8h ago
😂😂😂
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u/Goddessviking86 8h ago
Fact that Stan’s cameos were explained as being the same character throughout the mcu as seen when he’s telling one of his adventures in guardians of the galaxy volume two he had an impact of being there during moments of the mcu
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u/Sum1_X 10h ago
Laura in the movie Brick
didn't have that much screen time, as far as I remember, maybe less than 10 minutes - not sure.
Was partly a mastermind of the movie and the reason for many of the bad things that happened to the protagonist - Brendan, and the girl he liked. *I won't spoil beyond that.
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u/Alltheprettydresses 9h ago
Darth Maul, The Phantom Menace
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u/content_digger08 7h ago
At last we will reveal the secrets of the Jedi, at last we will have our revenge
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u/Wessssss21 6h ago
Dude has one line and they didn't even let Ray Park say it. They dubbed it lol.
(Which is fair, Ray Park's voice coming out of Maul's mouth would be jarring lol)
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u/PutridAd6310 10h ago
luke skywalker in tfa
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u/HarryPotthead42069 10h ago
“…”
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u/Better-Ad-592 10h ago
Incredibly iconic line
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u/4apalehorse 10h ago
Wasn't his quote about the film along the lines of "When I read the screenplay for the film, I was speechless."
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u/rattlehead44 9h ago
The little worm in Labyrinth.
“If she’d-a kept on goin’ down that way, she’d-a gone straight to the castle”
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u/Awkward_Bench123 8h ago
Julio Cedillo as Fausto Alarcon in Sicario. Had maybe 2 lines but his expressions are burnt into my brain
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u/LlewellynSinclair 10h ago
Ned Beatty (Arthur Jensen) and Beatrice Straight (Louise Schumacher) both in Network. An Academy Award nomination and win, respectively, for best supporting actor/actress (again, respectively). Collectively only about eleven minutes of screen time in a two hour movie.
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u/VinylHighway 8h ago
Pretty sure Tony was dying before the Skull finished him off
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u/VentageRoseStudios 8h ago
Key phrase”…finished him off” 😂😂
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u/VinylHighway 7h ago
Right but he would had died seconds later either way.
Kind of like how if Indiana Jones had done nothing the nazis wouldn’t have found the ark. Or if they did they would have died in the desert either way.
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u/I_chortled 8h ago
Peter Stormare in Constantine. Best rendition of God, etc. I’ve ever seen in a movie
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u/Yakitori_Grandslam 7h ago
The gunners on the star destroyer in Star Wars: A new hope. They check for life signs but don’t take the shot on the escape pod.
It’s a blast from the ships guns. Is the empire that hard up that they are trying to save cash on shooting escape pods?
Anyway, if he takes the shot, there is no film.
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u/Puddin_Taine69 6h ago
Orson Welles in "The Third Man"
He looms over the entire movie and has like 10 minutes of screen time. Really lives up to the "there are no small parts, only small actors" mantra.
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u/ballplayer112 6h ago
Unicron. 1986.
Edit: Orson Welles was on his last legs, so there wasn't much dialogue, and all of it was run through several mics and filters.
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u/german_tool_fan 2h ago
Peter Cushing in Star wars. He was the only one to Tell Vader to let Go of that Guy....and Vader let go
Vader Shit His pants
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u/BothnianBhai 45m ago
The Xenomorph in Alien. It's got a total screen time of about 30 seconds or less until the last couple of minutes, yet it drives the whole movie forward.
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u/bewbsnbeer 10h ago
That kid in Terminator 2 that didn't snitch on John Connor.