For as long as there have been movies, there have been bad guys who like nothing better than to kidnap the female lead and use her as leverage. And for as long as that’s been going on, there have been dudes with guns, or swords—perhaps the occasional bullwhip—who stand opposite those bad guys and demand they “let her go.” Oh, sure, there are variations on the theme. Sometimes the good guys implore the bad guy to “take me instead,” or use their wiles to convince them that “this is between you and me,” but the basics remain unfailingly consistent, as this supercut can attest.
The cut includes entreaties from action hero types like Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone, but also from people you may not expect, like Jack Black and Jon Lovitz. Susan Sarandon shows up as the lone woman not on the receiving end of the cliche.