Top Ten Movie MacGuffins
A MacGuffin is a plot device that basically gives characters in a story something to chase after. Have a bunch of characters who would be great for a movie, but you can’t think of a decent plot? No problem. Throw in a suitcase of money, or a lost dog, or a secret treasure map… whatever you can think of, and POOF! You’ve got a plot. So let’s take a look at the top ten MacGuffins of all time:
10. The Matrix of Leadership and the Sun Harvester from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
These MacGuffins actually fall under the category of being so bad that they’re good.
In the recently released Transformers sequel, we learn that, before Optimus Prime and the rest of the gang landed on Earth, there was a previous generation of warring Autobots and Decepticons. The Fallen, who was the Decepticon leader from way back in the day, created the Sun Harvester. It would harvest the energy of the sun, but kill all life on Earth in the process. The primes (there used to be a bunch of them, apparently), used their Matrix of Leadership to stop this evil plan.
And now, back in the present, our hero Sam Witwicky has to find the Matrix and use it to do a whole bunch of things that don’t make sense. Writers Orci & Kurtzman realized that having just one lame MacGuffin wouldn’t do the trick, so they added a second one just for that extra push over the cliff. In so doing, they took a bad MacGuffin that smacks of “that’s pretty lame, but we’re on a deadline, so screw it,” and changed it to two MacGuffins that, when taken together, will make Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen the Prime example (get it? Prime?) of movies that fall apart in the third act. All because of the lame MacGuffins (okay, not ALL because of that. But to a large extent).
9. The Stolen Cocaine from True Romance
So, you’ve got a store clerk who hallucinates that he can talk to Elvis. And you’ve got a prostitute who falls in love with him because he killed her pimp, which she thinks is just “so romantic.” Plus, in any Quentin Tarantino movie — even the ones written but not directed by him — you’ve gotta have a lot of violence.
Okay, you’ve got all that going for you, but you don’t know where to go from there. What do you do? You throw in a big bag of stolen cocaine. We don’t even get to see inside the bag. It could be a bag of dead cats for all we care. The point is that it’s sufficient motive to get the action going, and also to give Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper a great excuse to spend an entire scene trying to one-up each other in the creepy acting department.
8. The Crystal Skulls from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
This MacGuffin is probably better known because of the marketing hype surrounding its release than the plot of the movie itself. Crystal skulls have a cult following all over the world, and, in the weeks leading up to the movie release, we got to learn all about them. From the History Channel to grandma’s favorite 6 o’clock evening news program, everyone was talking about the skulls.
The best part is that they are MacGuffins in real life, too. Some failed treasure hunter back in the 1890s started manufacturing them and selling them off as ancient Mayan artifacts. At least, that’s what I remember from the History Channel special (the one that aired the night before the movie premiered).
7. The Jewel from Jewel of the Nile
This MacGuffin gets a spot on our list primarily because it’s so off-the-wall. Swashbuckling Jack (the swashbucklers are always named Jack. Can’t we get a Clarence? Or a Sheldon? Why do they always have to be Jack?) spends the first two acts trying to find the Jewel, because he needs to get rich (again). But then it turns out that the jewel is not a jewel, but actually a human being. And he’s been with them all along.
Jack: Why didn’t you tell me you were the jewel?
Jewel: Because you didn’t ask.
(They didn’t say that, but it was probably in the first draft.)
Even better, at one point the jewel prevents Jack from being torn limb from limb by a super-giant behemoth wrestler. How does he do it? By juggling, of course. Can it get any weirder? Yes, it does get weirder, but I spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out how to explain it, and I got nothing. So, you’ll just have to trust me. Or, even worse, put it on your Netflix queue.
6. The Allspark from Transformers (2007)
A MacGuffin that creates sentient robots that not only can transform into various appliances and vehicles, but also shoot cool lasers and talk in deep bass voices. ‘Nuff said.
5. The Stone from Romancing the Stone
Romancing the Stone is one of the definitive movies from the 80s, and Jack T. Coltan is one of the definitive treasure hunters of all time. Joan is the definitive mousy house bunny who turns into a major heroine when properly challenged by treasure seeking dangers. It’s also got Danny DeVito as some kind of funny looking gangster who chews a lot of gum while smoking. How are you going to come up with a decent plot that lets those characters really shine? You’re going to give them a treasure map and a priceless stone to chase after.
The stone starts off stuffed inside a ceramic bunny, then stuffed inside Jack’s pants, then stuffed inside a wild crocodile (go ahead, I know you want to say it: “look at those chops!” But now you have to take two drinks). Now that’s a MacGuffin!
4. The Watch from Pulp Fiction
Tarantino is a master of red herrings. None is redder than the the watch from Pulp Fiction. First, we get introduced to the watch by Christopher Walken. That’s always a good start, and he totally nails it in this scene. This MacGuffin does not need any more cowbell! What it needs is a totally bizarre story about why this watch is important enough to make Butch go back to his house to get it, and risk running into the insanely dangerous people who want to kill him. And we totally get it what we need. There is a very good reason for going back for that watch. You see, back in ‘Nam, Christopher Walken had it stuffed up his ass.
3. The Ark from Raiders of the Lost Ark
This item’s got it all. First of all, it’s important enough to get Indiana Jones off his favorite little campus and away from all those hot students that want to get to know him better. But it’s also got a biblical backstory, warnings of fire and brimstone, cryptic clues about where it’s been hidden, Nazis chasing after it… need I say more? Okay, fine. I’ve got one more for you. If you look at it, it will melt your face off!
2. The Death Star from Star Wars
This item has MacGuffin written all over it. Why do you have to leave your comfortable little planet, Luke? Because of the Death Star (also because of this destiny thing, but that’s not until later). Why does Obi-Wan have to leave Luke and Han Solo to fend for themselves just as his Jedi powers would be the most helpful to his companions? To shut down the tractor drive… of the Death Star (by the way, that’s another reason the Death Star is so great. It’s got MacGuffins inside of MacGuffins and MacGuffins that create other MacGuffins).
What devastating thing happens to Princess Leia and further drives her to want to destroy the Empire? Her home planet is destroyed by the Death Star! This MacGuffin keeps giving and giving. Why do the rebels make a pilot out of Luke Skywalker, who up until about two days ago had never left his home planet, much less flown an X-wing? The Death Star!
Just about every plot twist in Star Wars episode 4 revolves around the Death Star. It worked so well, they had to bring it back for Return of the Jedi.
1. The Statuette from The Maltese Falcon
Sam Spade is the ultimate private detective. He is the detective all other detectives measure themselves against. And if you are going to be a detective, you’d better have a MacGuffin to chase after. The Maltese Falcon is the definitive MacGuffin for the definitive detective.
With characters like Brigid O’Shaughnessy, Kasper Gutman, Lieutenant Dundy, and Joel Cairo, you don’t really need to write a plot. All you need to do is give them a jewel encrusted falcon statuette to chase after, and let the characters write their own script. And that’s what this film did. The best part is that it turns out in the end to be a fake, but that doesn’t even matter. Classic MacGuffin. And you know what else it is? It’s “the stuff dreams are made of.”
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
lulz…. this is great!!! awesome list, well done.
i love MacGuffins. is a MacGuffin only a movie element, as in does the same concept in a book have a different term? i ask bc i know my number one in a book would be in HP7, the DEATHLY HALLOWS! yes, i consider the hallows a total MacGuffin.
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 pm
It’s definitely a TV term as well, as I’ve heard TV writers talk about it on DVD commentaries. Dunno about books but I don’t see why the concept couldn’t transfer to them too!
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I think originally it was only a movie plot device. But now it’s such an important paradigm in story telling, that I think it can be applied to any medium. The sword in the Shannara books, or the ring in LOTR books, or the Babel Fish in Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books, or the potency of imported beer when I’m explaining to my wife why I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer…
August 13th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
[...] are right, has joined the battle between the Lost Ark and the Jewel of the Nile as the most bizarre MacGuffin of all time). Megatron has been searching for the Allspark in order to complete his plans of [...]
May 11th, 2010 at 4:54 am
A macguffin is a plot device used to carry the plot along, but in the end, has no significance. For example, in True Romance the coke is not a macguffin because they use the money to go go to Cancun as planned earlier in the movie. So, the coke fulfilled it’s role. A closer example in Romance would be something along the lines of Dick Richie (Clarence’s friend) never getting to do the TV show he landed in the audition. THere was no closure on that plot point in the end, however it’s role may e too minimal to be deemed macguffin. Although, that situation is closer to the idea of a macguffin than the coke. The coke has a huge function at the end as it gets them to where they dreamed of going since the beginning. Pulp Fiction also has a macguffin, but it’s not the watch. It’s the suitcase. It carries the plot along, but in the end has no role or significance. The watch does not have a function important enough to carry the plot along severely enough to be labeled a macguffin. In other words, it did not have a large enough role to be considered a device that has no role at the end. Another macguffin is the stolen money in the original Psycho (Hitchcocks’s). Although we’re dealing with a split narrative here, the stolen money carries the plot along but has absolutely no significance in the end. It simply gets flushed down the toilet and is never brought up again through the second part of the narrative split. (Right after Marion is killed.) Some may think that the money in the movie “A Simple Plan,” is a macguffin because the money is burned at the end. However, the burning of the money makes the money significant because it stressed the disturbing pointlessness of the chaos that it caused to begin with. Most of the examples used in this “top ten macguffins,” are actually not macguffins at all. If the plot device serves ANY purpose at all in the end it is a function rather than a non-function. Now that you know this you can re-observe other movies in order to spot true macguffins. Just make sure you look for a plot device used ONLY to carry the plot along throughout the movie, but has NO role or significance in the end.
May 11th, 2010 at 9:26 am
That’s an interesting take on the idea of what a MacGuffin is. I don’t liek to emphasize the idea so much that it can’t have any signifigance in the end whatsoever. When it comes to MacGuffins, I’m more of a “a plot element that catches the viewers’ attention or drives the plot” kind of guy (that’s dictionary.com’s definition), but with the added caveat that it when you think about it, the device could have been anything and the plot still would have moved forward.
That’s why I like the watch. It gave Bruce Willis’ character a good excuse to return to the hotel room, but it didn’t have to be a watch. It could have been their getaway money. Or it could have been an old photo of his mother. It’s identity wasn’t important, just that it served the role of brining him back to the hotel.
May 11th, 2010 at 9:34 am
I mean to his house
October 25th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
this is the worst macguffin list that i’ve ever seen!!!
its almost like you took the worst macguffins of all time and put them together this sucks!
How do you not have the one ring from LOTR? and how is the watch from pulp fiction a macguffin? the suitcase is the macguffing that is worthy of being on the list.
And it really blows my mind that you dont have Rosebud on here. Looking at the list you probably dont even know what Rosebud is do you? Without Rosebud none of these other Macguffins would even exist
January 21st, 2011 at 4:27 pm
A good true Hitchcockian MacGuffin test is if the object can be replaced by anything else and the outcome of the movie (or whatever) would be the same.
The Pulp Fiction watch is a true MacGuffin because it could be anything that gets him to go back to the apartment. The same holds true for the coke in True Romance. It is not the coke itself that drives the plot, it is the actions the characters take because of their desire to possess it and the end result. It could have been jewels or cash or anything at all that the bad guys wanted back and had monetary value used by the protagonists at the end.
However, the Ark of the Covenant is NOT a MacGuffin because it (the object itself) ends up frying all the Nazis at the end, which is pretty significant in terms of the plot. This could be further argued that the actual Ark is a MacGuffin but the power inside is what makes it not one. Had the Ark held no real power by itself, and not altered the ending, then it would have passed the test. The Holy Grail in The Last Crusade falls short for the same reason. Monty Python’s Grail passes the test because it really doesn’t matter what it is and has no bearing on the outcome of the movie. They never even find it.
So what about the one ring? Along with the case from Pulp Fiction it seems like the most obvious one. However, it can’t be a true MacGuffin because it is just too significant in terms of the plot. It is not just some object that everyone wants. It actually changes the outcome of the story all by itself by altering the characters’ motivations and actions. There’s that power thing again. I suppose you could say that it could be replaced by any magical thingy that makes the characters behave that way but I’d argue that it goes against the basic definition of a MacGuffin; that the object itself holds no significance. I’d add the Deathly Hallows to this reasoning too simply because of the cloak and the role it plays in all seven books.
I didn’t start this off trying to argue that anything magic can’t be a MacGuffin but more often than not it seems to be true. Aside from the Pulp Fiction case and the Monty Python grail mentioned, I can’t think of another one right now. I have to go but I’d like to challenge someone to come up with something that is magic (or has power) and it really doesn’t matter. I haven’t seen either Transformers movies so I don’t know about those.
January 21st, 2011 at 4:55 pm
what about the glass slipper in Cinderella? I suppose that it can be argued that the glass slipper itself is not magical, but are we really to believe that this glass slipper would simply not fit on anybody else without the power of magic? And it is not the slipper that drives the story, it’s a rags to riches story and in the end the slipper does not matter. But the slipper is the desired object, that is to say, to get your foot to fit in it. The prince could have went to everywhere in the kingdom and said, “guess what number i am thinking of!”, and Cindy would have been the only one to know, or he could have said, here try on this parka, or he could have said “here are the keys to my humvee, see if you can unlock it… etc. etc.” i guess it is true that we actually don’t see anybody else in the movie trying on the slipper except for Cindy and the stepsisters so maybe they all had big feet.