I was six or so then, and was bouncing around the apartment doing
something I always thoroughly enjoyed: singing. At that particular moment, it
was the old Baptist hymn, “At Calvary.” So I chirped away with gusto, building
volume as I neared the chorus: “…knowing not it was for me He died, at
caaavaaaalryyyy!” Really, a natural mistake. To someone who knew his father was
with an Army cavalry unit and whose favorite toy was a group of Playmobile Old
West Cavalrymen, what other word was
there?
But my father happened to be in the vicinity. “Actually, son, it’s cal-vary. Cav-alry is on horses. Cal-vary
is the hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus died, also called Golgotha.”
Ah, my young mind thought. Well, I feel sheepish. That’s really close to the same. Funny.
Oh well, life is short. Back to singing!
But the odd coincidence stayed with me.
Nearly twenty years later, I still like cavalry. One of my favorite movie
phenomena, as a matter of fact, involves cavalry. Everyone knows that in a
western, one of the good old ones, that when the wagon train is on its last
wheels and the Indians are about to triumph—the bugle blows, the flag flutters,
and the cavalry rides up to save the day. I call any moment when someone shows
up—unexpectedly and out of the blue—to save the day a Cavalry Moment. Usually
it’s not the main character, and if it is, he’s not the main character in that
particular scene. Sometimes it’s a character you only see that one instance, here
and then gone. But the day would be lost without them.
Why do these situations give us chills? Why does the adrenaline rush when
some person or group—often before unseen for the entirety of the story—swoop in
and tip the scales?
I believe God—who Authored authors, after all—built it in. After all, He
executed the ultimate Cavalry Moment. A penniless carpenter being crucified
like a robber on a hill turned out to be the salvation of the entire world.
Which hill, because English is stupid, turned out to be named Calvary. Just ‘cause
it could. I love God’s quirky plot twists.
Merely for fun, here are my top ten Cavalry Moments in cinema. They all
still give me chills even after years of seeing some of them happen every time
I watch that film.
10.
Movie: Stagecoach. This is the one
that almost birthed the cliché, as it were. The cavalry rides up and saves the
passengers of our eponymous transport from destruction. Charge!
9.
Rio Bravo. At the final gunfight,
when Stumpy (Walter Brennan) shows up after being left behind and keeps John
Wayne from being surrounded. Heh, heh!
8.
The Longest Day. When Capitaine
Philippe Kieffer of the Free French Commandos manages to show back up with a
Sherman tank, with a big ol’ 75mm gun.
7.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
When the Dwarves show up to rescue Bilbo from being roasted. Not in the book,
but I liked it anyway. It made the Company cool
all of a sudden.
6.
Superman Returns. Okay, fairly lousy
movie, but that shot of Superman flying in front of the minigun bullets to save
the guard made it all worth it!
5. Star Wars. When Han flies out of the
sun and blows a TIE to smithereens, literally saving Luke’s tail. Really, how
many people get to startle Darth Vader?
4.
The Avengers. Loki is about to kill
that old German man in Stuttgart merely to emphasize a point, and we all think
he’s going to get away with it. Until somebody with a red, white, and blue shield
drops in…
3.
Guardians of the Galaxy. Star-lord
and the Ravagers are attacking Ronan’s warship. But there’s too much incoming
fire. There’s no way that they can make it—but then the Nova Corps shows up.
Classic.
2.
Facing the Giants. Okay, I know
everyone is going, “Huh?” But I count David’s dad standing in the end zone,
encouraging his son, as a Cavalry Moment. That’s love, right there. And the win
wouldn’t have happened without him, right?
1.
Star Trek. You know, the new one,
with Chris Pine. Spock is in the small Vulcan ship, charging straight at Nero.
He knows fully well that the massive number of torpedoes coming at him spell
out his doom, and he is resigned to it. Then the Enterprise comes out of warp and in a beautiful display of
firepower takes out all the incoming
weaponry. I like that ship. You know, it’s exciting!
No, I didn’t forget. In a class all of its own stands my final favorite,
the queen of the lot, the one that makes use of this trope so often but never
dulls it. Its author, J.R.R. Tolkien, remains the only person who can give me
that “chill down the spine” sensation merely from reading the printed word. I
salute his genius, and awareness of the way the world is made that let him
write so well.
0.
The Return of the King. Whether it
be Sam carrying Frodo, Aragorn coming off of the ships, Boromir defending Merry
and Sam, or that great charge of six thousand spears riding to Sunlending and
death, this remains the one to beat. Forth,
Eorlingas!
Thanks for coming along my trip down adrenaline lane. If I missed one of
your favorites, sound off in the comments. Maybe I’ll have to add something to
my watch list. And remember when you hear them blow the Charge that Calvary,
not cavalry, gave us the greatest moment ever.
