Five Great Fist Pumps in Film

Yeah!

There’s simply no other way to say that without the almighty fist pump. I’m not talking about that Jersey Shore-defined fist pump, where they hijacked the phrase as Guido code for circle-jerk. I’m referring to a moment of triumph, to show that you are on top of the world and have accomplished everything – and more – that you have set out to accomplish. Throw your fist in the air and scream, “Yeah!”

Since every athlete does it, the fist pump in sports is too often tainted with eventual failure (Yeah! We barely made the playoffs!). So let’s look at five great moments in film when it has happened. Know more? Name them in the comments and be sure to end it with “Yeah!”

1

Jesse
Free Willy

Willy goes free! How triumphant! Yeah!

2

Bender
The Breakfast Club

Dear Mr. Vernon,
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is we did wrong, but we think you’re crazy for making us write an essay telling you who we think we are.
You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out, is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basketcase, a princess,
and a criminal. Does that answer your question?
Sincerely yours,
The Breakfast Club.

Watch the video here on YouTube.

Yeah!

And one more thing… DON’T YOU… FORGET ABOUT ME.

3

Rocky
Probably in all the Rocky Movies

Put on the Rocky music, go running up a hill, and you must, must I say, do the fist pump. I mean… listen to this and it’s virtually automatic that you do it. Yeah!

4

Bastian
The Never Ending Story

A kid riding a luckdragon named Falkor through an imaginary land? That screams for the fist pump! Even the audience was doing it when they saw this film in 1984. Yeah!

And now, the Family Guy version:

5

O’Doyle
Billy Madison

Let’s keep in mind that you don’t always have to scream “YEAH!” when you do the fist pump. You can substitute any phrase that you want, so long as you keep it consistent and triumphant, and only do it during times when it is justified. This works best for the high school bully, as evidenced by O’Doyle in Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison. Yeah!

Honorable mention: There’s one in Avatar, by that blue chick while flying on that thing.