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Movie deaths that stayed with you...

post #1 of 116
8/15/05 at 1:23pm
Thread Starter 
All,

What cinematic deaths have stayed with you? That is, which demises have been particularly memorable and/or disturbing for you? They can be gruesome Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
(Peter Weller in Robocop), beautiful (Brando in The Godfather), or just plain odd (Kevin's parents in Time Bandits).


Here's a couple:

Murphy's War, Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
with Peter O'Toole.
I've never even seen this film all the way through, but after catching the ending, when... Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
O'Toole, flush with triumph after finally sinking that German sub with a torpedo he's hoisted on a crane, is accidentally pinned and pulled underwater when the entire platform he's on sinks into the bay.
Perhaps it's the almost nonchalant quality of the actor's performance, or just the bitter irony of it, but it's stayed with me for years.

Another, oddly, is from Thunderball, just broadcast on AMC recently - it's when that pilot is trapped underwater in his fighter plane and the scuba diver approaches him to rescue him (he thinks), but instead cuts the guy's air hose and leaves him to drown.

Okay, so maybe I've got a thing about drowning. These are just two that came to mind. Others?

--Jefferson Morris
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post #2 of 116
8/15/05 at 1:44pm
Wilson Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
floating away to his doom
in Castaway. I'm sort of kidding and sort of not. Really, it was Tom Hank's reaction to the whole thing that got me.

But seriously, I think Tears of The Sun had a really tough scene when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the tribal woman died after having her breasts cut off.
Disturbing, to say the least.

Not really a death scene, but in And The Band Played On, it struck me that more than once when individuals were informed that they had AIDS, it wasn't them but their spouse/significant other who broke down.

I guess the ones that stand out to me show the reality and pain of what's left behind, rather than the death itself.
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post #3 of 116
8/15/05 at 1:46pm
For some reason when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Bruce Willis
was killed in the movie "Billy Bathgate" came to my mind when I read this thread.
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post #4 of 116
8/15/05 at 1:50pm
In Saving Private Ryan
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the way the guy was slowly killed with the knife. That just really sticks with me.
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post #5 of 116
8/15/05 at 2:00pm
Thread Starter 
I'm going to assume everyone in the world has seen Saving Private Ryan, so no spoiler tags below...

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Yes, Melish's death by bayonet is a doozy. But even worse for me was Wade, the medic, and mostly because of Ribisi's performance. The character was just so acutely conscious of what was happening to him that it made it very difficult for me to watch. Particularly when he calls for his mother.


--Jefferson Morris
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post #6 of 116
8/15/05 at 2:04pm
Quote:
In Saving Private Ryan



That's exactly the same scene that still disturbs me. truthfully I skip over it now if I watch it. I can't handle it.
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post #7 of 116
8/15/05 at 2:04pm
In "Scream 2", a character I liked a lot and died so quickly ...

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
When Randy is suddenly pulled into the van and repeatedly stabbed to death. Still upsets me to watch such a cool movie character that you've grown to like through two films killed off like that.


Call me a wimp but in "Forrest Gump" when...

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Bubba dies.


In "Fellowship of the Ring" when

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Gandalf falls. Sure he came back in the sequel but that moment when he fell was so effective, maybe in due part because of the reaction of the Fellowship.
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post #8 of 116
8/15/05 at 2:06pm
Some of the cinematic deaths that affected me, in no uncertain order:

"Superman: The Movie":
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the death of Jonathan Kent


"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Spock's death at the end of the film


"Titanic":
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
when Rose discovers that Jack has frozen to death
- okay, I'm a guy, but hey, it was pretty darn affecting, not to mention Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the deaths of the other 1500
.

"The Lion King":
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
when Simba finds his father Mufasa has been trampled to death
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post #9 of 116
8/15/05 at 2:14pm
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Jon Voigt in
"The Champ" Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
with Ricky Schroeder continually saying, "Wake up, Champ."


I was young when I saw it and I haven't seen it since, but it is still very moving to me.

Also:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
James Caan
in "The Godfather" and Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Robert Shaw
in "Jaws." Even if I hadn't seen them countless times and have them on DVD, I'd still NEVER get those images out of my mind.
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post #10 of 116
8/15/05 at 3:18pm
Mike, a spoiler tag is pretty much useless if we don't know what it's spoiling.

Ditto for Saving Private Ryan> Probably the worse one for me.

--
H
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post #11 of 116
8/15/05 at 3:39pm
The most recent one was in Downfall when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
that lady (I can't remember names when I am readin subtitles for some reason) kills all her children with that fast acting poison in their sleep.


I am usually not disturbed by stuff in movies but that one put a bad feeling in my gut for some reason.
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post #12 of 116
8/15/05 at 4:00pm
The death in Terms of Endearment
The death in The Champ
The death in Beaches
The death in Sophie's Choice
The death in Star Trek 2
The ship blowing up in Star Trek 3 (if you are a Star Trek fan you'll understand.)
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post #13 of 116
8/15/05 at 4:03pm
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Ratso
in Midnight Cowboy
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post #14 of 116
8/15/05 at 4:12pm
Out of Sight - Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Maurice 'Snoopy' Miller gets shot several times, sort of out of the blue. Considering the lofty aims he had, it was a less than epic end. The way his body locks up and then he quickly lies silently slumped over White Boy Bob just gets me.


L.A. Confidential - Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Watching the life drain out of Jack Vincennes is nearly unsurpassed. Sadly, it was the last time I was truly impressed by a Kevin Spacy performance.


Heist - Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Pinky dies and he knows it almost from the moment he drops his neice off. From that point on, his life is simply a cog in the machine and there wasn't going to be a happy ending in it for him.


The Swarm - Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Peter Fonda's death comes as such a surprise because they bring you to the point of death once and then show the antidote working. When he has problems afterwards, it just comes after the relief and hits hard. He really sells it too in one of my favorite acted death scenes.
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post #15 of 116
8/15/05 at 4:15pm
Sixth Sense when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
you discover on the videotape that the mother had been slowly poisoning her daughter the whole time; there's something horribly and innately unnatural about that.
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post #16 of 116
8/15/05 at 4:22pm
To Live and Die in LA:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
William Petersen taking a shotgun to the face.
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post #17 of 116
8/15/05 at 4:37pm
In Vertigo, when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Kim Novack's character falls off the tower at the end. Totally unexpected the first time I saw it, and to have the movie end immediately at that point without a scene or so to come to terms with it was really haunting.


In Oliver!, when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Nancy is beaten to death by Bill Sykes. Really traumatized me as a kid.
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post #18 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:01pm
What, no votes for Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Boromir
?
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post #19 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:05pm
The opening scene in "Goodfellas" was really harsh. I was just so shocked at the brutality. Still bugs me.

"Million Dollar Baby" is a recent one that really touched me.

"Braveheart" That is one film I usually turn off before the end.

"The Professional" really choked me up.

Lots and lots of others. I am a real softie when it comes to dramatic deaths on screen.
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post #20 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
Another one I thought of, from an oldie but goodie, the 1937 Captains Courageous. This one always choked my Dad up: Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Spencer Tracy's loveable cook is fatally injured by the ship's rigging during an accident on a sailing ship. Under the water he's mutilated, but with his head and shoulders still above the water, he hangs on long enough to say goodbye to little Freddie Bartholomew.


And of course how could I forget The Abominable Dr. Phibes (or its sequel, can't remember). So many twisted offings to choose from. I liked the long, slow draining of blood, and the spiky phone receiver.

And though it wasn't quite technically a death (then again, neither was Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Weller in Robocop), the "Sloth" victims
in Se7en. That brought back traumatic memories of The Exorcist - a whitish, emaciated thing tied to a bed. Yeesh.

--Jefferson Morris
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post #21 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:28pm
Quote:
"Titanic":
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

when Rose discovers that Jack has frozen to death

- okay, I'm a guy, but hey, it was pretty darn affecting, not to mention
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
the deaths of the other 1500

Another guy here, who completely understands this. The first moment you mentioned really hit me, and made the second moment you mentioned resonate more than I thought it would.
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post #22 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, and how can I forget the very end of The Grifters. The very definition of fucked up. People walked out of theater shaking their heads.

--Jefferson Morris
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post #23 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:29pm
The Green Mile had two that were real hard hitting -

 Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Eduard Delacroix [due to botched up execution]


and, of course

 Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
John Coffey, who was innocent, but executed anyway for the crimes of "Wild Bill". Speaking of which, that is one death I cheer for, because Wild Bill REALLY deserved it.


Michael Clarke Duncan was the real standout in this film. I had read the serial novel years before, and he WAS John Coffey, with all of his awesome power and innocence.
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post #24 of 116
8/15/05 at 6:47pm
The big guy getting crushed by the rock crusher in Temple of Doom.
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post #25 of 116
8/15/05 at 7:14pm
Quote:
Saving Private Ryan


Ditto. Maybe it's how real it all looks. Can you imagine being in that position? Feeling the knife slowly slipping into your chest and into your beating heart? Feeling the pain in your heart as it starts to split apart and fail? Knowing that you will certainly die at the hands of an enemy so close to you that you can look at him straight in his eye and even smell him?

It just freaks me out every time I see it...
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post #26 of 116
8/15/05 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Ratso
in Midnight Cowboy
Heck yes! I actually didn't care too much for the movie, but that's one of my favorite endings to a film. Just a brilliant moment.
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post #27 of 116
8/15/05 at 8:13pm
Another one that stayed with me, Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
although it's not human
, is in Frank Capra's Broadway Bill when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Bill, a long-shot race horse, is running the climactic race, just after he crosses the finish line, his heart bursts and he drops dead on the track. It is a REALLY bittersweet ending to an early Capra comedy-drama.
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post #28 of 116
8/15/05 at 8:17pm
Okay, last one, I promise. In S.O.B., when Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Richard Mulligan is shot to death trying to steal back his movie from the studio. I love that film!
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post #29 of 116
8/15/05 at 8:23pm
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
I do agree that Simba finding his father dead got me chocked up while watching it.


Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Mickey's death
in Rocky 3 was bad.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Apollo Creed'd death in
Rocky 4 is so bad for me that I still have trouble watching it to this day.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Gage's death
in Pet Sematary still gets me.[/spoiler]
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post #30 of 116
8/15/05 at 8:42pm
Well, in Revenge of the Sith:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Padme's death really stayed with me because, for one thing I really didn't think it would happen (considering what Leia says in ROTJ), and two, because it was at the hands of Anakin himself.


That sticks with me emotionally. For sheer brutality, in House of 1000 Corpses, where Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Bill is turned into "fish boy."
That was just damn weird.
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