Movie Death Scenes that really got to you... (1 Viewer)

I don't mean the slice and dice deaths in the slasher movies which might startle you but have no true emotional resonance. I mean the death scenes that involve characters you have grown to care about, and whose deaths seem uncommonly realistic in the context of an intrinsically unrealistic medium.

A few of my choices:

TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. Humphrey Bogart's death.
Not that Dobbs is a terribly likable character, but those moments leading up to his murder are frightening as hell. One can easily imagine onesself in his shoes, realizing the bandits plan to kill him and trying to seem casual as he tries to find ways to talk them out of it.

THE CHINA SYNDROME. Jack Lemmon's death. This is a man we truly have come to side with - we recognize him as an everyday guy who summons up the courage to blow the whistle on a nuclear power company, in spite of his misgivings. His attempt to articulate the dangers of the plant as he quickly loses his cool on live t.v. are heartbreaking, as are the terrible moments that follow.

DR. ZHIVAGO. Omar Sharif's death. I have to say I never really identified much with the Zhivago character per say, but his death as he pursues who he believes is Lara getting off a streetcar is quite spooky. The heart attack looks real as hell - his face is ashen and he struggles for breath, but keeps walking toward that woman until he collapses. A similarly effective heart attack scene occurs at the end of SHIP OF FOOLS. Makes me feel vulverable - you never know when your time is gonna come.

IN COLD BLOOD. The deaths of the Clutter's. You know this is coming, yet the whole thing is so horrifying. You can put yourself into the shoes of any of the victims and wonder what you would do...could you talk your way out of being killed? Could you escape? Overpower one of the killers?

There are scores of others, including OLD YELLER and BAMBI, but I thought I'd narrow this down to human characters.

Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan (followed by that old guy crying over the gravestone) always makes me howl like a baby. Emotional wrenching like this might be trickery by many filmmakers, but it works with me every single damned time.

The scene in The Wild Geese when Richard Harris asks Richard Burton to shoot him.

I hate when the ewok dies in Return of the Jedi even though I don't like that movie or the series in general. The other ewok just looks so sad. :frowning:

Jenny's death in Forrest Gump always got me to an extent also. I think it's Tom Hank's little speech at her grave. I love that movie.

I'm probably missing a few but those are the ones that come to mind.

Boromir's death in Fellowship of the Ring, I was a sobbing wreck by this point in the film.. "I would have followed you, my brother, my Captain, my King..." my eyes well up just typing those words... :frowning:

Chow Yun Fat in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The look of pain on Michelle Yeoh brings me tears.

Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Every time I see that scene, it gets me more and more.

May I suggest spoilers after the titles so we can only read about movies we've seen?

--
H

Some really big ones come to mind:

Superman - the deaths of everyone on Krypton, Jonathan Kent, and Lois

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Spock's death

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - Kirk's son's death, followed by the destruction of the Enterprise

Forrest Gump - Jenny's death

Titanic - the deaths of the 1500 people, followed by Jack's death

Spider-Man - Uncle Ben's death

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - Shmi's death (it was extremely hard for me to watch this moment and Uncle Ben's death in Spider-Man because my dad had died only two months before; to this day, when I put in those two DVDs, I have to skip over those two moments)

Star Trek: Generations - Kirk's death (revised ending)

Gladiator - Maximus' death

Somewhere in Time - Richard Collier's death by heartbreak

In "X-Men 2":
Jean Grey. Her decision to sacrifice herself really caught me unawares and I just about lost it in the theater.
In "Fellowship of the Ring":
Both the "death" of Gandalf and the death of Boromir. I can only imagine what I'll be like at ROTK.
In "Driving Miss Daisy":
The final scene at the nursing home between Hoke and Miss Daisy. Not a death scene, but still very emotional.

The Green Mile - John Coffee's death - My first time crying at a movie, and my friend who was with me didn't hold back as well

Donnie Darko
When Gretchen is run over by the car and Donnie holding her lifeless body. Also when Donnie is laughing at the end right before the plane engine hits.

Superman
Lois' death did for me and to see Superman's reaction afterwards

I really hate to admit this and my wife gets on me all the time about it but..."Beaches"
...the last 30 minutes gets me all the time...
...brutal

Robert Downey Jr. in Less Than Zero

Jon Voight in The Champ

Sean Bean in The Fellowship of the Ring

Someone I won't mention in The Return of the King

Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment

Adam Goldberg in Saving Private Ryan

Kevin Spacey in Outbreak

I'd say SE7EN gets to me, not a teary way, but that just "gets" to me. The fact that we did not see it happen on film is even more gruesome, through our imagination of what really happened.

Titanic

When the mother puts those two little kids to bed in Titanic, knowing that there's nothing else to do . . .