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Still Not Over It : Movie Deaths


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What are some movie deaths that have stuck with you? You know, the ones that you'll leave the room to avoid it? A few of mine:

The Shoe, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - that poor toon shoe being slowly lowered into "the dip" is one of the most scarring movie moments in my memory

Ricky, Boyz In The Hood - the slow motion in that scene as he takes a shotgun blast to the back is very affecting.

Ritchie, La Bamba - I think this was the first movie I saw where someone died. I wasn't ready lol. The song "Sleepwalk" will always be a little sad to me. I can still hear Esai Morales screaming "Ritchieeeeeee!!!!" in my head when the song gets to those final chords

Apollo Creed, Rocky IV - Just startled the hell out of me as a child

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Gwen Stacy's death in The Amazing Spiderman 2. Even though I knew it was coming since I read the comics, the way it was carried out was heartbreaking. Emma Stone's silent horror and resignation was 10 times more effective than Kirsten Dunst screaming her head off --- pity they couldn't have killed her character off.

Dobby dying in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 was also a tough one.

And I thought Fantine's death in Les Miserables deserves mention because unlike tons of movies with a terminally ill character, Anne Hathaway made damn sure she looked and sounded realistic as a dying person!

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Jon Voight (what was his character's name?) in The Champ. Little Ricky Schroeder saying "wake up champ" just kills. It's not a death but what leads up to Maggie's death in Million Dollar Baby I cannot watch that fight and see her head hitting that stool ever again.

 

Sonny in The Godfather broke my heart and I was not expecting it. I wasn't around when the movie first came out and wasn't allowed to see it on TV until I was an adult, still just didn't see that coming.

 

The First Lady in Independence Day. I remember just being outraged that they killed the FLOTUS. I don't think I would have taken POTUS death so hard.

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Sonny in The Godfather broke my heart and I was not expecting it. I wasn't around when the movie first came out and wasn't allowed to see it on TV until I was an adult, still just didn't see that coming.

OMG, yes! Sonny's death is definitely a change the channel/leave the room scene.

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Ricky, Boyz In The Hood - the slow motion in that scene as he takes a shotgun blast to the back is very affecting.

 

Ritchie, La Bamba - I think this was the first movie I saw where someone died. I wasn't ready lol. The song "Sleepwalk" will always be a little sad to me. I can still hear Esai Morales screaming "Ritchieeeeeee!!!!" in my head when the song gets to those final chords

 

 

Yes, those two scenes always made me cry.

 

And Ritchie Valen's death in La Bamba was devastating to me because it happened in real life and because he'd been having nightmares for years about dying in a plane crash (in the movie, at least).

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In terms of my childhood, The Lion King owns this - I bawled my head off, in the theater, when Mufasa died.  As in, my parents pulled me out of the theater to calm me down before I could go back in.  It still gets me choked up - Simba's sad "c'mon dad, you've gotta get up!" breaks my heart.

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This thread contains spoilers about pivotal moments from various movies and films. A spoilers tag has been applied to it therefore no spoiler tags are necessary. We recommend not reading this thread if you are afraid of being spoiled by character death in movies. For easier reading, please bold movie titles. For more unspoiled and tag filled discussion discussion on these moments, check the other threads in this subforum. Thank you.

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And Ritchie Valen's death in La Bamba was devastating to me because it happened in real life and because he'd been having nightmares for years about dying in a plane crash (in the movie, at least).

Talk about a cruel irony.

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In Return to Paradise, Lewis' death messed me up pretty badly. I was fourteen and naively kept expecting someone to suddenly come forward and stop the execution, right down to the last second, but nope. Joaquín Phoenix is just heart-wrenching in that last scene.

(That movie and her character in it ruined Jada Pinkett-Smith for me.)

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Sid's death in An Officer and a Gentleman.  I was so angry at almost everyone:  Him for doing it, his parents for making him feel like he had to take his brother's place, Lynette for treating him so horribly, even Paula for not warning him about what kind of person Lynette was.  It was heartbreaking. 

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(edited)

I was absolutely devastated by Johanna's murder at the end of The Stepford Wives, and the shot of her murderer/replacement robot just walking around expressionless in the grocery store. What makes it even more effective is that we don't even see the murder- just the robot approaching Johanna with something to strangle her with.

 

Also, Rue's death in The Hunger Games, and the shot of District 11 reacting to Katniss's goodbye salute.

Edited by methodwriter85
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I get upset with Wash's death in "Serenity".  He didn't have to die! 

 

I'd read that the film was based on the outlines/initial scripts for season two of Firefly - had it occurred.  I'd hate to think Wash was meant to have been killed off on the series proper as well!

 

Come to think of it, I was also a bit miffed Mr. Universe died too - all he had in the end was his sexbot!

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Also, Rue's death in The Hunger Games, and the shot of District 11 reacting to Katniss's goodbye salute.

How could I forget Rue?  I knew it was coming, and I still freaking cried like a baby.

 

Thomas's death in My Girl and Brooks's in The Shawshank Redemption were pretty traumatizing too.  

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I get upset with Wash's death in "Serenity".  He didn't have to die! 

 

I'd read that the film was based on the outlines/initial scripts for season two of Firefly - had it occurred.  I'd hate to think Wash was meant to have been killed off on the series proper as well!

 

Come to think of it, I was also a bit miffed Mr. Universe died too - all he had in the end was his sexbot!

 

 

Even knowing that Joss Whedon will kill off anyone, any time, I did not see that coming.  (And I should have been totally tipped off by "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.")

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Believe it or not, Bambi's mom's death didn't bug me as much as it was intended.  Partly because my dad was an avid hunter (he went deer hunting every autumn), and partly because it didn't ring true to me.  My dad told me that in NY state, one needs a special permit to hunt does, and they were few and far between.  If anything, it would have been more realistic for Bambi's dad to take the bullet.

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Bambi's mom was brutal. Years later I now realise my hysterics were at least in part due to the first realisation of a four-year old that mommy could die.

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(edited)

 

Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Yeah, I'm weird that way, but he was the best character in the movie.

 

  Not to me, otherwise he wouldn't have been outsmarted by John McClane, who was the second best character in the movie, next to his wife, Holly.

 

  Boromir's death in The Lord On the Rings: The Fellowship Of the Ring is one of the most heartbreaking on-screen deaths of all time.

Edited by DollEyes
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Though it happened off screen, The death of Henry Fonda's titular Mr Roberts rocked me. When Jack Lemmon (Ens Pulver) started reading the letter from his friend Fornell telling him how he died, the look on his face conveying the shock and pain at the loss of his friend was devastating to me. 

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Ricky, Boyz In The Hood - the slow motion in that scene as he takes a shotgun blast to the back is very affecting.

 

It's very well done, the death scene itself, Tre screaming for help, Doughboy arriving too late, Ricky and Doughboy's mom freaking out (the girlfriend is played by a terrible actor, though) and, especially, later when she's sitting there looking at his SAT scores, the revenge killing (and Tre deciding not to be part of it), and Ricky and Doughboy's conversation at the end, followed by the revelation Doughboy was murdered within a couple weeks of Ricky.

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Tara's death in Sons of Anarchy.  I knew she was skating on thin ice but I couldn't stand the manner of her death, getting repeatedly stabbed in the head with a meat fork by that bitch Gemma.  I kept saying, "A meat fork??"

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Leslie death on Bridge to Terabirtha.  It was so sad in the book but the movie to me was much sadder.  The actor who played Leslie brought out the best in that character. Thinking about it now makes me sad all over again

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Goose's on Top Gun still makes me teary eyed, especially his wife(Meg Ryan?)'s reaction. Gutted!

Both deaths on Dear Zachary, but especially the final death, caused my blood to boil and the tears to fall. So senseless, and it's real life!

All the deaths in The Mist, but especially the four in the car. Thomas Janes' reaction when he gets out of the car is absolutely devastating!

My Girl. Urgh!!!

American History X - You could feel it coming, but it still punches you in the gut.

The Green Mile - another movie where the outcome was basically a foregone conclusion, but man, Tom Hanks' face during MCD's death was haunting. Not to mention Michael Clarke Duncan's serenity. Sooo heartbreaking!

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(edited)

The Green Mile - another movie where the outcome was basically a foregone conclusion, but man, Tom Hanks' face during MCD's death was haunting. Not to mention Michael Clarke Duncan's serenity. Sooo heartbreaking!

John Coffey's death, while terribly sad, isn't the one that haunts me. Del's execution is the stuff of nightmares! Fucking Percy...

My Girl is a movie I've seen only once and I don't think I can do it again. It also made me terrified of bees for a long time.

Dear Zachary that documentary is heartbreaking, infuriating and beautiful all at the same time. The scream the narrator let out when he got to the point of Zachary's death in the story...my God

Edited by spaceytraci1208
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(edited)

My ultimate "not over it" movie death -- the titular characters of Thelma and Louise.  I love that movie, and have watched it so many times I can recite it verbatim, but two male characters would not have had to die. 

 

(Well, there's also Bambi's mother, and all the other mothers Disney films killed off, but I learned early on not to watch those!)

 

In the surprising category, Drew Barrymore in Scream.  I have an odd affection for slasher flicks, so I was all over something sending them up, especially when directed by Wes Craven.  So a friend and I saw that on opening night -- even though we were on vacation in Vegas at the time.  I was totally unspoiled, and thus had no idea a star like Barrymore was going to bite it in the first scene.  Even Janet Leigh made it further into the film (in Psycho).

 

Speaking of slasher films, there have been some pretty great (for one reason or another) methods of death.  But the curling iron in Sleepaway Camp?  Ack!

Edited by Bastet
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Speaking of slasher films, there have been some pretty great (for one reason or another) method of death.  But the curling iron in Sleepaway Camp?  Ack!

 

There was one slasher film with death by shish kebab through the mouth and out the back of the neck.

 

There is a horrible slasher film called The Catcher where one victim is staked out on the pitcher's mound and is killed by a pitching machine firing baseballs at him.  And another killed by a baseball bat put where the sun don't shine...

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My ultimate "not over it" movie death -- the titular characters of Thelma and Louise.  I love that movie, and have watched it so many times I can recite it verbatim, but two male characters would not have had to die.

Well, Thelma and Louise "chose" to die.  Harvey Keitel tried to talk some sense into them but they were determined to drive off that cliff.  Plus, as a couple of attractive white women, if they had surrendered they would probably have gotten a few years in prison, or even gotten off.  

 

Regarding two male characters dying, I recently saw Easy Rider again and I'm still sickened after all these years that those two rednecks killed Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper.  

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Yeah, they chose death because that was their best option thanks to continually getting, as Harvey Keitel said, "fucked over."  But you look at 99% of the male buddy movies, and they don't have to make that choice.

 

That "just keep going" scene is fantastic.  It's a good ending.  But it's quite telling - and both Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis have commented on this as well - how different it is from the genre's usual ending.

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Yeah well I guess this should go in the UO thread, but I never thought of either of them as "heroines" just because they had it rough.  Louise didn't have to shoot that awful guy who tried to rape Thelma.  They could have gotten in the car and kept going, but that was a choice she made.

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One of the most disturbing movie (and unfortunately true life) deaths was the poor Vietnamese girl that was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by the soldiers in Casualties of War. The whole time I was watching that movie, I kept hoping that Michael J. Fox would be able to save her.

The most heart rending moment was how close he came: he manages to sneak her away and urges her to go, but she's so traumatized and has no idea where she is. He's torn because if he goes with her it would be desertion (and he now knows that his comrades are capable of anything). He's yelling at her in English to go, she's begging in Vietnamese to go with her, neither of them able to completely understand the other. And when he finally caves and they're about to run, they get caught.

Then the actual death itself...that sick bastard stabs her over and over, yet she STILL gets up and tries to escape, bleeding and sobbing for her mother...only to have Sean Penn and his gang gun her down while Michael screams for them to stop.

God that movie is hard to watch.

Edited by Spartan Girl
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Yeah well I guess this should go in the UO thread, but I never thought of either [Thelma or Louise] as "heroines" just because they had it rough. Louise didn't have to shoot that awful guy who tried to rape Thelma. They could have got in the car and kept going, but that was a choice she made.

 

 I respectfully disagree. If Louise hadn't killed that creep, then he might not have raped Thelma, he might have at least tried to kill her afterwards-and done the same thing to Heaven knows how many other women, if he hadn't already. The psycho asshole got what he deserved, as far as I'm concerned.

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Nancy's death in Oliver! Her death is bad enough in pretty much every adaptation of Oliver Twist (the 2005 Roman Polanski version was particularly brutal because that Nancy was barely a teenager), but that one was ten times worse because Oliver saw the whole thing. The traumatized look on his face was so heartbreaking; he's watching the closest person he has to a mother figure be beaten to death.

What makes her death so sad was the pointlessness of it. She had the worst case of battered women's syndrome ever; she knew Sykes was evil, yet she wouldn't leave him because she still loved him. And she geuinely though thought that because she was a thief and a bar girl it was too late for her to have a better life. Ultimately, her redeeming quality was that she didn't want an innocent boy to suffer the same fate.

Edited by Spartan Girl
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I''ll never forgive David Fincher for killing off Newt and Corporal Hicks.

 

All the deaths in The Mist, but especially the four in the car. Thomas Janes' reaction when he gets out of the car is absolutely devastating!

Except Mrs. Carmody. Her death could only have been more satisfying as part of a first person shooter game!

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Diane Fossey's favorite gorilla, Digit in Gorillas In The Mist. He was decapitated and his hands were cut off to sell for souvenirs.

And on that note, I'd like to add all the poor adorable pets that were ever murdered in a movie: the bunny in Fatal Attraction, the puppy in Single White Female, Daisy in John Wick, the decapitated dog in Fear....

And how about baby Gage in Pet Semetary?! I wasn't expecting A TODDLER to get run down by a truck, then brought back as a zombie! Stephen King, you sick sadistic bastard....

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And how about baby Gage in Pet Semetary?! I wasn't expecting A TODDLER to get run down by a truck, then brought back as a zombie! Stephen King, you sick sadistic bastard....

Stephen considered throwing the manuscript away since it disturbed him so much, but his wife talked him into publishing it anyway. Gage's death is somewhat based on a real incident. His son, who was two at the time, almost ran into a busy street.

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This movie was mentioned up thread, but I just saw it over the weekend, and I gotta say, OMG, what a movie (documentary).

 

Dear Zachary

 

Highly recommend, however, be prepared ... it's like a movie but it's real.  And heartbreaking.

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Bumping up this thread because Satine's death in Moulin Rouge destroys me. As @CobaltStargazer said in another thread, the timing of it is just so cruel: just when Satine finally got back with Christian, she just keels over and dies.

What makes it more heartbreaking is how brave she was about it. She knew her time was up and there was nothing she could do about it, so she spends her last moments trying to comfort Christian, who was a wreck. Considering that it takes her the whole movie to realize the importance of love, there's something really selfless in how she tells him that he's got to move on with his life because he had "so much to give" and didn't want him to spend the rest of his life wallowing in grief.

Edited by Spartan Girl
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