Top 10 Great Movie Deaths
Movies love to kill people and we love to watch...
Movies love to kill people, and actors love to die (preferably slowly and with a great close-up). Yet, more often than not, film fatalities are an accountant's errand. Just another tally mark in the body count. This isn't a list celebrating the art of ludicrous squibs and exploding craniums. The following movie deaths deliver more oomph than henchmen #4 getting steamrolled by the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.
These are the death scenes we remember long after the actors have screamed, slobbered, cried, coughed, wheezed, or drawn out to William Shatner-esque lengths their final words. They are a perfect combination of acting, writing, filmmaking, image and idea. Some are shocking. Some are sad or bittersweet. Others funny. Some deaths you cheer on. All are memorable.
Let's begin to experience ten (technically eleven) great ends, and considering the nature of this list, yes, there are spoilers, and if you haven't seen some of these movies you have some NetFlixing to do.
 | David Carradine walks it out in Kill Bill Vol. 2 |
When the film's name is Kill Bill, it's likely Bill won't be standing come end credits. And when it takes two films to reach the promised death, it damn well better be memorable.
Quentin Tarantino's ultimate achievement in Kill Bill isn't the fantastic sword play, but how he twists a straightforward revenge tale into a subversive, poignant love story during the movie's final scenes. We expect an action-packed finale between Uma Thurman's Bride and David Carradine's Bill. However, Tarantino delivers a climax pivoting on emotional conflict in lieu of bloody, drawn-out combat. Yes, we know Bill must die. He had it coming. Yet, Carradine saunters Bill out to his death with such dignity and warmth, we can't help but feel for the murderous SOB.
 | Henry Fonda eats a harmonica in Once Upon a Time in the West |
So your movie depicts a particularly nasty villain. Guess what? That bastard needs to die (hard). But for the hero to simply kill the baddie isn't good enough. A quick sucker death for a film's main evildoer never satisfies an audience's bloodlust, and I am thirsty. Before the villain departs (hopefully in agonizing pain), he needs to realize the hero has bested him.
Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West pulls off this ego-crushing deathblow to perfection. Not only does Henry Fonda's family-snuffing villain suffer a slow, gut-oozing demise after losing a duel to Charles Bronson's Man with No Name, Bronson finalizes his revenge with a symbolic gesture that shuffles Fonda off his mortal coil in utter humiliation.
 | Slim Pickens gets nuked in Dr. Strangelove and Bob Dylan-ized in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid |
This is my two-for-one cheat. We all know the scene from Dr. Strangelove in which Slim Pickens cheerfully bull-rides a nuke to the apocalypse. It's iconic. And it'd be a major mistake to leave it off this list. Yet, as far as I'm concerned Slim Pickens owns two brilliant death scenes in cinematic history.
The second and more obscure one (not to mention, the death that inspired me to compile this list) comes from Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Slim Pickens has a minor role as a sheriff helping Garrett search for the Kid. During a shootout he takes a bullet to the stomach. Yeah so what's the big deal? Cue Bob Dylan's “Knocking on Heaven's Door,” drop in the eerie setting sun, and the subtle range of emotion Pickens displays as he sits on a river bank dying while his wife mourns in the background. Peckinpah made a career off killing characters in violent, yet visually beautiful ways. Few were as haunting as this scene.
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Nice list!
I'm a big fan of Giovanni Ribisi's death scene in Saving Private Ryan and Wes Studi's death in Last of the Mohicans, and like you mentioned Spock in ST2 is great.
Great clip from The Princess Bride. I wish it was a little longer, though, so that Cary Elwes could have explained exactly why he won the battle of wits, because it wasn't just because Wallace Shawn's character died.
Also, I must say that you compiled a great list, Brad. Definitely some of the best movie deaths out there. In honor of QT, I must say that he has two more of my favorites. I love the big shootout at the end of Reservoir Dogs, because of how it brings a final and conclusive end to the film. And also Vic Vega's death in Pulp Fiction, because it was so sudden, abrupt, and unexpected.
@Martian Army: This list was actually made by David. He deserves the kudos, but I agree, I really liked his list. Loved the variety he has here.
@Brad Brevet: Yeah, I agree about the variety. I have to give David props for not focusing on one genre to find the death scenes.
One other death scene that I really loved was Kevin Spacey's death in Se7en. There is something about it that just sticks with you for awhile, and makes you think.
10. Billy Costigan gets a bullet to his head in THE DEPARTED.
This one I think deserves to be on this list for being arguably the most unexpected death in the history of cinema.
9. Jack Sparrow walks into the Kraken in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST.
Mixed feelings about the movie aside, that was one glorious, unexpected and truly memorable death, which as we learned just 10 minutes later, wasn't exactly "death", but all those 10 minutes had you asking yourself in disbelief, "Wow, did they really have the guts to actually kill off their main character?". Of course they didn't, but they almost convinced us so, and the impact of that scene was incredible when watching it in the theater for the first time.
8. Walter Donovan ages in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. What way of leaving this world would be more memorable then aging rapidly? I can't really think of one. In a matter of seconds, Indy's main villain goes from being about 50 years old to being 100 years old to being a skeleton, and that was one truly unexpected and almost shocking death.
7. Bill walks to his death in KILL BILL VOL. 2
I'll just say, I totally agree with you on that, David.
6. Kane gives birth to an alien in ALIEN
Same here.
5. Chrissie gets eaten in JAWS
Steven Spielberg's classic has a handful of great deaths, but of course, it is the opening scene that will stand out forever. A young woman goes swimming at night, everything is good, and suddenly something tries to drag her down in the water. What follows is two minutes of wild screaming and dragging of the shark's victim that we will always remember. There's no need for us to see the giant monster, to see blood and gore, because our imagination can paint a picture more terrifying than anything the movie could offer us. Spielberg knows that, and lets our imagination do it freely.
4. Randy The Ram Robinson goes out in a blaze of glory in THE WRESTLER
Yes, it's not a matter of fact that The Ram actually died in the end of The Wrestler. Darren Aronofsky left it to each viewer to decide whether he died or not, well, I think he did. The final scene of the film has so much power, strength, and drama, that it's almost impossible to properly express it in words. Let's put it this way: it just needs to be seen.
3. William Blake embarks on his last journey in DEAD MAN
Jim Jarmusch's 1995 western is one of only two his films I have seen, and I would never do so, had I one night not turned on the TV and watched it out of sheer curiousity. Now it is one of my 5 favourite films of all time. You can say the same things about both the whole film and William Blake's final journey to the place where all the spirits came… and where all the spirits return. Beautiful. Poetic. Moving. Dream-like. Powerful. Calm. Memorable. Absolutely brilliant and staying with you forever.
2. Marion Crane showers with a knife in PSYCHO
Again, David… you said it best.
1. Marvin gets his head blown the f*ck up in PULP FICTION
- Marvin! What do you make of all this?
- Man, I don't even have an opinion.
- Well you GOTTA have an opinion! Do you think God came down from heaven and stopped the…
- OH WHAT THE FUCK MAN!
- Aw man, I shot Marvin in the face…
Do I really need to comment on this?
Hi nick,
I agree with your selection of Billy Costigan's death scene.
It really deserves a mention in the list
I think you can cheat with no. 5 as well.
Again John Hurt. Again Xenomorph but this time followed by a song and dance.
I'm of course talking about the diner scene in Spaceballs.
To me just as memorable because it's just that funny and because the original was so memorable
As much as the original impressed me as I had no idea what was coming, so much has the second one made me laugh. I still smile everytime I think of it.
"Oh no! Not again!"
The Godfather: Sonny getting blasted to bits at the tollway.
Braveheart: The English want William Wallace (Mel Gibson) to beg for mercy so they dislocating his shoulders and legs. Nope, it doesn't work. They then try emasculating him in front of hundreds of people but he still doesn't budge. Well, you already know what happens.
The Killer: After a remarkable church shootout, Ah Jong (Chow Yun-Fat) and Li Ying (Danny Lee) try to kill Wong Hoi (Shing Fui On). Ah Jong tells Li that if he dies, he'd like him to take his corneas and give them to his blind girlfriend Jennie for a transplant. Well, fate has other plans. Wong Hoi pumps a few bullets into Ah Jong and shoots his eyes out as well.
Blade Runner: The death of Roy Batty. 'Nuff said.
Léon: After a huge shootout with police, Léon almost successfully escapes in a fireman's uniform until Stansfield shoots him in the back of the head. Dying on the cold tile, Léon says his with final breath, "This is from……Mathilda," and gives Stansfield something small in his hand. Stansfield opens his hand and sees a grenade pin. He opens up Léon's jacket to find his body wrapped in grenades. Stansfield, shocked at what he sees, can only say one word, "shit."
Saving Private Ryan: Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg) dies with a knife to the chest.
Nice list, David! So glad to see Once Upon a Time in the West here – it's one of the best moments in movie history. And King Kong (especially with you saying that you prefer Peter Jackson's ending – me too). Bonnie and Clyde is also a definitive Top 10.
When I think of Movie Deaths, two scenes instantly come to my mind (besides several ones on the list): the barb wire-filled room in Suspiria (the most shocking and original movie death ever) and another death in Once Upon a Time in The West: when the train owner tries to reach for the "sea". No movie death has affected me as much as this moment.
I applaud your inclusion of the comedy, "The Princess Bride," also your nostalgic mention of "King Kong" (the original.)
What a blood thirsty bunch we find on the Rope.
Um, did anyone forget the face melting Nazis from Raiders of the Lost Ark?
What!?!?! Where's the woodchipper scene from Fargo????
There is one particular scene in Titanic that stands out for me – As the ship is going down, some poor soul meets his demise tumbling endlessly through the air only to end his life by bouncing off a propeller the size of my house with a glorious echoing thud. In a theater full of awestruck sniffling viewers, I was the sole person who laughed out loud (it was like the theater lights came on and everyone looked straight at me). I still crack a smirk every time I see that shot.
@rattler76:
I honestly considered including the Spaceballs clip for the piece and giving it props. Glad to know I'm not the only who adores that bit.
@Sound Designer Dan:
Brando's death in The Godfather came extremely close to being included. However, I went with Apocalypse Now since the final words are one of the most quoted lines of all time and I already done a 2-for-1 cheat.
The Killer did made it through several cuts. Great ending. And Roy Batty's death was seriously considered. In fact that was perhaps the last death I cut out (ultimately feeling that there were a couple of deaths more influential on cinema and it would have tilted the list too heavily for Sci-fi/fantasy when I was trying to keep a little balance between genres). But that was a tough one.
@Bustray:
Thought about Fargo. But technically Buscemi gets taken out with an ax, which few seem to remember b/c of the wood chipper scene. However that'd make a top entry on a Top 10 Body Disposals in Film list.
I love the list, but I didn't personally agree with number one. Although iconic, The Wizard of Oz never intrigued me to any degree. I would probably have all these scenes in my list but rearranged. My top two would have to be Alien and Once Upon a Time in the West because these were two of my favorite movies and I loved seeing Henry Fonda as a villian and to see him get what was coming to him.
What about the Toon Patrol deaths in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Talk about laughing yourself to death.
What about Mufasa from The Lion King? And the death at the beginning as well as Robert Shaw in Jaws?
Also, Brando in the Godfather, the lawyer that gets eaten by the T-Rex in Jurassic Park, R.P. McMurphy's death in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and even Boromir's death in The Fellowship of the Ring.
That Cyclops from "Krull"?
Let me throw a funny one on just because I see him sometimes at the place I work, Keith Loneker as White Boy Rob running up the stairs to kill George Clooney when he falls and shoots himself in "Out of Sight".
And that dude in large!
Hi David–were you not including suicides? Two of the greatest are Joan Crawford in "Humoresque" and Moira Shearer in "The Red Shoes."
I admire your tackling of this endlessly discussable topic.
@David Frank: How abut Michael's death in Godfather. That was great.
@Zack Solomon: And a big one from the 70's that you forgot is Keith Carradine's death in McCabe & Mrs. Miller
@Brian Fallows:
Actually, I watch the Lion King last night right after I finished this list. The film stills to impress me all that much.
See a previous comment regarding Brando and The Godfather.
Robert Shaw's death is definitely a great. That was sadly one of the deaths that juuuust missed the cut.
If I had to pick a death from Lord of the Rings it would be Gollum's. The shot of him falling into the lava is pitch-perfect (that was also another one that I had a hard time with not including on the list).
@Steve:
If I was doing a Best Kills list (which to me celebrates the technique of kill characters off like henchman #4), that would definitely be on there. Absolutely hilarious. I like how Soderbergh foreshadows it throughout the film.
@Skippy:
Yeah the lack of suicides wasn't done on purpose.
At the potential risk seeming morbid what about Brandon Lee in The Crow? While it may have been a fake death or a particularly "entertaining" one, I think the simple fact that he (Lee) dies on screen is enough for that to make my list
@Zack Solomon:
I'll take it you meant Sonny's death (or are you talking about Godfather III, which really, let's not). Either you're a Sonny's death or a Don Vito's death person. You can like both. But you can't like them equally. I fall on the Don Vito side. And as superb as the Sonny bullet buffet is, it wouldn't exist without the ambush in Bonnie and Clyde (which feels much more brutal and visceral than Sonny's scene).
@Zack Solomon:
C'mon I have one of the Carradine's. That's gotta count for something.
@David Frank: I ment sonny, my bad
@David Frank: But that scene in McCabe is so good. That's my favorite death on screen
"Oh, what I'd give to have seen the alien bursting from John Hurt's chest with an audience in 1979"
I was there. I was 17. I was with a group of friends. It was opening night. It was the first horror film I'd ever gone to see (the SF element lured me in). None of us knew what would happen.
When "that" scene hit us, it seemed the world of cinema-viewing as we knew had completely turned on its head, and from that point on, all bets were off. One of the single most memorable moments in my film-going life.
The death scene that has stuck with me all these years is from the 1937 "Lost Horizon." The beautiful young woman, who is really 200 years old, gradually crumbles to dust when she leaves the protection of the utopian Shangri La and enters the harsh reality of the Himalayas.
Im partial because its my all time favorite movie but I say Gene Hackman's Rev Scott in The Poseidon Adventure. There's something quite powerful with him hanging off that steam pipe and then dropping to his death. I just watched it again in Jan at a revival theater in NYC and its incredible they way they shot that scene especially when seeing it on the big screen.
chuck
How about the climactic scene in Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader decides
to give the Emperor the shaft (literally) ?
Kill Bill was interesting, but David Carradine should be on the list for his death in "Boxcar Bertha"-crucified on the side of a boxcar!
Of course he was also known for the way he died in an other Scorsese: "Mean Streets".
Keith Carradine was noted for his death in the the little known "You and Me" directed by David C.
@David Frank:
I adore the whole movie. Spaceballs is one of my all time favs.
How about you make a list about great opening scenes and you can make up for not mentioning it here (hahaha).
Again – another fine list from a fine site.
Likewise, I WISH I'd been able to see ALIEN without any knowledge of what was to come. I recall my parents coming back from the cinema visibly shaken by the impact of THAT scene.
There are so many fantastic movie deaths – many already mentioned on the list. I like that the list avoided the more obvious horror movies such as the original DAWN OF THE DEAD. However, the scene where the zombies burst out of the lift was both shocking and memorable when I first saw it.
David Lynch, in his time, has delivered some imaginative visual demises especially Bobby Perez in WILD AT HEART and the Yellow Man in BLUE VELVET – whose death happens off-screen – but he is found dead standing bolt upright. Very eerie image.
A more subtle but also memorable death was that of Jack Vincennes in LA CONFIDENTIAL. The whole plot turns on its' head revealing the corrupt Police chief and Jack's final words, "Rolo Tomassi" eventually give Dudley Smith away.
Tombstone should have been up here, when doc holiday kills ringo, Great death scene!!!!!
I'd submit the death by sunlight of the vampires; adopted mother and child in "Interview With A Vampire"; and Vivian Leigh's death on the tracks in
Anna Karenina". Not to mention the death scene in "North by Northwest", in which the villian falls off Mount. Rushmore. Very iconic.
not very iconic, but how about Brad Pitt in Fight Club? Edward Norton shots himself in the head and smoke is coming out of Brad Pitt's mouth.. how brilliant is that!
nevertheless, great list! I really enjoyed it.
The execution of Gasim in Lawrence of Arabia
The girl who gets eaten by the shark at the opening of Jaws (Quinn getting eaten at the end does not have the same shock value)
The cop who gets eaten by The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (the guy who gets eaten by the tyrannosaur in Jurassic Park is a homage to this scene)
The three guys showing the white flag to the Martians in War of the Worlds
Michael kills the Turk and the cop in The Godfather.
The hanging of Perry Smith in In Cold Blood
John Cassavettes exploding at the end of The Fury
William Defoe as Sgt. Elias at the end of Platoon.
Classic.
I know it's not a 100% death-type-death, but the deactivation of HAL in 2001 has to get some kind of love.
Ben's death at the end of Night of the Living Dead is still one of my favorites, both for its allegorical overtones and also for its oh-my-God suddenness.
Everyone's pimping the deaths in The Godfather, but I'm a little shocked that I'm the first one to mention Fredo in the second film. One lonely gunshot kills one man, and destroys another's soul.
Quint in Jaws outweighs Chrissy in my mind. And Roy Batty has the best death speech ever, all the more powerful for having been improvised.
Louie Del Grande's headsplosion in Scanners must have made the list before culling, right?
Also, five words: "top o' the world, ma!" But then, you could probably do an entire separate list of Cagney deaths.
I was wracking my brain for an iconic non-violent death, and then I had to smack my forehead, because freaking ROSEBUD, that's why.
The death of Sarazawa at the end of Gojira 1953.
The death of the Union Captain at the bridge in "The Good the Bad and the Ugly"
Death of Doc Holliday in Tombstone
The entire end fight in 'Magnificent Seven'
King Lear's death at the end of King Lear (Lawrence Olivier version)
Gracchus' implied suicide in Spartacus
Biderbeck at theend of "Dr. Phibes Rises Again', aging away as Vincent Price is singing 'Somewhere over the Rainbow'
Noice!
But I must say, no Donnie from The Big Lebowski, No Mr. Orange from Reservoir Dogs (aka longest build up to a death in movie history), or Bill Nighy in Underworld? Also, Paul Rubens in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was pretty awesome, too.
Hans Grubner in my favorite Christmas movie, 'Die Hard.'
I am a leaf on the wind…
Bambi's mother
Old Yeller.
Two of the most traumatic deaths in any child's memory.
the girl that gets hit by a bus in final destination
it was awesome the first time
and copied so many times after
@Anna: I remember that Raiders scene! Freaked me out as a kid.
There's a Japanese film called Suicide Club.
That early scene in the subway is shocking, gory and fantastic.
Catch-22 – the small airplane -
@Bustray: Re: Fargo woodchipper. Those weren't deaths; he was disposing of the bodies. Not to be anally-retentive, but when there's gazillions of film deaths to choose from, you have to draw the line at actual on-screen deaths.
EXCELLENT selections!
Sure there are many more great movie deaths to choose from but this article is a "killer". heh heh heh.
Casino. Baseball bats. ok?
My god…how can there be so many posts and not one mention of the mercy killing of R.P. McMurphy by Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
Also…the death, and cremation, of the younger sister in the Japanese film Grave of the Fireflies was such a psychic shock for me that I have been unable to watch the movie a second time…
Aliens, 1979, my paents took me. I was 9 years old. Yeah, that scene freaked everyone out, but not unlike the characters on screen. We were dumbfounded as the actors! "What the F was that? What happened? "
I remember the audience REAL quiet after the alien popped out trying to figure out what the hell just happened
My suggestion for a really gut-wrenching movie death was the death of the little girl in "Pans Labyrinth" . . . when she died, it broke my fuckin' heart for about a week.
Dave, good call on Sgt. Elias from "Platoon." That death scene still haunts me. Even more so because some of it was accidental. Defoe wore squibs that didn't go off while filming the scene, yet he still jerked as if being hit by bullets, and it was somehow all the more effective, coupled with his reaching for the heavens. Unforgettable.
Badge, I also was 17 when I saw "Alien" at the theater, and had no idea what was coming. As much of a jolt as it was, what hurt even worse was my girlfriend's nails digging into my arm when the chestburster made its appearance.
One I'd like to add is the shooting of the little girl (Kim Richards) in John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13." She comes up to ask for ice cream from a vendor, not knowing that he's being shaken down by bad guys. One of the thugs nonchalantly shoot her in the chest and sets off the whole ensuing seige of the film. Just a very shocking, brutal, and unexpected moment.
A couple more really good, really FUNNY deaths first:
1. Christopher Meloni in "Bound"… he gets fatally shot, wobbles for just a moment and says, flatly, "Don't shoot." Then falls flat to the floor.
2. Dan Aykroyd as the Grocer in "Gross Pointe Blank." He ends up wearing a (now old-style) tube TV. A way better treatment than the original death by television in "The Lost Boys."
As far as scary deaths go, I can't believe you left off the opening swimming sequence in "Jaws." No blood, no carnage… and yet one the scariest and most unsettling sequences ever filmed.
What about the death in Full Metal Jacket? It's iconic and probably the best part of that movie.
What about V's death in V for Vendetta? Always makes me cry, him dying in the arms of Natalie Portman's character.
And I have to agree with the Jaws death, also.
Just wondering if anyone can help me. I saw a movie back in the very early 80's where a little girl gets shot by police or national guard when she goes after her rabbit at the end of the move. I don't know the name of the movie (I was about 10 yrs old) all I remember is her getting shot and them singing "Give peace a chance". I was thinking it was "Strawberry statement" or the "Trial of Billy Jack" but not sure. Does anyone know by chance? I know its not much to go on. Thanks
David, it is indeed "Trial of Billy Jack," but it's a little boy who gets shot. And Billy Jack's girlfriend goes screaming into the line of fire and gets shot. Then the local Native American tribal leader comes in and tells the National Guard that they are illegally on Indian land. One soldier sees the shot little kid and throws down his weapon and crosses over. Then they all do the same.
At the very end, there is a memorial, and they all sing "Give Peace a Chance." Sorry for all the details, I just happened to see this several times at the cinemas when I was a kid. I haven't seen it since, so I wonder if it still holds up. I hope that helps.
Great list for starters. It depends on timing and anticipation as much as audience shock… nothing beats an uzi burst through a tiolet door (for timing!). typical QT.
I'm also a huge fan of the Alien dinnertable scene (for sock!)