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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

Sure there are many more great movie deaths to choose from but this article is a "killer". heh heh heh.

That early scene in the subway is shocking, gory and fantastic.

it was awesome the first time
and copied so many times after

Old Yeller.

Two of the most traumatic deaths in any child's memory.

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.

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.

Classic.

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

nevertheless, great list! I really enjoyed it.

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.

How about you make a list about great opening scenes and you can make up for not mentioning it here (hahaha).

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.