|
 Introduction:
Deaths in film scenes can be either cool, teary, metaphoric, grisly,
scary, bloody, amusing, violent, transcendental, unforgettable, spectacular,
frightening, funny, or shocking. The victim's death may be well-deserved,
accidental, expected, sudden, or intentional. Some effective death scenes
even occur off-screen.
 Other
areas of this website have death scenes also. See
Greatest Last Film Lines, some
of which were uttered by a dying character, Greatest
Melodramatic Films with many fine death scenes, or Greatest
Film Scenes with some descriptions of death scenes included,
or some of the Scariest Movie Moments
and Scenes.
Total Film
Magazine (in the UK), in their July 2004 issue, provided an article
on the 50 Greatest Movie Deaths throughout cinematic history.
Their results, based on a non-scientific poll taken from interviews
with film critics, listed the 50 most highly-rated death scenes. Although
there were some excellent and well-deserved choices in the Total
Film list, there are many other great death scenes that were among
the missing death scenes in Total Film's honored list
of "cinema's best daisy-pushers" and "drop-dead moments".
The Total Film selections are marked throughout the following
compilation with this symbol 
and their ranking number.
Note: The films that are marked with a yellow star
 are
the films that "The Greatest Films" site
has selected as the 100 Greatest Films.
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Greatest Movie Death Scenes
(chronological by film title) - Part
15
Intro | Part
1 | Part 2 | Part
3 | Part 4 | Part
5 | Part 6 | Part
7 | Part 8 | Part
9 | Part 10
Part 11 | Part
12 | Part 13 | Part
14 | Part 15 |
| Film Title |
Description |
Example |
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American Beauty (1999)
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Lester Burnham's (Kevin
Spacey) shocking death in his own kitchen by gunshot fired into
the back of his head by his homosexual neighbor Col. Frank Fitts
(Chris Cooper) |
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Boys Don't Cry (1999)
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The sickening murder of
female-to-male transvestite Teena Brandon/Brandon Teena (Hilary
Swank), who was shot by a jealous Tom Nissen (Brendan Sexton III),
as Brandon's helpless girlfriend Lana (Chloe Sevigny) watched in
horror
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Deep Blue Sea (1999)
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The surprising demise
of financier Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) by a genetically-engineered, killer shark; he was interrupted during his delivery of a rousing call-to-survival monologue to the survivors of the underwater research station: ("...so we're not going to fight anymore. We're
going to pull together and we're gonna find a way to get outta
here! First, we're gonna seal off this --") - mid-sentence, a gigantic set of jaws appeared behind him and chomped down on his helpless body |
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Dogma (1999)
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The decapitation of Pope
Ignatius Glick (George Carlin) during a massacre instigated by Loki
(Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck)
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The Green Mile (1999)
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The scene of the botched
execution (by electric chair) of Eduard Delacroix (Michael Jeter) in which his flesh fried,
followed soon thereafter by the execution of the doomed, noble illiterate,
mystical child/giant and faith healer - black condemned convict
John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) for an alleged crime he didn't
commit - and the moment he shared his gifted power with Louisiana
death row prison guard Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) as he was being
electrocuted -- and sang "Heaven, I'm in heaven... heaven...
heaven..." - from the movie Top Hat
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The Sixth Sense (1999)
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Psychologist Malcolm Crowe's
(Bruce Willis) shocking 'death' (unrevealed as his death until the
closing revelatory scenes) when shot in the stomach by disgruntled
ex-patient intruder Vincent Gray (Donnie Wahlberg), in the film's
opening |
|
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American Psycho (2000)
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The shiny new axe-to-the-face death
of slightly-drunken Wall Street yuppie Paul Allen (Jared Leto) from rain slicker-wearing
assailant Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) in his apartment (with its furniture and floor covered with sheets and newspaper in anticipation of the bloody event), with the Huey Lewis song 'Hip to Be Square' playing in the background (which he explained: "...it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself"); Bateman punctuated the gory hacking with anger: "Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now, you f--kin' stupid bastard!" as blood splattered over his face from the impact
of the strikes (off-screen) |
|
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Chicken Run (2000)
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The unusually grim, memorable
execution of chicken Edwina by Mrs. Tweedy (voice of Miranda Richardson)
for failing to lay eggs - with the shadow of Mrs. Tweedy raising
the axe, and the sound of the head-chopping causing all of the chickens
in the farm to flinch; afterwards, Edwina's gruesome fate was revealed
as a pile of chicken bones on the Tweedy's dinner table, in this
G-rated Claymation animated film |
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Final Destination (2000)
# 18
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The splatty death of Terry
Chaney (Amanda Detmer) when hit by a city bus that suddenly appears without
warning as she steps back into the street after talking to friends with her last ironic words: "You can just drop f--kin' dead!" |
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Gladiator (2000)
# 8
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Before his own heroic
death, the mortally-wounded Spaniard wreaks "steely vengeance"
on Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in front of a cheering Colosseum
crowd, and then experiences visions of his murdered family in the
afterlife as he greets them on a dusty road |
|
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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring (2001)
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Warrior Boromir's (Sean
Bean) tragic, sacrificial death by a dozen arrows |
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Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
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The scene in which an unsuspecting shyster lawyer Ben Moss (J.R. Bourne) is killed (sliced in half lengthwise) by an automated sliding glass door - his eyeglasses and tie fall from his body as he stands in shock; the front half of his body slides downward on the blood-streaked glass and leaves the bloody back half of his body behind |
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Training Day (2001)
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When shot in the ass and then deserted by his wised-up partner Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), hardened and corrupt
Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) claims to neighborhood gang members while surrounded in the street: "You think you can do this to me?!...Who the f--k you think you f--kin' with? I'm the police! I run s--t here! You just live here!...King Kong ain't got s--t on me! That's right, that's right. S--t, I don't f--k. I'm winnin' anyway, I'm winnin'... I'm winnin' any motherf--king way, I can't lose. S--t, you can shoot me, but you can't kill me"; he delivers his final words in the film while lighting up a smoke: "Oh, what a day. What a motherfuckin' day" - shortly afterwards, his car is surrounded by hooded members of the Russian Mafia with
machine guns - who pulverize his flailing body up against his car with an incredible volley of gunfire (similar to the finale of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Sonny's death scene in The Godfather (1972)) |
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Ghost Ship (2002)
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The scary opening sequence set (in the early 60s past) on-board an Italian luxury ocean liner the Antonia Graza; the scene is a fancy, on-deck dance party with singer Francesca (Francesca Rettondini) entertaining the guests, when a mysterious gloved hand pulls a lever that unravels a very thin cable wire; after the wire tightens, it slices across the deck - bisecting everything in its path: flowers, people, tables, heads, and bodies; for a few seconds, stunned individuals do not realize that they have been cut in half as their bodies tumble in bloody pieces to the ground; the Captain's (Bob Ruggiero) head topples off his neck stump; the taut thin steel wire vibrates, covered in blood |
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Irreversible (2002)
# 33
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The raw, unflinching,
violent, and animalistic revenge-murder of a man (whose head is
smashed with dull, crunching blows from a fire extinguisher until
it becomes a bloody pulp) deep within a gay S&M club, filmed
with a hand-held camera |
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Ken Park (2002)
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The controversially-graphic scene of auto-erotic
self-asphyxiation designed to increase sexual arousal by death-obsessed
masturbation-addicted teenager Tate (James Ransone) - he wore a T-shirt saying "Keep it Simple" and choked himself with
a long green scarf tied to a doorknob while he pleasured himself watching Anna Kournikova playing tennis |
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The Ring (2002)
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Noah's (Martin Henderson)
chilling death scene when Samara (Daveigh Chase) crawls out of the
television - and he struggles to crawl along broken glass to get
away |
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Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002)
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The very unbelievably series of funny death scenes: a tuxedoed passenger on a sinking yacht stole an orange life-preserver from another female, and then leaped off the boat - right into the jaws of the giant shark; the monstrous creature also swallowed up an entire life-raft filled with six other victims; a third victim jet-skied right into the menacing megalodon's open jaws |
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Bad Boys II (2003)
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The action-packed scene of a slow-motion shot of a speeding bullet entering the center of the forehead of Cuban drug-dealer 'Johnny' Tapia (Jordi Mollà); when he falls dead and backwards onto the sand, the upper-half of his body is blown up by a landmine and sent flying into the air |
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Final Destination 2: You Can't Cheat Death Twice (2003)
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The blunt-force, crushing death of Nora Carpenter's (Lynda Boyd) 15 year-old son Tim (James Kirk), the youngest of the survivors; he is killed by a falling sheet of thick plate glass that is accidentally dropped on his head; the accident was caused when he ran at a flock of pigeons - which flew up and startled a construction worker - who flipped a crane's switch - which released the heavy pane of glass onto him |
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Swimming Pool (2003, Fr.)
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In this psychological
thriller set in the French countryside, emotionally-unbalanced,
wildly promiscuous publisher's daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier)
brutally, shockingly and impulsively murdered local waiter Franck
(Jean-Marie Lamour) after a sexy skinny-dip in the pool with him,
by smashing his head with a large chunk of concrete - followed by
the unusual ending in which writer Sarah (Charlotte Rampling) helped
Julie bury the body and cover-up the crime; by the time of the film's
twist ending, it appeared that the events of the film were entirely
an inventive figment of Sarah's literary imagination! |
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Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004)
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The calm death scene of Bill (David Carradine) after suffering fatal blows to the chest (and his heart) from Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride (Uma Thurman) using the "the five point palm-exploding heart technique"; before standing up, buttoning his jacket, slowly walking away, collapsing on the grass, and dying, he offered his killer a respectful goodbye: "You're not a bad person. You're a terrific person. You're my favorite person, but every once in a while, you can be a real c--t" |
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Million Dollar Baby (2004)
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The controversial euthanasia
of paralyzed waitress-turned-boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank)
by her manager/mentor Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) at her request,
by removing her breathing tube and injecting her with an adrenaline
overdose |
|
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The Passion of the Christ (2004)
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The agonizing, unsparing
crucifixion death of "King of the Jews" Jesus (James Caviezel)
on the cross |
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House of Wax (2005)
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The lengthy, much-publicized death scene of red bra-wearing Paige Edwards (Paris Hilton in her first major theatrical film appearance), in which she was pursued through a large factory warehouse, was stabbed in the achilles heel by Vincent (Brian Van Holt) - and then murdered by impalement with a sharp wooden spear thrown (like a javelin) into the center of her forehead; as she was propelled backwards and then forward onto the ground and onto her knees, the spear was thrust further into her skull and exited out the back of her head; even the film's original marketing-tagline slogans included: "On May 6th...See Paris Die!"; in 2006 for her role, Paris won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress |
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Sin City (2005)
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The torturous and sick death of silent, creepy, cannibalistic serial killer Kevin (Elijah Wood), vengefully killed by Marv (Mickey Rourke) for the murder of his prostitute lover Goldie (Jaime King); after a fight to the death (with Marv urging Kevin on: "Is that the best you can do, creep?"), a dismembered Kevin was propped up against a tree (his arms and legs were sawed off and tied off with rubber tubing tourniquets) and then devoured by a meat-eating wolf (Kevin's pet wolf) before an exasperated Marv cut his head off with a saw (Marv: "He doesn't scream, not even when the mutt's had its fill and the killer's guts are lyin' all over the place - somehow the bastard is still alive, still starin' at me, not even when I grabbed the saw and finished the job") |
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Casino Royale (2006)
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The tearjerking, drawn-out suicidal death of blackmailed double agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), guilt-ridden over using agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) but in love with him; she was locked in a elevator as the building crumbled-sank into a Venetian canal; Bond couldn't save her in time to revive her with CPR; Bond bitterly and coldly reflected back during his debriefing with M (Judi Dench) about Vesper's manipulative treason: "The job's done and the bitch is dead" before discovering Vesper had actually helped him - she left the identity of the treacherous mastermind (behind the plot to fund terrorism) on her cell phone, including the name Mr. White and his phone number |
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The Lives of Others (2006, Germ.) (aka Leben der Anderen, Das)
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The heart-breaking scene in which a distressed Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck) committed suicide by running in front of a truck after she thought she had betrayed her lover - successful Socialist playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), by revealing the location of his incriminating red-ribboned typewriter that he had used to author an anonymous article (ironically about suicide in East Germany) for West German magazine Der Spiegel - made more tragic by the fact that conflicted but sympathetic "guardian angel" secret police Stasi survelliance agent Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) had just before secretly removed the typewriter from under the apartment's doorsill to protect her and Dreyman; also the scene of Georg's anguish over her bloody death in the street |
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Saw III (2006)
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The grisly horrible scene in which hapless female victim Danica Scott (Debra Lynne McCabe) was strung up by her wrists in a frigid, walk-in freezer locker; during her torture, a cold mist was sprayed or showered from nozzles on vertical poles at her side onto her naked body as she hung there, eventually encasing her in a thin sheet of ice and killing her before she could be saved |
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300 (2006)
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The scene of the moving, spiritual operatic ballet of death of King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) of Sparta on the battlefield, the last survivor of the 300 Spartans, calling out in his final breath to his wife Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey), just before being assailed by hundreds of arrows: "My Queen! My wife. My love..." - the scene was blackened by the sheer number of arrows; the next scene opened on the beautiful, sad face of his wife |
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Venus (2006)
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The poignant death scene
of old, lustful, charismatic, has-been actor Maurice Russell (Peter
O'Toole), when he was taken to his boyhood beach by platonic, teen-aged
love interest Jessie (Jodie Whitaker) - he took off one shoe to
dip his foot in the cold water, and quietly died while leaning on
her - when she discovered he had passed away, she panicked and looked
to find help, and poignantly left him alone on the bench; after
his death, Jessie was warmly approached by Maurice's estranged, knowing
wife Valerie (Vanessa Redgrave) and later, the waitress (Beatrice
Savoretti) at Maurice's favorite bistro commented on his old headshot:
"God, he was gorgeous!" as his old friends looked at his
obituary |
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Hostel Part II (2007)
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In this Eli Roth slasher film, accused of torture-porn, the unsettling and lingering death scene of the socially-awkward and uptight character of Eastern European vacationer Lorna (Heather Matarazzo), in which she was naked and hung by chains upside-down by her ankles, and repeatedly sliced (and had her throat slit) by a sick female client (Monika Malacova)
with a large scythe who wanted to estatically bathe naked below her in the victim's blood, in the style of Elizabeth Bathory (in a large bath surrounded by candles) |
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The Mist (2007) (aka Stephen King's The Mist)
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The controversial ending in which a group of five survivors were in a car that ran out of gas in the midst of a monster-ridden mist on a winding forested road; in the film's final few minutes - a sadistic, tacked-on, bleak and sacrificial ending, widowed artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) realized that there were only four bullets left, so he opted to mercy kill (with bullet shots to the head) his young son Billy (Nathan Gamble), newfound love interest Amanda Dunfrey (Laurie Holden) and two elderly survivors Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Irene (Frances Sternhagen), leaving himself alive; he then stepped out of the car and screamed in anguish for one of the unseen blood-thirsty creatures to kill him -- but then a military caravan of tanks and trucks pulled up, in a deus ex machina moment, torching the remaining creatures and helping any survivors, causing David to collapse in dazed disbelief at the pointlessness of his inane sacrifice |
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No Country for Old Men (2007)
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The opening murder of a young deputy (Zach Hopkins) by handcuffed amoral, psychotic thrill-killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), using his handcuffs as a garrote from behind - he reacted with a grinning, satisfied exhilation after the killing; throughout the film, Chigurh killed other victims with a compressed-air cattlegun |
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