Poll: Another One Bites the Dust - Hollywood's Best Death Scenes
A memorable death scene can mean many things. Sad, Justified, Ghastly, Shocking, or even Humorous. Here are some of the most memorable death scenes that have ever been shown on the silver screen. Which one was the most memorable to you? After voting, please discuss here.
Vote:
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#1
Psycho - This scene changed movies and movie-goers for life. It made people actually afraid to take showers as Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is stabbed to death in this classic Alfred Hitchcock movie. -
Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder in Superman (1978)
Superman - The Movie - Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is trapped inside her car and buried in rubble during an earthquake. Superman (Christopher Reeve) is too late to save her - breaking his heart. -
Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, and Yaphet Kotto in Alien (1979)
Alien - Not soon after Kane (John Hurt) rejoins the crew, he is seated at the table and starts to cough and convulse leading to one of cinematic's most shocking death scenes as a bloody alien pops out of his chest. -
Kirstie Alley, Walter Koenig, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan - To save the Enterprise and its crew, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) endures radiation so severe, it takes his life. What? Spock dies? One of the most controversial deaths ever on the big screen. -
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic (1997)
Titanic - In one of the most tragic love stories ever filmed, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) makes Rose (Kate Winslet) promise him that she will never let go and survive. She keeps her promise even as she watches him slip down into the darkness of the water below them. -
#6
Bonnie and Clyde - Arguably the most memorable death scene of all-time as the infamous duo, Bonnie and Clyde, are finally gunned down at the end of this classic movie. -
Bambi (1942)
Bambi - A real tear-jerker, one of the saddest death scenes of all time when Bambi loses his mother after hearing the sound of a hunter's gun. -
Carl Weathers in Rocky IV (1985)
Rocky IV - Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is struck down during an exhibition match with the Russian champion, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Knowing he is about to die, he makes Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) promise him that he won't stop the fight. -
Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, and Henry William Oelkers in King Kong (1976)
King Kong (1976) - Brought into a world he doesn't understand and into a world who fears him, King Kong can only be calmed by the beautiful blonde (Jessica Lange) he loves - leading to his fatal fall from the top of the World Trade Center. -
Will Smith in I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend - After his dog, Sam, becomes infected and the serum doesn't work, Neville (Will Smith) is forced to strangle her which drives him to the brink of insanity. Heartbreaking scene. -
Mel Gibson and Catherine McCormack in Braveheart (1995)
Braveheart - Both when his young bride is killed and when he is eventually tortured to death, your heart breaks for William Wallace (Mel Gibson) as he shouts out before he is killed ... "FREEEEDOMM!" -
Michael Gambon and Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - One of the saddest moments in modern day film was when the beloved Dumbledore falls to his death - not a dry eye was to be found in the theater that day. -
Joe Pesci in Goodfellas (1990)
GoodFellas - In a movie full of death scenes, the most memorable was when Tommy (Joe Pesci) is dressed up in his best suit, thinking he is about to be Made. Instead, he is killed. -
Alan Rickman in Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard - One of the most memorable death scenes ever to be filmed was this one. Hans Gruber's (Alan Rickman) death - his face changes and he falls away from the camera in slow motion several floors down the side of the building. -
Sean Connery in The Untouchables (1987)
The Untouchables - Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery) is ambushed and shot. Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) finds him just before he dies. Malone's last words is information he needs. -
Robert Shaw in Jaws (1975)
Jaws - Take your pick. The girl being dragged through the water at the beginning of the film. The boy in the swimming area. Or this scene where Quint (Robert Shaw) is swept back and forth on the deck of his sinking ship inside the mouth of the killer shark. -
Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner - As Roy (Rutger Hauer) nears the end of his cycle, he pulls Deckard (Harrison Ford) to safety on top of a tall building. Then uttering his dying words, he slowly fades and becomes still, rain falling all around him. Very memorable indeed. -
Paul Freeman in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark - In one of the film's final moments with Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Marion (Karen Allen) tied to a post, the Germans open the lost ark and while Indy and Marion hold their eyes closed, spirits coming from ark kill everyone off around them in grand fashion. -
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood - Death by bowling pin. Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) chases his old adversary Eli (Paul Dano) around his bowling alley, and after catching him, bludgeons him to death with a bowling pin. -
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973) - Too little too late. After Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) discovers a group of pagans, he is unwittingly trapped inside a tall wicker man and burned alive in this shocking and memorable death scene. -
Margaret Hamilton and Pat Walshe in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Wizard of Oz - In one of the earliest of all memorable death scenes, Dorothy throws a bucket of water on the wicked witch and kills her. "I'm melting! I'm melting!" she screams as she disintegrates into nothing but black robes and a hat right before our eyes. -
Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, and David Prowse in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope - On board the Death Star, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) witnesses the death of his friend and mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi when Darth Vader strikes him down in this memorable scene. -
Still frame
Thelma & Louise - When two best friends who are on the lam from the law don't want to get caught and want to keep going - they grip hands and plunge to their death as they run their convertible off the top of a cliff in one of the most memorable endings in movie history. -
Al Pacino in Scarface (1983)
Scarface - Drug lord, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) opens fire on assassins sent into his mansion to kill him. After an explosive gun fight, Montana is shot down falling from his balcony into a splash of blood in the fountain below. -
#25
Fatal Attraction - Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) brings a whole new meaning to the words deadly obsession as she torments a family leading to her chilling death in the final scene of this unforgettable psychological thriller. -
James Earl Jones and Frank Welker in The Lion King (1994)
The Lion King - Mufasa is betrayed by his evil brother and thrown from a cliff after saving Simba from being killed - and is trampled to death in a stampede in the valley below. Kids cried for days after seeing this scene. -
Willem Dafoe in Platoon (1986)
Platoon - Willem Dafoe's scene in Platoon as he desperately tries to reach the chopper in time but is gunned down, arms spread to the skies, is one of the most iconic and memorable of Hollywood death scenes. -
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 2 - Judgment Day - The terminator that was sent back through time to protect John Connor knows that unless he is destroyed, the human race will never be safe. This memorable scene ends with him being lowered into fire, the last thing he does is give a thumbs up. -
"The Godfather" James Caan 1972 Paramount Pictures
The Godfather - In one of the most violent death scenes ever filmed, Sonny Corleone (James Caan) is gunned down mercilessly at a toll station, riddled by bullets and then kicked after he is dead. -
Kathy Bates in Misery (1990)
Misery - Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) gets her just desserts when Paul Sheldon (James Caan) turns the tables on her at the end of the movie in this memorable life and death struggle which involves force feeding her burning paper and hitting her over the head with a typewriter. -
Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino (2008)
Gran Torino - Walt Kowalski dies a self-sacrificing death in this, one of Clint Eastwood's most dramatic films. It is also one of the most dramatic and memorable death scenes in recent memory. -
Sean Bean in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - When Boromir (Sean Bean) is pelted with large, piercing arrows, he still fights to his very last breath - until the final arrow takes him down. With his dying words, he pledges allegiance to Aragorn, his king. -
Russell Crowe in Gladiator (2000)
Gladiator - In his final battle, Maximus (Russell Crowe) overcomes a fatal stab wound to defeat Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in a grueling struggle. After he dies in the arena, he is honored and ceremoniously carried out while Commodus is left behind in the dirt. -
Tom Hanks, David Morse, and Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile - John Coffee's (Michael Clarke Duncan) end brought many a tear to the eyes of viewers of this movie as he is put to death in the electric chair for crimes he never committed. The guards knew it, we knew it - but still he died. -
Patrick Swayze and Marshall R. Teague in Road House (1989)
Road House - Patrick Swayze shows off his dexterity and prowess in this memorable fight scene when he reaches over, grabs his opponent by the throat and then rips it out. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.