Movies That Kill Off the Main Character

[Hemingway Jones]

"The Third Man," Harry dies twice.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

Hi

I don't have any new examples of movies where the hero dies during the movie, especially at the end. I will note that killing the hero off at some point DOES have the attraction of driving a stake through the heart of the Endless Sequel. Rambo was good, Rambo II was pretty good, ... Not to pick on Stallone, but Rocky was good, Rocky II was good, but I'm concerned about a 75 year old Stallone wearing those patriotic boxing shorts.

This is one good thing about the Duke, the sequels made sense, and ended quickly.

Later

Last I heard Mr. Stallone was adamant that "Rocky Balboa" was the last hurrah. Don't get me wrong, I have an unreasoned fondness for the "Rocky" series. It runs the gamut from pretty durn good to craptastic. It entertains me. But it's not so much the fact of seeing him in those shorts at 75, it's the additional facial plastic surgery that he will certainly have accrued by then that I really really don't want to see...he's already well into Mickey Rourke territory as far as that's concerned...:eeek:.

Oh, "Brokeback Mountain". And most most monster movies (if you consider the monster to be the main character, that is).

 

[DNO]

Lust for Life.

Spartacus.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The Public Enemy.

Bonnie and Clyde.

This could turn into a lengthy list!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The Shining

 

[LizzieMaine]

LIFE OF BRIAN!

nuff said.

They were just ripping off "King of Kings."

 

[AmateisGal]

Atonement makes me howl for day, however. My husband hates it when I watch that so I usually indulge in a sob-fest with a bottle of wine for company when he's out!

YES.

This movie haunted me for days afterwards. I will never watch it again (though I loved it). I refuse to put myself through that much emotional turmoil!

 

[Haversack]

Just about any version of Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet.

The Blue Max.

Passage to Marseilles.

High Sierra.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Just about any version of Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet.

I can't think of a greater Shakespearean bloodbath than Richard III.

 

[Gray Ghost]

"The Sands of Iwo Jima" - John Wayne dies in this one too.

Episode of M*A*S*H* where Lt. Col Blake finally gets to go home and his plane is shot down over the Sea of Japan and there are no survivors. I hated that episode. They just could not let him leave.

"The Assasination of Jesse James", but that was a given by the title anyway.

 

[Atomic Age]

"Sunset Boulevard," one of the most death-oriented movies ever.

And the dead man narrates.....after he is dead.

Doug

 

[Edward]

Death of a Salesman, by the incomparable Arthur Miller. And, for that matter, The Crucible by the same playwright.

I didn't like the end of Gladiator, at first...then as I later thought about the story, it couldn't end any other way without leaving the audience feeling jipped. [huh]

It's the classic tradition - look at Robin Hood, All the old Greek & Roman classics... they always ended with the hero's death. As they should: all men are mortal. It seems to be only in relatively recent times that this nonsense about "happy", "feel good" endings has been so fetishised.

Atonement? Ugh! I only saw the ending & was kinda glad about it. :laugh:

I'm sure there was a reason I avoided that one like the plague... did it have Kiera Knightley in it?

What about Moulin Rouge?

The only plus point it has at all is that it ended. I watched it once, under sufferance, for an ex-girlfriend. Costing me two hours of my life in that fashion is not the reason she is an ex - but it should be.

LIFE OF BRIAN!

nuff said.

Ha, yes....

They were just ripping off "King of Kings."

lol Spartacus, shurely.

Does Himself die at the end of K of K, or does it show him coming back? Jesus Christ SuperStar ends with the death, leaving the question of whether he came back open, but most films on that subject finish with the resurrection (artistically the poorest element of Mel Gibson's take on it).

Episode of M*A*S*H* where Lt. Col Blake finally gets to go home and his plane is shot down over the Sea of Japan and there are no survivors. I hated that episode. They just could not let him leave.

Actually one of my favourite moments in the entire eleven seasons. It certainly rang far truer to me, for whatever reason, than had they done elsewise. That they nodded to Henry about this in the very final episode was also a nice touch.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

They were just ripping off "King of Kings."

I don't think it was a rip off. Brain clearly stated he was "not the messiah"
The premise was totally different from King of Kings

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

And the dead man narrates.....after he is dead.

Doug

They also did that in American Beauty.

 

[Edward]

I don't think it was a rip off. Brain clearly stated he was "not the messiah"
The premise was totally different from King of Kings

Indeed. Jesus himself is even seen preaching during the opening sequence - the biggest clue of all that dear Brian is not intended to be Him.

 

[DesertDan]

D. O. A.

 

[Formeruser012523]

It's the classic tradition - look at Robin Hood, All the old Greek & Roman classics... they always ended with the hero's death. As they should: all men are mortal.

Agreed.

I'm sure there was a reason I avoided that one like the plague... did it have Kiera Knightley in it?

Yes! What little I did see of it was atrocious!

The only plus point it has at all is that it ended. I watched it once, under sufferance, for an ex-girlfriend. Costing me two hours of my life in that fashion is not the reason she is an ex - but it should be.

I happen to love that movie, but, just my taste as a girl, I guess. lol

 

[Benzadmiral]

Gary Cooper's Robert Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Granted, we never actually see him being killed, in either book or movie -- but we know it's coming, and it makes the entire story that much more powerful.

 

[Formeruser012523]

Braveheart.

To me that's another "you-knew-he-was-going-to-die" movie.

 

[Stanley Doble]

That is what makes a show a tragedy.

We had some discussion a while back on whether Gatsby had to die at the end of his story. I suggested an alternate, happy ending that would involve Gatsby and Daisy skipping town and running off for South America before Wilson, or the cops could catch up with them. But I also pointed out that this would change the story from a tragedy to a farce.

The Third Man is one of my favorite movies. If you want the best explanation of the current financial mess and real estate scandal, watch the ferris wheel scene.

Not only does the main character get killed twice, he doesn't make an appearance until the movie is half over. This must be an unusual approach to movie making but it succeeds brilliantly.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Duel in the Sun (1946)