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Death Goes to The Movies

Death Goes To The Movies

I saw "Spartacus" recently, and although there were some good death sequences, I really couldn't rank them among my all time favorites.

Then I wondered, what are my all time favorites? So, I made a list. I don't believe in rankings or top ten lists, so the only order here is by date of release. Read them, and then let me know what you think.

- Steve, 7 February 1999

My Favorite Death Sequences

Margaret Hamilton as Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
She melted! She melted!

James Dean as Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
Dean's death on screen is tragic, perhaps more so because we know of the actor's fate in real life.

Oops! As Emerick Rogul points out below, Dean did not die in the movie. Memorable is not such a complement when your memory sucks.
- Steve, 7 March 1999

Eli Wallach as Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
A personal favorite even if the death sequence is not extremely memorable. Wallach contorts and spins before finally crashing over a porch and succumbing.

Sir Alec Guiness as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars (1977)
I vividly remember seeing this as a child and wanting to yell out, "What the Hell are you doing? Put your light saber back up!" Yes, I certainly was a foul-mouthed child.

Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias in Platoon (1986)
The helicopter pulls away, leaving him behind, with the Viet Cong troops rapidly closing. I don't think Oliver Stone has done anything as good since that movie.

Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988)
Sure, the blue screening is evident, but that drop is still one of the more memorable scenes in the movie.

Paul Reubens as Amilyn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Reubens takes a good ten seconds to die, hamming it up for the camera the entire way. Just when you thought he could not possibly go on, he does.

Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995)
Epics are good for death sequences (the chariot race in Ben Hur, Sonny's demise in the Godfather) but nothing quite populates the nightmares like disembowelment and quartering.

What do You Think?

Did I leave out your favorite? Did I make terrible choices?

Fill in Your Own Opinion to appear on this page.

Or read other's opinions below.

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