Your Memorable & Disappointing Death Scenes

[Mitch Henessey]

Sentimentality or a tear jerking moment doesn't have to be the motivation for your picks. I mean, if it is, so be it. No problem with that. But maybe you were just happy to see said character go?

My first example, Dave Kleinfeld from Carlito's Way. He was such a slimy, backstabbing weasel, and you were just waiting for that one moment, when he finally got what he deserved. That moment came, while Kleinfeld was in the hospital recovering from an attack. Carlito reveals his knowledge of Kleinfeld planning to use him as a fall guy to save his own ass from the DA, Norwalk. Of course, Kleinfeld showed no mercy for betraying the one man, who trusted and believed in him, but Carlito got the last laugh, by taking the bullets out of Kleinfeld's gun.

[YOUTUBE]M5kg755aqpI[/YOUTUBE]​

Another one of my picks comes from Fright Night 2. It looked like Regine was moments away from taking Charley with her to become a servant for all eternity, but Peter Vincent saves the day at the last second.

I know most you might think this moment is predictable. Vampire, sunlight, and the good guys prevailing through adversity. The same thoughts were running through my head, when I watched Fright Night 2 for the first time years ago.

You can see the outcome coming, but it's all done so well. You believe that hopeless and frightened look on William Ragsdale's face, as he reaches up for Regine's hand. Looking at McDowall's petrified body language and facial expressions, you would believe Peter is running away for cover, but he grabs a piece of a broken mirror to reflect the sunlight on to Regine (which is a pretty creative way of using sunlight on vampires).

And with Regine, cocky, confident, and finally believing she has Charley right where she wants him, is shocked to see Charley fight her control, pulling her into the beam of sunlight. One moment Julie Carmen (Regine) is salivating in Vincent's cowardice and her triumph over Charley, and the very next moment, the rug is pulled out underneath her, as she meets her end. Predictable for sure, but everyone did such a great job of selling the moments, it's almost impossible to look away.

[YOUTUBE]X4_sTGMHAfk[/YOUTUBE]​

Which brings me to the disappointing part of this thread. Remember how Bane died in The Dark Knight Rises? Throughout the movie, he's built up as this unstoppable adversary/monster, and then this happens:

[YOUTUBE]zm94MqycWz0[/YOUTUBE]​

In a matter of minutes, Bane's mystique fades away, because Talia is the true primary villain and mastermind, who pulled all the strings, making Bane look like a hired goon. And on top of that, the big moment for his death was so sudden and weak. He tosses Batman around like a ragdoll at first, has a brutal fist fight with him....and out of nowhere he's taken out by a blindside attack? Very underwhelming and disappointing.

 

[Alex]

I was talking to my sister about stuff like this actually.

One of my favourite characters had one of the best death scenes ever.

[YOUTUBE]sqjfq5gsfYk[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]zOqT5_AAPgo[/YOUTUBE]

Boromir's death is badass because, dare I say it he's one of the most complex characters in the series. Because he wants to save his homeland so he joins the fellowship to destroy the ring, but tries to take it, reasoning it could help save Gondor so he attacks Frodo who escapes. He then saves Merry and Pippin (in a sense trying to make up for attacking Frodo) from the Uruk Hai before being shot, then Aragorn kills Lurtz (the big bad) The talk he and Aragorn have before he dies just really shows how much he changed from the start of the journey and how he's the first to acknowledge Aragorn as King.

In terms of sucky deaths Bane is a good one. My sister also mentioned Bucky from Captain America (can't find a good video unfortunately) he literally just falls of the train. The friend and sidekick of the main hero dies by falling off a train. Not even shot and then falling off, just falls off.

Another one is John Travolta in Pulp Fiction

[YOUTUBE]qzPZOh2IfEc[/YOUTUBE]

I don't know why but it just sucks. I understand Vince was a bit of a dick but it was just so random to just kill him off for no apparent reason and in a sudden sucky way at that.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The death scene from "West Side Story" (1961) qualifies as both my most memorable and disappointing. When I first saw it at age 10, and heard the music behind the scene, I cried for days every time I thought of it. Even at that age, I knew it was a knock-off of the death scene from "Romeo and Juliet" and could feel the romance and tragedy of how it all came to be.

When I watch the movie now, it seems ridiculous, mostly because of the crappy acting of Natalie Wood (as Maria) and Richard Beymer (as Tony). Jeez, did they suck.

I always thought Natalie Wood was one of the most beautiful women of all time, but she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. In this movie, she was about as convincing as a Puerto Rican as Honey Boo Boo would be. Richard Beymer, meanwhile, never amounted to much as an actor even after being featured in a major motion picture, and it's easy to see why. His death scene with Maria looked more like a man having an epileptic attack than a tender, tragic end of a life.

Still, I remember how the scene got to me when I was a kid, and that's the way I prefer to remember it.

Te adoro, Anton.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I will choose one from a video game and one from television. The gaming one was one I was very sad to see play out, despite a classmate having spoiled it before I got to that scene. I went a different route with the television one and chose a death scene I actually wanted to see.

For the video game one, my choice should be rather obvious. Click the spoiler tag at your own risk, as it's one of the biggest spoilers in video game history.

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]hCy1bzvr-Ro[/YOUTUBE]

Aeris' death in Final Fantasy 7 is a heartbreaking, iconic moment in gaming. I quite honestly cannot think of another time that such a beloved character has been killed in cold blood right in front of your eyes, and for it to happen this unexpectedly. She didn't deserve it and this is still widely regarded as a massive spoiler despite how well known it is.

The sad music that begins to play afterwards shows the sadness and frustration that the other characters are feeling. The lines written for the dialogue following the death, the cut-scene itself, the fact that sad the music starting after the death keeps playing through the subsequent ambush from a boss monster within moments of the death, and finally the sendoff the character receives only further adds to the beauty in how well done it was. Bone chilling, even to this day.

As for a more recent one that is from television.... This is one that actually made me happy as opposed to sad. I'll spoiler tag that one as well.

Spoiler

The death of María LaGuerta in Dexter.

I absolutely hated that character from episode one all the way up until their death many seasons later. While death scenes are normally meant to make you feel sad, for obvious reasons, this is one of the deaths of a character that I had been anticipating and hoping for. It was worth waiting so many seasons for it to finally happen.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

This is what I instantly thought of when I read "disappointing death scene":

[YOUTUBE]QmpACfDiLtE[/YOUTUBE]

I don't know if its his lack of playing parts where he dies or what, but ever since I watched that movie for the first time, a long time ago, that's the part that sticks out. His awful death scene.

As for a good one:

[YOUTUBE]fnfDXznMf0E[/YOUTUBE]

I always loved that death scene. The evil laugh is perfect and has that sort of "fuck you" nature to it.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I don't know why but it just sucks. I understand Vince was a bit of a dick but it was just so random to just kill him off for no apparent reason and in a sudden sucky way at that.

I was thinking about this, when I was watching Pulp Fiction the other day. Technically , there's a reason for Vincent's death. Remember the tense exchange between Willis and Travolta at the beginning in Marsellus' restaurant/bar? Willis was trying to be somewhat polite, and Vincent was being a dick and pushing his buttons. They locked eyes and exchanged a cold stare until Marsellus called Vincent over to his table. Butch, remembering the incident, took the opportunity to kill Vincent as payback, so he could get the last laugh. And well, Vincent was there to kill him, so it was a kill or be killed type of situation.

But yeah, the whole thing is still weak, with Vincent carelessly leaving his gun on the counter, while taking a dump, and Butch unloads on him before he has a chance to do anything.

Didn't specify in the OP, but TV shows are also eligible. So here's one of the more memorable ones from The Sopranos.

Adriana was convinced Christopher was going to go with her into the witness protection program. But Christopher pulled a fast one. The set up was just brilliant. I can remember watching the premiere of this episode with my father, and both us were sucked into believing Tony's call about Christopher trying to commit suicide. Gandolfini sold it so well, but Adriana knew what was coming, when she looked out the window and saw the empty forest. Drea de Matteo's look of heartbreak after realizing the love of her life turned his back on her is something to remember, because Adriana was one of the RARE likeable characters on this show, who you could actually feel sympathy for.

[YOUTUBE]YXtIr7lKZd8[/YOUTUBE]

As for a good one:

[YOUTUBE]fnfDXznMf0E[/YOUTUBE]

I always loved that death scene. The evil laugh is perfect and has that sort of "fuck you" nature to it.

I hated the sequel, but for some odd reason, this makes me think of the one highlight in Predator 2: the fiasco at the slaughter house. Keyes (Busey) was so sure he finally set the perfect trap for the Predator, but as usual, the Predator outsmarted his prey, quickly killing all of Keyes' men. And Keyes saves his rival in the movie, Harrigan (Glover), and is beheaded seconds later by the Predator. A true shocking moment, because it appeared Keyes was done for, he comes back, saves Harrigan, and then he turns around to meet his own end.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Memorable (Movie) - Boromir in LOTR, Edward Furlong in American History X. Mentioned those two in a previous thread.

Disappointing - I hated Kurt Russell's death scene in Deathproof. He was supposed to be a psycho-car killer but once those girls start chasing him at the end, he turns out to be a pussy and gets beaten to death when they catch him. That ruined his character for me. I was hoping he'd survive and end up killing the girls but if Tarantino were gonna kill off Russell he shouldn't have made it look so easy for the girls. Death Proof is my least favourite film of Tarantino's anyway. The long ass dialogues were putting me off.

Memorable (TV) - Frank Grimes on The Simpsons. The Frank Grimes episode may be my favourite Simpsons episode ever. So fuckin' hilarious how much Homer winds up Grimes to the point he snaps and goes impersonating Homer through the plant, before accidentally electrocuting himself to death. Me and my friend always use to have a laugh about this death scene in school.

Another funny TV death scene was Judge Carl Robertson on The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. Carl beats Phil in the election for Superior Court Judge, Will confronts Carl as he belittles Phil at his ceremony, and tells Robertson to "drop dead" before he literally does. Never watched The Jeffersons but just from his appearances on The Fresh Prince, Sherman Hemsley was one of the funniest guys I ever watched. He and John Witherspoon were my favourite guest stars on the show.

Michael Scofield's death on Prison Break was shocking and sad for me. Never expected Scofield to end up getting killed off, although he had a brain tumor that was going to kill him anyway, but I always thought the show was gonna have a happy ending after he set his brother free. And it pissed me off a little that he ended up killing himself to break out a character that I hated. I loved how they closed the show though with Sara & Lincoln on a boat, watching a DVD Michael had pre-recorded for them before he broke out Sara, where he gives them a touching message about how much he loves them, wanting them to care of his child and how they are all free now, before cutting off. I guess you can say this is both memorable & disappointing for me. Disappointing in that the loveable hero got killed off, but memorable for the impact his death had on me.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Disappointing - I hated Kurt Russell's death scene in Deathproof. He was supposed to be a psycho-car killer but once those girls start chasing him at the end, he turns out to be a pussy and gets beaten to death when they catch him. That ruined his character for me. I was hoping he'd survive and end up killing the girls but if Tarantino were gonna kill off Russell he shouldn't have made it look so easy for the girls. Death Proof is my least favourite film of Tarantino's anyway. The long ass dialogues were putting me off.

Too true. Stuntman Mike was supposed to be a sociopath, but this is how it all ends for him?

[YOUTUBE]tXowTxmhQ5w[/YOUTUBE]

Take away Vanessa Ferlito's dance and the final chase scene, and DeathProof is a real chore to sit through. It's Tarantino's worst film by far, and I struggle to get through the whole thing in one viewing every time I decide to watch it.

And I agree about the dialogue, because DeathProof is a prime example of Tarantino's strength also being his greatest weakness. That scene where the women are at the diner sitting around the table and talking about random, meaningless bullshit with Kurt Russell quietly sitting in the background drives me nuts and bores me to tears. It's a case of Tarantino getting way, way too carried away and obsessed with character dialogue.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I don't know if its his lack of playing parts where he dies or what, but ever since I watched that movie for the first time, a long time ago, that's the part that sticks out. His awful death scene.

Kirk's death scene, yeah. Of course, the scene belied his claim in "The Final Frontier" that he would die alone. Then again, who ever expected him to meet his end in the presence of Jean Luc Picard, especially since they lived in different eras?

I can sorta appreciate what the producers were trying to do, but surely, upon warping out for the final time, Kirk could have managed more poignant last words than:

"Oh, my."

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

What I find ironic is that Agent Smith's death in The Matrix, I would classify as memorable. His death in Matrix Revolutions, I would classify as disappointing. Well that whole final battle.

Here's one disappointing death scene:

[YOUTUBE]CBhlw6iBbC4[/YOUTUBE]

Some battles should be quick. Take The Matrix, for example. He became or realized he was The One. He's supposed to be that powerful. The final fight scene between Optimus Prime and Megatron shouldn't be on a 37 second video clip. All this after Megatron was turned into a bit player throughout that whole movie.

Here's a memorable scene, and if you don't know why, you have no sense of humor:

[YOUTUBE]anEuw8F8cpE[/YOUTUBE]

The funny thing about that scene is it was improvised by Ford. He was too tired to act out what was supposed to happen. Spielberg liked this scene so much better he went with it.

 

[Loveless]

Certainly Bane, that was a terrible anticlimax and the character deserved better than being shot by a fucking motorbike.

Lost

Spoiler

The Man in Black. Thousands of years old, responsible for hundreds of deaths, the motherfucking smoke monster and how does he die? Kate Austen shoots him. Bad enough being shot, which is probably the most unceremonious way to die but by fucking Kate, who was probably the worst character on the show. An utterly dreadful end to a complex and interesting villain.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

My memorable death scene is technically 3 that form a great sequence - the last 15 minutes of Last of the Mohicans.

As much as I love Heat, feel Manhunter is still under-rated and dig what Mann brings to the crime genre, Mohicans is by far my favourite film of his and I'd love to eventually see the directors cut of it.

From the moment Hawkeye walks into the Rival clans camp to treat with their Chief and free the 2 daughters, the tension that has been building throughout the film comes to a boiling point, quite literally for the English soldier Henry. In an act of redemption, he offers to be the bargaining chip to free the daughters but as a result will be sacrificed via fire, having deliberately Mis-translated Hawkeyes offer. As Hawkeye leads the daughters away, he grabs his rifle and shoots Henry to stop his suffering.

The following 10 minutes then contain 2 big characters being killed and a suicide too, all of which have a bearing on each other and is a fitting but disheartening ending until we are left with the Last of the Mohicans looking on with sadness at a sunset.

 

[LSN80]

Memorable and Disapointing, eh? I have one that comes from a TV Show, the other from a movie.

Arlo Givens- Justified: Arlo was the criminal/bastard father of the show's titular character, Raylan Givens, a U.S. Marshall. In the episode Money Trap, Raylan visits his father in prison, asking him to give up the identity of a fugitive who's escaped the FBI and the Mob for 25 years. Arlo had been in jail for killing a state trooper, and Raylan was offering him a deal to give up the name. Arlo's response?

"Let me think about it for a minute. Ok, I've thought about...Eat Sh*t".

Raylan told him that the mob would get to him sooner rather than later, and that he would take a shiv sooner rather then later. But it still threw me when the opening scene of the next episode saw exactly that happen, except it wasn't the Mob. It was a friend of Arlo's and the fugitive alike, who shivved Arlo to get him to keep his mouth shut.

Arlo was a bastard and pretty much deserved whatever was coming to him, but the way it happened, so shortly after Raylan predicted it would and the man who did it made for a memorable death scene for Raylan's father. I wish I could find video of it.

The other one that springs to mind for me is Billy Costigan's(Leonardo DiCaprio) death in The Departed.
[YOUTUBE]4zEz0vQr9dQ[/YOUTUBE]
Costigan is finally out from undercover, and has figured out that Colin Sullivan(Matt Damon) was the rat inside the Boston P.D. on Frank Castillo's(Jack Nicholson) payroll. He places him under citizen's arrest, and is taking him from the building in an elevator where earlier, Costigan's mentor, Captain Queenan(Martin Sheen) was thrown to his death. When the elevator opens, however, a gunshot goes off, and Costigan's head just explodes.

The kid was tortured by the things he had done undercover, but you truly wanted to see him come out on top. But because Castillo had a second cop on his payroll, who had followed them there, it wasn't to be.

That wasn't the end of the movie, which ended on the "happiest" note it could, but Costigan's death truly surprised me.

 

[Alex]

Going for some anime now

[YOUTUBE]0zS7irjwRA0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]OAmWCcnwc0g[/YOUTUBE]

Vegeta's deaths in Dragonball Z are probably the most emotional ones in the entire series because Vegeta is the one character who has the most character growth in the entire series. And each death makes you realise how far he'd come.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

As far as memorable goes, surprised nobody mentioned this one yet.....

[YOUTUBE]4BOQI-LAEzM[/YOUTUBE]

You would've thought Luke was done for after he unceremoniously turned down The Emperor's offer. But Vader's conscience kicked in, as he watched his son scream and beg for his help. Using similar reasons for my Fright Night 2 pick, The Emperor was basking in the glory of his triumph, while torturing Luke, as he prepared to deliver the final blow, but at the last second, the rug is pulled out from underneath him, when Vader, his number one apprentice, turns on him to save his son's life. Also, you can feel Vader's dilemma, as his head darts back and forth between his smiling master and his son, who might be seconds away from taking his final breath.

But something about this scene always bothered me from the first time I saw ROTJ as a kid. Why in the name of all things holy would Luke carelessly toss his lightsaber to the ground like that? I get the whole point of Luke having faith in his father to do the right thing, but still, it would've made more sense if Luke gave himself a fighting chance.

Another disappointing pick..........

[YOUTUBE]JHs6F6W1Vgk[/YOUTUBE]

Mind-numbingly stupid.

It's the only way to describe this scene. Laurie Strode is the primary protagonist in the Halloween franchise, and they kill her off in the opening minutes of the movie? Imagine a movie where Spider-Man or Batman are killed off in the first ten or fifteen minutes, and afterwards, you have to watch a storyline that revolves around Mary Jane or Alfred. You don't bring out the main course first, go to the appetizer, and finish with dessert. Laurie's death was a supposed to be a special moment with the right build, but Resurrection takes the ass backwards approach by killing off Laurie in the opening.

And to make matters worse, after Laurie's death, you're forced to sit through a shitty film with gaping plot holes, terrible acting, a hideous final showdown between Myers and Busta Rhymes, and for some reason, the writers felt the need to turn Busta into a karate master wannabe.