Comments on: Please help me find movies that end with the main character dying.

Question: Please help me find movies that end with the main character dying.

sequential — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:41:30 -0800

Please help me find movies that end with the main character dying. WARNING: Question and answers may contain spoilers, in case it's not obvious.

My fiancee and I watched a movie tonight that is about the main character dying, but in the end he's unexpectedly saved. That got us trying to come up with movies that ended with the main character dying. As a rule of thumb, the ones that jumped to mind quickly were documentary, historical, war, and period pieces. Can you think of movies outside of these genres that end with the main character dying? Characters should also not come back to life in a sequel. Lastly, being undead does not count as being alive for the sake of this question. (Sorry Astro Zombie.)

Movies that work:

The Butterfly Effect (1 & 2)
Pi
Ghost Dog
Ladder 49
Philadelphia
The Wicker Man

Movies that don't work:

Romeo and Juliet (period piece)
Boys Don't Cry (based on true events)
Sixth Sense (character does not die at the end)
Run Lola Run (character dies in two sequences, lives in the final)
28 Days Later (only dies in alternate endings)
The Crow (undead is not Newspeak for alive)

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:54:29 -0800

Death of a Salesman
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

By: kosher_jenny

kosher_jenny — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:54:44 -0800

Two off the top of my head:
1. American Beauty
2. I'm not sure if this counts, but Bruce Willis' character in Sin City dies at the end of his story. He's one of the main characters of the three separate stories that make up the film

By: BradNelson

BradNelson — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:58:53 -0800

Saving Private Ryan
The Departed
and seven John Wayne movies

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:59:26 -0800

There are a lot; here are the first that come to mind:

Thinkier action movies with antiheroes
Get Carter w/Michael Caine
Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid
lot of latter-day westerns
12 Monkeys
Blade Runner/director's cut

Oh, and the chick tearjerkers!
Terms of Endearment (I think; haven't seen it all the way through)
Love Story (I think; haven't seen it)
Beaches (I think; haven't seen it)
Fried Green Tomatoes
Dying Young

By: porpoise

porpoise — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:00:16 -0800

Let me get this straight; so you want movies about someone dying but in the end, they don't?

...about the main character dying, but in the end he's unexpectedly saved.

vs.

...movies that end with the main character dying

Well, in Dead Man Depp's character dies, but doesn't, ... and depending on your interpretation, gets "saved."

iirc Casino starts out with a scene with a carbomb, details the prior events, then ends with showing how the intended assasinee survives.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:01:02 -0800

And Star Wars! Star Wars!!

By: weston

weston — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:03:07 -0800

Pi

The guy in Pi died at the end? This Pi? I remembered he was sitting in a park or playground watching the neighbor girl play or something.

Maybe:
Big Fish
The Champ
The Fan
Phenomenon
House of Flying Daggers
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

By: edgeways

edgeways — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:04:50 -0800

12 Monkeys? Although the ending is a bit dubious for your criteria.

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:05:22 -0800

Layer Cake

By: Khalad

Khalad — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:05:23 -0800

Easy Rider
Mulholland Drive
Pulp Fiction (Vincent, sort of)
Sin City (Marv and Hartigan)

Also many horror movies. Romero's Living Dead movies are not kind to their main characters, for instance.

By: roomwithaview

roomwithaview — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:06:12 -0800

Léon the Professional

By: sequential

sequential — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:06:15 -0800

Let me get this straight; so you want movies about someone dying but in the end, they don't?

No, the movie we watched tonight was about someone dying from start to finish, but right at the end the protagonist unexpectedly lives. That got us to thinking about movies where the main character dies.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:07:13 -0800

Max does not die in Pi.

By: sequential

sequential — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:08:15 -0800

The guy in Pi died at the end? This Pi?

The scene before he's sitting in the park is of him drilling a hole in his head. I think this one can be argued a number of ways and may not the best example, but it is one that came to mind.

By: Serial Killer Slumber Party

Serial Killer Slumber Party — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:09:57 -0800

The Man Who Wasn't There
The Shining
Donnie Darko
Big Fish
Plus all those movies that end with the self-sacrifice/viking funeral routine (e.g. Armageddon, V for Vendetta)

Reservoir Dogs has all the main characters but one die at the end.

I was about to say Fight Club, then realised I was thinking of the book, not the film version.

By: Khalad

Khalad — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:10:36 -0800

Oh, I missed a shelf in my bookcase. Add to the list:

The Shining
Moulin Rouge

Also I'm not sure if Chinatown qualifies. Jack Nicholson survives, but Faye Dunaway doesn't.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:11:11 -0800

An American Werewolf in London

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:13:40 -0800

Sleuth
Deathtrap

By: Brave New Meatbomb

Brave New Meatbomb — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:14:13 -0800

Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry.

The ending is a real deux ex machina... although the movie is nothing special, it always stuck in my mind as the one movie I remember where suddenly, at the very end, all the protagonists are snatched into rather than from the jaws of death.

A real WTF ending.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:15:27 -0800

The 1982 version of "The Thing".

By: duffell

duffell — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:15:29 -0800

Damn, S.C.D.B., you beat me to the punch on Sleuth (one of the best films ever made). Here are a few others:

Fallen
Alien 3
Scarface
The Killer

By: Deathalicious

Deathalicious — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:15:57 -0800

He doesn't drill all the way into his head; just far enough to get rid of his weirdo tumor. After that, his math stuff goes away. La la, happy ending.

By: katemonster

katemonster — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:21:04 -0800

Bollywood fave Kul Ho Na Ho, starring Shah Rukh Khan.

By: kisch mokusch

kisch mokusch — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:23:47 -0800

The latest Jason Statham movie, Crank. He's dying from the start (by poison) and ends up dead at the end.

By: paulsc

paulsc — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:24:50 -0800

Citizen Kane.
Thelma and Louise [hey, it's two-fer night at AskMe!]
A Farewell to Arms

By: srah

srah — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:30:53 -0800

- Does Sunset Boulevard not count for the same reason as The Sixth Sense?
- I'd say Wadsworth is the main character in Clue and he dies in one of the endings.
- Mrs Muir in The Ghost and Mrs Muir (old age).
- Cyrano de Bergerac (old age).

I don't know if you'll accept any of these - they may also be too period.

I bet you're going to get spoiled on the ends of lots of movies you haven't seen yet!

By: psergio

psergio — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:31:00 -0800

The Usual Suspects

By: jessenoonan

jessenoonan — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:33:02 -0800

I just finished watching Electra Glide in Blue

By: neckro23

neckro23 — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:42:38 -0800

Citizen Kane begins with the main character dying, interestingly enough.

(So do Gandhi and Lawrence of Arabia, but those are historical films.)

By: chrisamiller

chrisamiller — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:44:42 -0800

Reservoir Dogs. Hell, they all die.

By: Soliloquy

Soliloquy — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:46:43 -0800

Million Dollar Baby, Rory O'Shea Was Here, Theory of Flight... many movies with disabled main characters end with them dying on cue.

By: sequential

sequential — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:47:23 -0800

I don't know if you'll accept any of these - they may also be too period.

Period is fine. The only reason I mentioned it was because we found it relatively easy to remember period pieces, for whatever reason.

I bet you're going to get spoiled on the ends of lots of movies you haven't seen yet!

That's one of the dangers in asking this question, but I've seen all but five of the movies listed thus far. My fiancee, on the other hand, has seen less than half of the movies listed so far.

By: chrisch

chrisch — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:49:39 -0800

Gladiator

By: Effigy2000

Effigy2000 — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:53:57 -0800

The Matrix (specifically Matrix Revolutions).

By: bruceo

bruceo — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:54:49 -0800

To Live and Die in LA. Breakout roles for both William Petersen (the CSI guy) and Willem Dafoe. John Turturro and Dean Stockwell do a lot with small parts.

Great soundtrack from Wang Chung, of all people.

By: Khalad

Khalad — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:55:30 -0800

Let's add Dr. Strangelove to the list. Armageddon for all!
Oh, and Thelma and Louise.

By: travosaurus

travosaurus — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:00:27 -0800

The Virgin Suicides
2001: A Space Odyssey

By: Katravax

Katravax — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:02:37 -0800

Serial Killer Slumber Party:

I was about to say Fight Club, then realised I was thinking of the book, not the film version.

I haven't read the book in years, but I'm sure he didn't die. He was in an asylum. He thought he was dead, but he wasn't. The people he thought were angels were either nurses or security, can't remember which. I mean, angels don't bring you pills in cups and say "We're going to get you out of here, Mr. Durden."

By: Jeff Howard

Jeff Howard — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:03:34 -0800

The Terminator
Heat
12 Monkeys
Donnie Brasco (implied)
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Professional

By: paulsc

paulsc — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:05:22 -0800

"Citizen Kane begins with the main character dying, interestingly enough. ..."
posted by neckro23 at 11:42 PM PST on November 11

Nah.

[Spoiler Alert*****Spoiler Alert*******Spoiler Alert]

Rosebud only gets pitched into the fire in the last frames.

What? You're going to argue that Rosebud isn't the main character???

By: equalpants

equalpants — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:07:03 -0800

The Shootist
Vanishing Point
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

By: Serial Killer Slumber Party

Serial Killer Slumber Party — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:10:04 -0800

You're quite right Katravax. Apologies.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:12:17 -0800

The original version of The Vanishing.
The Wild Bunch
Dead Ringers (I think)
Mona Lisa (I think, can't remember)
Blood Simple
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
21 Grams (maybe, I can't remember)
Laws of Gravity (depends what you mean by "main" character)
Ashes & Diamonds
M
Funny Games

By: Ugh

Ugh — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:14:44 -0800

My Life
Untamed Heart
Steel Magnolias
A Walk to Remember
Message in a Bottle
Sweet November
Beaches
Man on Fire
Of Mice and Men

(Not sure if all of them count, or have been mentioned already because I didn't want spoilers!)

By: thisjax

thisjax — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:19:26 -0800

Terms of Endearment and Lovers of the Arctic Circle (although, these both sort-of have two main characters with one dying).

By: KirTakat

KirTakat — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:19:32 -0800

It's a tv series, and anime, but Cowboy Bebop.
The Prestige (man, this is the spoilers thread, isn't it?)

By: cholly

cholly — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:22:36 -0800

Steel Magnolias

By: cholly

cholly — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:23:11 -0800

should have previewed

By: Crosius

Crosius — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:25:55 -0800

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
Bliss (The Autralian flick about Harry Joy)
Slaughterhouse Five (Movie, yes. Book, not so much.)
Bridge on the River Kwai
Jacob's Ladder
The Wild Bunch (period piece?)
Scarface
Dr. Strangelove (Does it count if everybody dies?)
Death of a Salesman
Reservoir Dogs (depending on how you define "main" character)
Saw?
Jeepers Creepers
Blair Witch Project

By: Sonny Jim

Sonny Jim — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:26:34 -0800

Reuben, Reuben.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:28:57 -0800

2001
Aliens 3
Virgin Suicides
Seven Samurai, Magnifient Seven
Once Upon a Time in the West
Titanic
Million Dollar Baby
Perfect World
Psycho
Stepmom
Pride of the Yankees
La Bamba
Serenity
Leaving Las Vegas
Kill Bill
Heathers (I'm pretty sure? can't remember)
Grave of the Fireflies
Brazil
Amadeus (ok, period piece)
Dead Poets Society
Bubba Ho-Tep
Midnight Cowboy
Brokeback Mountain
The Fly (?)
King Kong
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The English Patient

By: Khalad

Khalad — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:30:47 -0800

Bonnie and Clyde

By: londongeezer

londongeezer — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:33:46 -0800

carlito's way

By: aberrant

aberrant — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:34:49 -0800

More Al Pacino: Carlito's Way.

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:35:03 -0800

I'm not sure if American History X meets all your tests but I'm throwing it out there.

They Live
Stroszek

By: aberrant

aberrant — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:35:21 -0800

DAMNIT! missed by a minute.

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:35:28 -0800

Adaptation?

By: eebs

eebs — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:36:34 -0800

Luc Besson's "Le Grand Bleu" - shown in the US under the name "The Big Blue". Funny thing about this is that if you watch the US version, the character lives at the end. If you watch the European version, he dies. I watched the EU version first; it was really heartbreaking to see that they changed the ending based on their target audience.

By: kkokkodalk

kkokkodalk — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:42:04 -0800

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Silmido

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:42:26 -0800

Surprised nobody's mentioned it already: D.O.A. does what it says on the tin.

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:46:37 -0800

Oh, duh: Le Salaire de le Peur/Wages of Fear

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:47:49 -0800

Uh, de la Peur, even.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:00:23 -0800

Harold and Maude. My Girl. Robin and Marian.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:00:42 -0800

No one has mentioned Harold & Maude yet.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:04:07 -0800

Gah!

By: a.

a. — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:30:44 -0800

1. The Butterfly Effect (1 & 2)

So theres no point in me seeing these movies anymore right? *sigh*

By: utsutsu

utsutsu — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:33:07 -0800

Doom Generation

By: anjamu

anjamu — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:38:27 -0800

House of Sand and Fog
City of Angels
Simon Birch
Constant Gardener
Dancer in the Dark
Sophie's Choice

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:39:11 -0800

It's a tv series, and anime, but Cowboy Bebop.

Actually, Watanabe has gone on record as saying the ending is ambiguous, but I guess if Pi counts then Bebop does too.

Takeshi Kitano kills himself in a few of the ones where he both stars & directs. My memory is pretty fuzzy so I'm not totally sure, but I'm guessing at least 3 of Brother/Sonatine/Hanabi/Boiling Point/Violent Cop have his character dying.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:41:02 -0800

Oh and everyone dies in Iishi's Gonin.
off topic: anyone see that and get reminded of Midnight Cowboy?

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:41:45 -0800

Lilya 4 Ever
Smultronstället
Cries and Whispers
Lilith (maybe?)
Dancer in the Dark
Mouchette
Au Hasard Balthazar
La Haine
Breaking the waves
Dekalog (1st part at least, maybe others.)
Le Conseguenze dell'amore

By: a.

a. — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:42:08 -0800

Oh sorry, I guess its just the RSS feed that includes the 'more inside' section. dangit. *eyes mathowie*

By: dangerousdan

dangerousdan — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 01:57:32 -0800

How could it get this far without mentioning Brazil ?

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 02:03:04 -0800

How could it get this far without mentioning Brazil ?
Probably the same way the find command in your browser failed you?

By: sipher

sipher — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 02:38:13 -0800

A couple not mentioned yet that happen to be on my favorites list are -

1) Bulworth
2) Arlington Road

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:14:55 -0800

The Thin Red Line (fantastic, too).

By: vagabond

vagabond — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:15:15 -0800

Penn And Teller Get Killed - it isn't just a catchy title.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:15:49 -0800

(Sorry, didn't see the "war" part of your more inside since it wasn't one of your examples. Still a great movie though.)

By: rob511

rob511 — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:19:54 -0800

Examples in different genres:
Love and Death
Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis
Anna Karenina

By: vagabond

vagabond — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:20:05 -0800

And Million Dollar Hotel is bookmarked with the death at the beginning and the end.

By: Chuckles

Chuckles — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 03:56:44 -0800

Cool Hand Luke

Janis Joplin (okay, The Rose, whatever..)

Blue Thunder, by paulsc's logic.

By: Doofus Magoo

Doofus Magoo — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 04:06:13 -0800

Braveheart.

By: Tixylix

Tixylix — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 04:14:34 -0800

Gallipoli

By: strawberryviagra

strawberryviagra — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 04:36:52 -0800

Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger

By: genghis

genghis — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 04:39:21 -0800

Passion of the Christ.

(I kill me.)

By: Dagobert

Dagobert — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 05:01:01 -0800

The Mission

Soylent Green

The Omega Man

Beneath the Planet of the Apes
(hmmm, Hollywood likes to kills Mr. NRA!)

Escape From Planet of the Apes
(hmmmm, Hollywood hates Apes!!)

And in the version I saw of Brazil, the main character doesn't die, he goes insane as a way to survive.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:08:38 -0800

Straight Story? I can't remember if he was dying or just very old.

By: MegoSteve

MegoSteve — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:19:04 -0800

Sidehackers!

By: 10ch

10ch — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:23:54 -0800

Mask

By: Gungho

Gungho — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:44:41 -0800

Beg to differ. In Psycho! The main character does not die in the end. A big star happens to get killed in the shower, but I don't think Hitchcock meant her to be the star of the film.
Films where the main character dies at the end:
Philadelphia
Hell is for Heroes, (Yeah I know a war movie, but an underrated one)
Night of the Living Dead
Female Trouble
The Fly

By: Robert Angelo

Robert Angelo — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:51:10 -0800

Dark Victory, of course.

By: Robert Angelo

Robert Angelo — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:51:40 -0800

or any movie about terminal illness...

By: bingo

bingo — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:54:10 -0800

For anyone that's worried this is a spoiler thread...relax, a great many of these answers are wrong. The fact that someone important to the plot dies can't possibly count...after all, that happens in the majority of movies. Here are some movies listed above in which the main character absolutely, positively does not by any rationale die in the end:

Jacob's Ladder (he's been dead the whole time)
Dr. Strangelove (everybody does not die, and it's implied that the characters still alive at the end are going to survive in 'mineshafts')
Dead Poets Society (a character dies, but he is not the main character)
Terminator (the villain and an important supporting character die - and so do a lot of other people - the main character survives)
Psycho (the main character is Bates, even though he's introduced late)
Heathers (the villain dies, the main character survives)
2001 ('dies' would have to be used very liberally here...Bowman goes through a transformation that has never happened to a human before...it could also be argued that he's born at the end of the movie)
Once Upon A Time In The West (if there's a main character, other than the town itself, it's Claudia Cardinale, and she survives)
The Life Aquatic (a supporting character dies, but the main character survives)
The Usual Suspects (the main character surviving is the whole point)
Blade Runner, director's cut (I don't see how this can possibly be rationalized as the main character dying. The closest you can get is to say it's revealed that he was never alive.)
Pi (the guy absolutely dies at the end. the scene where he's sitting there watching the girl is a sort of 'heaven' scene)
Dead Man (the main character absolutely, positively, and with no doubt whatsoever dies (or is going to die any minute) at the end. There is an idea that maybe he's going on to an afterlife, or will be reincarnated, or something, but he's dying).
Bullworth (there is a contract out on the main character's life, but he doesn't die)
Midnight Cowboy (again, the main character survives, a supporting character dies)
Harold and Maude (Harold is the main character. He doesn't die.)

One of the most interesting thing about To Live and Die In L.A. is that the main character dies before the end of the movie.

Some correct answers that haven't been mentioned:
D.O.A. (understood)
Little Odessa
State of Grace
Bad Lieutenant
The Doors (unless the 70s is a historical period by your standards)
Angel Baby
White Heat ('historical' in the sense that the movie itself is now quite old)

By: opsin

opsin — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 06:56:54 -0800

Serial Killer - if Pi can be on the list, I'd say even the movie version of Fight Club can be, as one of the main characters still dies, and in a more literal way than Max Cohen dies in Pi (he only destroys a part of himself).

By: bonehead

bonehead — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 07:22:57 -0800

Does Palin's character really die at the end of Brazil? I'd interpreted the ending as him escaping into his fantasy world. He's alive but incurably insane.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 07:26:53 -0800

Point Break? (He's not going to paddle all the way to New Zealand!)

And yeah, have to agree with bingo's appraisal of many of these. And if 2001 qualifies, then so does Solaris.

By: dreamsign

dreamsign — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 07:27:50 -0800

Hmm... "the" main character. Then I retract Point Break. A main character, then sure.

By: jesirose

jesirose — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 07:35:46 -0800

Movies that work:

1. The Butterfly Effect (1 & 2)

I don't know about 2, but in the director's edition of 1, the main character does indeed die.

By: brujita

brujita — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 07:37:57 -0800

Blood and Sand
Captains Courageous
The Man who Would be King

By: sipher

sipher — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:19:34 -0800

bingo, In Bulworth he certainly does die.

It's one of my all time favorites. You don't remember he tries to cancel the contract but can't? He ends up dead. (Think very end with a guy looking down from the rooftop.. not photos)

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:39:35 -0800

"The Last Castle", although admittedly it's a war movie of a sort.

By: bingo

bingo — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:41:30 -0800

sipher, I'll take your word for it. I've only seen it once. The last thing I remember is Hallie Berry saying 'you're my n--' and kissing him with a fade to white.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:59:22 -0800

The Perfect Storm

By: iconomy

iconomy — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 09:00:24 -0800

Oh nevermind - missed the part about not being based on real events.

By: DoctorFedora

DoctorFedora — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 09:07:11 -0800

Infernal Affairs, though someone else mentioned The Departed pretty early on, which is a remake of the former.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 10:30:30 -0800

I'm not sure about what the definition of "period piece" is here. But any version of Othello fits the bill.

By: Bort

Bort — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 10:32:38 -0800

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 version)

By: digital-dragonfly

digital-dragonfly — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 11:13:56 -0800

Final Cut

By: sequential

sequential — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 11:27:54 -0800

You don't remember he tries to cancel the contract but can't?

It's pretty clear that Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth is fatally shot in final scene of Bulworth. However, he did not die by the contract he took out on himself. Nina, played by Halle Berry, is the assassin charged with killing him - and she clearly is not the shooter. Instead, I believe he was shot by one of the special interests that he turned his back. You're right though - Bulworth can't cancel his contract, Nina does not to kill him, and the contractor hired to off him is incapacitated.

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 11:58:38 -0800

Angels with Dirty Faces.

By: kkokkodalk

kkokkodalk — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 12:41:10 -0800

Whoops, I thought I'd deleted "Silmido" before I hit post comment last night. But do scratch that since it doesn't fit the criteria.

By: drstein

drstein — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 12:56:35 -0800

The remake of "Poseidon."

By: avocet

avocet — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:25:04 -0800

The Barbarian Invasions. I sobbed for about two hours after it ended.

By: Tixylix

Tixylix — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:07:27 -0800

The Stranger, but it's a book by Camus

By: mph

mph — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:36:52 -0800

"Falling Down"

By: concrete

concrete — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 18:54:17 -0800

The World According to Garp

By: sperose

sperose — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:20:49 -0800

Heat.

Well, of the 2 major characters, one of them dies. And it is a wonderful scene that always makes me cry like a little bitch.

By: itchie

itchie — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 23:29:41 -0800

Charlotte's Web.

By: Monkey0nCrack

Monkey0nCrack — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:13:32 -0800

The Prestige.
Brazil: depends on which version/how you interpret.
The Fly (Cronenberg): Definitely.
Dead Ringers: Yes.
AI
Alien series
Terminator
Lorenzo's Oil

By: Ziggy Zaga

Ziggy Zaga — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:08:54 -0800

"Harsh Times," currently in theaters.

By: bingo

bingo — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:35:05 -0800

The kid in Lorenzo's Oil doesn't die. And neither do either of his parents.

By: aschulak

aschulak — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 11:32:05 -0800

"I was about to say Fight Club, then realised I was thinking of the book, not the film version."

I was always under the impression that he is in a mental institute...

By: scottythebody

scottythebody — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:18:21 -0800

The Boy In The Bubble (John Travolta flick)
Brian's Song

By: rorycberger

rorycberger — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:59:57 -0800

I'd say Heat qualifies, as De Niro is more the star than Pacino. Not so with Point Break, as mentioned above, nor Kill Bill. Similar examples would be The Last Samurai and Top Gun, although in both cases I would have liked to have seen Tom Cruise's character die.

paulsc's analysis of Citizen Kane is spot on too.

sequential - just out of curiosity, what was the movie you were watching where the character didn't die?

By: Timeless

Timeless — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 14:21:15 -0800

Children of Men
Hero
Adrift
Silent Hill
Perfume, the story of a murderer

By: John Smallberries

John Smallberries — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:59:14 -0800

In Brazil, Sam (Jonathon Pryce) does not die in either Gilliam's intended ending or in the horrid studio edit that almost got released in its stead. In the studio ending, Sam wins free and seems to live happily ever after; in Gilliam's, it is revealed that Sam's rescue and escape has all been a fantasy, and he is physically still in the torturers chair, but has gone catatonic and beyond the reach of his tormentors.

It is true that Michael Palin's torturer character does die in the studio ending, which leaves the rescue scenario as the "real" ending.

By: waxbanks

waxbanks — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:51:39 -0800

re: Fight Club, katravax has it right. Jack/Tyler narrates his residency in 'heaven' but it's clear he's describing an institution/hospital.

Marvelous chapter, too. Cutting it strengthened the film (cf. A Clockwork Orange for a similar maneuver) but reading the book afterward I was chilled by that last line.

By: mkn

mkn — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 06:55:34 -0800

Please help me find movies that end with the main character dying.

Groundhog Day.

He dies multiple times, but doesn't.

By: mkn

mkn — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 06:56:34 -0800

Also, Videodrome.

By: GilloD

GilloD — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 08:24:49 -0800

At the end of Pitch Black, Vin Diesel survives but the cute girl who is the film's #2 is very suddenly snatched away by the moon monsters or whatever they were.

By: ElfWord

ElfWord — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:02:23 -0800

The Notebook.

Red Dawn(almost all, including what I'd argue is "the main character" die).

By: kevon45uk

kevon45uk — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:51:26 -0800

Equalpants... I don't think MacMurphy actually dies, at least not physically.

The Shining is one but someone suggested that. Both Jack Nicholson: interesting; and that leads on to Easy Rider where two main characters die: Peter Fonda (Capt America) and Nicholson again.

Le Samourai (Alain Delon) in Melville's classic.

And what about Bambi?

The Terminator, the first one?

Braveheart? Or is that supposedly based on real events?

Don't Look Now. Doesn't Donald Sutherland's character die?

By: equalpants

equalpants — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:00:50 -0800

I don't think MacMurphy actually dies, at least not physically.

Sure he does; the Chief smothers him with a pillow!

By: wah

wah — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:54:55 -0800

10 Thing to Do in Denver When You're Dead.

By: condour75

condour75 — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 07:50:23 -0800

It's all about seventies paranoia, man.

The Exorcist
The Parallax View
The Stepford Wives