A Reel Opinion: The Top 10 Cinematic Deaths

Why does a character need to die? Without tragedy there can be no change, and without change, there can be no story, and no story equals no movie. As tough as it may be to see a favorite character bite the dust, departures are a necessity for a film to move forward. Earlier this year, Marvel Studios sent audiences staggering out of the theatre after a hefty amount of character deaths in their grand AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Now that the film has arrived in home streaming and glorious Blu-ray, discussions have progressed from superhero (and villain) deaths to the most memorable exits the silver screen has ever seen…which brings us to the birth of Reel Speak’s first Top 10 Cinematic Deaths. This list is comprised of the deaths that are the most memorable, the most impactful to its film and pop culture, and most importantly…the ones that shocked us or made us cry. Disqualifiers include meaningless body-count deaths, and the standard death of a villain at the end of a film.  

So let’s get out the shovels…

10. Mufasa from THE LION KING (1995)

Disney has always had a knack for bringing on the tears, and a pair of their best enter this list. There is no better drama than family drama, and Mufasa’s passing, (at the hands of his own brother, very Shakespearean), when relations with his son Simba were at their worst…sent the son on his journey to not only discover himself, but his father. Bringing this one home is James Earl Jones’ resonating voice-work which hits us in the heart and stays there.

9. Elle from UP (2009)

We only see Elle for a few short minutes in the opening sequence of Pixar’s UP, but we get to know her very well and how much she means to the film’s protagonist, Carl Fredricksen. She may be absent for most of the film’s events, but her spirit, and Carl’s love for her, keeps him and his journey going. Pixar entered real-world, adult territory with UP, and the opening sequence of Elle’s life with Carl and her eventual passing is one of the best tearjerkers ever put to film.

8. Tommy from GOODFELLAS (1990)

When wise-guy mobster Tommy DeVito, as played by Joe Pesci, whacked someone that he wasn’t allowed to whack, we knew what was coming for the loud-talking, brash Italian who was good for shooting first and not even bothering to ask later. But director Martin Scorsese also gave us a character who loved his mother and his friends, and his demise came as a shock…and the impact that his murder has on tough guys Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) and Henry (Ray Liotta) shows the bond of their friendships.

7. Kane from ALIEN (1979)

When poor Kane, as played by the late great John Hurt, became the first space-traveler to have an alien burst out of his chest, audiences were shocked out of their minds. When filming, not even the cast knew what was coming to generate a genuine reaction, and it worked. Hurt’s acting during Kane’s agonizing pain is some of his best, and even after almost 40 years of seeing aliens burst out of chests in endless sequels and spinoffs, this one still ranks as the hardest one to watch…as Kane was presented to us as an eager and enthusiastic space-explorer; just like all us kids once dreamed of.

6. Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi from STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (1977)

American professor Joseph Campbell wrote extensively about the steps that every hero must take on his journey, and the passing of a mentor, or father figure is one of the most important. Much like Simba and Mr. Fredrickson, Luke Skywalker needed his first mentor, the former Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), to pass on so he may grow into his destiny. Obi-Wan sacrificed himself to save his friends (much like Luke would eventually do years later), and his death at the hands of Darth Vader surprised young audiences in 1977 who looked at him as a grandfatherly figure. And even today, Luke’s scream of “no!” still stings.

5. Sonny Corleone from THE GODFATHER (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s epic drama of organized crime may have had a lot of bloodshed and deaths, but his central theme of family-first made us care about the Corleone’s. Sonny Corleone (James Caan), the oldest son of Don Vito, was shown as a hot-tempered fighter, but he was also a family man who would do anything for his father, mother, and siblings. He died on his way to protect his little sister, and his bloody end at a toll booth ambush stands today as one of the most memorable in all of cinema. And in the end, Sonny’s departure opened the door for his little brother Michael to rise to power.

4. Spock from STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)

Played by the late great Leonard Nimoy, the character of Mr. Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan serving aboard the famed starship Enterprise, rarely smiled, hugged, or cracked jokes. But Nimoy gave the green-blooded character with pointed ears a warmness that no one else could pull off, and that made his death in the first STAR TREK sequel so hard to take. Spock died saving the ship and crew, and his closing scene with Kirk (William Shatner) is beautifully written, directed, and acted. It was an event in TREK that would send ripples across the franchise and have lasting effects beyond.

3. Sgt. Elias from PLATOON (1986)

Oliver Stone’s Best Picture-winning Vietnam War drama had three American soldiers at each other’s throats, and in the third act, Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe), was shot by an American M16 in an effort to cover up a war-crime. Left for dead, Elias got up and desperately ran for the choppers while being chased by the enemy, and his final moments not only became the poster, but one of the most iconic images ever in film; arms outstretched, pleading for his life. Pleading for all life. It resonates because Elias was the most righteous of the platoon and that’s what got him killed.

2. Gandalf from THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)

Even if long-time fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece of a fantasy novel knew that Gandalf was to fall before a big demon of the ancient world, his death was still hard to watch. Warmly played by Ian McKellen, his wandering wizard was the character who danced with hobbits, set off fireworks for children, and proved to be human by bumping his head on a low door-frame; steps taken to make us love him. He died saving the Fellowship, but Peter Jackson took it one step further by showing us the reactions of that Fellowship; the images of crying hobbits and a shell-shocked Aragorn…backed by Howard Shore’s tearjerking score, makes the fall of Gandalf a heartbreaking experience.

1. Quint from JAWS (1975)

One of the greatest films ever made has the best demise of a character ever put to film. The shark-hunting fisherman Quint, as played by the late great Robert Shaw, was a tough man with a love for canned beer and letting his shipmates know who was captain of the ship. Despite being tough on the outside, Quint was also given to us as a man who had been through hell, and was still able to generate a smile as he sang songs of the sea. He was shown to us as a man who had a deep hatred for sharks, which made him the perfect man for the job of hunting and killing a great white who was terrorizing a beach community.  Quint was inspired by Captain Ahab of Moby Dick, and just like that famed captain of literature, Quint went to the depths battling his nemesis mano-a-mano. Of all the fallen characters on this list, Quint is the only one who goes out exactly the way he wanted to. 

REEL SPEAK’S TOP 10 CINEMATIC DEATHS

1. Quint from JAWS

2. Gandalf from THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

3. Sgt. Elias from PLATOON

4. Spock from STAR TREK II

5. Sonny from THE GODFATHER

6. Obi-Wan from STAR WARS

7. Kane from ALIEN

8. Tommy from GOODFELLAS

9. Elle from UP

10. Mufasa from THE LION KING