An arguable case is The Man Without a Past. Exactly, how we’re meant to take the “death scene” is a bit unclear, but the fact he apparently dies really has no great bearing on the rest of the plot, which only depends on his amnesia. Granted, he seems to be metaphorically losing his past by dying, but one could instead explain this as him forgeting it due to the coma. The consequences of the amnesia are pretty nightmarish, however.
Yes, but one of the consequences of that was Battlefield Earth.
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
:eek: Yeah, that’s pretty nightmarish. I humbly withdraw the suggestion.
Since I came into this thread ready to post that one, allow me to provide the title: “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank.” Starring James Best (aka Roscoe P Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard) as Jeff Myrtlebank - the hillbilly that wakes up at his own funeral - and Sherry Jackson (aka daughter Terry from Make Room for Daddy) as his fiancee Comfort.
Subtle hints at the very end that he is, in fact, not what he seems. But there weren’t any nightmarish consequences - the final Rod Serling commentary was:
“Jeff and Comfort are still alive today, and their only son is a United States Senator. He’s noted as an uncommonly shrewd politician, and some believe he must have gotten his education…in the Twilight Zone.”
Thanks, Dooku, seeing your name reminded me of another one: Return of the Jedi.
A classic: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
"The Crow’: In this case, the nightmar was everything already going one, and the dead guy stopped it from continuing!
If ghosts count - Topper (1937), its sequels, the tv series (1953), and the tv-movie (1979) would count.
Supporting Little Nemo’s classification - “Heaven Can Wait”
And a movie surprisingly overlooked at the oscars -
“Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey”
Wings of Desire… no one actually comes back from the dead, but people change from being immortal to moral, if that counts.
that mortal not moral… damn, damn, damn
Lord Of The Ring: The Two Towers
How about Escape from New York and Escape from LA?
“You’re Snake Plisskin? I thought you were dead!”
“I get that a lot…”
On a more serious note, there was Windwalker, made sometime in the early '80s about an elderly American Indian who comes back from the dead to protect his grandchild from a hostile tribe that has wiped out the rest of his tribe. He wakes up on his burial platform, and we hear his thoughts…“If I’m dead, why are my feet so cold? Grandfather, this is not a very funny joke…”