# Cinematic rule of the big table death (spoilers abound) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089 "2016-03-25T02:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/1 "2016-03-25T02:53:01Z")
Any time I see a bunch of people sitting around a table in an action movie, I expect one of them is going to die violently. I’m sure there are exceptions, but some examples: In “The Untouchables”, we see an angry Al Capone walking around the table with a bat in his hand. Kapow! It ends badly for one guest. In “Spectre”, some guy - I forget who, gets killed at the table by Bond’s soon-to-be nemesis. I’m sure it’s because he failed at something or the other. In that last Mockinjay movie, the military leader across the table from Snow who has screwed up the defense of the Capital drinks a happy toast and then keels over from poison. Are there other examples you can think of? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/2 "2016-03-25T02:55:51Z")
Two examples: Kill Bill has a short fable with the lesson, “Never insult the CEO of your crime syndicate.” The setting is a big table. The CEO has a sharp sword. The first episode of the second season of Daredevil lampshades this: The head of an Irish gang in New York is talking with his thugs as they sit around a table. One of them says something disrespectful, and the boss scolds him, then picks up a bottle of whiskey and starts ranting. It sure looks like he’s getting ready to go Al Capone on his snarky goon, but just before he does, he–and the rest of his gang–are introduced to the Punisher’s leetle friend. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/3 "2016-03-25T03:00:02Z")
Thunderball (the fourth James Bond movie) is the first one that comes to mind - the one in which IIRC the big bad electrocutes an underling and then immediately promotes his successor. Edit: [Yes to the electrocution, no to the immediate replacement.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XIwUxmtX5U) Also: The Jackal. A Russian mob boss listens to an underling lying his ass off about a police attack, asks how many he killed in return, and does not like the answer he receives. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/4 "2016-03-25T03:01:52Z")
The Joker loves to do this. In Burton’s movie, he does it with a handshake. In Nolan’s movie, he does it with a pencil. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/5 "2016-03-25T03:07:00Z")
The opening scene from [The Hudsucker Proxy.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKUQkcLALEI) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/6 "2016-03-25T03:35:30Z")
Putney Swope’s “[How many syllables, Mario?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOWWzhQdgtw)” ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/7 "2016-03-25T04:11:08Z")
Robocop - “You’re fired!” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/8 "2016-03-25T04:59:30Z")
I’m not a fan, but wasn’t that a recurring gag in the first Austin Powers movie? I hear you been a naughty boy, Clement, then the chair tips you back into the incinerator. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/9 "2016-03-25T05:43:02Z")
It ended pretty badly for John Hurt in _Alien_. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/10 "2016-03-25T12:08:29Z")
‘You think I’m funny? What, like a clown?’ **Goodfellas** TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/11 "2016-03-25T13:39:05Z")
Not a movie, but in the Dresden Files books, one of the villains can kill with a soul-draining kiss, and has built up a reputation for starting business meetings by doing so, just to prove he means business. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/12 "2016-03-25T13:59:39Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > ‘You think I’m funny? What, like a clown?’ **Goodfellas** He doesn’t kill anyone there but Tommy _does_ shoot Spider later on while the guys are all sitting around a table, playing cards. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/13 "2016-03-25T14:30:43Z")
Not quite the same thing (so my apologies in advance), but in **The Rocky Horror Picture Show** there’s a scene around the table where, in a dramatic moment: the tablecloth(?) is removed from the table, revealing Eddie’s remains, who it turns out the others have been eating. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-rule-of-the-big-table-death-spoilers-abound/750089/14 "2016-03-25T14:48:49Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Thunderball (the fourth James Bond movie) is the first one that comes to mind - the one in which IIRC the big bad electrocutes an underling and then immediately promotes his successor. > > Edit: [Yes to the electrocution, no to the immediate replacement.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XIwUxmtX5U) > > Also: The Jackal. A Russian mob boss listens to an underling lying his ass off about a police attack, asks how many he killed in return, and does not like the answer he receives. This is the first one I thought of, too. There’s a similar moment in _A View to a Kill_ (which some have dubbed “Siliconfinger” for its similarities to the earlier Bond film. “Anyone else want to drop out?”