# Movie where main character is dead before the movie begins(SPOILERS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278 "2004-02-15T01:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/41 "2004-02-16T15:14:36Z")
There’s Something About Harry. Only, no flashbacks. Also, how about the husband in Charade? Not the main character, but a main character. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/42 "2004-02-16T15:22:36Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Um, did i miss something the three times i saw that movie? > > Which main character is dead at the start of the film? The character of David Stephens, played by Chris Eccleston, is dead by the time the film begins. The rest of the film is played in flashback. ---
**Author:** ![meanyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8edcca/32.png) [@meanyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meanyblue)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/43 "2004-02-16T16:04:03Z")
“The Man Who Never Was”…the character was dead and fictional… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/44 "2004-02-16T23:16:05Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > The character of David Stephens, played by Chris Eccleston, is dead by the time the film begins. The rest of the film is played in flashback. You know, it’s been a long time since i last saw the movie (which i loved, by the way), but i’m not really convinced that he’s already dead at the beginning. Was there anything definitive to suggest that he was dead, or could it be interpreted that he was just thinking or dreaming, and it wasn’t a flashback? I might have to watch the movie again, just to check it out. And i loved Ewan MacGragor in that film. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/45 "2004-02-17T03:22:33Z")
Do time paradoxes count, as in Twelve Monkeys? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/46 "2004-02-17T04:03:14Z")
> [@Eternal](#): > > Do time paradoxes count, as in Twelve Monkeys? For the sake of arguement, I’ll say no. But that was a kewl movie, nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/47 "2004-02-17T09:13:17Z")
**Amadeus** (if one accepts that Mozart himself is “the main character”). **Jacob’s Ladder**. IIRC, although we see athletes running along the shore during the opening credits, the first real _scene_ in **Chariots of Fire** is at Harold Abrahams’ funeral, and Eric Liddell had died decades previously. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/48 "2004-02-17T09:22:21Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > \*Citizen kane \* is the only movie I can think of off the top of my head. [nitpick] Unless my memory is way off, doesn’t **Citizen Kane** start with a shot of the gates of Xanadu, then the camera goes to Kane’s deathbed, shot of his lips saying “Rosebud”, then the globe drops to the ground? If so, then unless one of the most famous single-word phrases in movie history came from beyond the grave, wasn’t Kane still technically _alive_ at the beginning? [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/49 "2004-02-17T10:39:09Z")
Almost any vampire film ever made. If we’re going by the dead in the first scene scenario, I’d nominated Drowning Mona. In the opening scene, Bette Midler is killed in a car crash. The rest of the movie shows exactly why pretty much everyone in the town wanted her dead. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/50 "2004-02-17T10:47:47Z")
_Veronica Guerin_ starts with the murder of the eponymous character. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/51 "2004-02-17T12:04:22Z")
**Barney Quill** , Anatomy of a Murder. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/52 "2004-02-17T13:21:56Z")
**Dr. Zhivago**. The film begins with Zhivago’s half-brother Evgraf telling the story of Zhivago’s life to Zhivago and Laura’s daughter Tanya. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/53 "2004-02-17T14:37:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You know, it’s been a long time since i last saw the movie (which i loved, by the way), but i’m not really convinced that he’s already dead at the beginning. Was there anything definitive to suggest that he was dead, or could it be interpreted that he was just thinking or dreaming, and it wasn’t a flashback? > > I might have to watch the movie again, just to check it out. > > And i loved Ewan MacGragor in that film. IIRC (and it’s been a long time for me as well) he begins the movie in the bathtub, and you get the impression he’s simply thinking. The reveal at the end is that he’s dead in the same tub. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/54 "2004-02-17T16:05:17Z")
Not really the same thing, but I have to mention the late, great, series “Police Squad!” (which turned into all the Naked Gun movies, but was much better). Each week, in the very brief opening scene the famous guest star would appear, and be killed before the opening credits were over. Naturally, the rest of the episode would then make no reference at all to the intro 10-second death scene, and would not include the guest star (of course not, they’re dead!) ---
**Author:** ![wnorthr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wnorthr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wnorthr)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/55 "2004-02-17T19:54:37Z")
Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Did “Things to do in Denver when you’re dead” start with a dead guy? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/56 "2004-02-17T20:05:03Z")
I am surprised we have got this far without mentioning _Laura_. One of the most famous films with title character already dead . Or so we led to believe. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/57 "2004-02-17T21:30:04Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > I am surprised we have got this far without mentioning _Laura_. One of the most famous films with title character already dead . Or so we led to believe. Actually, I believe I mentioned it on the first post. It doesn’t count because about halfway through the movie you find out she’s not really dead. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/58 "2004-02-17T21:40:51Z")
> [@Ferrous](#): > > Well, crap. You make a lousy straight man. 😉 > > See, someone was supposed to come in and say, "Huh? The main character in _Escape From New York_ wasn’t dead. 😕 " > > And then I, shaking with glee, would say “Snake Pliskin? I _thought_ he was dead…” > > Bwa ha ha! I kill me. > > Yeah, it’s a long way to go for a lame joke, but such is my life. 🙂 > > Okay, I’ll shut up now. \*\*\*I \* \*\* knew where you were going, **Ferrous** , and I thought it was hilarious. Don’t ever change. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/59 "2004-02-17T23:03:49Z")
Having seen this film ten or twelve times, I can’t believe I forgot it for this long - The Crow. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278/60 "2004-02-17T23:05:39Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Actually, I believe I mentioned it on the first post. It doesn’t count because about halfway through the movie you find out she’s not really dead. Yes , sorry about that I wasn’t paying attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-where-main-character-is-dead-before-the-movie-begins-spoilers/229278.md?page=4)