# Movies in which Everyone Dies; unavoidable spoilers, but try to be kind

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 26, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044 "2012-04-26T19:04:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/81 "2012-04-30T14:28:07Z")

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> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> _Ten Little Indians_ qualifies I believe.

We’d discussed that one- in the novel, everybody dies (and everybody who died DESERVED it), but in the movie versions I’ve seen, the ending was changed so that there are two survivors who turn out to be good people, and they live happily ever after.

An earlier poster says that Agatha Christie herself adapted her book into a play and that the play had this happy ending. The two movie versions I’ve seen used the happy ending from Christie’s play. Perhaps there’s a version in which the bleaker (but better) ending from the novel is used, but I’ve never seen it.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/82 "2012-04-30T19:36:39Z")

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> [@astorian](#):
>
> Well, the real Colonel Shaw and all his men WERE killed and buried together in a mass grave. They were the subject of Robert Lowell’s great poem “For the Union Dead.”

Although casualties were high, they were not 100%. And in the movie _Glory_, we don’t see whether or not the Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman characters are actually killed in the assault on Battery Wagner. (I saw it again a few weeks ago - still the best Civil War movie ever, I’d say).

Everyone died in this sf sequel, didn’t they?:

_Alien 3_, set on the prison planet (everyone except for the “rescue party” at the end, anyway).

Or this horror movie:

_The Others_. As it happened, they were all dead the whole time.

Or this nuclear war movie:

_Testament_. Everyone’s dead or dying by the end.

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/83 "2012-04-30T21:20:50Z")

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> [@panamajack](#):
>
> Type it like this : [noparse]spoiler text here[/noparse]
> 
> which gives you:
> 
> John actually doesn’t die.
> 
> I don’t think it’s an accessible button in the post box.

Or, in general, for any coding, just hit the Quote button on somebody else’s post to see what they did. Copy it into Notepad and cancel out of the quote, then create your own post.

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**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/84 "2012-05-01T13:05:05Z")

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Cowboys and Zombies, the big disappointment was that the writers, producers and everyone connected with the film didn’t.

Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance kid

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**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/85 "2012-05-03T23:35:16Z")

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> [@astorian](#):
>
> We’d discussed that one- in the novel, everybody dies (and everybody who died DESERVED it), but in the movie versions I’ve seen, the ending was changed so that there are two survivors who turn out to be good people, and they live happily ever after.
> 
> An earlier poster says that Agatha Christie herself adapted her book into a play and that the play had this happy ending. The two movie versions I’ve seen used the happy ending from Christie’s play. Perhaps there’s a version in which the bleaker (but better) ending from the novel is used, but I’ve never seen it.

There is one – A Soviet movie from 1987. Relevant IMDB link:

> **[Ten Little Indians (1987) ⭐ 7.7 | Crime, Drama, Mystery](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092879/)**
>
> 2h 17m

I have watched it, and it is magnificent. It is almost 100% faithful to the ending of the novel (and adds extra disturbing connotations to the interaction between two characters). I have no idea whether it is available outside of Russia. I got the DVD in Moscow; it has subtitles in kinda-sorta English (luckily I know enough Russian to get the dialogue, more or less). Maybe there is a version somewhere out there with decent subtitles…

Warning: This Russian movie keeps the _very_ original title of the first edition of the novel (in Russian, “десять негритят”). I guess the word “негритят” might have less offensive connotations than the English original.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/86 "2012-05-04T00:00:56Z")

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Did a search, but didn’t see:

The Wild Bunch Pretty sure all the protagonists are toast.

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**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-everyone-dies-unavoidable-spoilers-but-try-to-be-kind/620044/87 "2012-05-04T05:28:26Z")

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> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Did a search, but didn’t see:
> 
> The Wild Bunch Pretty sure all the protagonists are toast.

I was thinking that one, but it sort of depends on what you consider a major character. Remember that one of them

—Sykes [the old-timer who was already wounded before the final shootout]—

had to sit out the ending, and is shown alive.

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