# Movies That End With the Main Character's Death - Spoilers Obviously **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389 "2003-07-05T16:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/61 "2003-07-06T06:51:15Z")
**They**. Which was, I might add, a waste of time and money on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/62 "2003-07-06T11:51:57Z")
If you pick up the clues along the way (I’ve discussed this a long time ago on these boards) **Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut** ends with the main character’s death not far off, much like the already mentioned **The Wickerman** Can’t think of too many others, **Vanishing Point** ends with a spectacular death scene. **Godzilla** , the original 1950’s film, ends with another spectacular main character death. Dr Strangelove? The commander of the B52 dies yet again in a psectacular fashion. The RAF commander would probably go with the rest of the world but the Doctor himself, the President and most likely all those in the war room would survive in the mineshafts. If that commie ambassador got back to the USSR then the russkie president would have survived as well. (I haven’t watched for a while so the names have eluded me for now) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/63 "2003-07-06T13:16:41Z")
Two come to mind. One is a certainty, the other is iffy. The certainty is **Hell in the Pacific** with Lee Marvin and Turforo Mufuni (sp). The maybe is **Point Blank** also with Lee Marvin. I seem to remember seeing it on television where it ended with Marvin’s death, but I also seem to remember when I saw it in the theater there was something after his death. Side note here – the film **Lucky Lady** with Gene Hackman, Burt Reynolds and Liza Mannelli was supposed to end with all the main characters being killed, but when the studio showed it to their test audience, the studio heads were not happy with the reaction so they called back the leads and ended it with a fun, “up” ending. I just remembered another film that qualifies - **Electro-Glide in Blue** with Robert Blake of recent murder his wife fame. It was one of the best endings to a movie I can recall. Speaking of motorcycles, how about **Easy Rider** with Peter Fonda? Speaking of Robert Blake, how about **In Cold Blood**? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/64 "2003-07-06T13:23:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\ ***King Kong** \*\* It’s been awhile since I saw the film, but didn’t Bruce Cabot or someone have the exit line after Kong’s death, “It wasn’t bullets that killed him. It was love,” or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/65 "2003-07-06T13:42:47Z")
“It was beauty killed the beast.” ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/66 "2003-07-06T18:55:54Z")
**DOA** : the original 1950 Edmond O’Brien version where Frank Bigelow drops dead after telling his story. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/67 "2003-07-07T01:23:33Z")
> [@](#): > > …The maybe is Point Blank also with Lee Marvin. I seem to remember seeing it on television where it ended with Marvin’s death, but I also seem to remember when I saw it in the theater there was something after his death. Actually, **Point Blank** doesn’t really qualify because Walker (Marvin’s character) is shot and left for dead at the movie’s _beginning_. In fact, because Walker apparently comes out of nowhere to seek vengeance (and his money) and then, at the end, recedes into darkness once he’s gotten both, there is the view that he was really dead all along. In any case, the main character does not really die at the movie’s end. ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/68 "2003-07-07T02:09:12Z")
Black knight. He gets eaten by lions. Sure, it doesn’t show it, but it’s IMPLIED. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/69 "2003-08-13T19:43:46Z")
War of the Roses. ---
**Author:** ![tullius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tullius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullius)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/70 "2003-08-13T20:05:19Z")
**Gladiator** **Man for All Seasons** **Dr. Zhivago** ---
**Author:** ![Badandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@Badandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badandi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/71 "2003-08-13T20:28:34Z")
**The Royal Tenenbaums** ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/72 "2003-08-13T20:31:37Z")
Arlington Road - A so so thriller flick with the guy from shawshank redemtion Knocking on Heavens Door (the german 1994 one [http://www.imdb.com/Title?0277078](http://www.imdb.com/Title?0277078)) - One of the two movies in the whole world that manages to be hilarius yet very very sad and touching Brazil - Terry Gillian’s version of 1984, the other funny yet sad movie that works 1984 - In the movie they don’t show the guy getting killed but its implied ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/73 "2003-08-13T20:49:33Z")
**Pay it Forward** **Easy Rider** Annie-Xmas said **Evita**. She dies at both the beginning and the end in that one. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/74 "2003-08-13T21:08:06Z")
[_The Vanishing_](http://www.imdb.com/Title?0096163), in the most terrifying death scene I’ve ever seen. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/75 "2003-08-13T21:18:59Z")
OK, re-read the OP and **Pay it Forward** has some stuff after the death. But it’s right there at the end. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/76 "2003-08-14T03:19:30Z")
There are shots after Kowalski’s death in _Vanishing Point_ of people milling about, Super Soul crying IIRC, etc. I’m not sure how tight we’re keeping the “movie ends with main’s character’s death” criteria. Would that kind of aftermath and reaction count, the car is still burning at that point. I agree with **NDP** about _Point Blank_. Depending on how you interpret the film: either Walker is a ghost out for revenge who vanishes once his mission is complete, he survived the shooting at the beginning to come back (unlikely), or it’s all a fantasy in his dying mind. In a documentary I saw on AMC, director John Boorman said that Walker comes back from the dead, supporting the ghost story theory. _Tom Horn_ - ends with his hanging, the body making a quarter turn as predicted and Horn’s dead hand dropping his Indian charms. _Murphy’s War_ - ends with the barge sinking with Murphy trapped on it after the crane falls, pinning him to the deck. Has _Shane_ been mentioned? He’s shot and dying as he rides off, although some say you can see him slump in the saddle at the end, as was argued about in an episode of _Homicide_. _Sword Of Doom_ - the main character is severly injured and fighting a losing battle with other samurai in a burning house when the action stops. His death isn’t shown, but it is considered imminent. _Castle Keep_ - Burt Lancaster’s Maj. Falconer is firing away at his machine gun when the castle is hit by large explosion, some shots of burning debris in and around the castle is followed by an ariel shot of the flaming remains of the castle. _Ulzana’s Raid_ Burt Lancaster (again) lays dying under an improvised lean-to, trying to roll a cigarette after being left behind to die at his own request. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/77 "2003-08-14T05:50:58Z")
Blonde: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Um, Titanic, d’uh. > > See, I was going to post that one, but the OP stated that the death scene had to occur at the very end of the movie, roll credits. We might have to make an exception for Titanic, though. Titanic does qualify…not for Jack’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) death, but for Rose’s (Gloria Stewart). ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/78 "2003-08-14T08:22:16Z")
Do alternate endings count? If so, the alternate ending for clerks with Dante getting shot. “I wasn’t even supposed to be here today…” ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/79 "2003-08-14T08:25:41Z")
**Get Carter** - the original film, that is. I forget the name of the film, but it’s a WW2 film where a British spy, sent to coordinate resistance efforts, is captured by the Nazis. Because he knows the D-Day invasion plans and the Nazis suspect this, the RAF send bombers to destroy the prison he’s in. The last shot is of the spy laughing as the bombs fall. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389/80 "2003-08-14T09:56:21Z")
Does Blade Runner qualify??? In the directors cut we’re told that Rachel will eventually die quite soon, and because it’s heavily hinted that Deckard is also a replicant, then I guess he will also be croaking in the near future… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-end-with-the-main-characters-death-spoilers-obviously/186389.md?page=5)