# Movies where the good guy doesn't make it \*WARNING: UNBOXED SPOILERS!\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152 "2007-04-08T02:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/21 "2007-04-08T09:44:44Z")
In _Dark City_, the protagonist’s love interest _effectively_ dies, as her former memories/personality are erased. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/22 "2007-04-08T10:27:04Z")
I think also _“All Quiet On The Western Front.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/23 "2007-04-08T11:41:57Z")
How can you forget “The Poseidon Adventure”(1972)? The good Reverend Gene Hackman leads the few survivors who believe in him to safety only to sacrifice himself to a fiery pit. “Take me God! Take ME!!” I love that cheesy ass movie. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/24 "2007-04-08T11:47:42Z")
According to the director, the events in _Total Recall_ really _are_ a hallucination, and the film fades to white at the end instead of black because the hero just got lobotomized in the real world. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/25 "2007-04-08T12:44:03Z")
In Star Wars: Episode III, Mace Windu gets killed before the final act. What do you MEAN he wasn’t the hero of the film? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/26 "2007-04-08T12:50:36Z")
In _Being John Malkovich_, nobody dies, but Malkovich ends up getting his mind taken away and living as a puppet for the rest of his life, while John Cusack’s character ends up having to spend a lifetime imprisoned and helpless inside another person’s mind. Granted, it’s hard to say who’s really a hero in this film. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/27 "2007-04-08T13:01:11Z")
Arlington Road, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/28 "2007-04-08T13:31:19Z")
> [@](#): > > In Star Wars: Episode III, Mace Windu gets killed before the final act. I think you mean Mace Motherfuckin’ Windu. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/29 "2007-04-08T13:40:12Z")
_Ghost Dad_. Or just _Ghost_, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/30 "2007-04-08T13:53:19Z")
Not to get sidetracked, but there seems to be a resurgence of little kids getting whacked, at least in genre flicks: In _Pan’s Labyrinth_ the little girl is shot and killed by her stepfather, in _The Host_ the little girl dies at the end, in _Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis_ the heroic little boy gets his brains chomped on, and in the indie zombie flick _Pathogen_, the entire main cast of junior high kids is wiped out. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/31 "2007-04-08T14:33:06Z")
[QUOTE=stegon66] Not to get sidetracked, but there seems to be a resurgence of little kids getting whacked, at least in genre flicks: In _Pan’s Labyrinth_ the little girl is shot and killed by her stepfather, in _The Host_ the little girl dies at the end, in _Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis_ the heroic little boy gets his brains chomped on, and in the indie zombie flick _Pathogen_, the entire main cast of junior high kids is wiped out. [/QUOTE] And don’t forget Grindhouse, with Dakota’s (Marley Shelton’s) son. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/32 "2007-04-08T14:36:43Z")
Does _King Kong_ count? ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/33 "2007-04-08T14:37:44Z")
in Children of Men, Clive Owen’s character dies before the ship finds them ---
**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:** [April 8, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/34 "2007-04-08T15:56:13Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Arlington Road, I think. [/QUOTE] Yeah, good example. Remember, the OP asked for movies where the good guy dies “before his bad guy counterpart gets his just deserts.” In many of the movies listed so far, there _is_ no “bad guy counterpart.” ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/35 "2007-04-08T16:24:21Z")
Never mind, wrong film I was recalling. Sorry. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/36 "2007-04-08T16:43:56Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] In Star Wars: Episode III, Mace Windu gets killed before the final act. [/QUOTE] And the good man that was Luke’s father was killed by Darth Vader. From a certain point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/37 "2007-04-08T16:46:28Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Remember, the OP asked for movies where the good guy dies “before his bad guy counterpart gets his just deserts.” In many of the movies listed so far, there _is_ no “bad guy counterpart.” [/QUOTE] or good guy, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/38 "2007-04-08T18:35:45Z")
[QUOTE=Abby\_Emma\_Sasha] I think you mean Mace Motherfuckin’ Windu. [/QUOTE] Mace Motherfuckin’ “Sith On A Mutherfuckin’ Ship” Windu? [QUOTE=Peter Morris] And the good man that was Luke’s father was killed by Darth Vader. From a certain point of view. [/QUOTE] Although he DID get better. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/39 "2007-04-08T22:52:29Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Angel Heart, since Mickey Rourke is the protagonist and the “good guy” (as far as we know). One of my favorite movies! [/QUOTE] You have excellent taste in movies mate ,coincidentally I rate AH as one of the best movies ever. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152/40 "2007-04-08T23:06:38Z")
In _Fallen_, Denzel Washington’s character dies. In _Very Bad Things_, just about every character dies (however there really isn’t any “good” characters in that movie, they’re all bad/evil in some way). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-good-guy-doesnt-make-it-warning-unboxed-spoilers/399152.md?page=3)