Great Movies Ruined By Awful Death Scenes
Death scenes are supposed to be serious. Watching a character draw their last breath should move us to tears or else make us reflect on our own mortality. Unless, of course, the death scene is terrible.
We could easily fill an entire article with awful movies that contain awful death scenes. Need we mention Nicolas Cage and those bees? However, here we will focus on films that would have been great if they weren't ruined by a single death scene. You'd be surprised how many otherwise excellent movies make the misstep of an over-the-top death scene. Some of these moments are poorly acted or unintentionally hilarious, while others are simply ugly and gratuitous. Not even critically acclaimed movies are immune. A few of the films below were nominated for Oscars, and two of them actually took home the award for best picture. Still, all it takes is one character ineffectively kicking the bucket to kill the mood.
The following article contains major spoilers for pretty much every movie it discusses.
Talia al Ghul from The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy is spectacular and "The Dark Knight Rises" is no exception, but there's one slip-up Nolan makes at the end of the final film: The death of Talia al Ghul (Marion Cotillard).
After her vehicle flies off the edge of an overpass, Talia gives one last speech before she succumbs to her injuries. It's a bit difficult to buy that Talia is fatally injured from the crash while Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) survives with barely a scratch — and he wasn't even wearing a seatbelt. Conveniently, Talia dies the exact moment her villain monologue is over. And what a death! Talia dies delicately, fluttering her eyelashes and then tilting her head to the side in the universal signal for "I've just croaked." She looks less like somebody who has just been in a violent crash and more like a child playing dead in the schoolyard. Reddit user u/amazingGOB wrote, "Goddamn, I love the trilogy but I forgot how awful her death was."
Claudius from Hamlet (1996)
Most adaptations of Shakespeare add their own spin on events to distinguish themselves from previous adaptations of the play. But of all the changes director Kenneth Branagh could make to the source material, this moment is probably the most laughable. Despite having a Rotten Tomatoes score of well over 90%, the 1996 film "Hamlet" contains one death scene that is too hilarious to take seriously.
In the original play, the stage directions simply say that Hamlet forces Claudius to drink the poison. Pretty straightforward, right? Not to be outdone, Branagh gives Claudius a more extravagant death — or three, to be exact. First Hamlet (Branagh) hurls a saber across the room, pinning Claudius (Derek Jacobi) to his throne. Then for good measure, Hamlet then sends the chandelier crashing down on the king. And just in case there is any doubt that the king is dead, the film shows the titular hero force-feeding Claudius the lethal poison. It's worth noting that the poison conveniently kills Claudius instantly, even though Hamlet is grazed by a sword tipped in the same poison and yet has time and energy for plenty of graceful swordplay before he finally keels over.
No matter which way you look at it, this death scene is overkill — quite literally. Any one of these would have made a fitting death for King Claudius, but all three at once makes it seem like the filmmakers couldn't decide on the best way to kill him.
Jack from Titanic
You knew this was coming; we need to talk about the notorious door scene from "Titanic." Don't get us wrong, the acting in that scene is top-notch, but there's really no avoiding that this moment from "Titanic" makes no sense.
Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) dies trying to keep Rose (Kate Winslet) afloat, even though it's possible there would have been room for both of them on the makeshift raft. How could Jack be so sure there wasn't room for two on the door? He didn't even check. It's almost as though Jack knew he was in a big-budget drama that would win 11 Oscars if the ending brought enough tears to viewers' eyes. His sacrifice helped Winslet win an Oscar, so it was probably worth it.
The director actually tested this theory himself in the documentary "Titanic: 25 Years Later With James Cameron." (via Good Morning America). Using a simulation, Cameron found that it would have been possible for Jack to join her on the door, but other factors (such as whether or not their vital organs would still be submerged) meant that the odds of survival might have been lower for both of them in that scenario. Cameron concluded, "I think his thought process was, 'I'm not going to do one thing that jeopardizes her,' and that's 100% in character." Just because it's in character, though, doesn't mean it's the smart thing to do.
Javert from Les Misérables
In the 2012 film "Les Misérables," police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) has spent years tracking down the thief Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) only to realize that Valjean is actually a decent guy. Unable to reconcile this discovery with the principles he has believed all his life, Javert hurls himself off a bridge. By all rights it should be an emotional moment, but this scene doesn't quite resonate with the gravitas that it should.
Some viewers have pointed out that the way Javert hits the water is perhaps a little too realistic. Instead of plunging into the river, or else smacking against the water's surface, his body collides with another obstacle — a concrete barrier just below the water's surface. You can hear the crunch of his body exploding open. We get that the film is supposed to be gritty, but did it really need to be so graphic?
To add insult to injury, Crowe's singing here isn't that good. That's one thing almost every critic agrees on: Crowe's singing isn't up to par with the other cast members. YouTuber Sideways points out that this is possibly because Crowe was taught how to sing by multiple vocal coaches, each with their own methodology, so Crowe probably received conflicting advice. Viewers will inevitably compare his vocal performance to those of Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, as well as the various actors who have played Javert onstage.
Charlie from Bird Box
Some audience members might argue that this death scene from "Bird Box" is hardly the only questionable moment from the movie, and that's certainly a valid take. But we would argue that the movie doesn't start to really go downhill until the death of Charlie (Lil Rel Howery).
In this scene, the heroes are holed up inside a supermarket to escape the mysterious creatures that convince everybody who sees them to kill themselves. A man named Fish Finger (Matt Leonard) tries to force his way inside, begging the heroes to behold the creatures in all their "beauty." This moment introduces the problematic aspect of the film's premise; neurodivergent people like Fish Finger do not die when they see the creatures — instead, they are swayed to the dark side. You would think Hollywood would be past associating mental illness with evil in the 21st century, but apparently not.
Then, of course, there's Charlie's (Lil Rel Howery) actual death. To stop Fish Finger, he barrels through the door in the most comical way. Plus, the sequence raises the same question as the door scene from "Titanic." Surely there would have been a way for Charlie to save everyone without sacrificing himself? A well-placed kick would have forced Fish Finger to retreat. And you'd think that Charlie's friends would have at least waited a moment longer before closing the door.
Some friends, indeed.
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Gloria from From Dusk Till Dawn
"From Dusk Till Dawn" starts out promising, with brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richard (Quentin Tarantino) on the run from the law. Many viewers immediately fall in love with this pair of bickering antiheroes. Even when the two brothers blow up a gas station, you can't help but grin at Clooney's charisma, and to an extent, that goodwill carries over to Tarantino's Richard. At least, that is until Richard pressures Gloria (Brenda Hillhouse), his hostage at the time, to sit on the bed next to him. In the next scene, we find Gloria dead. His brother is rightfully horrified. Richard claims he had no choice but to kill the hostage because she tried to escape, but viewers will know what really happened: Richard raped her and then killed her to cover his tracks. Suddenly, we are no longer laughing.
In this moment, Richard Gecko goes from being a socially awkward (albeit trigger-happy) weirdo to a complete psycho. Which would be fine for the purposes of the story, if we weren't also supposed to care about him when he dies a violent death at the hands of vampires halfway through the movie. Richard's death is supposed to be one of Seth's crucial motivations for the rest of the movie, but this is undermined by the fact that viewers will likely feel relieved that Richard is gone. His actions leave viewers with a bad taste in their mouths, ruining a movie that would've otherwise been a bloody good time.
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Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Whether it's the ghosts from "Beetlejuice" or the titular character in "The Corpse Bride," Tim Burton can always manage to make the morbid seem cute. Except, of course, when it stops being cute. When Burton directed "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," he adapted this dark Broadway musical with appropriate heaviness. However, there is one moment in the film that may have gone too far — the death of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter).
On the stage, Mrs. Lovett's death is definitely dark but not usually graphic. For instance, just look at the 2005 production starring Patti LuPone as Mrs. Lovett. After Sweeney Todd (Michael Cerveris) discovers Mrs. Lovett's betrayal, he mimes slitting her throat with a razor and LuPone goes limp, before she slowly stands to symbolize her spirit leaving her body.
Meanwhile, Burton takes full advantage of the cinematic medium to show Todd (Johnny Depp) hurling Mrs. Lovett into the furnace. Rather than cutting away and relying on the power of suggestion, the camera hovers unflinchingly on Mrs. Lovett as she writhes in agony. That's right: We get to watch a woman burn alive as if it wasn't bad enough that we've just seen dozens of mutilated bodies dumped in Todd's basement and witnessed the hero unwittingly slit his wife's throat. In such a bleak and gory movie, this is one horror too many. Bonham Carter does a brilliant job here, but the whole sequence is gratuitous and bound to make even the most stoic viewers squeamish.
Felix Finch from Cloud Atlas
The film adaptation of "Cloud Atlas" was met with a mixed response. Although detractors of the film consider it indulgent and its defenders insist that the film is an underrated gem, most folks agree that "Cloud Atlas" is meant to be a serious drama. So then why is the scene with Dermott Hoggins (Tom Hanks) and Felix Finch (Alistair Petrie) so funny?
As Hoggins, Hanks gives a performance that is not subtle in the least. The author pouts about a negative review Finch wrote about his book before grabbing the critic and hurling him off the roof. You can't help but laugh at the whole scenario. Maybe it's the way Hoggins bangs two food trays together to get everyone's attention and then clumsily tosses them aside, like a child that's gotten bored with his toys. Maybe it's the way the film goes out of its way to show Finch's body splattering on the pavement. Or maybe it's the way that Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent) narrates the event as if he's merely describing an amusing party trick.
Whatever the reason, viewers on Reddit felt the scene was too silly and seemed out of place in the otherwise serious film. One Reddit user argued this over-the-top performance was especially disappointing coming from such a talented actor. "The character doesn't seem believable whatsoever," wrote u/neighborlyglove, adding, "Hanks can act along side a volleyball, but he can't do this."
Catherine from Cruella
The chain of events from "Cruella" that shape Estella (Emma Stone) into the villainous Cruella begins with the death of Catherine (Emily Beecham) — who is later revealed to be Estella's adoptive mother. The Baroness (Emma Thompson) sics her pet dalmatians on Catherine, who stands petrified until the dogs knock her off the edge of a cliff. This ridiculous scenario was immediately ridiculed with countless memes. It's supposed to be a tragic moment that transforms Estella, but it's impossible to take the scene seriously.
Viewers don't even need to watch Estella's mother die to empathize with the misunderstood heroine. Some reviewers have argued that the scene is a contrived way to give Cruella a tragic backstory, especially since the movie already had plenty of reasons to explain how Cruella became so cruel. After all, Estella realizes later in the movie that she takes after her birth mother, the Baroness. The film suggests that Estella has always had a little bit of that madness inside of her, and her mother's death was simply an excuse to unleash it.
It's frustrating how easily fans can come up with a more convincing backstory. For instance, @CarlzSays on X (formerly known as Twitter) wrote, "A more compelling cruella origin story would have been if her mother had a pair of Dalmatians that she loved and spoiled and pampered, but ... [she] never wanted a child. So all of the affection went to the dogs."
Denethor from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The death of Denethor (John Noble) from "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" starts out as a deeply emotional scene in which Denethor tries to burn himself alive and take his son with him. Yet the sequence suddenly takes an unintentionally comical turn.
The way Denethor staggers off his funeral pyre, still aflame, and scrambles down the hallway is laughable. Equally ridiculous is how he hurls himself off a cliff. You can't help but wonder if he really needed to be so dramatic. Couldn't he just crawl into a corner and burn up? Or, better yet, dive into a body of water? Reddit user u/NecroGod observed, "Yeah, if he was trying to die to stop the pain he should have just turned left and aimed for the shorter distance to the edge." But jumping off the farthest tip of the ledge looked much cooler, so Peter Jackson went with that instead.
Most of all, viewers can't get past Gandalf's (Ian McKellen) reaction. Rather than lifting a finger to help the man who is burning to death, Gandalf simply says, "So passes Denethor, Son of Ecthelion." Redditor u/HowdyDoodle pointed out, "Denethor has to run for at least another minute to get to the edge of the cliff, and Gandalf is just 'eh, he's dead.'" Maybe it's going too far to say it ruins the movie, per se — Peter Jackson's film is too amazing for that — but this death scene certainly pulls viewers out of the story.
Tadhg McCabe from The Field (1990)
Here is yet another awful death scene that involves a cliff; that makes three in a row!
There ought to be nothing comical about the Oscar-nominated drama "The Field." It is the tragic story of an Irish farmer named Bull McCabe (Richard Harris) who refuses to give up the farmland that his family tended for generations, even though it technically belongs to someone else. In his desperation to cling to what he has already lost, Bull ends up destroying the things that matter most to him. The scene in question (shown above in edited form, since YouTuber @greggbayes chose to play upbeat music over top of this over-the-top moment) shows Bull driving his cattle off a cliff. His son Tadgh (Sean Bean) gets caught in the path of the stampede and tumbles over the edge to his death.
If you have been with the characters for the entire movie, this scenario is quite tragic. But from an outside perspective, it is downright ludicrous. There's no escaping the fact that the film ends with Sean Bean being killed by a bunch of cows — not exactly Bean's career-best character death. Knowing that his death could have easily been avoided makes it even more laughable. By the time you reach the shots of several cows falling in slow motion, the film has lost any sense of gravity. (The cows, meanwhile, retain a very solid sense of gravity.)