Best Death Scenes (Spoilers)

[Coriolis]

Marta's death in ep. 40 of Full Metal Alchemist also struck a cord with me. Discovering just how bad things really are in the governement, fleeing to Al to spread the word, and then being executed inside of his body, before the information can get out. The image of Al kneeling on the ground, "weeping" as her blood drips out of his body is pretty moving.

Personally, I thought Hughes' death was sadder because he found out about the whole conspiracy and everything, especially at his funeral, where his daughter's says, "Mommy, why are they burying daddy? He can't finish his work that way."

[DarkSilver]

I remember being really, really upset when Optimus Prime died in Transformers: The Movie. But the *way* he went out was more exciting, exchanging crippling, metal-deforming blows with Megatron until they beat each other to death.

I can still quote that entire speach for Optimus

Optimus Prime: "Do not grieve, for soon, I shall be one with the Matrix. Ultra Magnus, it is to you, old friend, that I pass the Matrix as it was passed to me."

Ultra Magnus: "Prime...I'm..not worthy. I'm just a soldier."

Optimus Prime: "Nor was I, but one day, a Autobot shall rise from our ranks, and use the power of the Matrix, to light our darkest hour. Till that day, till all are one."

still brings a tear to my eye.....

[Noble Ire]

Personally, I thought Hughes' death was sadder because he found out about the whole conspiracy and everything, especially at his funeral, where his daughter's says, "Mommy, why are they burying daddy? He can't finish his work that way."

True enough, I actually teared up during the funeral scene. Marta's death was more of a "Holy Crap!" moment.

Since I'm posting again anyways, I'll add Keyes's death in The Flood. Creepy stuff, and probably one of the most miserable ways to die I've ever seen detailed.

[Crabbypants]

The old fella during the 'Bring out your dead' scene in Holy Grail. Classic!

[Darth Wong]

Little Bill: "I don't deserve this. I was building a house!"

William Munny: "Deserve's got nuthin' to do with it."

Click ... BOOM. Exit Little Bill.

[Pick]

The captain at the end of Das Boot. I was, honestly, caught in tears. I've seen some lovely death scenes, but this one is honestly my favorite of all time, I think, for a movie.

In comics, Lute from Violinist of Hameln manga. That was fucking nasty. You take a fifteen year old kid, make him fight until he's nearly dead from the strain of using badass magic --and then the demons attack! He goes out, gets the shit kicked out of him, his arms broken, his leg stabbed, his throat slashed and his eyes sliced through. Then he's impaled on pikes. Let's not forget his soul is ripped out and his corpse is used as the Hell King's vessel. Definitely the most insanely, unabashedly unpleasent death scene I have ever read. And to the cutest character imaginable. Ah! Such love.

Honestly, I'm a fan of Hughes' death from FMA as well. Mostly because it was very sudden, and very anticlimatic. It just happened.

And, let's kick it old school!! Rand's mother's death from Breath of Fire 2. Yeah. 100 points to anyone who remembers that!

[wilfulton]

Valeria in Conan the Barbarian-

She takes the excursion into Thulsa Doom's lair, grabs the Princess and hauls her out in the midst of the chaos caused by Conan and Subotai. And as they make their escape, Thulsa Doom, so cold and calculating, steps up to the balcony, bow in hand, fires the serpent arrow striking her side, she lives only long enough to tell Conan the price she paid for him, and tells him to "keep me warm."
And upon return to the mounds, Conan commits what is left to the flames. But because he is Cimmerian, he won't cry. Thus Subotai cries for him. (Even the Gods clearly honor this moment, as this once, they make an exception to the standard rule that "no fire will burn up there, no fire at all." And you can see how surprised the Wizard is when the flames roar to life).

Buliwyfe in 13th Warrior-

He slays the Mother of the Wendoll, only to catch a poisoned claw in the shoulder for the trouble. Burning with fever, and armed with the knowledge that he won't last the night, he struggles to raise his sword, and staggers off of his deathbed to make one last stand.
Injuries and poison overcome him only after he drives his sword into the Leader of their warriors, at which point he finds a nice place in the wall, kicks a dead Wendoll off of it, and sits down, dying as his enemy flees.

[wilfulton]

Late bloomer-

Crossfire Trail:

Where the kid (youngest one of the group, forget his name already) is shot by Beau Dorn. And Eulogy given by the Irishman over his grave was a rather touching addition.

And for death of a bad guy-
The Outlaw Josey Wales:

Josey and his wounded comrade are jumped by a pair of hillbillies with shotguns, Abe and (Bill?)

Abe makes the comment "Careful, he's faster'n a rat with them pistols" and thinks he's safe once Josey loses the pistol belt. Oops cunning outlaw that he was, he had a holdout gun.

As he and his companion ride off, his companion asks "Think we should bury 'em?"

Josey spits tobacco juice on Abe, who now sees the world through a third eye, and answers: "Naw, bugs gotta eat, same as worms."

[Hawkwings]

The German sniper at the end of Enemy at the Gates. When that scene started I was just waiting for the inevitable speech, when the German sniper's goes like "You beat me fair and square, you are the better sniper, etc". Imagine my surprise when Vasily just shoots him!

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Why has no one mentioned (unless I missed it) Vader's death scene in Return of the Jedi? It nearly brings tears to my eyes every time I watch him look at the Emperor and then back at Luke being tortured, and you can see the very moment when parental love turns him back to the light side.

Although, I must say the end of T2 has to be my favorite of all time.

[Tiriol]

So many death scenes come to my mind... Oh dear.

Thórin's death in the Hobbit (a greedy, but honourable and loyal man forgives on his deathbed and comes to terms with his life and its regrets)

Boromir's death in LotR (the movie version had more emotional power, while the book's death was filled with peace).
Denethor's death in LotR (the madness and the utter despair make this one somehow touching, and the fact that not even the walls of Minas Tirith can stop Sauron's dark will from ruining good and strong men)
Theodén's death in LotR (very touching. Emotional, peaceful, and strong)
Sauron's "death" in LotR (I still feel something inside me when I read the passage which describes the Dark Lord rising as a great column of darkness and cloud - the movie death was an utter joke)

Obi-Wan Kenobi's death in ANH (it was just so hard to understand (I was a little kid at the time when I first saw the movie) why anyone would sacrifice oneself in such manner, even though he made his return as a ghost)
Yoda's death in RotJ (it was strange to see someone react so peacefully to death)
Palpatine's death in RotJ (I kinda cheered at that - down did the bugger go)
Darth Vader's/Anakin Skywalker's death (perhaps the most emotional death in the whole saga, a moment of forgiveness and fatherly love)

Terminator's death in Terminator 2 (it was really well done - "I know now why you cry, but I cannot do so" or something like that)

Barbossa's death in Pirates of the Caribbean ("I feel... cold" - the music was just perfect)

that captain's death in Babylon 5: Call to Arms -movie - I don't remember the man's name, but he died to save the Earth from the Drakh forces, especially to save his little daughter. And the music... It was great.

[Vicious]

Spike Speigel at the end of Cowboy Bebop.
Maximus Decimus Meridius at the end of Gladiator.
Boromir, in the Fellowship of the Ring (movie).
Mellish in Saving Private Ryan. Of all the squad, his death struck me the most.

Those are the ones that most clearly come to mind.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Which one was Mellish?

the rich drug dealing bad wealthy american at the beginning of "A Touch of Evil" it's one of the longest single takes in movie history and it starts up the movie so well.

[lance]

The end of Scarface.

[Civil War Man]

Which one was Mellish?

The Jewish one. He got into a knife fight with one of the Nazis near the end.

[HemlockGrey]

Another great death scene: Tommy deVito gets whacked.

"Oh, n-..."

Beautiful.

[darth korte]

for some reason HAL´s "death" in 2001 comes to mind

[Adrian Laguna]

Honestly, I'm a fan of Hughes' death from FMA as well. Mostly because it was very sudden, and very anticlimatic. It just happened!

I liked it too, but it didn't seem so sudden. After it turned-out that it was Greed standing next to him near that phone booth I just went "He's fucked." The funeral, plus the at the very end were Edward sees him waving goodbye... those two scenes one after the other really moved me.

The pilot's death in Serenity.

Then final scene in Battery Wagner from Glory. And James Armastead's mortal wounding at the Angle in Gettysburg.

I will second that, as well as General Armistead's death. Though I'm refering to his death in the book The Killer Angels, not yet having seen Gettysburg. It's a bit too lengthy to quote, as the author took the liberty of adding in Armistead's thoughts and feelings, it is a really moving scene. Armistead's last words are slightly different (from the movie):
ARMISTEAD: Will you tell General Hancock... Can you hear me, son?
UNION OFFICER: I can hear you, sir.
ARMISTEAD: Will you tell General Hancock, please, that General Armistead sends his regrets. Will you tell him . . . how very sorry I am . . .

Yellow 13's death in Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies.

When Solidus Snake bites the dust in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was also very sad. He was a good guy after all, wanting to expose the Patriots and tell the truth to the world... The original scene had a US Flag detaching from a nearby flag-pole and covering his corpse after he died, but for some strange reason Kojima changed it last minute.

I was a bit moved by the deaths of The End and The Fury in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. However, it was when Snake kills The Boss at the end that is truly really moving. Its funny, I was watching the ending cut-scene waiting for Snake to do it when it suddenly dawned on me that I had to pull the trigger, something that I didn't really want to do. The whole thing becomes even more moving later one when Eve reveals the truth and you see Snake leaving flowers at The Boss's grave.

Not so much a death scene as an epitaph, and a real one at that, but I feel Simonides' words must be mentioned:
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here obedient to their laws we lie.

[Dalton]

Ton Phanan.

[Noble Ire]

I liked it too, but it didn't seem so sudden. After it turned-out that it was Greed standing next to him near that phone booth I just went "He's fucked." The funeral, plus the at the very end were Edward sees him waving goodbye... those two scenes one after the other really moved me.

It was Envy, actually.

To add another to the list, D'argo's death at the end of Peacekeeper Wars was pretty moving. It was just as I thought he would go out, fighting to the last, and though I knew he was probably going to die in the mini-series, it didn't take any of the emotional bite off of it.

[drachefly]

The pilot's death in Serenity.

Are you kidding?

When Wade and Mellish were killed in Saving Private Ryan. Wade's death made me sad. Mellish's death made me want to choke the little shit who sat at the bottom of the stairs and did nothing. He just sat there like the Madame of a whorehouse and let the kraut walk out like a high-paying customer!

He got him eventually; does that help?

The redemptive death scenes are always good -- like in K-19.

(thinking of the real guys there, and at Chernobyl)

[LadyTevar]

I liked it too, but it didn't seem so sudden. After it turned-out that it was Greed standing next to him near that phone booth I just went "He's fucked." The funeral, plus the at the very end were Edward sees him waving goodbye... those two scenes one after the other really moved me.

It was Envy, actually.

To add another to the list, D'argo's death at the end of Peacekeeper Wars was pretty moving. It was just as I thought he would go out, fighting to the last, and though I knew he was probably going to die in the mini-series, it didn't take any of the emotional bite off of it.

I don't remember D'argo dying...

[HemlockGrey]

I don't remember D'argo dying...

He was mortally wounded, holding off overwhelming forces as the rest of the crew made his escape. Even if they didn't show him dying, his death was more or less a certain thing.

And then the planet he was on was destroyed.

Yeah. He died.

[drachefly]

Oasis' death in the hospital was pretty good, but not exactly final.

Clone-Aylee.


Worst death? Prince Andrey Bolkonsky.

[Vanas]

Not the event itself, but the moment after:
FreeSpace 2: "To the officers and crew of the 70th Blue Lions..."


Oh, and HAL. Both times.
"He taught me a song. Would you like to hear it?"