Movies where the hero dies in the end...(Spoilers, naturally)

darthchicken · March 30, 2009, 09:50:59 PM

Stalingrad.

Mr. DS · March 30, 2009, 10:15:53 PM

Hero is hard to define some times but heres some more...

The Outsiders - Matt Dillon's and Ralph Macchio's characters
Return Of The Living Dead - Pretty much everyone
Ti(yuck)tanic - Decraprio

the ghoul · March 30, 2009, 10:34:09 PM

Don't forget "The Great Silence."

JJ80 · March 31, 2009, 12:30:53 AM

Sidney Carton (Ronald Coleman/Dirk Bogarde) in either film adaptation of Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities".

Wag · March 31, 2009, 01:02:32 AM

It's a bit pathetic, but all I can come up with at the moment is Beaches; it is early though

Warp Ninja X · March 31, 2009, 01:29:57 AM

Christopher Lambert in Subway. The ending was really stupid he dies plus he don't live to be with the hot and beautiful Isabelle Adjani.

RCMerchant · March 31, 2009, 05:11:08 AM

Bela Lugosi is shot saving the witless couple from death in the BLACK CAT (1934).
Karloff is shot by Bela in the RAVEN.
Kowalski commits vehicluar hari kari in VANISHING POINT.
COOL HAND LUKE .

Jack · March 31, 2009, 07:24:41 AM

Easy Rider
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Chinese Connection (aka about 5 other titles) starring Bruce Lee
Blair Witch Project
Zardoz - Connery is shown dieing of old age in the end.
Dracula 3000 - the spaceship just blows up at the end - WTF?

Blood Monkey - everybody dies

Chang Saam · March 31, 2009, 07:54:26 AM

Damian Lau's character in Last Hurrah for Chivalry. Death by sword.
Josh Hartnett's character in 30 Days of Night. Death by disintegration (sort of).
Al Pacino's character in Insomnia. Death by gunshot wound.
King Kong. Death by either gunshot wounds or falling off the Empire State building.
Ross Hagen's character in Sidehackers. Death by gunshot wound.
Ruth Gordon's character in Harold and Maude. Death by poison.
Max Von Sydow's character in the Exorcist. Death by self defenestration (sort of)
Christopher Walken's character in the Dead Zone. Death be gunshot wound.
Michael Biehn's character in the Terminator. Death by shrapnel.
The character of Lennie Small in any version of Of Mice and Men. Death by gunshot wound.
Jim Carrey's character in Man on the Moon. Death by Lung Cancer.
Taro Yamamoto's character in Battle Royale. Death by gunshot wound.
Hugo Weaving's character in V for Vendetta. Death by gunshot wounds.
Characters from some screen adaptations of various William Shakespeare plays.

Jim H · March 31, 2009, 01:09:12 PM

Chow Yun-Fat is the hero and dies in:

The Postman Fights Back (though he isn't the lead in that one)
Hong Kong 1941
A Better Tomorrow
Flaming Brothers
City On Fire
City War (well, maybe - it's hard to tell if he's actually dead)
All About Ah-Long
Peace Hotel
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Corruptor

In general, Hong Kong films don't mind killing the leads. It's all part of blood-soaked heroism.

A few other examples:
Above the Law (HK film, not Seagal) - EVERYBODY dies in this one
The Assassin - Everybody dies, almost
Expect the Unexpected - Everybody dies
Mad Detective
Exiled
Dog Bite Dog
Fearless

I could keep going for a long time...

A few that haven't been mentioned from the US:

Night Of The Living Dead
Diary of the Dead
Blood, Bullets and a Fistful of Cash

InformationGeek · March 31, 2009, 04:28:55 PM

Night of the Living Dead

Most everyone already mentioned every movie I could think of. The only other title I could think of was EW, but that was a comic.

Psycho Circus · March 31, 2009, 04:32:25 PM

I already mentioned NOTLD, I thought it waould be the first one listed.

InformationGeek · March 31, 2009, 05:23:18 PM

Quote from: Circus_Circus on March 31, 2009, 04:32:25 PM
I already mentioned NOTLD, I thought it waould be the first one listed.

Oh! I missed that one. I forgot the character's name, but I knew he died. Plus, I didn't notice that because it wasn't completely typed out as Night of the Living Dead.

BoyScoutKevin · March 31, 2009, 05:56:31 PM

There are a surprising number of historical and semi-historical films that feature dead heroes, as can be seen from the following list. I guess we just love to see that dead historical hero,

The Alamo
Amadeus
Bataan
Blaze
The Boy in Striped Pyjamas
Braveheart
Breaker Morant
Bridge Over the River Kwai
Charge of the Light Brigade
Custer of the West
Doctor Zhivago
The Eagle Has Landed
The Fighting SeaBees
Gladiator
Glory
Intolerance
Khartoum
La Bamba
Lady Jane
March or Die
Masada
The Messenger
Midway
Miracle at St. Anna's
The Mission
Nicholas and Alexandria
The Passion of the Christ
Spartacus
The 300 Spartans
Zulu Dawn

While non-historical films do not feature quite so many dead heroes, there are (again) a surprising number of films that feature dead heroes, as can be seen from this list.

The Champ
Death of a Gunfighter
Earthquake
Final Fantasy
The Gunfight
The Lady Killers
The Poseidon Adventure
The Shootist
The Sixth Sense
Village of the Damned
Wicker Man
World War III
Zarak

And neither of these lists are complete, as it has already been pointed out, there are a number of other films that feature dead heroes, and there are still some other films that have yet to be mentioned.

RCMerchant · March 31, 2009, 06:05:30 PM

In a way...I consider KING KONG to be the hero of the film. I mean...he was minding his own biusiness,when Carl Denham decided to kidnap him and haul him out to NYC. All he wanted was to be with his girl.

Also, Karloff's Frankenstein Monster. I always felt sorry for him. His dad ,Dr.F,turned his back on him,he was persacuted and hounded,and his own bride didn't want nothing to do with his ugly self. Poor Frankie...all he wanted was a freind...

sniff.