Movies That Kill Off the Main Character

[Bruce Wayne]

The movie that set me off on this tangent is The Great Gatsby, in case anyone was wondering.

 

[Flicka]

I've never seen The Great Gatsby, only read it, but to me it ended the only way it could.

I love movies with tragic endings. I think I've mentioned before how I felt about Pan's Labyrinth - horrible, but perfect ending. Dangerous Liasons could not possibly end without people dying. Of course my love for tragic endings isn't limited to films - I love the ending of All Calm On The Western Front and the ending to Koestler's Darkness At Noon is absolutely perfect.

Isn't life a tragedy of sorts? After all, it always ends with the main character dying.

 

[rue]

The wicked witch of the west... tragic stuff.....

[video=youtube_share;aopdD9Cu-So]http://youtu.be/aopdD9Cu-So[/video]

 

[scottyrocks]

The latest one I can think of is I Am Legend.

 

[Yeps]

There are stories I can think of **cough*** harry potter ***cough*** in which the dramatic arc all but demands that the main character dies. When it doesn't, and some sort of deus ex machina prevents it, it is extremely frustrating and can completely ruin a story*.








*okay, Harry Potter was well and ruined before she didn't kill him off. But his death could have at least partially redeemed it. A moment of heroic sacrifice could have been the redeeming act of true maturity bringing the drawn out coming of age story to an end. Instead we just kept dealing with whiny kids, even in the epilogue in which they had whiny kids of their own. Bah. [/rant]

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The wicked witch of the west... tragic stuff.....

She isn't the main character.

Just saying.

 

[tonyb]

It's not certain that he dies though. It's left to the imagination, is it not?

It's so strongly implied that neither I nor anyone with whom I've discussed the film had any doubt of it. "He went out on his own terms," is how one friend put it.

A great performance by Mickey Rourke, by the way.

 

[Atomic Age]

How about The Trouble with Harry. He is the title character after all.

Doug

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Weekend at Bernie's lol
can't get any deader than that!

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Sunset Boulevard," one of the most death-oriented movies ever.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

Whilst we're on Stroheim, "Blind Husbands" and "Foolish Wives".

 

[AmateisGal]

Cold Mountain and Atonement both have the main character(s) die at the end. And they're both utterly heartwrenching. I can't watch either one again.

 

[Miss Golightly]

Psycho (how I wanted Janet Leigh to live!)
Camille

And nearly forgetting Betty Blue (37°2 le matin)- the ending is just tragic and so heart-wrenching......

 

[Rathdown]

The movie that set me off on this tangent is The Great Gatsby, in case anyone was wondering.

If you are referring to the Robert Redford film, I think I'd just call it "Gatsby". There's nothing "great" about it.

 

[Edward]

If you are referring to the Robert Redford film, I think I'd just call it "Gatsby". There's nothing "great" about it.

Agreed.... in some ways, it wasn't bad, but I loathe Redford, which was a big problem for me.

 

[Mr Vim]

Treasure of the Sierra Madre... Dobbs played by Humphrey Bogart.

And Fight Club... Tyler Durden, the Brad Pitt version.

 

[sheeplady]

Would Harold and Maude count? Maude commits suicide.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Two Robert Duvall movies.

The Great Santini -- When his jet fighter develops a mechanical failure, LTC Bull Meecham, instead of ejecting, goes down with his plane to avoid it crashing into a residential area.

Colors -- Hodges, the veteran cop to the hot-headed rookie played by Sean Penn, is killed in a shootout.

 

[MisterCairo]

It's so strongly implied that neither I nor anyone with whom I've discussed the film had any doubt of it. "He went out on his own terms," is how one friend put it.

A great performance by Mickey Rourke, by the way.

Well, I doubt it! He's stronger than you think.....

 

[Edward]

Doesn't Buzz ickson go down with his plane in The War Lover, right over the top of the Dover Cliffs?