Here's a few I'd nominate (probably full of spoilers, read at your own risk):
For emotional impact: Gérard Depardieu's Cyrano in "Cyrano de Bergerac".
- I defy anyone to actually watch this film and not feel at least a little bit of a lump in their throat as Cyrano delivers his last dozen or so lines.
For combining brilliant direction, fantastic subtext and an involved audience into a single moment: Seiji Miyaguchi's Kyuzo in "The Seven Samurai".
- I hope I'm not mixing up character names here. I'm talking about the master swordsman who gets gunned down near the end of the village siege.
- Kyuzo was probably the character that made the biggest impact on me as I watched this film. If you haven't seen it, the duel scene he's involved in near the beginning and the scene where he goes (alone) into the woods to retrieve the enemy's guns were just so cool. His death at the hands of a bandit sniping from inside a nearby hut instantly made me hate the villains that much more. The direction was perfect; the surrounding chaos suddenly stopping with the sound of a single shot magnified the impact of this character's death tenfold. The new vs. old imagery hidden in the swordsman being brought down by gunpowder was fantastic and made this one of the only scenes in the film that I watched on its own.
For making you wish you wore a diaper: Janet Leigh's Marion Crane in "Psycho".
- Come on. It's iconic for a reason.
- The first death scene from "Jaws" could probably fit into this category as well, and probably deserves a nomination.
For showing the consequences and bringing things around full circle: Joe Pesci's Tommy in "Goodfellas".
- Probably my favorite movie, this one has many great death scenes (especially as Jimmy cleans up after the Lufthansa heist) that aren't on anyone's list yet, but Tommy's is special. Tommy, Jimmy and Henry go through the entire movie living by the sword, so when Tommy dies by the sword on the day of what should have been his greatest triumph, Scorsese gives the viewer a sense that the characters are not living in a vacuum; that they reap what they sow.
- Granted, this movie's based on real events, so that helps, but facing characters with the real fallout of their actions is something I wish I saw in more movies (I'm looking at you, Quentin). One movie that featured two (almost three) great death scenes that probably belong on this list is "Road To Perdition". This movie's newer, so I won't spoil exactly whose deaths, but if you're looking for an enjoyable movie with some deaths that have impact, check it out.
Those are the heavier death scenes I'd pick. Just to fill out the list (and add some humour, if that's possible on a list of death scenes) I'd add Bobby's death in "Batman" and every rogue soldier Sean Connery offs in "The Rock" (especially the guy who gets hit with the air conditioner).
Whew. That post was a lot longer that I had anticipated. I wonder if anyone's actually read this far down...
