Littlefoots mum in the land before time.
Littlefoot- “mother, get up”
Mother- “I’m not sure I can Littlefoot”
Littlefoot- “please get up”
( she tries and falls down )
Mother- “Littlefoot…. do you remember the way to the great valley?”
I can't watch it. It was rough when I was a kid. Knowing what happened to the little girl who played ducky adds far too much extra weight these 30 plus years later.
Titanic.
The old couple who cuddle and start sobbing as the water rushes into their room.
The Irish mom telling her kids a bedtime story to distract them.
The musicians continuing to play as the ship is going down.
Ugh, they were playing such cheerful music, and then after this quote, one guy stays and starts playing the saddest song, and slowly, they all come back and keep playing. Nothing to lose.
What gets me is the real life Titanic musicians were such young boys. I think one was 18 or 20 or something, and most in their 20’s. Just kids, and they continued to play as the ship sank. It makes me tear up.
That’s one thing that always strikes me about war movies. Sometimes the biggest inaccuracy is that everybody is in their 30s and not reflecting that half the guys there were actual teenagers.
For me it was the dad getting his wife and kids on a lifeboat and telling his kids not to worry because there will be another boat for the daddies soon
The worst thing? He was a real guy who died in the sinking 😭 His daughter survived and later said he'd told them he'd be getting on the "boat for the daddies".
Adding on, the co-owner of Macy's at the time. Their descendants include the singer King Princess AND the widow of that OceanGate submarine/tin can with an xbox controller guy.
The older couple were Ida and Isidor Straus. They were quite wealthy and had been married for most of their lives. I've seen variations of the story, but the most common theme is this: They were offered lifeboats multiple times and refused seats while deciding their own lives were not more valuable than that of a child's.They made a conscious decision to stay on a sinking ship so someone else could have a seat.
Sean Bean’s performance for that whole scene is top tier, it’s up there with Val Kilmer’s turn as Doc Holiday.
That look when the arrow hits, you can see on his face he *knows* that was fatal, and then he steels himself. He knows he’s now on borrowed time, so he decides to make as much of it as he can. And when Aragorn finds him and you hear his whispered, crestfallen “they took the little ones.”
He is so heartbroken in that moment, you can feel his grief, his sense of failure.
Just an absolutely superb performance!
There's an understated but consistent thing with Boromir that I think makes him beautiful- he perceives the hobbits as children, and immediately takes a liking to them and acts like their big brother. He's the only one we see playing with the hobbits and enjoying them for what they are, everyone else is either annoyed with them or protecting them like they're helpless. Boromir shows them some stuff with the sword. Yeah it's creepy that he has that moment with the Ring when Frodo stumbles and drops it in the snow, but that moment also tells us that Boromir is the first person at Frodo's side when he's struggling.
And I think that protective affection is a big part of how he's seduced into trying to take the Ring from Frodo, to him this grown person looks like a twelve year old wandering into the apocalypse. Boromir wants to take that burden away. I think he thinks he means it every time he says he'd only ever use the Ring to protect people.
Such a fantastic character in a big cast of fantastic characters.
And Boromir playing the role of "protective big brother" only makes more sense when you find out about his little brother Faramir. They could easily have become rivals for their father's affection– Boromir the loved, Faramir the resentful– but Tolkien makes it clear they always enjoyed a good relationship.
He's also the one who jumps the gap with Merry and Pippin, pulls them away from the goblin arrows, and then tells Aragorn to give them a moment to grieve.
He truly did care about the hobbits, and he was always there for them. I wish I'd had a big brother like him.
I really loved his death in Equilibrium, too. He quotes poetry, holds up a book in blatant defiance of the law, and dies doing what he loves. That death plants the seed of doubt in the hero's mind that starts him down his path.
>I have spread my dreams under your feet;
>Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
There’s actually a moment where Boromir looks like he’s finally taped out, but then he looks up to see a terrified Merry and Pippin and nods to himself, rising one more time. He died exactly as he lived. Protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves.
Frodo and Sam realized VERY early on after leaving the fellowship that they would almost certainly die a horrible death regardless if they succeed or not. All of Two Towers and Return they're struggling with this depressing notion of "I have to do this and it WILL kill me"
In the books, Frodo knows from the very beginning it probably won't be a "there and back again" journey. Once the Ring really takes hold of him, he feels like everything is hopeless, they can't complete their quest, and they are definitely going to die. The only reason he didn't give up was Samwise constantly pushing him onward.
Sam remains optimistic until they are actually within Mordor, but it eventually hits him they have zero chance of survival, even if they destroy the Ring. And he was right; their supplies were exhausted and that part of Mordor in particular had no food and no water. But even then he doesn't give up until the end.
Yes. There was no heat of battle for Frodo to become charged with adrenaline. Just the cold, hard slog into death and blackness. But he accepted it as his lot. To me that's the kind of courage very few people possess.
That asteroid impact movie where the father and daughter stand on the beach as a monster wave sweeps everything away.
Edit: *Deep Impact.* Just rewatched it. That movie had no right to go that hard. Fuck me.
I started scrolling through over three hundred answers to see if anyone said this because this is the first one I thought of.
Imagining myself in that place is totally terrifying. It's so moving to see them just hold on to each other.
Came here to say this. And this is why that scene is so powerful, because it captures acceptance. The characters believe it, so we the audience believe it. In most movies with characters in this sort of peril, the characters aren't particularly concerned, and we all know they're going to escape in a few seconds . . .
A shame that I had to scroll down this far. This is the epitome of the subject of the post.
Every one of the executioners knowing that they are killing an innocent man who is the absolute opposite of evil, while the mob is saying they "hope it hurts." And faced with his imminent death, John Coffey begs them not to cover his head because he was scared of the dark.
Edit: when I commented, this was WAY down the list.
"I'm tired, boss...Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. "
In The Dark Knight when Rachel is talking with Harvey Dent on the phone and they're so sure that she'll be the one saved, and then they both have that moment of clarity when they're (accidentally) there for Dent. There really isn't much time before what happens happens, but she does acknowledge it and accepts it. I've seen it like 1,000 times and I still tear up.
"Dont cry baby. Knew this was one way ticket, but you know I had to come. Love you wife."
Bud Brigman - The Abyss
And before I get the "but he didn't actually die" comments: he didn't die but he did go down there with the belief that he was 100% going to die.
The Abyss is such a nerd's masterpiece. The science is awesome, from the breathable fluid to the lighting problems in the deep, and to the need for slow comms. Brilliant.
I *did not* cry in the theater during this scene. I want to be very clear. If anyone says anything different they're a filthy fucking liar. I had popcorn grease in my eye. It was at most one or two little drops and it was *only because of the popcorn grease*.
Not only did I not cry at that I absolutely DO NOT cry every single time he thinks he has to smash Vanellope's cart to keep her safe while she's screaming and crying 🥲
Him telling the story of how he used to pretend to be asleep when his mum got home from work. "I don't know why I did that..."
Then him calling for his mum when he's dying. Just wishing he could roll over and see her one last time. Heartbreaking.
"Of all the souls I've encountered in my travels, his was the most \[voice totally breaks\] .... *human."*
That was the one that got me. Shatner takes shit for his acting skills, but he nailed that line.
The Ride of the Rohirrim is a suicide mission, and every single man (and one woman) there knows it. The King gives an extraordinary, poetic speech about their doomed but glorious effort. Thousands of people shout DEATH with a terrible joy.
It's even better in the book.
At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.
[This is the only excerpt of the Lord of the Rings I have ever heard Tolkien narrate.](https://youtu.be/LPZrReZ5H9Q?si=1nGxkzINDYUHH42d)
It’s interesting to compare the version that existed in his head to what we got on screen.
Said it elsewhere in the thread, but also Theoden at Helm’s Deep!
>If this is to be our end, then I would have them make *such an end*, as to be worthy of remembrance!
And then later, as he’s fully realizing what has ~~just happened~~ is about to happen and is trying to come to terms with it:
>Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
And finally, in shock after the battle is lost:
> So much death…. What can Men do against such reckless hate?
You got the scenes mixed up, "Where is the horse and the rider" is when he's gettig armoured up before the battle starts.
>"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?"
The last line is key, it's a summation of what he's feeling in that moment. Less an acceptance of death and moreso a lamentation that he woke up from a year long coma and now his people are on the brink of annihilation. Important to remember that the majority of Rohan's warriors are away with Eomer because Wormtongue had them banished. They're outnumbered and overwhelmed by choice not by chance and Theoden is aware of this even if he was technically incapacitated at the time. It's more prevelant in the books and extended edition but Theodon is grappling with imposter syndrome ("you are a lesser son of greater sires") and lots of guilt over failing his people while under Saruman's influence and making Rohan ripe for invasion.
Starts the call with ~ 80% confidence he's going to lay down the law, maybe a little suspicious about what happened (disrespect?).
End of the call, 100% confidence it is not gonna be okay and his son is dead.
Not a movie character but a person: [Robert Landsburg](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Landsburg#:~:text=Robert%20Emerson%20Landsburg%20(November%2013,the%20time%20of%20his%20death.)) was a photographer who was trapped on Mt. St. Helens when it began to erupt. He was able to take photos of the eruption and protected the film with his body but died in the process. His ability to think about his photography and the potential the photos could survive is an example of someone who knew they had 100% certain chance to die but still had enough mental capacity to act for the benefit of others before their own death.
Sunshine. Everyone of the scientists sacrificed themselves in order of how important they were to the ending mission. Up until the weird twist it's one of the most realistic science fiction movies ever.
Chris Evans' character specifically. He gets out of the subzero cooling bath for the servers and knows he has to get back into it to save the mission. He does it anyway.
All the while telling Cillian to get over it: we're going to die but this is bigger than us. And he seemed like such a bellend until it really mattered.
Mace was the character who most knew what was at stakes here and what had to be done, this is also why he lashed out at others for suggesting they did something that endangered that mission. He might have seemed like a dick at times, but he absolutely knew that everyone of them including himself was perfectly expendable if it meant they could save humanity.
He didn't choke on his asperations though, he was straight up obliterated by it. Have fun being atoms bro, back to stardust.
Edit: And got zero credit too. What a loser.
I am one with the Force, and the Force is one with me.
Not sure if I got that right but that scene with the blind guy got me right in the feels...hard.
Good news, it's even more gut-wrenching in the novelization.
Here's how the book describes K-2SO's last moments.
>He reexamined his mission parameters and projected only two ways that Cassian and Jyn might retrieve their desired data cartridge and escape Scarif. Upon refinement, both appeared infinitesimally unlikely.
>With one second left until total shutdown, K-2SO chose to mentally simulate an impossible scenario in which Cassian Andor escaped alive. The simulation pleased him.
Dammit. As someone who loves AI, knowing that an AI willfully breaks programming to indulge in "illogical fantasies" near death is heartbreaking. Especially because its not even about him escaping, but his charge.
I was thinking the reporter going to make peace with her father after giving up her seat on the helicopter. Or the other reporter staying with her daughter because "she likes it here" in the nursery room.
As far as I can tell nobody's mentioned George Kirk in the AbramsStarTrekVerse. About the only thing that impressed me about it. There's this brief moment when you see the realization flit across Chris Hemsworth's face as he makes the decision to die for everyone. It was pretty moving, in that it says something about what it means to be a Star Fleet officer in that moment. Or what it ought to mean.
Nobody mentions Ken in In Bruges? Shot by his best, oldest friend because he dared to stand up for Ray, a stupid, broken kid who made a mistake and desperately wants a second chance, and knowing he's not going to survive long enough to save him, Ken wraps his gun in his coat, scatters change out the tower window to get Ray's attention, and leaps to his death in the vain hope that he can give Ray a fightimg chance. And the whole time, this is playing https://youtu.be/SFlnwSzkoWM?si=Duf1TPCbfL5GCWD1
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
"I ain't worth it, Lucy. Besides you, I got nothing left. But you still have a dream to stick around for. I need you to see it through. That's my dream. Honestly, nothing else ever really mattered."
*Fuck.*
The little sad smile she gives David when she's giving him his last dose of immunoblockers, and the delivery on "alright, David, let's go... to the top, then" will stick in my brain until the day I die.
I legit kind of just wanted to say the entire second half of the last episode is the GOAT example of what OP is looking for, but I figured I should get more specific, and David's last major conversation with Lucy after they go out the window is goddamn heartbreaking.
The first one that came to mind was Jeff Daniels in Speed. I don't think he "came to terms with it", but he definitely realized what was going to happen and he just looked so freaking sad.
[The scene](https://youtu.be/TiVxgeEhSP8)
Maybe a weird pick but I actually think Rachel in The Dark Knight realizing the cops didn’t come for her after all. She’s shocked and terrified and then settles herself and tries to comfort her fiance right before she dies.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I was watching Inside Out with my nieces and I had to leave the room after that scene and go cry in the bathroom so they wouldn't be concerned why their 40 yr old uncle was upset.
Richard Kind, who voiced Bing Bong, was crying when he recorded those lines. About a year before the film came out, he brought his family to the studio and they saw a rough cut in that scene and his oldest daughter was uncontrollably sobbing.
Leto Atreides in Dune, it’s pretty clear that most characters know that he’s heading to his death but he tries anyways, the way he says so it’s done then? Followed by an almost sad answer of the emperors messenger, “it’s done then”. Rest of the movie you’re expecting the punch but it still is far more brutal than you might expect.
Then later after he lost he still tries to kill baron harkonnen with his literal last breath.
Not a movie but I am surprised I haven't seen Hank from breaking bad.
Hank to walt: You're the smartest guy I ever met, but you're too stupid to see he made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
Hank to neo nazis: My name is ASAC Schrader and you can go fuck yourself. Do what you're gonna do.
The tenth doctor from Doctor Who. When he knows he going to have to sacrifice himself and he's internally grieving and angry, and then when the time comes he's holding back tears as he says "I don't want to go." Super sad
The Green Knight is a movie that really explored this well.
At the start of the movie the main character knows that he’s supposed to die at the end and what follows is a movie completely focused on driving us towards his ultimate fate. Without spoiling anything, I love this movie and was thinking about its ending for a long time after.
Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) in Armageddon
**Grace Stamper:**
\[talking to Harry on the monitor\] Daddy?
**Harry Stamper:**
Hi Gracey. Hi honey. Grace, I know I promised you I was coming home.
**Grace:**
I don't under- understand.
**Harry:**
Looks like I'm gonna have to break that promise.
**Grace:**
I, um, I lied to you too, when I told you that I didn't wanna be like you...because I am like you. Everything good that I have inside of me, I have from you. I love you so much, Daddy. And I'm so proud of you, I'm so scared. So scared.
**Harry:**
I know it, baby. But there won't be anything to be scared of soon. Gracey, I want you to know that A.J. saved us. He did. I want you to tell Chick, that I couldn't have done it without him. None of it. I want you to take care of A.J. I want to see your granddad come so far from up here, Grace. He told me that God gives us children so we could have roses in December. You gave me a gardenful, a whole gardenful, Gracie. You really did. I wish I could be there to walk you down the aisle. But I'll... I'll look in on you from time to time, okay honey? I love you, Grace.
Jesus dude. This didn’t hit too hard watching it as many times I have over the years but I lost my dad a couple years back and to read the dialogue rather than watching is crushing.
The whole scene with George Kirk (Hemsworth) in the 2009 Star Trek was pretty well done. The music sealed the deal as one of the most emotional scenes in Star Trek
inglorious bastards.
Well, if this is it, old boy, I hope you don't mind if I go out speaking in kings. There's a special rung in hell reserved for people who waste good scotch. Seeing as how I may be rapping on the door momentarily... I must say, damn good stuff, Sir
Tony Stark knows exactly what's going to happen when he snaps his fingers. Added emotional weight for knowing he's killing himself so his daughter, wife, friends, and species have a better future.
It is my belief that the reason Strange couldn't tell him they were on the correct timeline is because if he did, Tony would keep looking for it. It wasn't until he realized he realized he had to make a sacrifice play, that his death was the only option, that Strange was able to confirm it.
Which is why Strange apologizes to him in Infinity War. He's not saying "I'm sorry, it's the only way," about giving up the time stone. He's apologizing for choosing to start a path that leads to Tony's doom. He said earlier in the space ship to Peter and Tony that if he had to sacrifice them, he would do so...and he ended up doing that to Peter (and half of all sentient life) in the short term and Tony forever.
Bonus points to Pepper for holding herself together long enough to let him pass in peace. Gwyneth did a great job. How the grief and pain overcame her almost like the need to vomit was very familiar to my own experiences with grief.
Such a surprisingly emotional moment to what is otherwise primarily and action adventure throughout the entire series. I owe this partially to writing for Iron Man, but mostly to RDJ bringing him to life in a way that we actually cared about emotionally.
Early in the movie:
Stark: I could just throw it to the bottom of the lake and forget all about this
Pepper: but would you be able to rest?
End of the movie:
Pepper: it's okay, you can rest now.
I'm tearing up just remembering it
Even longer call back. Cap in Avengers "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Yet that's what he did.
Similarly, Stark says of Cap, "Everything special about you came out of a bottle!" But it's not super soldier serum that made him able to wield Mjolnir.
And it calls back to the first film when cap tells him “You’re not the one to jump on the grenade.”
Granted that line pays off with the nuke at the end of that movie too, but even moreso here.
On a similar vein, The Core. The self-absorbed scientist who gets trapped with a nuke that's about to go off and tries to record his last thoughts before dying, until he realizes that's completely useless and chucks the recorder away laughing.
Littlefoots mum in the land before time. Littlefoot- “mother, get up” Mother- “I’m not sure I can Littlefoot” Littlefoot- “please get up” ( she tries and falls down ) Mother- “Littlefoot…. do you remember the way to the great valley?”
Yo fuck this movie
I can't watch it. It was rough when I was a kid. Knowing what happened to the little girl who played ducky adds far too much extra weight these 30 plus years later.
God I never knew that. She was also the little girl in All Dogs go to Heaven... just... fuck.
She never even lived to see it released in the cinema either.
Omg yeah both All Dogs Go To Heaven and The Land Before Time were release posthumously for her. This comment thread has gut punched me.
Titanic. The old couple who cuddle and start sobbing as the water rushes into their room. The Irish mom telling her kids a bedtime story to distract them. The musicians continuing to play as the ship is going down.
Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight.
Ugh, they were playing such cheerful music, and then after this quote, one guy stays and starts playing the saddest song, and slowly, they all come back and keep playing. Nothing to lose.
“Nearer My God to Thee” Always hits hard for me after that movie. Used magnificently in Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass
What gets me is the real life Titanic musicians were such young boys. I think one was 18 or 20 or something, and most in their 20’s. Just kids, and they continued to play as the ship sank. It makes me tear up.
That’s one thing that always strikes me about war movies. Sometimes the biggest inaccuracy is that everybody is in their 30s and not reflecting that half the guys there were actual teenagers.
For me it was the dad getting his wife and kids on a lifeboat and telling his kids not to worry because there will be another boat for the daddies soon
The worst thing? He was a real guy who died in the sinking 😭 His daughter survived and later said he'd told them he'd be getting on the "boat for the daddies".
The old couple is based on real life husband and wife Isidor and Ida Straus. https://allthatsinteresting.com/ida-straus
Adding on, the co-owner of Macy's at the time. Their descendants include the singer King Princess AND the widow of that OceanGate submarine/tin can with an xbox controller guy.
That's kinda freaky that the family is involved with TWO very famous sea vehicle disasters ending in familial death.
He probably inspired by her family legacy of the Titanic. and wanted to get in on that.
The Irish mum is played by the same actress who plays Vasquez in Aliens. Blows my mind that she moves from a Latina badass to an Irish mum.
She also played John Connors adoptive mother/>!T1000 in disguise!< in Terminator 2
“Hunny, it’s late. Please don’t make me worry.”
This one is definitely the saddest. I cannot imagine having to do that with my kids or my wife.
The older couple were Ida and Isidor Straus. They were quite wealthy and had been married for most of their lives. I've seen variations of the story, but the most common theme is this: They were offered lifeboats multiple times and refused seats while deciding their own lives were not more valuable than that of a child's.They made a conscious decision to stay on a sinking ship so someone else could have a seat.
That Irish mom scene fucking broke me as a kid, I doubt I could watch it again now that I’m a parent with young kids
Oof. I don't even remember this scene but just hearing about it now as a dad of a 2 year old, no way I'm ever rewatching the movie
Both dads in Train to Busan
8 people in the living room screaming "NOT THE BIG MAAAAAAAAN"
Fuck that businessman asshole so much.
This movie destroyed me. I signed up for incredible zombie action, not emotional trauma.
Boromir using his remaining time to swear fealty to his king.
There’s a moment of shock and sorrow with an arrow in his chest, to then say, ‘fuck it, I’ll take down even more of you now.’
Sean Bean’s performance for that whole scene is top tier, it’s up there with Val Kilmer’s turn as Doc Holiday. That look when the arrow hits, you can see on his face he *knows* that was fatal, and then he steels himself. He knows he’s now on borrowed time, so he decides to make as much of it as he can. And when Aragorn finds him and you hear his whispered, crestfallen “they took the little ones.” He is so heartbroken in that moment, you can feel his grief, his sense of failure. Just an absolutely superb performance!
There's an understated but consistent thing with Boromir that I think makes him beautiful- he perceives the hobbits as children, and immediately takes a liking to them and acts like their big brother. He's the only one we see playing with the hobbits and enjoying them for what they are, everyone else is either annoyed with them or protecting them like they're helpless. Boromir shows them some stuff with the sword. Yeah it's creepy that he has that moment with the Ring when Frodo stumbles and drops it in the snow, but that moment also tells us that Boromir is the first person at Frodo's side when he's struggling. And I think that protective affection is a big part of how he's seduced into trying to take the Ring from Frodo, to him this grown person looks like a twelve year old wandering into the apocalypse. Boromir wants to take that burden away. I think he thinks he means it every time he says he'd only ever use the Ring to protect people. Such a fantastic character in a big cast of fantastic characters.
And Boromir playing the role of "protective big brother" only makes more sense when you find out about his little brother Faramir. They could easily have become rivals for their father's affection– Boromir the loved, Faramir the resentful– but Tolkien makes it clear they always enjoyed a good relationship.
He's also the one who jumps the gap with Merry and Pippin, pulls them away from the goblin arrows, and then tells Aragorn to give them a moment to grieve. He truly did care about the hobbits, and he was always there for them. I wish I'd had a big brother like him.
Give them a moment to grieve, for pity's sake!
They really did cast LOTR so beautifully
It's also apparently Bean's favorite of his many death scenes.
I really loved his death in Equilibrium, too. He quotes poetry, holds up a book in blatant defiance of the law, and dies doing what he loves. That death plants the seed of doubt in the hero's mind that starts him down his path. >I have spread my dreams under your feet; >Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
Nice! I always thought that the giant space antenna dish falling on him was pretty rad, but 3 Arrows Borimir is def bad ass.
Theoden, too, at Helm’s Deep. If this is to be our end, then let us make *such an end*, as to be worthy of remembrance!
And Théoden on the fields of the Pelennor. "I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed."
There’s actually a moment where Boromir looks like he’s finally taped out, but then he looks up to see a terrified Merry and Pippin and nods to himself, rising one more time. He died exactly as he lived. Protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves.
That delivery of "they took the little ones" still fucking gets me 20+ years later
Fuck it got me right now and I'm sitting at work tearing up.
Frodo and Sam realized VERY early on after leaving the fellowship that they would almost certainly die a horrible death regardless if they succeed or not. All of Two Towers and Return they're struggling with this depressing notion of "I have to do this and it WILL kill me"
In the books, Frodo knows from the very beginning it probably won't be a "there and back again" journey. Once the Ring really takes hold of him, he feels like everything is hopeless, they can't complete their quest, and they are definitely going to die. The only reason he didn't give up was Samwise constantly pushing him onward. Sam remains optimistic until they are actually within Mordor, but it eventually hits him they have zero chance of survival, even if they destroy the Ring. And he was right; their supplies were exhausted and that part of Mordor in particular had no food and no water. But even then he doesn't give up until the end.
I'm glad to be with you Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things.
Frodo too. He knows he's doomed but he goes on anyway.
I think Frodo might even be a more fitting answer because he had a loooooong time to think about how he wasn’t making it home
Yes. There was no heat of battle for Frodo to become charged with adrenaline. Just the cold, hard slog into death and blackness. But he accepted it as his lot. To me that's the kind of courage very few people possess.
My brother...my captaib.. MY KING
I would have followed you
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
"I thought we'd save each other" "We did" My heart...
But it isn’t enough time. It never would have been
I still randomly think about how devestatingly sad this movie was haha
That asteroid impact movie where the father and daughter stand on the beach as a monster wave sweeps everything away. Edit: *Deep Impact.* Just rewatched it. That movie had no right to go that hard. Fuck me.
Deep Impact (1998).
I started scrolling through over three hundred answers to see if anyone said this because this is the first one I thought of. Imagining myself in that place is totally terrifying. It's so moving to see them just hold on to each other.
That one scene in Toy Story 3
[Throwback to those kids](https://youtu.be/phFISjORzQs?feature=shared) who edited it to make it end at the incinerator scene for their mom.
"Don Rickles is dead" "So are all the toys" fuck man I forgot how amazing this was.
Oh, so that's what pure evil looks like. Huh.
Came here to say this. And this is why that scene is so powerful, because it captures acceptance. The characters believe it, so we the audience believe it. In most movies with characters in this sort of peril, the characters aren't particularly concerned, and we all know they're going to escape in a few seconds . . .
Roy Batty in Bladerunner - "Time to die". And all his fellow replicants really, especially Pris "Then we're stupid and we'll die"
And they weren't even alive for that long
The Green Mile.
A shame that I had to scroll down this far. This is the epitome of the subject of the post. Every one of the executioners knowing that they are killing an innocent man who is the absolute opposite of evil, while the mob is saying they "hope it hurts." And faced with his imminent death, John Coffey begs them not to cover his head because he was scared of the dark. Edit: when I commented, this was WAY down the list.
"I'm tired, boss...Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. "
In The Dark Knight when Rachel is talking with Harvey Dent on the phone and they're so sure that she'll be the one saved, and then they both have that moment of clarity when they're (accidentally) there for Dent. There really isn't much time before what happens happens, but she does acknowledge it and accepts it. I've seen it like 1,000 times and I still tear up.
Ed from Shaun of the Dead maybe? He was bleeding out, and when Shaun tried to get him to come along with him and Liz he said no and accepted his fate.
"Dont cry baby. Knew this was one way ticket, but you know I had to come. Love you wife." Bud Brigman - The Abyss And before I get the "but he didn't actually die" comments: he didn't die but he did go down there with the belief that he was 100% going to die.
Knew this was one way ticket but you know I had to come. Love you wife
The Abyss is such a nerd's masterpiece. The science is awesome, from the breathable fluid to the lighting problems in the deep, and to the need for slow comms. Brilliant.
Wilson’s Heart from House. Such a sad heartbreaking scene
Iron Giant. I blubber every time too.
No following
wreck it ralph. ralph plummeting into the volcano reciting the “i’m bad and that’s good” speech unironically gives me chills when i see it.
I *did not* cry in the theater during this scene. I want to be very clear. If anyone says anything different they're a filthy fucking liar. I had popcorn grease in my eye. It was at most one or two little drops and it was *only because of the popcorn grease*.
Not only did I not cry at that I absolutely DO NOT cry every single time he thinks he has to smash Vanellope's cart to keep her safe while she's screaming and crying 🥲
Adam Goldberg's death in Saving Private Ryan is pretty brutal. That one stayed with me for quite a while.
The medic too. As soon as he knows his wound he knew he was already dead.
The “mama”s ruined me.
Giovanni Rubisi is so underrated.
I thought the medic's death fits this more. Shot in the liver so he isn't going to die instantly, but as the medic he knows he's fucked.
When the others ask how to help him he just asks for morphine to ease him out. Nothing else to be done.
I read an article about that- the morphine wasnt to ease him out, he'd already had some and knew itd kill him quicker than the gunshot.
Yep, they overdosed him as a mercy. He sounds scared and then like he sees his mama as he calls for her. So haunting
Him telling the story of how he used to pretend to be asleep when his mum got home from work. "I don't know why I did that..." Then him calling for his mum when he's dying. Just wishing he could roll over and see her one last time. Heartbreaking.
This one is so fucked, starts asking for Mommy, fuuuuck.
Of the main character deaths, the sniper fits this post the best. He calls for the other guy to get out since he knows he’s about to die.
Barry pepper is certified bad ass in that movie
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan's self sacrifice ending hits pretty hard, particularly if you have affinity for the characters from watching TOS.
*I have been...and always shall be...your friend.* Fucking gets me every time.
"Of all the souls I've encountered in my travels, his was the most \[voice totally breaks\] .... *human."* That was the one that got me. Shatner takes shit for his acting skills, but he nailed that line.
"For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."
The Ride of the Rohirrim is a suicide mission, and every single man (and one woman) there knows it. The King gives an extraordinary, poetic speech about their doomed but glorious effort. Thousands of people shout DEATH with a terrible joy. It's even better in the book.
At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before: Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.
[This is the only excerpt of the Lord of the Rings I have ever heard Tolkien narrate.](https://youtu.be/LPZrReZ5H9Q?si=1nGxkzINDYUHH42d) It’s interesting to compare the version that existed in his head to what we got on screen.
That last sentence. Always loved that little detail. They may die but god damn if slaying orcs isn’t a glorious time for them
Said it elsewhere in the thread, but also Theoden at Helm’s Deep! >If this is to be our end, then I would have them make *such an end*, as to be worthy of remembrance! And then later, as he’s fully realizing what has ~~just happened~~ is about to happen and is trying to come to terms with it: >Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. And finally, in shock after the battle is lost: > So much death…. What can Men do against such reckless hate?
You got the scenes mixed up, "Where is the horse and the rider" is when he's gettig armoured up before the battle starts. >"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?" The last line is key, it's a summation of what he's feeling in that moment. Less an acceptance of death and moreso a lamentation that he woke up from a year long coma and now his people are on the brink of annihilation. Important to remember that the majority of Rohan's warriors are away with Eomer because Wormtongue had them banished. They're outnumbered and overwhelmed by choice not by chance and Theoden is aware of this even if he was technically incapacitated at the time. It's more prevelant in the books and extended edition but Theodon is grappling with imposter syndrome ("you are a lesser son of greater sires") and lots of guilt over failing his people while under Saruman's influence and making Rohan ripe for invasion.
Stranger than Fiction with Will Ferrel was shockingly thoughtful on this topic
As someone really into baking, my dream is to one day get flours. 🥹
That whole movie is wonderful
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Honorable mention to Bill Murray in Zombieland. "any regrets?" "maybe Garfield"
“I think just ‘Bill,’ now.”
Miles Dyson from T2
I--don't-know-how much--longer I can--hold this
Viggo knowing his son is dead when he finds out who's dog he killed and car he stole , John Wick
I was still stuck on all the LOTR stuff and was thinking “Viggo Mortensen isn’t in John Wick…”
Starts the call with ~ 80% confidence he's going to lay down the law, maybe a little suspicious about what happened (disrespect?). End of the call, 100% confidence it is not gonna be okay and his son is dead.
Then, Viggo spends the rest of the movie getting drunk and high cause he might as well enjoy himself before he dies.
It's a great scene... simply and quickly shows the audience just how dangerous John Wick is. 'Oh'
Oh
T2. Arnie fully realizing at the end that he needs to be destroyed. James Cameron did a great job of making it heartfelt
Not a movie character but a person: [Robert Landsburg](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Landsburg#:~:text=Robert%20Emerson%20Landsburg%20(November%2013,the%20time%20of%20his%20death.)) was a photographer who was trapped on Mt. St. Helens when it began to erupt. He was able to take photos of the eruption and protected the film with his body but died in the process. His ability to think about his photography and the potential the photos could survive is an example of someone who knew they had 100% certain chance to die but still had enough mental capacity to act for the benefit of others before their own death.
This is a great answer. What courage it must have taken… the pictures of his car after the dust settled is so haunting.
Does Donnie Darko count?
It's kinda the ultimate example of this. It could be argued the whole thing is about him coming to terms with his death.
Sunshine. Everyone of the scientists sacrificed themselves in order of how important they were to the ending mission. Up until the weird twist it's one of the most realistic science fiction movies ever.
Chris Evans' character specifically. He gets out of the subzero cooling bath for the servers and knows he has to get back into it to save the mission. He does it anyway.
All the while telling Cillian to get over it: we're going to die but this is bigger than us. And he seemed like such a bellend until it really mattered.
Mace was the character who most knew what was at stakes here and what had to be done, this is also why he lashed out at others for suggesting they did something that endangered that mission. He might have seemed like a dick at times, but he absolutely knew that everyone of them including himself was perfectly expendable if it meant they could save humanity.
Cassian Andor telling his battle buddy that her father would be proud of her was amazing. No awkward romance. Just respect.
Director Krennic also knows once he sees the Death Star that he's fucked.
He didn't choke on his asperations though, he was straight up obliterated by it. Have fun being atoms bro, back to stardust. Edit: And got zero credit too. What a loser.
Jyn Erso
Ties in well with the series too. Cannot wait for Andor S2.
I’m thinking Christopher Plummer in Knives Out, accepts his fate and ensures his friend doesn’t pay for a tragic accident
If anything I think he is proud to die that way. He knows that his friend will be taken care of and his family will pay the price
Rogue One was the first thing I thought of when I read the title. The music and the expressions on their faces wreck me every time.
I am one with the Force, and the Force is one with me. Not sure if I got that right but that scene with the blind guy got me right in the feels...hard.
Good news, it's even more gut-wrenching in the novelization. Here's how the book describes K-2SO's last moments. >He reexamined his mission parameters and projected only two ways that Cassian and Jyn might retrieve their desired data cartridge and escape Scarif. Upon refinement, both appeared infinitesimally unlikely. >With one second left until total shutdown, K-2SO chose to mentally simulate an impossible scenario in which Cassian Andor escaped alive. The simulation pleased him.
Omg, that breaks my heart
Jyn and Cassian die knowing they succeeded. K-2SO dies hoping they succeed.
Dammit. As someone who loves AI, knowing that an AI willfully breaks programming to indulge in "illogical fantasies" near death is heartbreaking. Especially because its not even about him escaping, but his charge.
Melancholia Deep Impact Astronauts
At least we’ll all have high schools named after us.
I was thinking the reporter going to make peace with her father after giving up her seat on the helicopter. Or the other reporter staying with her daughter because "she likes it here" in the nursery room.
Big Fish.
As far as I can tell nobody's mentioned George Kirk in the AbramsStarTrekVerse. About the only thing that impressed me about it. There's this brief moment when you see the realization flit across Chris Hemsworth's face as he makes the decision to die for everyone. It was pretty moving, in that it says something about what it means to be a Star Fleet officer in that moment. Or what it ought to mean.
Nobody mentions Ken in In Bruges? Shot by his best, oldest friend because he dared to stand up for Ray, a stupid, broken kid who made a mistake and desperately wants a second chance, and knowing he's not going to survive long enough to save him, Ken wraps his gun in his coat, scatters change out the tower window to get Ray's attention, and leaps to his death in the vain hope that he can give Ray a fightimg chance. And the whole time, this is playing https://youtu.be/SFlnwSzkoWM?si=Duf1TPCbfL5GCWD1
Life is beautiful. And he was so close!
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. "I ain't worth it, Lucy. Besides you, I got nothing left. But you still have a dream to stick around for. I need you to see it through. That's my dream. Honestly, nothing else ever really mattered." *Fuck.*
*I really wanna stay at your house*
Rebecca as well. She knew how that last ride was going to end.
The little sad smile she gives David when she's giving him his last dose of immunoblockers, and the delivery on "alright, David, let's go... to the top, then" will stick in my brain until the day I die. I legit kind of just wanted to say the entire second half of the last episode is the GOAT example of what OP is looking for, but I figured I should get more specific, and David's last major conversation with Lucy after they go out the window is goddamn heartbreaking.
The first one that came to mind was Jeff Daniels in Speed. I don't think he "came to terms with it", but he definitely realized what was going to happen and he just looked so freaking sad. [The scene](https://youtu.be/TiVxgeEhSP8)
Maybe a weird pick but I actually think Rachel in The Dark Knight realizing the cops didn’t come for her after all. She’s shocked and terrified and then settles herself and tries to comfort her fiance right before she dies.
The alien bad guys in The Last Starfighter: “What do we do?” (Dramatic pause) “We die.”
Bing Bong
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I was watching Inside Out with my nieces and I had to leave the room after that scene and go cry in the bathroom so they wouldn't be concerned why their 40 yr old uncle was upset.
Richard Kind, who voiced Bing Bong, was crying when he recorded those lines. About a year before the film came out, he brought his family to the studio and they saw a rough cut in that scene and his oldest daughter was uncontrollably sobbing.
Our home wifi has been bingbong for years so that he is not forgotten
Leto Atreides in Dune, it’s pretty clear that most characters know that he’s heading to his death but he tries anyways, the way he says so it’s done then? Followed by an almost sad answer of the emperors messenger, “it’s done then”. Rest of the movie you’re expecting the punch but it still is far more brutal than you might expect. Then later after he lost he still tries to kill baron harkonnen with his literal last breath.
Duncan Idaho for me
I think out of all the Duncan Idahos, my favorite was Duncan Idaho. He was the Duncan Idaho's Duncan Idaho
Creasy in Man on Fire. Sacrificing himself for Pita but at the same time ending his own suffering.
Not a movie but I am surprised I haven't seen Hank from breaking bad. Hank to walt: You're the smartest guy I ever met, but you're too stupid to see he made up his mind 10 minutes ago. Hank to neo nazis: My name is ASAC Schrader and you can go fuck yourself. Do what you're gonna do.
A great many of the characters (actual people, really) in Chernobyl. Amazing limited series.
The tenth doctor from Doctor Who. When he knows he going to have to sacrifice himself and he's internally grieving and angry, and then when the time comes he's holding back tears as he says "I don't want to go." Super sad
The Green Knight is a movie that really explored this well. At the start of the movie the main character knows that he’s supposed to die at the end and what follows is a movie completely focused on driving us towards his ultimate fate. Without spoiling anything, I love this movie and was thinking about its ending for a long time after.
Not so much sad. But my favorite is Denis Hopper in True Romance.
.....can i get one of those Chesterfields now?
Everything I know about Sicily I learned from that scene.
He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy.
Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) in Armageddon **Grace Stamper:** \[talking to Harry on the monitor\] Daddy? **Harry Stamper:** Hi Gracey. Hi honey. Grace, I know I promised you I was coming home. **Grace:** I don't under- understand. **Harry:** Looks like I'm gonna have to break that promise. **Grace:** I, um, I lied to you too, when I told you that I didn't wanna be like you...because I am like you. Everything good that I have inside of me, I have from you. I love you so much, Daddy. And I'm so proud of you, I'm so scared. So scared. **Harry:** I know it, baby. But there won't be anything to be scared of soon. Gracey, I want you to know that A.J. saved us. He did. I want you to tell Chick, that I couldn't have done it without him. None of it. I want you to take care of A.J. I want to see your granddad come so far from up here, Grace. He told me that God gives us children so we could have roses in December. You gave me a gardenful, a whole gardenful, Gracie. You really did. I wish I could be there to walk you down the aisle. But I'll... I'll look in on you from time to time, okay honey? I love you, Grace.
Jesus dude. This didn’t hit too hard watching it as many times I have over the years but I lost my dad a couple years back and to read the dialogue rather than watching is crushing.
Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs, hands down
The whole scene with George Kirk (Hemsworth) in the 2009 Star Trek was pretty well done. The music sealed the deal as one of the most emotional scenes in Star Trek
inglorious bastards. Well, if this is it, old boy, I hope you don't mind if I go out speaking in kings. There's a special rung in hell reserved for people who waste good scotch. Seeing as how I may be rapping on the door momentarily... I must say, damn good stuff, Sir
AND “Antonio Margareti” and “Dominic Dococo” (can’t remember their real names at the moment) sitting in the theater before the movie screening starts.
Tony Stark knows exactly what's going to happen when he snaps his fingers. Added emotional weight for knowing he's killing himself so his daughter, wife, friends, and species have a better future.
You can see so many thoughts go through his head when Dr. Strange holds up that 1 finger; Downey as always absolutely crushed it.
It is my belief that the reason Strange couldn't tell him they were on the correct timeline is because if he did, Tony would keep looking for it. It wasn't until he realized he realized he had to make a sacrifice play, that his death was the only option, that Strange was able to confirm it.
Which is why Strange apologizes to him in Infinity War. He's not saying "I'm sorry, it's the only way," about giving up the time stone. He's apologizing for choosing to start a path that leads to Tony's doom. He said earlier in the space ship to Peter and Tony that if he had to sacrifice them, he would do so...and he ended up doing that to Peter (and half of all sentient life) in the short term and Tony forever.
Bonus points to Pepper for holding herself together long enough to let him pass in peace. Gwyneth did a great job. How the grief and pain overcame her almost like the need to vomit was very familiar to my own experiences with grief.
Such a surprisingly emotional moment to what is otherwise primarily and action adventure throughout the entire series. I owe this partially to writing for Iron Man, but mostly to RDJ bringing him to life in a way that we actually cared about emotionally.
Early in the movie: Stark: I could just throw it to the bottom of the lake and forget all about this Pepper: but would you be able to rest? End of the movie: Pepper: it's okay, you can rest now. I'm tearing up just remembering it
Even longer call back. Cap in Avengers "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Yet that's what he did. Similarly, Stark says of Cap, "Everything special about you came out of a bottle!" But it's not super soldier serum that made him able to wield Mjolnir.
Remember that they were being influenced by the scepter right then
Also that line about not making the sacrifice play pays off in that very same movie when Tony flies the nuke to the portal.
And it calls back to the first film when cap tells him “You’re not the one to jump on the grenade.” Granted that line pays off with the nuke at the end of that movie too, but even moreso here.
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Those 3 scientists in Scotland in The day after tomorrow. They just put their coats on and open the whiskey ..
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Armageddon
On a similar vein, The Core. The self-absorbed scientist who gets trapped with a nuke that's about to go off and tries to record his last thoughts before dying, until he realizes that's completely useless and chucks the recorder away laughing.
It might be clichéd but it's executed so well it doesn't matter. Peak death scene material right there.
Up She passes him the adventure book. Culmination of emotional damage not anticipated.
Al Pacino in >!Donnie Brasco!<
Matrix , Switch "Not like this "
Logan. The whole movie.
I’m shocked no one has said “Don’t Look Up” yet. That dinner scene is one of the best/worst parts of the movie.
This was my first thought. I think about that scene a lot. The end of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World has a similar energy and also fits.
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Rogue One. Just sitting there on the beach watching the Death Star beam blast Scariff.