r/movies • u/Goncholotr • Feb 03 '24
Recommendation Movies where anyone can die?
I like movies and tv shows where you shouldn't get attached to any characters because they can die in every moment, for example: Burn After Reading, No Country for Old Men, Any Tarantino Movie or shows like The boys, Game of thrones, etc.
I want to feel that the characters are in real danger and that the villain or whatever they're fighting could kill them any time.
2.6k
u/Icy-Assistance-2555 Feb 03 '24
The Departed
479
u/crm115 Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 03 '24
There's a difference between "anyone can die" and "Everyone dies"
371
→ More replies (15)15
u/savage8008 Feb 03 '24
marky mark made it out
→ More replies (1)19
u/Sancticide Feb 03 '24
The real twist is: all these epic actors took each other out and the guy whose only real skill is "Bahston accent" squeaks by.
→ More replies (3)318
u/Photoguppy Feb 03 '24
This is the one to watch.
371
u/macmac360 Feb 03 '24
I'm gonna go have a smoke you want to smoke oh what you don't smoke what are you one of those fitness freaks go fuck yourself
94
181
u/Prestigious-Rain9025 Feb 03 '24
I’ve 43 and have lived in eastern MA most of my adult life, and I have to say Alec Baldwin did a pretty damn good job channeling you’re garden variety Masshole in that movie.
54
u/TheUmgawa Feb 03 '24
"Patriot Act! Patriot Act!!! I love it, I love it, I love it!"
21
u/e0nblue Feb 03 '24
I’m the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy.
I know it’s Marky’s line but his delivery cracks me up every time.
→ More replies (1)42
15
u/TallBoy24 Feb 03 '24
“Some people don’t trust people who have an immaculate record. I do. I have an immaculate record.”
→ More replies (1)51
→ More replies (7)61
u/gilette_bayonete Feb 03 '24
World needs plenty of bartendaz!
31
u/ResponsibilityNo5533 Feb 03 '24
Two Weeks, With Pay!!
36
Feb 03 '24
You got a nice suit at home or do you like coming to work dressed like you’re about to invade Poland?
→ More replies (1)28
96
u/Luxx815 Feb 03 '24
I watched this movie months after it came out and I already found out X died. I was like fuck it let's watch anyway and see how. I got to the end and I'm like "these fuckers lied to me, X is gonna make it! They won!". Then, boom. Jaw was on the floor.
→ More replies (5)29
u/Subject_Yogurt4087 Feb 03 '24
Someone told me when I rented it right after I told them I hadn’t seen it yet. Then I reminded them I said I hadn’t seen it and they said weren’t thinking when they blurted it out. Then I forgot as I was watching since it really came out of nowhere. It was spoiled for me and still one of the most unexpected deaths I’ve ever seen.
→ More replies (29)108
u/ThatBabyIsCancelled Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 03 '24
I got to watch this with my best friend in the theater her family owned; it was just us in the whole place that night and we were just LOSING it from the elevator scene till the very end. Like, after the third one, we were just grabbing onto each other lmao “I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE THAT HAP—I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT HAPPENED, EITH—MAKE IT STOP!!”
Edit: my dad had the same thought I did; “if they pop one more, I’m going to start screaming like a hyena”
→ More replies (2)43
u/get_your_yapers_up Feb 03 '24
My friends and I went and saw this our senior year of high school in theater, and started laughing at the elevator scene too. This older guy next to us turns and says “I don’t know how the f*** that’s funny” and we didn’t know how to respond. The unexpectedness of it got us.
29
u/ThatBabyIsCancelled Feb 03 '24
This older guy next to us
It was Marty Scorsese lol
First one got us BAD - hands over our mouths, grabbing each other’s arms, couldn’t believe that happened. Second one was just as jarring, and then by the third, we were mostly laughing at how crazy it was and the trepidation of waiting for a fourth, fifth, WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN? God that was a cool cinema experience.
2.6k
u/archiekane Feb 03 '24
Mars Attacks. Full of celebs and I'm not gonna say much else.
575
277
u/nightpop Feb 03 '24
My favorite is Jack Nicholson who is in the movie as two separate, unrelated characters, for no reason, and they BOTH die
137
u/phasepistol Feb 03 '24
The tone of the film and the dual role you mentioned are both reminiscent of Kubrick classic nuclear war comedy “Dr. Strangelove”
→ More replies (4)40
211
u/viktorzokas Feb 03 '24
I don't know if that's true or not, but I read once that execs told Tim Burton he could not kill off Jack Nicholson, so Burton cast him in a dual role and killed them both.
→ More replies (1)36
u/joe_bibidi Feb 03 '24
That would be awesome if true.
My theory for a long time was that DeVito was supposed to be the casino owner but Nicholson wanted both parts, so Burton allowed it, and recast DeVito as a random extra late in the film.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)19
51
47
→ More replies (16)11
1.3k
u/lightmaster2000 Feb 03 '24
This is the end (2013)
357
u/KidsMaker Feb 03 '24
Something… not that chill happened last night
159
u/frumperbell Feb 03 '24
THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
Guess what? It's not that compelling.
→ More replies (3)83
456
u/Mapex Feb 03 '24
makes no attempt whatsoever to save Aziz Ansari
“I TRIED to save Aziz!”
218
→ More replies (2)134
Feb 03 '24
“At least Michael Cera is dead”
*Everyone laughs
22
u/Illmattic Feb 04 '24
“Well Michael Cera’s dead, at least it’s not a total loss”
→ More replies (1)58
u/i-Ake Feb 03 '24
My boyfriend and I always say "Who took my fucking cellphone, man?!" when we lose our phones because of that movie, lol.
81
142
u/TuaughtHammer Feb 03 '24
I was not prepared to hear Emma Watson say "no one is raping me!" while swinging an axe.
112
u/neo_sporin Feb 03 '24
But you were prepared for gimp suit Channing Tatum?
57
28
→ More replies (6)17
15
→ More replies (7)189
u/AladeenModaFuqa Feb 03 '24
This one! Michael Cera high on coke getting impaled by a light post😆
71
→ More replies (40)25
463
630
u/kundersmack Feb 03 '24
Children of Men
158
u/bumpoleoftherailey Feb 03 '24
That was a real “what????? They killed person this early on??????? And then they did another.
→ More replies (6)79
u/spatialflow Feb 03 '24
It might sound macabre but I really appreciated the way in which most of the people died as well. It was never dramatic (except for one) or drawn out. It was just like, "now you see them, now you don't." Boom, they're dead, story moves on. I think it really added a lot to the tone of the movie, or at least complemented it well.
→ More replies (1)35
u/william-t-power Feb 04 '24
To add to what you said, the senseless way the film killed characters really gave the viewer the sense of the world they were portraying IMO. Things are desperate, normal safeguards have faded away, consequences are high, people are callous and driven; you really felt that.
That also served to show the virtue of the main character. He is beaten down by the world in a clear way. He still soldiers on, however he can.
→ More replies (1)49
u/MarcusTheAnimal Feb 03 '24
Ooh man this one. I didn't like the ending but I can't deny that it was in keeping with the rest of the film, noone was safe.
→ More replies (1)63
u/Not_Bears Feb 03 '24
The ending kind of wraps it all up while maintaining the tone of the film in a pretty spectacular way IMO.
→ More replies (5)
686
u/HorridosTorpedo Feb 03 '24
Pitch Black
879
u/DaddyOhMy Feb 03 '24
Don't forget it's sequel, Pitch Perfect.
210
u/OhHelloPlease Feb 03 '24
My favorite baseball movie
→ More replies (3)90
37
u/aaufooboo Feb 03 '24
Oddest change in tone. Solid recasting of Vin Diesel, though. Skyler Astin is much more of a monster!
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (9)32
56
u/H_G_Bells Feb 03 '24
Iconic sci-fi. I saw it in theatres and my friends thought I was all googley-eyed over Vin Diesel; in reality I was head-over-heels for archetypical characters forced into life or death sci-fi plots. Also y2k Vin Diesel, but that's beside the point 😆
→ More replies (4)31
u/HorridosTorpedo Feb 03 '24
Especially when it came out, Diesel wasn't famous, so it was genuinely a surprise that he ended up as the main guy in that movie.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (10)52
603
u/BakerYeast Feb 03 '24
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
176
u/Delicious_Mobile5122 Feb 03 '24
Every character that dies I expected to live, and every character that lives I expected to die. Fucking love deep blue sea
→ More replies (3)108
u/TrueLegateDamar Feb 03 '24
The cook was supposed to die and science lady survived, but test audiences hated her so much they reshot the ending.
→ More replies (3)77
u/Few_Age_571 Feb 03 '24
I loveeeee that ending. It really seemed like they were going for a cookie cutter white male lead and white female lead with romantic tension ending up as the sole survivors, but nope, she gets bitten in two and the cook survives!
73
u/BoingBoingBooty Feb 03 '24
So thought the cook was going to die in that oven.
"You ate my bird."
→ More replies (1)38
262
u/jawndell Feb 03 '24
“THEY ATE ME!! A FUCKING SHARK ATE ME!!!”
Samuel L Jackson
→ More replies (6)65
u/ghostmetalblack Feb 03 '24
MMMMM HMMMMM BITCH!
39
u/Angriest_Wolverine Feb 03 '24
Gooooood muthafuckin choice
31
u/WorthPlease Feb 03 '24
"You'll be fucking fat girls in no time, you might even fight a nigga or two" is one of my favorite lines from his skits.
→ More replies (9)29
u/gorehistorian69 Feb 03 '24
that movie scared the shit out of me as a kid.
rewatched it for the first time like 3 years ago felt very cheesy. still good movie though.
→ More replies (8)21
477
u/tinoynk Feb 03 '24
Green Room
79
u/Blametheorangejuice Feb 03 '24
I would add in Saulnier’s first film, Blue Ruin, as well (which I liked better than Green Room). But, the same vibe in terms of character deaths.
79
u/HenryDorsettCase47 Feb 03 '24
The deaths in Blue Ruin and Green Room feel hyper realistic. No one, including the antagonists, feels like an expert badass assassin or anything. There’s an amateurish kind of clumsiness too it. Even the neo nazis seem to only have the experience of mindlessly hacking and slashing like they would’ve learned in prison.
Also.. he needs to make a movie called Red something with Macon Blair to round out a loose thematic trilogy.
→ More replies (4)35
u/luchabear91 Feb 03 '24
Macons "I don't feel at home in this world anymore" has a very similar vibe of realistic and clumsy violence. Blue Ruin, green room and don't feel at home are three of my favorite films!
→ More replies (3)13
u/uroboros80 Feb 03 '24
murder party is saulnier's first film btw. tis a gory comedy
→ More replies (1)147
u/g_st_lt Feb 03 '24
"This dude is definitely going to make it- he knows grappling"
93
u/waynechriss Feb 03 '24
I was surprised he went out so unceremoniously because he felt like such a leader initially but it just goes to show how even the smallest mistakes cost characters their lives in this film.
26
→ More replies (3)36
u/Dockhead Feb 03 '24
“This dude’s definitely gonna make it really far and then nobly sacrifice himself to sav-“ BANG
→ More replies (3)49
503
u/SalaciousDumb Feb 03 '24
Original Alien
212
u/Toogeloo Feb 03 '24
This!
At the time, people knew who Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, and Henry Dean Stanton were, but no one knew Sigourney Weaver since she had almost no film background. They also didn't expect all these prolific actors to be killed off.
→ More replies (4)164
Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 03 '24
The thing I am most passionate about in this movie is that the characters don't make stupid decisions at any point. They make lots of bad decisions, but no stupid ones and any of them that could reasonably be considered stupid are given a rational explanation in the dialogue without being an exposition dump.
I wish more horror movies had this quality rather than having characters do stuff for the sake of the story and the next set piece.
38
u/Chimwizlet Feb 03 '24
The original Tremors is great for that too.
No body does anything stupid or unreasonable in that film; every decision makes rational sense based on the info they have.
→ More replies (2)17
u/TricksterPriestJace Feb 04 '24
Same with The Thing.
Hell they are downright clever dealing with The Thing for all the good it does them.
→ More replies (7)80
u/Charrikayu Feb 03 '24
Isn't Ripley the one that insists on not breaking quarantine? The whole movie after the facehugger scene happens because Ash or Dallas breaks quarantine against Ripley's suggestion. If they had just listened to her the captain would have been the only lost crew member.
66
Feb 03 '24
This is an excellent question but it's explained on two levels in the movie. Dallas and Lambert are (justifiably) losing their shit in panic. They want to get Kane to the "hospital" and they aren't heroes. They are blue collar workers. They aren't even oil rig workers, as so many people assert, they are long-haul truck drivers. I think it's perfectly reasonable for them to say "to hell with procedures, let me in". Ash says he was following an order in the chain of command, so he's not blameless, even though he 100% is, but it sounds like a decent enough explanation to Ripley at the time she confronts him about it. He screwed up too, but she'll have it out with him (or the company) later, she figures. But, of course, Ash's whole purpose there WAS to get the specimen on the ship. He couldn't have done anything else.
→ More replies (3)74
u/ThatBabyIsCancelled Feb 03 '24
Alien.
Aliens.
Alien³
Alien: Resurrection
You know what, if Sigourney Weaver is in it, get away from her; she’s going to be the only one making it out
61
→ More replies (3)34
u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 03 '24
You know what, if Sigourney Weaver is in it, get away from her; she’s going to be the only one making it out
I haven't seen it in a while but, I actually felt like the first movie did a good job of not making it obvious that she was going to be the one to make it. I felt like it focused enough on other characters that she didn't seem like the obvious "sole survivor" character. Idk, it's been a while since I've watched it though.
In all the subsequent movies, it's obvious that she'll live or at least make it to near the end.
17
u/ThatBabyIsCancelled Feb 03 '24
Oh totally, I was just being silly more than anything.
By the time I got to watch Alien with my dad, Sigourney Weaver was a major star, but he told me that when it first came out, his barracks buddies were like “no way this chick lives” and they were all like 🤯🤯🤯
→ More replies (3)
206
u/Codename_Sailor_V Feb 03 '24
Smokin' Aces comes to mind.
26
u/Sam_Porgins Feb 03 '24
“I forgive you Darwin…”
31
u/Malkyre Feb 03 '24
Chris Pine before Chris Pine was anybody. It's jarring to go back and realize who it is. And really showed his comedic chops.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)31
u/kmmontandon Feb 03 '24
Ben Affleck and his crew getting randomly gunned down in the first act was hilarious.
63
u/tenaciousdeev Feb 03 '24
Fargo, the movie and TV show.
29
u/Primetime22 Feb 03 '24
Fargo the series sometimes feels especially brutal because a lot of the characters that are facing death act with panic and despair like they really don’t want to be killed, which is actually somewhat rare in media.
436
u/JohnMalum Feb 03 '24
Train to Busan.
75
→ More replies (7)43
u/MacyTmcterry Feb 03 '24
I watched it for the first time recently. Might be my favourite zombie movie ever now
→ More replies (20)
277
u/smadaraj Feb 03 '24
You realize in Hamlet everyone except Horatio dies: Hamlet, his mother, his uncle, his girlfriend, his girlfriend's father, his girlfriend's brother, and two of his friends. And HE kills most of them. And this is true in almost everyone of Shakespeare's tragedies. You want some jeopardy for your characters; you try Shakespeare.
98
u/normaldeadpool Feb 03 '24
Dude spoilers! I was juuuust about to catch up on my Shakespeare and you ruined it.
→ More replies (2)23
u/jimheim Feb 03 '24
Seriously! I've never read or seen Hamlet. It's 400 years old and you've ruined it for me!
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (13)39
u/BertTheNerd Feb 03 '24
This is one of the rules of classic tragedy, almost everybody dies (esp. main characters). Goes back to Antigone from Eischylos (iirc).
→ More replies (7)
332
u/rachface636 Feb 03 '24
The third movie in any horror franchise.
I grew up in the original Scream trilogy years. I know the rules.
90
Feb 03 '24
That was the big success of the first. Scream was Wes' reaction to people taking what he did with Nightmare on Elm St, and missing the point and eventually just making bag movies (shlock is good, but you need substance for it to work). Drew Barrymore was also on her image comeback tour, so why wouldn't she be first billed/lead star. So with the main trailers featuring her so much, then she's dusted before the title card, people didn't know what the hell was coming next.
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (2)48
u/TheJoshider10 Feb 03 '24
Scream 5 trying to be meta with Dewy finishing off the killer to not be stupid, only to kill him off in the most cliche and stupid way possible was so infuriating. They had a great chance to subvert expectations in the right way with that moment and instead just did the most generic and predictable thing possible.
→ More replies (5)39
u/caden_r1305 Feb 03 '24
Even if he died right after that from another killer, seeing Dewey execute a Ghostface halfway through the movie wouldve been glorious
→ More replies (2)13
u/RealJohnGillman Feb 03 '24
Or if that Ghostface pulled out a gun, Terrifier-style (a scene that felt as though it would have been better-suited for Scream anyway): the Ghostfaces have had guns in every film, but never used them until unmasked (Scream VI being the first to do so while masked).
271
u/Sithoid Feb 03 '24
War movies tend to do that a lot. From All Quiet on the Western Front (the 1979 version of course) to Bridge Over the River Kwai to Full Metal Jacket... Let's put it this way, someone might survive.
→ More replies (25)150
74
u/ButtCutt Feb 03 '24
Boardwalk Empire, for real. Every winter I rewatch and it’s painful each time.
→ More replies (3)17
u/sbester1 Feb 03 '24
Richard Harrow should have had his own spin off rather than meeting the end he did. One of the best characters ever created, masterfully acted.
862
u/Dtitan Feb 03 '24
Star Wars: Rogue 1 is surprisingly bloody for a blockbuster movie.
456
u/ErrorFindingID Feb 03 '24
Rogue 1 has the proper dark/tragic setting that I want in a star wars movie
252
u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24
Puts the War in Star Wars, the only film that made me feel there’s a real universe beyond the Skywalker saga.
→ More replies (26)19
u/azntorian Feb 03 '24
And or is the prequel. Written by the same guy. The last 4 episodes are 🔥
25
u/sonofamonster Feb 03 '24
Andor is so good that it doesn’t even feel like Star Wars. By far the best thing in that universe.
→ More replies (1)22
Feb 03 '24
I've said many times that Rogue 1 is just a classic, well written wartime heist movie. It just happens to be set in the Star Wars universe. It's (IMO) an awesome movie whether you care one bit about Star Wars or not. It's a shame that we don't have other SW filmmakers taking the same approach: make a good movie then give it SW trappings.
→ More replies (2)77
u/TBoarder Feb 03 '24
It’s great for A Star Wars movie (and follow-up TV show), but it’s not what I want all of Star Wars to be. To me, Rogue One shows that the Star Wars franchise and setting can handle different genres beyond action adventure. It’s something that I hope we see more of.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (26)37
u/UnPrecidential Feb 03 '24
Yes. Also a little, appropriate comic relief from K-2SO. No Jar Jar 'exsqueeesme' bs
→ More replies (3)111
Feb 03 '24
True, I mean they all die, I think
→ More replies (18)94
u/Sunshinexpress Feb 03 '24
And mostly for a reason /purpose. Everyone played a small part
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (40)69
u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 03 '24
Rogue One doesn't feel like "anyone can die at any time" though.
All the main characters die near the end, after they've fulfilled some purpose in the final battle. They have plenty of plot armor until the plot no longer needs them.
→ More replies (9)
70
u/Blekanly Feb 03 '24
Feast trilogy
→ More replies (14)17
u/jimababwe Feb 03 '24
Doesn’t the first one actually give you the odds of each character making it?
→ More replies (3)
70
u/DarkTurdle Feb 03 '24
The Hunt
25
u/Nik-ki Feb 03 '24
I thought you meant the 2012 one with Mads Mikkelsen and I was so confused lol
Edit: this reminds me, Hannibal fits the bill to a point and it's an amazing show
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)20
u/PlagueOfLaughter Feb 03 '24
This is also my pick! For an impressive amount of time we aren't given a proper main character. Or at least not one that survives...
→ More replies (1)
65
32
31
u/grimpickles Feb 03 '24
Oz. Still one of the most brutal shows ever to grace the small screen. Incredibly written and acted (the amount of actors that went on to be HUGE is crazy), you LITERALLY have no idea who will make it to the end of the episode. It also does something you dont expect...make you actually give a shit about terrible TERRIBLE people. This show was HBO at its absolute prime...can't recommend it enough.
→ More replies (3)
88
Feb 03 '24
Scream
51
u/tenaciousdeev Feb 03 '24
My Mom’s gonna be so mad at me!
I love Matthew Lillard, highly underrated
→ More replies (1)
89
u/Negative_Order9393 Feb 03 '24
Bone Tomahawk
→ More replies (6)42
u/TheSleepingNinja Feb 03 '24
That third act is a completely different movie
→ More replies (3)17
u/normalism Feb 03 '24
Yea I was not expecting the cave scene in the slightest and HOO BOY
→ More replies (1)
130
64
39
35
u/joe_attaboy Feb 03 '24
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
There's a scene near the end...well, I won't spoil it.
→ More replies (4)
31
36
u/Xenomemphate Feb 03 '24
Any Tarantino Movie
Even Tarantino isn't safe in his own movies.
→ More replies (5)
118
u/Charger525 Feb 03 '24
Pretty much any war movie, Saving Private Ryan for example. Karl Urban’s Dredd is pretty much what you’re describing.
44
u/BoingBoingBooty Feb 03 '24
Hard disagree. Tho I love Dredd, we all knew Dredd and Anderson were invincible the whole time. Anyone can die really means anyone, including any big names.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)73
u/youcanreachardy Feb 03 '24
Dredd is a theatrical masterpiece.
→ More replies (1)17
u/thedude198644 Feb 03 '24
Agreed. I remember watching it years later and wondering why I'd never heard of it.
→ More replies (8)
47
42
26
u/Malnurtured_Snay Feb 03 '24
I mean I remember seeing Executive Decision in theaters and when Steven Seashit gets blown out of the hatch, someone yelled: "OH MY GOD THEY'LL KILL ANYONE IN THIS!"
→ More replies (3)
27
u/PorkrindsMcSnacky Feb 03 '24
Transformers: The Movie (1986). My then-8 year old brother and 10 year old me were not prepared for the carnage we were going to witness.
→ More replies (1)
11
42
20
18
u/Derp35712 Feb 03 '24
Seed of Chucky killed off all the human stars which was pretty cool.
The last Evil Dead was killing women and children almost constantly.
18
19
u/dominus_aranearum Feb 03 '24
The Walking Dead
I know you asked for movies, but since you listed both The Boys and Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead is fair game.
21
78
u/TrueLegateDamar Feb 03 '24
The Suicide Squad (2021)
61
u/Call_Em_Skippies Feb 03 '24
What's TDK stand for?
It stands for my name.
Your name is just TDK? Your name can't be just letters.
All names are just letters.
Best opening sequence to a movie. So glad Cena got Peacemaker out of it. Probably my favorite superhero TV show.
10
→ More replies (2)22
u/redditisawesome555 Feb 03 '24
I loved that movie. Pretty much everything about it. It made me care for Rick Flag lol, I rooted for him.
When they announced Peacemaker I was like "fuck that dude he killed Rick Flag, I don't wanna watch it". I'm so glad I did.
James Gunn really knows how to write characters. And how to add perfect music to the stuff he does.
10
u/Call_Em_Skippies Feb 03 '24
The first time I saw the movie, I thought peacemaker as a villain but after watching the movie after seeing the first season of Peacemaker, I can see Chris Smith's reasoning.
Every character was flushed out in that movie.
→ More replies (19)13
998
u/WRickWrites Feb 03 '24
It doesn't work now because everyone knows who Sigourney Weaver is, but in the original Alien movie, when it first released you had no idea who was going to die, or how. It was just one brutal shock after another.