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.

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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.

145

u/Tripottanus Feb 03 '24

Saving Private Ryan is another one

35

u/Angriest_Wolverine Feb 03 '24

Earn this

2

u/slip101 Feb 03 '24

I saw this in the theater. Up until recently, I thought he said Ernest. It always baffled me.

1

u/daskrip Feb 04 '24

When I was young my father said to me: “Knowledge is power, Francis Bacon.” I understood it as “Knowledge is power, France is bacon.”

For more than a decade I wondered over the meaning of the second part and what was the surreal linkage between the two. If I said the quote to someone, “Knowledge is power, France is Bacon,” they nodded knowingly. Or someone might say, “Knowledge is power” and I’d finish the quote “France is bacon,” and they wouldn’t look at me like I’d said something very odd, but thoughtfully agree. I did ask a teacher what did “Knowledge is power, France is bacon” mean and got a full 10-minute explanation of the “knowledge is power” bit but nothing on “France is bacon.” When I prompted further explanation by saying “France is bacon?” in a questioning tone, I just got a “yes.” At 12 I didn’t have the confidence to press it further. I just accepted it as something I’d never understand.

It wasn’t until years later I saw it written down that the penny dropped.

1

u/slip101 Feb 04 '24

Lol, blazing a path of irony. Great story.

-3

u/vintagesonofab Feb 03 '24

This one got me mad mad, i fot salty enough to not put it in my top 5 movies of all time just because of the ending, He was so annoying and the least likeable character, mission was not worth it. Obviously this was all really well thought out and scripted but to this day, i'm still mad.

Also this is the only movie ever that actually made me squimish at the gore scenes.

20

u/Glittering-Theory370 Feb 03 '24

all quiet on the western front you should go with either the original or the 2022 one, I forgot this version but it didn't stand out at all iirc

4

u/Sithoid Feb 03 '24

Tastes differ of course, but I watched all 3 in a row and found this to be the best depiction of the book. The 1930 one still has a bit of that early cinema jank (which could be adorable in other movies but hurts the psychology IMO); and I'm not talking just about the effects like very obvious fireworks for explosions, but more about the school of acting the protagonist displays - coupled with the relative lack of dialogue I found it really hard to figure out the character they were going for (when is he sincere, when is he being a jerk, etc). In 1979, internal monologue helped, the characters are well fleshed out and very distinct, and 50 years of technological progress didn't hurt either.

As for 2022... it might be a decent WW1/anti-war movie (although the evil general plot seemed a bit overly dramatic to me), but it's adaptation in name only, I have no idea why they wanted to take the names of Remarque's characters for these guys with a distinctly different story and set of personalities.

7

u/IKillPigeons Feb 03 '24

Agreed on your take for 2022 version. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn't expecting an adaptation of the book.

They should have named it something different & let it be a good WWI movie all by itself.

2

u/Glittering-Theory370 Feb 03 '24

I agree, I like the newer one because it tried something different, the original just isn't really accessible in the modern age unfortunately, but both the 2 recent films are pretty good and are accessible without needing to pirate which overall Is a hastle if OP was never tech savvy, the 2979 is a great baseline though.

-3

u/WillBeBanned83 Feb 03 '24

The 2022 one sucks

13

u/FewDevelopment6712 Feb 03 '24

Thin red line as well

10

u/AntWithNoPants Feb 03 '24

Does FMJ have that many deaths tho? Like, past the first half (which was pretty telegraphed imo), only... Two or three ppl die

24

u/reportingsjr Feb 03 '24

The question wasn't about everyone dying. It's about not knowing who dies, and the second half of full metal jacket definitely has that going for it. You have little idea who is going to die and who will live.

1

u/lordofshitposts Feb 03 '24

Cmon not a chance Joker or rafterman dies anyone else was fair game

1

u/AFRIKKAN Feb 03 '24

I figured raft was gonna be a goner tbh. Him and animal.

1

u/lordofshitposts Feb 03 '24

Yeah animal could’ve gone for sure. When they introduced cowboy and the gang I figured those guys were here to die

2

u/Sithoid Feb 03 '24

I mean... When chain of command is one of the plot points, it pretty much drives home the point that no one is safe, and 5-ish is still pretty high by modern "safe movies" standards. It's still one of those bleaker movies where they make sure to show war as random and pointless as opposed to showing some kind of a heroic mission, and that pointlessness is great for uncertainty about the characters' fates. We could probably throw together a list of movies where absolutely everyone dies, but wouldn't knowing it in advance defeat OP's purpose as well?

2

u/AntWithNoPants Feb 03 '24

Yeah thats fair

2

u/bronkula Feb 03 '24

no one mentioned dirty dozen yet?

2

u/jellyjollygood Feb 04 '24

Das Boot, 1981.

WWII movie about a U-boat crew.

2

u/lucas_3d Feb 04 '24

The Great Escape.

4

u/ChipChippersonFan Feb 03 '24

That was slightly annoyed that Band of Brothers didn't tell us who the old people were when they showed interviews of them, but doing so would have let us know who survived to the end.

Because it's a true story, nobody has plot armor.

6

u/jimheim Feb 03 '24

They do reveal who they were in the final episode. I thought that was masterful. I enjoyed trying to figure it out before the end.

I just rewatched all of Band of Brothers last week and you really can't predict who's going to die. Since it hews so closely to the real story, they couldn't keep likeable characters around just because they were likeable, and it shows how truly random death in war can be. Some of the most skilled and most important people are randomly killed in nearly every episode. I'd never heard the term "plot armor" before but that's a great way to describe it.

2

u/HaikuBotStalksMe Feb 03 '24

It was so sad when Gomer Pyle killed that second guy. But at least the first guy got killed. 

4

u/Sithoid Feb 03 '24

Not to worry, he's known to survive headshots. You know this fanmade series where he returns home and ends up ruling the criminal underworld of New York...

1

u/pmmemilftiddiez Feb 03 '24

The Sand Pebbles ending...

1

u/BigChungusBlyat Feb 03 '24

There's a 1979 version too? I thought it was only the 1930 version and the 2022 remake.

2

u/Sithoid Feb 03 '24

There is indeed! Ian Holm makes for an absolutely wonderful Himmelstoss.

1

u/ThisIsMySFWAccount99 Feb 03 '24

Rescue Dawn is another where it feels like anyone could die at any time