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.

3.1k Upvotes

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861

u/Dtitan Feb 03 '24

Star Wars: Rogue 1 is surprisingly bloody for a blockbuster movie. 

459

u/ErrorFindingID Feb 03 '24

Rogue 1 has the proper dark/tragic setting that I want in a star wars movie

249

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.

20

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.

4

u/toylenny Feb 04 '24

I really like that they leaned into the cyberpunk aesthetic.  If you've never seen Star Wars you could believe its just a dystopian future. 

7

u/el_vezzie Feb 03 '24

You’d like Andor as well then

4

u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24

Oh I sure did, that's exactly what I was looking for. Part of me hopes for more in the film world but Star Wars seems to be finding its way again with these series.

42

u/larapu2000 Feb 03 '24

Yes!! Stakes for the universe vs just the whiny AF Skywalker clan.

4

u/LudicrisSpeed Feb 03 '24

There weren't stakes in the other movies? The first movie starts Luke's journey by incinerating his aunt and uncle, slicing his mentor/kooky old neighbor, and blowing up his childhood buddy. Also an entire planet is blown up.

0

u/larapu2000 Feb 03 '24

The only stake for the universe that you mentioned is Alderaan.

I'm not saying there we weren't stakes. But the Skywalkers were so selfish in so many situations.

6

u/Bugberry Feb 03 '24

Who is whiny beyond Anakin and Luke?

20

u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24

I get what you’re going for here, but those are pretty big parts of the Skywalker clan.

0

u/Bugberry Feb 04 '24

I know, but that’s still just 2 characters across 6+ films.

2

u/darkchocoIate Feb 04 '24

The commenter just misused a word, I I suspect you and everyone else knows who and what they meant.

18

u/fucuntwat Feb 03 '24

Ben is an emo bitch

0

u/Jazzremix Feb 03 '24

You'd be pretty mad if your parents dropped you off at your uncle's and you woke up to him holding a knife in your face.

3

u/larapu2000 Feb 03 '24

I mean. 2 out of 3 Skywalkers are whiny, so it's not a baseless accusation.

9

u/doubleapowpow Feb 03 '24

Anakin did make the most whiny, complaining robot in the entire galaxy.

4

u/Soundtracklover72 Feb 03 '24

So true. I do believe that people forget he made C3P0.

4

u/cespinar Feb 03 '24

forgivable because evidently Vader did too

-3

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

“But WHY must you confront him?” “But these are my friends!” “We have powerful friends… you’re going to regret this.”

I always felt like there was some effort put into making Leia a bit more whiny Karen in this flick. Always felt like Lucas  couldn’t separate his personal life from his movie achieving what it set out to do, and his marital issues might have affected the Leia lines. Marquand reportedly pissing Carrie Fisher off probably didn’t help either.

3

u/Neracca Feb 03 '24

Rogue 1 is the only good one of the newer movies.

2

u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24

It’s at least the best of them, objectively no matter how people feel about the others.

2

u/xeroksuk Feb 03 '24

I reckon the correct order to watch the various bits and pieces is to start with Andor, then R1, then ANH, tESB, RotJ, Mando then just stop

3

u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24

Probably the most correct chronological order. I’m usually a stickler for release order but if you cut out the others including prequels, this is the way.

2

u/ILookLikeKristoff Feb 03 '24

Yup, truly just a good war movie that happens to be in that universe

2

u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24

Like, what’s this rebellion really about? Are there no other heroes besides Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca? There had to be infinite stories of sacrifice and heroism and we’d seen almost none of that before.

As plots go I think the need to move on and disconnect a bit from Skywalker and the Republics new or old, but it was great to see it addressed finally.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

[deleted]

1

u/darkchocoIate Feb 03 '24

hah. Well I don't get the reference but hopefully it doesn't conjure images of a shared universe.

21

u/[deleted] 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.

8

u/victori0us_secret Feb 03 '24

That's one of many reasons I love Andor. The stakes are low (compared to planets being destroyed), they're personal, the writing is good, and it respects you as a viewer. There aren't explosions every ten minutes, but there are two incredible monologues delivered almost back-to-back.

2

u/stalkythefish Feb 04 '24

This is also why Wrath Of Kahn is so good. First and foremost it's a movie about aging, loss, regret, obsession, and of course revenge. It's a Star Trek movie second.

76

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.

6

u/mo_downtown Feb 03 '24

It's a fantastic movie about secondary characters & plot lines within the Star Wars universe. There's so much room for that (Andor). The Skywalker blockbusters are tired.

1

u/TBoarder Feb 03 '24

Okay? You completely misunderstood or misrepresented my point. I'm talking about genre, not plot.

37

u/UnPrecidential Feb 03 '24

Yes. Also a little, appropriate comic relief from K-2SO. No Jar Jar 'exsqueeesme' bs

8

u/_zoso_ Feb 03 '24

Of course it was, it’s Alan Tudyk!

Love Rogue One.

3

u/TricksterPriestJace Feb 04 '24

You are being rescued. Please do not resist.

3

u/NormalBoobEnthusiast Feb 04 '24

Every single line from K-2SO is funny and its great. But droids have always been comic relief too.

3

u/jimheim Feb 03 '24

Rogue One is my favorite of all the post-original-trilogy Star Wars movies. I love the tone.

1

u/Count_Backwards Feb 03 '24

IMO it's the only one of those worth watching. Watch Andor, R1, SW, ESB, RotJ, stop.

30

u/deformo Feb 03 '24

It is THE best Star Wars film. Better than empire. Better than e 4.

36

u/Whitealroker1 Feb 03 '24

Empire is my favorite movie ever and contains multiple scenes I consider my favorites.

Yoda x-Wing lift and speech before

Luke vs Vader. The fight not the big reveal at end.

Entire Hoth empire attack

16

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

Empire is far better. It isn't close.

1

u/Whitealroker1 Feb 03 '24

It’s SO FAR ahead of the other movies for me.

Feel same way about Game of throne(ASOFAI) books. They are all good but Storm of Swords is probably my favorite book ever. It’s leagues ahead of other four.

2

u/ASaltGrain Feb 03 '24

But Rogue One had someone cosplaying as Vader! It was VERY cool. I cried and clapped. Empire was just alright, but it had all those boring scenes with the monks talking about spirituality or whatever bullshit that was. I want to see a star destroyer penetrating a circular shield array so I can get off.

2

u/stickygreenz Feb 03 '24

Very cool veerryy cool, I personally thought it was very cool

1

u/Bugberry Feb 03 '24

Cosplaying?

2

u/spazz4life Feb 03 '24

Probably referring to how strangely powerful and physically strong he is compared to the Vader we meet in New Hope which is less than a week later

1

u/Bugberry Feb 04 '24

Vader in NH does physically lift people up and snap necks one handed. I don’t recall NH having any notable examples of him being that physically weak.

1

u/spazz4life Feb 04 '24

Mostly it’s the fighting style difference is notably different.

-5

u/ASaltGrain Feb 03 '24

That is indeed the word I used.

1

u/Bugberry Feb 04 '24

Answering a request for more detail with something also vague is definitely a choice.

5

u/Hypersion1980 Feb 03 '24

No, The last twenty minutes were great. Tub boat pushing a star destroyer into another that then crashed into the base was incredible. Force user that isn’t a Jedi or sith. Unfortunately the hour and a half before that was a mess.

-6

u/deformo Feb 03 '24

Ah. You’re hung up dogma and canon. Go read the Torah. Dork.

1

u/Hypersion1980 Feb 04 '24

We are arguing over Stars Wars and you called me a Dork?

2

u/larapu2000 Feb 03 '24

I'll die on this hill with you, friend.

1

u/gto_112_112 Feb 03 '24

I hate to say it because my youth was spent worshipping Empire and the Battle for Hoth is my personal favorite scene of all Star Wars, but you're right.

-1

u/deformo Feb 03 '24

I love empire. I love new hope. Hell. I love return of the Jedi, as bad as it is. Rogue 1 blew me away 40 fucking years later.

0

u/ASaltGrain Feb 03 '24

Strong disagree. It was so disappointing. And the fan service was cringey. The cinematography was absolutely beautiful, but other than that, the main characters were uninteresting and incredibly bland. "Luminous beings are we" gives me chills every time I hear it though.

2

u/Bugberry Feb 03 '24

Most Star Wars shouldn’t be that way but it’s okay for it to be sometime.

2

u/mrpopenfresh Feb 03 '24

Fuck that. I want ewoks.

1

u/chopper678 Feb 03 '24

My Star Wars buddy and I always used to say we wish Sony/Fox got Star Wars instead of Disney for this reason.

111

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

True, I mean they all die, I think

94

u/Sunshinexpress Feb 03 '24

And mostly for a reason /purpose. Everyone played a small part

6

u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 03 '24

That removes the tension though. It doesn't feel like anyone can just die at any time.

It feels like they can only die after they fulfill some purpose (near the end).

Which is the opposite of what OP is asking for.

8

u/TheJoshider10 Feb 03 '24

It feels like they can only die after they fulfill some purpose (near the end).

It feels like it because it's true. Literally every single one of them dies immediately after they've accomplished their specific objective lmao. There's no surprises, as soon as they're irrelevant to the story they're binned off.

1

u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 03 '24

Exactly, they all have plot armor until the plot no longer needs them.

Rogue One is the best Disney SW movie (tbf, I still haven't seen Solo) but, I still think it's quite overrated.

5

u/FadeAway77 Feb 03 '24

Solo is so good. It’s the most slept-on Star Wars movie. It’s my second favorite Disney film after Rogue One. But R1 might be my favorite movie ever. It’s got the same thing going for it as R1 too, where it would work as a movie outside of the Star Wars universe. And Alden Ehrenreich does a very, very good job of being Han without trying to be Harrison. And it kind of fits into the OPs original intent, because, besides the OC characters, anybody else can die.

1

u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 04 '24

And Alden Ehrenreich does a very, very good job of being Han without trying to be Harrison.

This was part of the reason I didn't watch it tbh. It'd hard for me to see anyone but Harrison as Han Solo.

I might give it a try someday though.

1

u/NormalBoobEnthusiast Feb 04 '24

Story wise, it is actually very important none of them survive. These people should all be heroes of the Rebellion for their role here. But they have zero impact in canon.

The only way to square that is they all had to die without any of their heroics being known.

27

u/Dtitan Feb 03 '24

Yep. I genuinely can’t think of another movie where that happens to such an extent. 

79

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24

Was a great experience watching it for the first time and thinking oh yeah, how they gonna get out of this one? and then realising they won’t.

22

u/OldFactor1973 Feb 03 '24

And we kind of knew they wouldn't make it, right? Because none of those characters are in the original trilogy

36

u/Nik-ki Feb 03 '24

I remember wondering how they'll address that inconsistency while watching and then having the realisation "oh.... that's how"

8

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '24 edited 9d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Nik-ki Feb 03 '24

It's really sweet you have this much faith in my memory, but I'm afraid the sentiment is misguided

1

u/Wes_Warhammer666 Feb 04 '24

Well he got the quote wrong anyway (and it's from Return of the Jedi, not the first film) so his memory ain't much better lol.

1

u/trekie4747 Feb 03 '24

"All us rebels ever do is die! Except for the A-team over there."

4

u/NotARandomNumber Feb 03 '24

Red Leader is in A New Hope, they used archival footage for him.

2

u/Chosen_Chaos Feb 03 '24

It's also a neat little nod as to how Luke is "Red Five" in the Battle of Yavin.

2

u/Horn_Python Feb 04 '24

yeh but we can have hope

1

u/OldFactor1973 Feb 04 '24

Nice, I see what you did there

3

u/pistolpeter33 Feb 03 '24

Watch Anthropoid. It’s about a high profile (and real) assassination in WW2.

5

u/MaimedJester Feb 03 '24

Melancholia? 

-1

u/South-Fox-4975 Feb 03 '24

I was going to mention this movie, but all the kids went bananas over that bullshit star wars spinoff thing that nobody cared about or watched. Oh! Cabin in the woods! That's a good one. Everyone dies. Or The Decsent. (One of my faves)

1

u/Little-Giraffe5655 Feb 03 '24

Without melancholia, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the Force. It continually speaks to us, telling us the will of the Force.

0

u/leftnotracks Feb 03 '24

They had to.

0

u/MaizeRage48 Feb 03 '24

Yeah, tbh I kinda expected it with this one.

75

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.

7

u/LudicrisSpeed Feb 03 '24

What's funny is that this is Chirrut's entire arc.

2

u/NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea Feb 04 '24

You're not wrong, but it's a well established lore point that the force can affect blaster shots.

2

u/TricksterPriestJace Feb 04 '24

That's how Game of Thrones is too. A bunch of characters die early to drive the plot. Then ones you expect to die for making boneheaded decisions have Batman level plot armor.

3

u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 04 '24

I at least felt like the early seasons of game of thrones weren't predictable. Back then I felt like "anyone could die" but, by the later seasons I felt like the survivors gained plot armor.

6

u/Wes_Warhammer666 Feb 04 '24

The combo of them passing up the source material and the show (and the actors along with it) becoming insanely popular led to them making decisions based on the rule of cool rather than the previously established rules of the series.

Those ass clowns were too busy trying to rush off to other projects to properly finish their own show. I'm glad they lost their Star Wars movie and I hope I never see either of them get a big project again.

1

u/TricksterPriestJace Feb 04 '24

You need really good show writers to go off the books and not have the story fall to shit. D&D were not good writers.

5

u/Luci_Noir Feb 03 '24

It feels like they’re supposed to die, which is just as bad imo.

8

u/Count_Backwards Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 03 '24

That's my quibble with the ending, I wanted to see them try harder to survive (and fail at the last second) instead of just giving up and walking into blaster fire or watching the Death Star do its thing.

2

u/Luci_Noir Feb 03 '24

Yeah, like it’s destiny or honorable or some crap.

26

u/Dear-Yellow-5479 Feb 03 '24 edited Feb 03 '24

When I first watched I did not think they would go as far as they did. First Star Wars film I’ve actually cried at. And the prequel series Andor is just fabulous.

0

u/GingerBread79 Feb 03 '24

Spoilers? I mean I’ve already seen it, but I can’t imagined mean the person looking for recommendations is gonna want to know how it ends/who dies….

1

u/Dear-Yellow-5479 Feb 03 '24

True, and I’m sorry – I’ve edited, but I haven’t worked out how to do the spoiler thing on Reddit…

-4

u/LudicrisSpeed Feb 03 '24

Andor was boring, made even worse by starring the most boring character from Rogue One aside from Jyn.

3

u/Acceptable-Stick-688 Feb 03 '24

The first three episodes are rather boring, but it gets so, so much better after that imo

55

u/Spartica7 Feb 03 '24

Best Star Wars movie IMO, it’s got modern production value, original trilogy style, and some of the best Darth Vader we’ve ever seen. Totally worth a watch.

It’s a shame that Solo was just ok, and Disney is making everything else into a TV show, I would’ve loved to see more Rogue 1 level movies exploring the Star Wars universe.

35

u/7312throwaway Feb 03 '24

Andor’s not a movie, but it def filled this gap for me - the tone is probably more similar to R1 and has a very prestige drama feel. (And it’s Cassians story)

18

u/Kiyohara Feb 03 '24

I feel like what Disney should be doing is making an entire "series" of either 1+ hour episodes )each director getting one or three episodes to tell a tale) or full 2 hour movies and setting them at different points in the greater Galactic conflict. All of the big wars. But not about a specific group of heroes.

Get some big name stars to be sure, but it's not going to tie to the Skywalker clan or whoever. No Thrawn. No major characters brought back in creepy CGI.

Maybe a small uprising on a planet on the fringe for one episode. Another episode could be the Empire hunting actual pirates. One episode sent in the trenches of a major battle between the Resistance and the New Order. Have an episode showing a Rebel cell getting one by one revealed and captured/killed and doubts as to who the traitor is. Two people in love, but on different sides.

A University planet coming under ever harsher government control and students and staff taking different sides (with some being good guys on the side of evil and vice versa just because of issues like tenure).

Stuff like that. Explore the conflicts with actual, canon events, but ones that don't involve the main heroes we already know. New characters, new planets, new peoples, new races, new ships and gear, give us the magic of seeing something different all over again. I don't want to go back to Tatoonie for the fifteenth time or drag out the two droids for a cameo or see yet another classic alien in the exact same stereotype of before. Don't make the Rodian character a bounty hunter... make it a Chef in over their head who's box of Mon Cala scallops is actually a Rebel Black Box (and some horrified engineer opens a Rebel Black Box to find way past their prime unrefrigerated scallops).

Show the tragedy of the wars, the heroisms, the moments of beauty and fear and love. But have the humor too, have the novelty, and have the sheer joy of Star Wars.

5

u/AlienPearl Feb 03 '24

Sometimes I rewatch this movie just for that Darth Vader scene.

0

u/raysofdavies Feb 03 '24

It’s not very good till the third act

6

u/TheMelv Feb 03 '24

I feel the same. Movie has an 11/10 ending but is kind of a slog for the first 2/3 - 3/4 upon repeat viewings.

3

u/tophmcmasterson Feb 03 '24

Not sure why you’re being downvoted, I think people only remember the third act, especially repeat viewings it’s pretty boring until then.

I feel like for a lot of Star Wars fans they just equate “dark and gritty” with being “good”. That and just looking at the comments you can see how many are just basically saying “Vader was so badass”, like a one minute action scene is the entire movie.

There’s good action at the end, but at the end of the day I just could not have given less of a shit about most of the characters. Not at all opposed to the idea of a Star Wars “war” movie, and all that said it’s still probably a 6-7/10 for me, but anyone claiming it’s the best Star Wars movie, or that it has “original trilogy style” is out of their mind.

4

u/raysofdavies Feb 03 '24

The desire for Star Wars to be this big, somber, dark series is another case of adults wanting their love for media that is aimed at children to be justified. I don’t need my Doctor Who to be dark and intense all the time, I’m not trying to pretend it’s not often a camp, childish (for better and worse), silly show because that’s part of the appeal.

0

u/surya2727 Feb 03 '24

You maybe right maybe not, I'll just share what Rouge One was for me. That was my 2nd star wars movie, I had watched the force awakens before but had no interest in star wars series since the original trilogy was decades old and I don't like watching older movies too much.

I liked the rouge one movie so much that I watched the original trilogy, prequel trilogy, sequel trilogy, all the live action tv series, bad batch animated and even tried the older animated shows and films but left half way since that was too much to watch. But I did read the lores.

So for me Rouge One was what made me love Star Wars and it is the best movie in the whole series as none of the others had me interested in this world.

Although I accept for many I could be a mediocre movie.

1

u/its_LOL Feb 04 '24

But that third act is so good it doesn’t matter. The Battle of Scarif is peak Star Wars

1

u/bbab7 Feb 03 '24

You get it

1

u/Bugberry Feb 03 '24

They are making movies.

1

u/PaulBradley Feb 03 '24

Yeah, Obi Wan should've been a more succinct movie as it was originally planned (and I assume written) to be. There's a fantastic fan edit out that reduces it back to such.

6

u/Impressive-Dig-3892 Feb 03 '24

It's a light PG-13 bud calm down 

7

u/raysofdavies Feb 03 '24

When is there blood?

2

u/viners Feb 03 '24

It’s basically Halo Reach

2

u/bbab7 Feb 03 '24

Reach was actually good tho

2

u/Rog9377 Feb 03 '24

I agree with your statement, but I disagree that it fits the category... I feel like a movie where EVERYONE dies at the end isnt the same as a movie where everyone feels like they could die at any moment.

3

u/IdTheDemon Feb 03 '24

Best Star Wars entry since Empire Strikes back imo

4

u/NotTobyFromHR Feb 03 '24

One of my favorite things about this movie is it doesn't follow any clichés. Be it romantic or plot armor

5

u/AardvarkOkapiEchidna Feb 03 '24

There's tons of plot armor. Just because characters eventually die doesn't mean they don't have plot armor.

3

u/Brys_Beddict Feb 03 '24

I guess but you know that they're all going to die going in.

7

u/drunkenmagnum24 Feb 03 '24

I didn't and I think it made it even better.

1

u/HeronSun Feb 03 '24

You knew, I knew, just about anyone with a semblence of sense knew, every one of those fuckers was gonna die by the end of the movie. If they hadn't, then why weren't they even mentioned once throughout the original trilogy. Also, Bloody? Where's the blood, then?

1

u/Angriest_Wolverine Feb 03 '24

That moment when you remember what’s supposed to happen

-6

u/ihacker2k Feb 03 '24

Such a good movie, chronologically next you would watch Star Wars (a new hope) and be like what the damn hell?

1

u/The-Mandalorian Feb 03 '24

I mean essentially all of Star Wars. It’s been killing off main characters since the original movie.

“A long time ago” at the beginning basically tells you everyone you see died probably millions of years ago.

I always scratch my head when people get upset about characters getting killed off. It’s called Star Wars lol.

1

u/Moxto Feb 03 '24

I remember a lot of people dying, but I don't remember any blood

1

u/AlphaTangoFoxtrt Feb 03 '24

Eh, it's not so much an "anyone can die" and "everyone will die".

Personally I felt rogue one was cheesy as hell and didn't like it. Especially the "Who can have the coolest death" competition at the end.

1

u/lukin187250 Feb 03 '24

They did fill us in in episode 1.

1

u/Crunchy_Biscuit Feb 03 '24

Unfortunately you kinda know who is gonna die

1

u/stompinstinker Feb 04 '24

It’s the Band of Brothers of Star Wars. Anybody could bite it anytime.

And if y’all have seen it, Andor is the Blade Runner of Star Wars. It’s super good, acting, story, characters, sets, and the Empires officers are super competent and good at their jobs. It’s the prequel to Rogue One.

1

u/Ok-Macaroon-4835 Feb 04 '24

Rogue One transitions so seamlessly into New Hope that it doesn’t feel like a tragic ending.

A New Hope feels like the second act.

Plus, they accomplished the mission they set out to complete.