Going out on their sword: 10 most heroic deaths in cinema history
The saying that “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain” was popularised by Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, but cinema had a long and proud tradition of heroic sacrifice long before Gotham City was terrorised by Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Just like in real life, people die in movies all the time in an incalculable number of different ways, but characters going out on their swords carry a heftier emotional punch than most of them. It’s easy to be killed, but it’s a lot more difficult to do so in such a grandiose fashion that it benefits hundreds – if not thousands – more in the long run.
Whether it’s award-winning epics, spine-chilling tales of terror, epic fantasy, or preposterous sci-fi escapism, cinema history has experienced more than its fair share of heroes looking towards the greater good in their moment of sacrifice.
The following ten all fit that remit in very different manners, and as cruel as it sounds, it can’t be argued the world ended up as a much better place without them in it.
10 most heroic movie deaths:
10. Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996)
Roland Emmerich is hardly a filmmaker renowned for richly drawn and complex characters, but Independence Day does at least give Russell Casse a hell of a redemption arc.
A terrible father, a rampaging drunk, and a conspiracy theorist adamant he’s been abducted several times over, he ends up safeguarding the future of the entire human race by making the ultimate sacrifice play.
Yes, it’s completely and utterly ludicrous, much like everything that unfolds in Independence Day, but it’s a fist-pumping moment of blockbuster excellent when he blows those intergalactic invaders to kingdom come after a heartfelt goodbye to his kids.
9. Léon: The Professional (Luc Besson, 1994)
There’s only one way Gary Oldman was going to be stopped as the psychotic Norman Stansfield in Luc Besson’s classic action thriller, with Jean Reno literally pulling the pin on his existence.
Natalie Portman’s Mathilda needs to be protected at all costs and given the chance to live a life as normal as can be given everything she’s been through, but Stansfield doesn’t plan on making it happen.
Taking it upon himself to make that call, Léon knows his number is up, and gently pressing that pin into his enemy’s hand before they both detonate is the only way to give Mathilda the future she’s earned.
8. Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995)
As South Park famously said of Mel Gibson, “The son of a bitch knows story structure,” and never was that truer than when William Wallace bowed out with his beliefs intact.
The freedom fighter has led an arduous uprising against the English, but an act of betrayal leads to his trial for high treason, and there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Being hung, drawn, and quartered isn’t the ideal way to be shuffled off this mortal coil, but Wallace uses his last breath to issue a final rallying cry before his head is forcibly separated from his shoulders.
7. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron, 1991)
A robot that doesn’t feel feelings shouldn’t have the capability to reduce audiences to tears, but James Cameron obviously had other ideas.
Forging an unlikely father/son bond with Edward Furlong’s John Connor, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator slowly succumbs to a molten end in an effort to avert the looming threat of Judgement Day.
The sequels couldn’t have cared less about the emotional impact of the first Terminator follow-up, but that thumbs up as the T-800 heads to its doom remains capable of getting those bottom lips quivering.
6. Spartacus (Stanley Kubrick, 1960)
Stanley Kubrick was often criticised for the perceived emotional detachment of his films, but Kirk Douglas gets a fitting send-off when Spartacus meets his maker that’s hardly lacking in feeling.
Furious that the title hero has been able to command the love, loyalty, and respect of those who believe in him, Laurence Olivier’s Crassus forces Spartacus into a fight to the death after his advances are spurned by the latter’s wife, Varinia.
He kills his gladiatorial opponent to spare them a terrible fate and ends up being crucified, although he does at least die knowing his wife and their infant son have been granted their freedom as citizens of Rome.
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
A shiny trinket with the ability to overthrow an entire nation is something anybody could find themselves seduced by, but at least Sean Bean atoned for his mistakes by dying a hero’s death as Boromir.
The stoic and noble warrior succumbed to the temptation of the One Ring like many before him, but redemption was lurking right around the corner after he let his impulses come perilously close to taking over.
After protecting Merry and Pippin from a Uruk-Hai onslaught, Boromir takes on an entire battalion single-handedly, ending up with several arrows embedded in his lifeless body for his troubles. It was not ideal, but he did let his Hobbit friends escape and took his last breath as a redeemed man.
4. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
It would have been entirely understandable for Tom Hanks‘ John Miller to be pissed off when he finally came within touching distance of actually saving Private Ryan, only to face one last obstacle.
Matt Damon’s character refuses to abandon his station despite Miller undergoing a harrowing ordeal just to find him in the first place, so he decides to take command and defend the bridge himself to complete the mission.
Reinforcements arrive eventually, but Miller was so committed to the cause he was willing to put his own life on the line to guarantee the losses he and his men suffered along the way weren’t in vain.
3. Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
Gladiators and heroic deaths go hand-in-hand on the silver screen, with Russell Crowe giving Kirk Douglas a run for his money in Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning sword-and-sandal epic.
With the deck stacked against him before his climactic duel opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus by way of a sneaky stabbing, Crowe’s Maximus understands his chances of surviving are desperately slim.
Undeterred, he slays his opponent, avenges the murder of his wife and child, saves Rome from the threat of oppressive rule, and guarantees freedom for his fellow slaves and combatants. He paid the ultimate price, but the victory was so much greater than one man.
2. The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
Poor Father Karras did not get a particularly easy time of it in William Friedkin’s seminal horror, but The Exorcist did grant him the chance to go out on his figurative sword.
Being placed under constant emotional duress by a demon inhabiting the body of a young girl is about as thankless as tasks can get, but Karras doesn’t let his miserable time being constantly reminded of his mother’s death get the better of him.
Instead, he coaxes the demonic entity from out of Linda Blair’s Regan and into his body before proceeding to launch himself out of a window and bouncing down a flight of stairs to keep it trapped in his cold, dead corpse.
1. Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997)
Co-writer, director, and star Roberto Benigni won the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’ in Life is Beautiful, with the final moments for his Guido Orefice the epitome of putting on a brave face in the name of a tragic sacrifice.
Refusing to expose his son Giosuè to the true horrors of World War II, he tells the boy their life in a concentration camp is nothing more than a game, and when the youngster completes enough tasks and earns a thousand points, he’ll win a tank for his efforts.
In his final moments, Guido is led away by German soldiers to be executed, but even though he knows his death is imminent, Giosuè comes first. He looks at his son and winks to illustrate that it’s all part of the game, right before he’s callously shot and left to die in an alley.
