Gone To Meet Their Maker: Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey)
Method of Dispatch: Shot by boss Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) in the kitchen as he's about to drink a cuppa.
Didn't See That One Coming, Huh?: Whaa? Spacey's supposed to be the star, yet he's dead before the final act. And killed by Babe's farmer! No wonder he looks surprised.
Anybody who's read James Ellroy's novels will know that Dudley is deadly, but this is just as much a shock for them, too, since in the book Vincennes buys the farm during a gunfight aboard a train - a scene removed by Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland's smart retooling of Ellroy's complex plot.
And as Spacey's dying words - Rolo Tomasi - send the story spinning off in another direction yet, Hanson's camera lingers to capture one of the most convincing deaths on this list.
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Comments
somewhatfrail
Apr 14th 2010, 16:18
Great list guys. I was waiting to see where The Departed would come in. How about Oldboy when Woo-Jinn tops himself in the lift after a little flashback to his sister's death? I honestly didn't see that coming since I was so awestruck at how bold they'd been in making an incest-driven revenge.
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Smokinator
Apr 14th 2010, 16:35
what about the mist ending? i didn't excpct that atall
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Henriksen86
Apr 14th 2010, 21:41
What about Wash in Serenity?
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DanRose
Apr 15th 2010, 1:49
I'd say the death in Dark Knight was shocking and yes a little unexpected in the theme of things, but did you not miss the more obvious one? I mean who actually saw Rachel Dawes getting killed off! I'm still waiting for her to emerge from somewhere... I'd also mention Radha Mitchell in Pitch Black, so close yet no cigar and Mustafa in Lion King was pretty unexpected.
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TheTingler
Apr 15th 2010, 9:25
I'm with Henriksen86, Wash in Serenity was the biggest shocker for me. Book's death was sad but he was old, and there was plenty of build-up. Wash was one of the best and funniest characters, had just finishing out-maneuvring the Reapers AND the Alliance, was in the middle of a quip, and was one of the main characters. Then bang, splat, dead, from nowhere, and suddenly none of the beloved crew of the Serenity were safe. The main child-murdering Book-killing villain survives and Wash dies! As for Rachel Dawes DanRose, not a chance. I'd guessed she was going to die at least a year before the film came out. Transformers The Movie. Optimus Prime is the obvious choice, but I'd go with Ironhide actually. A major and cool character killed off casually within minutes without having the chance to even graze a single Deception.
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TheTingler
Apr 15th 2010, 9:26
*Decepticon.
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Gunner1
Apr 15th 2010, 10:26
I remember watching Executive Decision and spending the whole movie trying to work out how Steven Seagal was going to return to kick terrorist butt - I figured he'd somehow caught onto the plane's tail and was going to claw his way back across the fuselage with his knife, before getting on board at the end, just in time to save Kurt Russell and the world -- after all, in all his other movies, no-one's even landed a decent punch on him, much less killed him!!!
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hellomkat
Apr 16th 2010, 2:55
Owen Wilson in the Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou was probably the most shocking death (aside from Wash in Serenity).
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MetallicatDoll
Apr 16th 2010, 14:54
What about the woman judge in Law Abiding Citizen?
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BlinkBanana
Apr 16th 2010, 17:50
Radha Mitchell's death in Pitch Black - so unfair, and yet so cool that they killed her off so suddenly.
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Faers
Aug 14th 2010, 15:08
Off-hand, the only one I can only think of is Hal's girfriend at the start of Cliffhanger - I remember when I first watched it and I didn't see it coming. Although, I was 10. Otherwise, good feature. Oh yeah, Donny in The Big Lebowski.
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johnian
Aug 20th 2010, 0:09
Never mind Unexpected Deaths - check out one of my favourite c**p Extras. At 0:17 in the clip from The Omen, look for the gouteed gentlemen as Gregory Peck pushes through the crowd. He seems, if anything, mildly amused by the fact that his holiday has been disrupted by a grisly daytime decapitation. The weirdo.
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Nicsheos
Aug 28th 2010, 16:12
I think Majid's death in Caché (Hidden) is definately one of the most unexpected deaths ever! Quite suprised it isn't on the list!
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