this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2026
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Decided to watch An American Werewolf in London last night because I don't know if I've ever watched the movie. I knew how it ended because it's 45 years old and there's been plenty of videos on it, but I had never actually watched it. It was quite enjoyable.

It got me thinking about how many good movies end with the main hero/protagonist(s) dying. I can think of quite a few great movies off the top of my head, but I wanted to hear from Lemmy on their favorites!

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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 points 22 minutes ago

Armaggeddon

[–] GraniteM@lemmy.world 2 points 44 minutes ago

The Fountain

[–] FukOui@lemmy.zip 1 points 44 minutes ago

Green mile?

[–] JellyManJellyArms@feddit.dk 1 points 1 hour ago

Camino by Javier Fesser

[–] phraktalz@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 hour ago

The Poseidon Adventure.

[–] luthis@lemmy.nz 3 points 2 hours ago

Aniara. If you haven't seen it, it's so worth a watch.

Bladerunner 2049, can't believe that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Sunshine.

[–] teslekova@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago

Lawrence of Arabia.

[–] crazyduck@lemmy.zip 8 points 7 hours ago

Rocky Horror Picture Show

[–] tea@lemmy.today 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Not a movie but The Sopranos is a good one.

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

🎶 Don't stop believin' 🎵

The ambiguity initially frustrated me. But then I thought about how generally annoying the entire family was and decided that I liked the idea that they all died.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 points 22 minutes ago
[–] Quilotoa@lemmy.ca 5 points 6 hours ago
[–] Aneb@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

Doctor Horrible Sing-along-blog

[–] Jerb322@lemmy.world 36 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

One of the best Star Wars movies

[–] tortina_original@lemmy.world 12 points 10 hours ago

The best Star Wars movie 🤨

[–] one_old_coder@piefed.social 8 points 8 hours ago

Not the main characters but:

  • Lucky Number Slevin (IIRC)
  • Don't look up
[–] RT69@lemmy.zip 14 points 9 hours ago

The Professional

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

The Last Castle, 2001, with Robert Redford preparing and executing a classical revolution in a military jail, and in the end he makes the enemy shoot him just because of a flag.

[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 4 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Excellent performance from Gandolfini as the warden

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I know that I watched it, but don't remember details. But Gandolfini was always great on screen. Will have to revisit this one.

[–] BeelzebubEiNukuKoskaan@piefed.social 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

If you like Gandolfini, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Loop and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Angry_Men_(1997_film)

(These are not answers to the question in the main thread, just random suggestions lol)

[–] MrSelfDestruct@reddthat.com 11 points 9 hours ago

Terminator 2

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago

The original The Wicker Man is almost perfect in this regard.

[–] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 25 points 11 hours ago

Cabin in the Woods. Doesnt even matter who your favorite character is!

[–] GratefullyGodless@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Harold and Maude.

[–] Maiq@piefed.zip 19 points 11 hours ago

James from 12 Monkeys.

[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Star Trek II, Spock dies at the end. Oh oops they resurrect him in Star Trek III. Hmm.

How about Thelma and Louise? IDK if there is a sequel.

Dr. Strangelove, the Slim Pickens scene at the end? No idea whether he got brought back either.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

I won't dispute the heroism of the act, but does Spock count as the protagonist of an ensemble cast?

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 15 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

Donnie Darko and Hero are the only two movies I really like that I can think of where the main character dies at the end.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 12 points 9 hours ago

Arguably, Donnie dies at the beginning.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 6 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

oooh. ooh. that makes me think about a movie where the protagonists parents die at the end by touching pure evil.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago

I saw that in the theater, at age seven.

My parents also took us to see Airplane! when it was released. No complaints. My parents were nuts, but we knew this.

[–] BillibusMaximus@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 hours ago

Time Bandits!

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 8 points 10 hours ago (2 children)
[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

One of Denzel's best performances

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 5 points 9 hours ago

Ooh, that's a good one.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 5 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

Historically inaccurate or not, it's a fun movie

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 hours ago

Man On Fire

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 9 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago

For a 1952 film, it seems very relevant to today

[–] Triumph@fedia.io 5 points 10 hours ago (2 children)
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[–] lemmyng@piefed.ca 4 points 10 hours ago

Several films on my list have already been mentioned, so here's two that have been overlooked:

  • Falling Down
  • Gran Torino
[–] assertnull@programming.dev 2 points 8 hours ago

Cool Hand Luke

[–] CharlesReed@fedia.io 6 points 11 hours ago

30 Days of Night is the first one that comes to my mind.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 3 points 10 hours ago

Two things that come to mind are ones where it seemed that way. In the movie enemy mine about or maybe over an hour into it it seems like the protaganist dies and it was going to end on one heck of a gloomy note. Especially seeing it in theaters before cell phones when you did not know the exact time. Then also in the supernatural series at one point which I think was the season 1 finale it looks like everyone died. I was super hyped because I was thinking the show would follow a different group of hunters every season that bought it fighting the supernatural. Don't get me wrong the series was still good but it could have been so epic.

[–] _deleted_@aussie.zone 2 points 9 hours ago

Miracle Mile

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