- 7 months ago
From dramatic sacrifices to shocking endings, cinema has mastered the art of the slow-motion farewell. Join us as we explore the most memorable and impactful scenes where time stood still for maximum emotional effect. From action blockbusters to war epics, these moments left an indelible mark on film history.
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00:00Sir, let go of him. You gotta let him go, sir.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most impactful scenes where on-screen demises were slowed down for dramatic effect.
00:21Number 20. Freak gasoline fight accident. Zoolander.
00:24Who ever said that these sorts of slow-motion death scenes also couldn't be fun? Or at the very least, blackly comedic.
00:33We're not sure what's more humorous about the freak gasoline fight accident from Zoolander.
00:37The over-the-top nature of Derek's friends spraying gasoline all over each other, or the supermodel being totally cool about the whole ordeal.
00:44Derek doesn't even seem alarmed at first, smiling as the gas is seen dousing the entire scene.
00:48Then it just sort of hits the supermodel, but he's too late to stop his friends from exploding in a giant, fiery conflagration.
01:10Number 19. Sarah falls to her death. Cliffhanger.
01:14And just keep looking at me. Sarah, that's great. You're starting to look like a pro. Keep going.
01:22For this action thriller, Sylvester Stallone plays Gabe Walker, a rescue ranger who is enlisted to help stranded mountaineers in the Rocky Mountains.
01:29In this mesmerizing opening sequence, Gabe attempts to save Sarah, the girlfriend of his best friend Hal Tucker.
01:35That's it. One, two.
01:42Sarah?
01:43Oh, God!
01:44Since it's the opening scene, you expect Gabe to save her in the nick of time against the odds,
01:51but the movie defies expectations and drops Sarah to her death, all in dramatic slow motion,
01:56allowing the viewer to relish in the shock factor.
01:59That scream would haunt our dreams for years to come.
02:02Help!
02:03Save me!
02:04Save me!
02:07Save me!
02:12No!
02:12Number 18. Bomb Goes Boom.
02:17The Hurt Locker.
02:1825.
02:2025 meters.
02:20Roger that. You are now in the kill zone.
02:23In 2008, director Catherine Bigelow took the world by storm with this intense masterpiece about,
02:28well, pretty much about disarming bombs, but damn, did it do that well.
02:32In the riveting opening sequence, Sergeant Matthew Thompson, played brilliantly by Guy Pearce,
02:37attempts to disarm a bomb before realizing that it is unstoppable, and he runs away in fright.
02:42Put down the cell phone!
02:43Albert, right up!
02:44Get out of the way!
02:45Drop your phone!
02:46Put it down! Go get it!
02:48The shot of the bomb exploding in slow motion sends the viewer into shock and awe,
02:52and provides one of the film's many gorgeous and heart-stopping sequences.
02:56Future directors, take note.
02:58This is how you make a war movie.
03:13Number 17. A Final Charge.
03:15The Last Samurai.
03:17I should have died so many times before.
03:21Now you live again.
03:25Yes.
03:29It was not your time.
03:32Just because 2003's The Last Samurai dramatized the real-life stories of Eugène Collache,
03:37Jules Brunet, and Enomoto Takeaki during the Boshin War,
03:41didn't mean that the end results were without emotional pathos.
03:43The final charge of Captain Nathan Algren and Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto is a fatalistic one,
03:49a last stand where both men know full well the likely outcome.
04:02Katsumoto's death arrives by his own hands, with the assistance of Algren,
04:06but the Gatling gun fire is shot in painful slow motion.
04:09It's these bullet wounds that push Katsumoto and his cavalry to the brink of death,
04:13although the sacrifice of this titular Last Samurai does not ever feel in vain.
04:29Number 16. Mama Inhales Slow Mo, and gets pushed out a window.
04:34Dread.
04:34Citizen Mama, your crimes are multiple homicide in the manufacture and distribution of narcotics.
04:42How do you plead?
04:49We have to marvel at what a good slow motion sequence can do for a film.
04:53While Dread was well-received by critics, this final scene is pure cinematic ecstasy.
04:58After pushing Mama out of a window, viewers are treated to a dazzling sequence
05:02full of reflective shining glass and divinely colorful shots.
05:15The slow, atmospheric music helps to flawlessly set the tone for the scene,
05:19and it proved to be a stunning sequence in a movie that critics and audiences
05:23were willing to write off as just another violent escapade at the cinema.
05:27Number 15. Ripley's Fall, Alien 3
05:40There certainly is a lot to love about David Fincher's controversial Alien 3,
05:52including the memorable slow motion demise of Ellen Ripley.
05:54The last survivor of the Nostromo has been propagated with the embryo of an alien queen,
05:59but we don't see the final reveal until that evocative shot of Ripley falling into the furnace.
06:04The queen xenomorph erupts from Ripley as she tumbles down the shaft,
06:08cradled in the hero's arms as she chooses self-destruction
06:11over assisting the Weyland-Yutani company achieve their goals.
06:13It's bittersweet to be sure, but at least fans didn't have to wait too long
06:29for Ripley to return, in clone form anyway, in Alien Resurrection.
06:33Number 14. Ricky is Shot, Boys in the Hood
06:45It looks like a bad dream or a nightmare.
06:56Ricky's death by gunshot at the hands of gang members doesn't spare the audience's feelings,
07:00nor does it shy away from the brutality of the situation.
07:03The slow motion here feels agonizing,
07:06as Morris Chestnut runs for his life, attempting to escape the assassin's bullet.
07:09Co-star Cuba Gooding Jr. is also shot in this fashion,
07:26running towards Ricky in a futile attempt to stop what he already knows is tragically true.
07:31The practical effects of the bullet squib on Chestnut
07:33only add to the visceral power the scene still possesses today.
07:36Ricky! Help me! Help me! Somebody help me!
07:45Number 13. A Heroic Tragedy, The Amazing Spider-Man 2
07:49It's one of the most iconic series of panels in comic book history.
08:05This meant that a lot was riding on director Mark Webb and crew
08:08when it came to shooting The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
08:10The familiarity audiences likely had with the source material
08:13meant that this film could even afford to get artsy with the execution.
08:16Emma Stone's facial expression as Gwen Stacy
08:19is tragically beautiful as she's tossed from the clock tower by Green Goblin.
08:22Andrew Garfield's real-life romantic history with Stone also comes into play,
08:42and the actor's grief at not being able to save his doomed love
08:45feels legitimately emotional and powerful.
08:48Quint! Hey!
08:56Freeze!
08:59Quit!
09:01Hey!
09:06Hey!
09:08Number 12. Goose is Gone, Top Gun.
09:12Mav's in trouble. He's in a flat spin. He's heading out to sea.
09:14Altitude, 8,000!
09:207,000!
09:22Six! We're at six, man!
09:24I'm pinned forward, Goose!
09:28I can't reach the ejection handle!
09:30Masculine men from all walks of life felt the need,
09:33the need to cry during this emotional send-off to Nick Goose Bradshaw.
09:37Action fans during this era often felt that their heroes were invulnerable,
09:40because they usually were.
09:42And granted, Tom Cruise's Maverick does manage to successfully eject from his F-14,
09:46but his wingman isn't so lucky, and Goose crashes into the canopy of their jet.
09:51Eject!
09:52I'm trying!
09:52Eject! Eject! Eject! Eject!
09:54Watch the canopy!
09:55The actual impact that breaks Bradshaw's neck is thankfully brief,
10:06but this brevity doesn't lessen its impact.
10:09It's a tragedy for both Maverick and the Top Gun audience.
10:12Goose!
10:13Goose!
10:14Oh, no!
10:16Oh!
10:18Oh, God!
10:19Oh, God!
10:20Oh, God!
10:21Oh!
10:21Number 11, Lord Cutler in Chaos, Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End.
10:34Hold us! Hold us, sir!
10:36Lord Cutler Beckett was a satisfying antagonist for the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.
10:45A charismatic villain with understandable motives,
10:48he nevertheless earns villain status via the means with which he achieves his ends.
10:52This is in part what makes his demise at the climax of Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End
10:57feel so satisfying and earned.
10:59The disappointed look of finality washes over Cutler's face as his HMS endeavor is annihilated
11:21by the combined forces of the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman.
11:23He knows the end is near, with the cannonball chaos that surrounds him effectively sealing his doom.
11:43Number 10, Beauty Kills the Beast, King Kong.
11:48No!
11:51No!
11:51No!
11:53No!
11:53No!
12:04The demise of the eighth wonder of the world, King Kong, always arrives with a certain amount of melancholy.
12:09This was, after all, a creature that didn't ask to be taken from Skull Island, nor brought to New York City.
12:15Kong's death has been beautifully and tragically shot many times over the years,
12:19but the slow-motion manner chosen by director Peter Jackson feels indebted to the man's
12:23love for the original.
12:37Jackson just can't seem to let the big ape go, and there isn't a dry eye in the house as Kong
12:42tumbles from the Empire State Building down to the street below.
12:47Adam.
12:47Adam.
12:57Number 9, Cry for Freedom, Braveheart.
13:00Just say it.
13:03Cry out.
13:06Mercy.
13:06We don't really need to see the nuts and bolts of what's happening to William Wallace to know that it hurts.
13:18This leader for Scottish independence is being executed slowly and deliberately,
13:22but fans of Braveheart know full well what the scene is driving toward.
13:25Wallace's cry for freedom amidst all of his pain isn't just lip service.
13:29It's one of the film's central themes.
13:39Braveheart was a film that felt realistic and violent, but never exploitative.
13:43As a result, the slow motion of Wallace's noble death scene doesn't feel like a cheap shot,
13:48but a fulfilling ending to an epic story.
13:51Number 8, The Comedian, Watchmen.
14:13Just a matter of time, I suppose.
14:15Jeffrey Dean Morgan's portrayal of the comedian still serves as one of the most reprehensible
14:21villains within the comic book movie medium.
14:23The character's death kicks off Zack Snyder's 2009 adaptation of this fan-favorite comic in
14:27evocative style.
14:29The comedian is attacked by a mysterious and shadowy figure before unceremoniously being
14:33tossed out of his apartment window.
14:35Darling, it's incredible
14:39The blood-stained button that follows him down sets the stage for Snyder's epic retelling
14:55of Alan Moore's story.
14:56Although, at this point, we're left with more questions than answers.
14:59This will soon change, yet the memory and visual of the comedian's last ride stays with
15:04us forever.
15:04The idea of a heroic sacrifice within the confines of a movie is nothing new, usually existing
15:34as a means for a secondary character to buy the main protagonist a little time.
15:38Nux may speak the mantra of, I live, I die, I live again, early on in Mad Max Fury Road,
15:43but Nicholas Holt's character has changed by the time of the sacrifice.
15:54The illusion of Immortan Joe's control over this warboy has been shattered, with Nux shifting
15:59allegiances to assist Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max.
16:02This makes his wrecking of the rig in Fury Road's final act feel fitting.
16:06Although, if we're being honest, we were sorry to witness Nux go.
16:10Number six, Apollo Creed, Rocky IV.
16:26In this fourth installment of the series, good old Rocky travels to Moscow in order to get
16:44revenge on Ivan Drago for killing his friend and mentor, Apollo Creed.
16:48Oh, and to seemingly end the Cold War by himself, but that's a whole other thing.
16:53I just want to say one thing to my kid who should be home sleeping.
16:58Merry Christmas, kid!
17:00You can see what you're doing, Mr. Spock!
17:01Fighting!
17:02Get it to go for now!
17:06Apollo's death scene is perhaps one of the few dramatic moments in this otherwise goofy film
17:11that actually works, and it is undoubtedly helped by the use of slow motion.
17:15It's used to great effect in the final punch, giving it that much more oomph, and lends
17:19dramatic weight to Creed's falling body.
17:21Number five, Dumbledore's death, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
17:46Severus.
17:51Snape kills Dumbledore.
17:59While that particular spoiler may be old news by now, it was everywhere in the late 2000s,
18:04and this movie beautifully captured the powerful wizard's death and perfectly translated it to
18:09the big screen.
18:09After arriving back from his and Harry's trip to the zombie cave, Snape uses the Avada
18:14Kadavra curse and knocks Dumbledore off the clock tower.
18:16Avada Kadavra.
18:18It's a heart-stopping moment, and the slow motion is put to perfect use to amplify the
18:34drama of the scene.
18:35We can only watch in horror as Dumbledore falls away from the camera and out of the story forever.
18:40Number four, Ambushed, Bonnie and Clyde.
18:58What you got there?
19:00I got a flat tire, I ain't got no spare.
19:01It's perhaps one of the most obvious examples of bullet ballet slow motion death scene artistry
19:24on this list.
19:24The ending to director Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde helped push forward the boundaries
19:29of acceptable violence on the silver screen.
19:31It also served as a stunning example of the new Hollywood era of American filmmaking.
19:36Is that your money or the banks?
19:38Mine.
19:39All right.
19:40You keep it to me.
19:45Next time I'll aim a little lower.
19:47Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are making the mistakes so many criminals make mere moments
19:52before their deaths.
19:53They lose focus.
19:55Granted, they don't know that the father of their partner, C.W. Moss, has sold them out
19:59to the authorities.
20:00Bonnie and Clyde's brief moment of lapsed attention is shattered in a hail of gunfire,
20:04as hidden gunmen riddled them with bullets.
20:07It's tough to watch, even by today's standards.
20:15Number three, Boromir gets pelted with arrows.
20:18The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring.
20:23You can't have a death-related list without Sean Bean.
20:33The Lord of the Rings films don't kill off major characters often,
20:36but when they do, the impact is heavily felt.
20:39At the end of this installment, when the Fellowship is traveling to Parth Galan,
20:43they are ambushed by Uruk-hai,
20:44and their leader, Lurtz, fires multiple arrows into Boromir's chest.
21:02The scene will bring tears to your eyes due to its soft music and stirring use of slow motion,
21:07making Boromir's sacrifice and last stand that much more powerful.
21:10While Boromir had his flaws, his extraordinary send-off more than redeems him.
21:15They took the little ones.
21:20Stay still.
21:22Frodo, where is Frodo?
21:26I let Frodo go.
21:28Then you did what I could not.
21:30Number two, Happy Trails, Hans. Die Hard.
21:36Happy Trails, Hans.
21:38Die Hard is a true action classic,
21:40not only due to its everyman hero and realistic approach,
21:43but also due to its marvelous villain Hans Gruber,
21:46played superbly by Alan Rickman.
21:48When John McClane finally arrives to rescue his wife Holly,
21:52he sends Hans tumbling out the window.
21:54After John releases Holly's watch,
22:07we watch in morbid wonder as Hans' face slowly changes from confidence to fright
22:12as he realizes his death is imminent.
22:14Fun fact,
22:15the wondrous effect was used by actually dropping Alan Rickman
22:18onto the safety airbag on the count of two instead of three.
22:24Well, I hope that's not a hostage.
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22:43Number one, Elias is Gunned Down, Platoon.
22:54One of the most parodied death scenes in film,
23:08Elias' demise is heroic,
23:10heartbreaking,
23:11and entirely captivating to witness
23:13thanks in no small part to its use of slow motion.
23:16After Barnes tells the platoon that Elias has been killed,
23:19after shooting him himself,
23:20Elias dramatically emerges from the trees
23:22and is gunned down in front of his fellow soldiers.
23:33The music swells to epic proportions,
23:35and we watch in astonishment as Elias gets more and more wounded,
23:39eventually reaching to the heavens before succumbing to his injuries.
23:42It is truly one of the most memorable scenes in film history.
23:46What, to you, is most impactful about the art of slow motion?
24:02Let us know in the comments.
24:03See you next time.
24:08See you next time.
24:15We'll see you next time.
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