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The cinematic equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.
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00:00Regardless of whether it was an inscrutable blunder or an error of judgement, cinema is
00:04no exception to the reality that actions have consequences. Tragically for many of popular
00:09culture's most celebrated characters, said consequences can often be fatal. The manner
00:15of their demise could look like poetic justice, or if they're a lovable hero, the most unfair
00:20thing to ever happen on screen. So let's take a look at some. I'm Adam, this is WhatCulture,
00:25and here are 10 huge mistakes which doomed movie characters.
00:2910. Drey Glazer in Glorious Bastards Hand gestures don't typically seal a person's
00:35doom, unless said person just so happens to be a British commando deep undercover in Nazi-occupied
00:41France. The aforementioned officer, Michael Fassbender's Lieutenant Archie Hickox, inadvertently
00:47signs a death warrant for himself and his undercover companions in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious
00:52Bastards, when he orders a round of drinks in front of Gestapo Major Dietrich Hellstrom.
00:57Hickox orders Dry Glazer, holding up the index, middle and ring fingers of his right hand to
01:02represent each glass. Unfortunately for the Lieutenant, that's exactly where Fassbender's
01:07Soldier gives the game away. The Western European style of finger counting differs from the English
01:11speaking, where the index finger is used to represent 1 as opposed to the thumb. A true German would have
01:17ordered 3 with the index, middle finger and thumb extended, a fax that Hickox is fatally unaware of.
01:23An urratiny in scope, but colossal in terms of repercussions, as Hellstrom instantly rumbles the
01:29Englishman for an imposter. This precipitates a Mexican standoff which soon concludes with a hail
01:34of gunfire and a bullet riddled mess of bodies, amongst them Hickox and his comrades.
01:409. Killing Mickey's Mother Snatch
01:43A general rule of thumb derived from Guy Ritchie's snatch, it's probably an ill-advised move to mildly
01:49irritate a bare-knuckle boxing champion who happens to be harder than a coffin nail, let alone burn
01:54down his mother's caravan with her still inside it. However, that's exactly what the 2001 crime
02:00comedy central antagonist, Alan Ford's Bricktop does, attempting to coerce Brad Pitt's Mickey O'Neil
02:06into fixing an unlicensed boxing match. Bricktop appears to believe that his terrifying
02:11underworld reputation coupled with the threat of further violence will deter any retribution
02:15from Mickey and his community of travellers. Seemingly taking the demise of the woman who
02:20birthed him rather lightly in the first instance, Mickey flips the script on fight night, knocking
02:25out his opponent in the very first round he was meant to take a dive in. As an apoplectic bricktop
02:30follows to murder Pitt's pugilist, the gangster is ambushed and murdered by O'Neil's associates
02:35outside the venue. Placing the cherry atop an extremely bloody cake, Mickey is revealed to
02:41have bet the house on himself, taking advantage of Bricktop driving his odds down before carrying
02:46out his vengeance. Case in point, messing with a man's mother is almost certainly a dreadful mistake.
02:528. Disrespecting Benny Blanco, Carlito's Way
02:56Hey remember me, Benny Blanco from the Bronx. A legendary reputation amongst New York's underworld
03:01ultimately isn't adequate to save the eponymous character of 1993's Carlito's Way from the
03:07ramifications of an earlier mistake. The early goings of the Al Pacino led efforts see former
03:12career criminal Carlito Brigante propositioned by a hot headed up and coming gangster from the Bronx,
03:18Benny Blanco. Carlito declines several offers to do business with Blanco, culminating in an explosive
03:24showdown in a strip club. Pacino's grizzled criminal publicly humiliates Benny, but lets him leave
03:29with his life. Carlito's mistake ultimately proves to be twofold, humiliating a man badly enough to
03:35cause him to seek bloody revenge and letting him go scot free without neutralising the threat.
03:40The absence of his historically ruthless edge alienates his bodyguard Pachanka, who begins working
03:46for Benny in secret, eventually providing the scorned gangster with Carlito's location.
03:51The film's explosive final act sees Blanco's charge ambush Brigante as he attempts to flee New York,
03:57gunning him down with a silenced pistol in retribution for his earlier slight. The mistake?
04:02Never let your enemies live. 7. Killing Patroclus, Troy
04:06Things are going swimmingly for the Trojans around the halfway point of Wolfgang Peterson's Troy.
04:11Their Greek invaders are on the retreat, while legendary warrior Achilles has withdrawn from
04:16the invasion, following a bitter dispute with the invading King Agamemnon. Attempting to press
04:21their advantage, the Trojans attack the Greeks at dawn. Everything appears to be going according to plan,
04:25until a figure wearing Achilles distinctive armour rallies the Greeks, seemingly none other than the
04:31invincible fighter himself. However, after coming face to face with Eric Banner's Hector,
04:36the man is duly dispatched by Troy's finest soldier. Now for anyone unfamiliar with Homer's Iliad,
04:41it likely did not seem apparent that the Trojan Crown Prince had just made a mistake that would seal
04:46his doom. Unfortunately for Hector, that's exactly what had just happened. The stricken soldier is
04:51revealed as Achilles' cousin Patroclus, wearing his relative's armour in an attempt to inspire a Greek
04:56fight back. Killing Achilles proves to be the nail in Hector's coffin. His enraged adversary soon
05:01returns to the fold, arriving at Troy's city walls and roaring for Hector to come out and answer for
05:06his cousin's death. The prince gives a valiant account of himself, but is still ultimately struck
05:11down before the vengeful Greek drags his body behind his chariot. 6. Having Faith in His Son,
05:18Star Wars Episode 7 The Force Awakens Han Solo's fate in 2015's Star Wars Episode 7 The Force Awakens
05:25epitomises why trusting one's children is usually a bad idea. Before he donned the garb of the First
05:31Order, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren was once Ben Solo, Han and Leia's son. As the Resistance attempts to
05:37destroy Starkiller base in the film's final act, Ren is confronted by his father in an explosive sequence
05:43atop a bridge. Despite a wealth of evidence that his child is beyond redemption, he implores Ben to
05:48abandon the dark side and return to his family. Sadly Han's unbreakable faith in his son's inherent
05:54goodness seals the fate of one of popular culture's most enduring heroes. Just as it looks like he
05:59might be about to renounce his evil ways, Kylo drives his lightsaber through his father's chest,
06:04prompting howls of dismay from Chewbacca and the audience alike. Even when confronted with the reality of
06:10his mistake, Han's faith never wavers, caressing Ben's cheek one final time before falling into
06:16an abyss. Flawed character judgement aside, the demise of Harrison Ford's charge remains one of
06:21Star Wars' saddest scenes ever. 5. Walking Straight Into A Trap
06:26Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix The most heartbreaking aspect of Sirius Black's
06:30fate in 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the needless nature of his death.
06:36Were it not for a terrible mistake made by his own godson, Black may not have ultimately met his
06:41end in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic. It's an absolute clangor of a mistake to boot.
06:47After the psychic bond between the boy who lived and Lord Voldemort becomes obvious,
06:51Dumbledore has Severus Snape teach Harry Occlumency to shield his mind from the Heir of Slytherin.
06:56However, despite being fully aware of the likelihood that Voldemort would try to exploit their connection,
07:01Harry merrily charges headfirst into the most obvious of traps after the Dark Lord
07:05shows him a fake vision of himself torturing Sirius. It's a lapse of judgement that costs
07:11his godfather's life. After Harry and his friends are ambushed by Death Eaters in the Department of
07:15Mysteries, Sirius and other members of the Order of the Phoenix arrive on the scene to save their
07:20bumbling young charges. Regrettably, the feel-good factor doesn't last for long. Black is killed by
07:25a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange seconds after overpowering Lucius Malfoy.
07:294. Celebrating Too Soon, This Is The End Focusing on a fictionalised version of its
07:35cast amidst the flames of the apocalypse, 2013's This Is The End is a perfect example
07:40of why celebrating too early is nearly always a terrible idea. As the film reaches its final act,
07:46our heroes discover that they can still make it to heaven. They simply have to perform a selfless act.
07:52Accordingly, when the survivors find themselves confronted by a Danny McBride-led group of cannibals,
07:56this status quo seemingly provides James Franco with the perfect opportunity to save his immortal
08:01soul, sacrificing himself by distracting their antagonists. All is going according to plan,
08:07as Franco is engulfed by a beam of heavenly blue light, only for the 127 hour star to make a
08:13terminal
08:13blunder. Giddy with delight at his plan working successfully, the actor begins taunting and cursing
08:19McBride and his goons, flipping off his would-be killers as he rises through the air. Unfortunately for
08:24Franco, the almighty would appear to have a problem with his profanity. The blue beam of light disappears
08:30abruptly, along with any chance of being raptured. A horrified Franco is left at the mercy of the
08:35cannibals, who gleefully set about devouring him. 3. Telling Norton the Truth, The Shawshank Redemption
08:42In prison, honesty is decidedly not the best policy, a status quo tragically illustrated by the fate of
08:48Tommy Williams in 1993's The Shawshank Redemption. A new prisoner doing a stretch for burglary,
08:54Tommy befriends Andy Dufresne and Red when he first arrives at Shawshank. After Andy helps the young
08:59man to pass his exam, Tommy produces a piece of news that seems too good to be true. While incarcerated
09:05in another prison, one of William's former cellmates claimed responsibility for the murders Andy is
09:10currently imprisoned for, a fact that Tommy is willing to testify to. Unfortunately, Tommy's sincerity
09:16proves to be his undoing. After Andy brings his news to the prison's loathsome Warden Norton,
09:21he is banged up in solitary confinement. Thin in concern, Norton then summons Tommy in an attempt to
09:27gauge how likely he is to testify on Andy's behalf. The instant he is assured of William's integrity,
09:33the warden steps away from him, allowing his sadistic right hand Hadley to gun down Andy's
09:37would-be saviour under the guise of an attempted escape. 2. Giving out free aspirin,
09:43Die Hard with a Vengeance As Simon Gruber mockingly tossed
09:46a bottle of aspirin to John McClane to cure a pounding hangover, it is unlikely that Jeremy
09:51Iron's slick criminal was aware that he had just made a mistake that would cost him 140 billion
09:56dollars worth of gold and his life. In all fairness to him, McClane was tied up next to a large
10:02bomb
10:02and appeared to have approximately zero chance of escape at the time. Unfortunately for Gruber,
10:07there's a reason that the franchise is called Die Hard. McClane slips his buns and escapes the bomb's
10:12explosion alongside Samuel L. Jackson's Zeus Carver. However, all still seems to be lost in the big
10:17picture. Gruber has escaped along with his haul from robbing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
10:22seemingly vanishing into thin air. That is of course until McClane realises that the bottle
10:27of aspirin has markings on it indicating where it was purchased, a truck shop in Quebec on the Canadian-US
10:32border. Gruber and his cronies are caught red-handed when the NYPD raids the location.
10:37Iron's villain meets his end in a fiery helicopter wreck soon after. Next time, quit while you're ahead.
10:431. Attempting to discover Angier's secret, The Prestige
10:47Why? Haven't good come from your obsessions? Well, at first. But I followed them too long.
10:53I'm their slave, and one day they'll choose to destroy me.
10:56An almost flawless offering from Christopher Nolan, 2005's The Prestige chronicles the endless
11:01feud between rival stage magicians in Victorian London. Tangents between the pair boil to head
11:07over a trick called The Transported Man. Initially demonstrated by Borden, the trick sees Christian
11:11Bale's magician seemingly transport instantaneously between two wardrobe doors on opposite ends of a
11:17stage. Hugh Jackman's Robert Angier eventually surpasses Borden, with his The Real Transported
11:22Man trick trumping the original in scale. Alfred performs his trick using the assistance of an
11:27identical twin with whom he shares Borden's identity. Unaware that Angier now possesses a
11:32machine that allows him to replicate the trick, he is completely unable to fathom how his rival has
11:36surpassed him. Regrettably, Alfred's obsession sets up a meeting with The Hangman. Angier's machine
11:41creates a new version of himself every time the illusion is performed, meaning that one Robert
11:46takes the audience's applause, while the other drowns in a tank below the stage. When Borden sneaks below
11:51during a performance, his adversary takes the opportunity to frame him for the murder of the latest
11:56drowned version of Angier. One half of Alfred Borden subsequently is put to death for the murder
12:01of a man still drawing breath. Obsession. It's a young man's game.