Top 10 Faked Deaths in Movies
You may want to call off the funeral. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Faked Deaths in Movies. For this list, we're taking a look at big screen characters that orchestrate their deaths and go into hiding.
Special thanks to our users neener, Hascerflef and David Ram for submitting the idea using our interactive suggestion tool at http://www.WatchMojo.comsuggest.
#10: Nick Parsons “Double Jeopardy” (1999)
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What do you do if you want to get out of your loveless marriage and make a butt load of cash in the process? Take out a life insurance policy, fake your death, and frame your wife for the murder. That’s exactly what Nick Parsons does in “Double Jeopardy,” killing two birds with one stone. As crafty as Nick is, his accused wife catches on to his staged murder. After getting out on parole six years later, she sets out to hunt Nick down and actually kill him. Since she’s already been tried for the murder, she can’t be re-prosecuted. You’ve gotta love the Fifth Amendment.
#9: Lt. James Gordon “The Dark Knight” (2008)
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Many people in “The Dark Knight” trilogy successfully fake their deaths, including Batman himself. At the same time, though, the series wasn’t afraid to kill characters off. Because of this, audiences thought that James Gordon had really bitten the bullet at Commissioner Loeb's funeral. Although it seemed like the Joker and his men had killed Gotham’s most honest cop, it was Gordon who had the last laugh. Gordon would subsequently get a much-deserved promotion, although the Joker still had a few more tricks up his sleeve.
#8: John Kramer “Saw” (2004)
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John Kramer is so confident in his fake death that he lies in front of our protagonists for the entire running time of “Saw.” A cancer patient suffering from a fatal brain tumor, Kramer shows other people the value of life by making them play deadly games. In order to evade the authorities, he enlists a scapegoat to throw everybody off track. Just when it seems like the Jigsaw killer has been brought to justice, the unknown corpse arises and Kramer reveals himself as the true criminal mastermind. It’s game over for Adam, but the game is just beginning for Kramer.
#7: Nick Fury “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)
We can’t believe it. They actually killed off Nick Fury. We never thought it would actually happen, but a major character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe got the axe. Perhaps we should have seen this coming with Samuel L. Jackson’s contract expiring. Alas, Fury will be deeply missed and the MCU will never be quite the same without…oh wait, never mind. Turns out Fury is still alive. His death was all a ruse to sabotage Hydra. So, it looks like he’ll be sticking around for several more sequels, crossovers, and spinoffs. Hooray!
#6: Sherlock Holmes “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” (2011)
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Sherlock Holmes is a truly immortal character that will never die in our popular culture. He’ll also never die in any screen adaptations. When caught in an inescapable showdown with Professor Moriarty, Holmes sees only one solution: to call for help…or to grab Moriarty and plunge themselves into the Reichenbach Falls. Watson believes his partner in crime has met his end, but Holmes is sitting right in front of him the entire time. How did he survive the fall? That’s a mystery only Sherlock Holmes himself could solve, although we’re sure the explanation is quite elementary.
#5: Jim Phelps “Mission: Impossible” (1996)
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The “Mission: Impossible” franchise is full of undercover secret agents and masters of deceit with a knack for faking deaths. Take Julia’s apparent demise in “MI3” for example. The fake death that initially took us by surprise, however, was Jim Phelps’. After seemingly dying in action, Phelps is revealed to be alive and well. Not only that, but he was the mole who sold secrets to arms dealers and took the lives of three IMF agents. We’re almost positive Phelps is dead for real now, however, as it’d be pretty hard for anyone to come back from a helicopter explosive.
#4: Henry ‘Shaw’ Gondorff & Johnny ‘Kelly’ Hooker “The Sting” (1973)
Any great conman needs to know how to execute a convincing fake death. In “The Sting,” Henry Gondorff and Johnny Hooker pull off the biggest con of their careers with a little help. As FBI agents raid the parlor, it appears that Hooker has stabbed Gondorff in the back. Gondorff subsequently shoots Hooker in the back only to be shot by an FBI agent. Gondorff and Hooker have played Lonnegan and the audience for fools, however, as their staged deaths were all part of an elaborate ruse. They may be dishonest, but the friendship these men share is 100% genuine.
#3: Laura Williams Burney “Sleeping with the Enemy” (1991)
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When you’re sleeping with the enemy, sometimes simply asking for a divorce isn’t an option. Packing up and leaving her controlling husband isn’t good enough for Laura Burney either. To escape his abuse, she decides to fake her death by falling overboard at sea. Although her husband believes that she can’t swim, Laura makes it to the shore, moves away, changes her name, and lives happily ever after. That is until her husband learns the truth. You really should have made sure that wedding ring flushed down the toilet, Laura.
#2: Juliet Capulet “Romeo + Juliet” (1996)
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Young love doesn’t always work out the way you had hoped. The same can be said about fake deaths. Knowing that her family will never approve of her love for Romeo, Juliet drinks a potion that allows her to mimic her death. Once the potion’s effects wear off, she plans to reunite with Romeo and run away with him. It probably would’ve been smart to inform Romeo of her plans beforehand, though. Upon awakening, Juliet finds that her love is committing suicide and she decides to join him. It makes for a tragically poetic ending that only Shakespeare could write. Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: - Loki “Thor: The Dark World” (2013) - Nikita “Nikita [aka “La Femme Nikita”] (1990) - The Autobots “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011) - Bane “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) - Metro Man “Megamind” (2010)
#1: James Bond “You Only Live Twice” (1967)
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The fact that this movie is called “You Only Live Twice” should tell you upfront that it entails a fake death. Being a secret agent often involves going undercover. For this mission, though, Mr. Bond needs to go so deep undercover that he fakes his death in Hong Kong. It appears 007 has died doing what he loves most, but it was all part of a ruse so he could spy on the Japanese. Fake deaths have since become a staple of James Bond pictures, as with Alec Trevelyan in “GoldenEye.” In Mr. Bond’s case, he’s definitely lived more than twice. Do you agree with our list? What fake big screen death threw you for a loop? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.