Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Favorite Movie Deaths: The Black Hole


Call me a cheese-monger, but one of my favorite films is The Black Hole. Yeah, it's a Disney movie (shudders). Yeah, some of the robots are goofy looking (V.I.N.C.E.N.T. anyone?). But it also has a kick-ass soundtrack (in my opinion, John Barry's finest work) and Maximilian, the big, red monster-robot.

Yeah. Maximillian is my favorite robot in all of film.

On to the death...

Once Dr. Alex Durant (Anthony Perkins) discovers the truth about Cygnus's crew (um, robo-zombies), and Maximilian turns on him with those spinning blades (think: garbage disposal), well that makes a nice on screen death. No blood needed. Max shreds Dr. Reinhardt's (his creator) notes in the process for a nice, symbolic and forshadowing moment as well. Later in the film, Max leaves Reinhardt for dead.

The Black Hole is dated. The script is stiff. The robots deliver the best acting. But despite these shortfalls, the movie is creepy, very creepy--a nice blend of gothic "haunted house" sensibilities and twisted technology.

And the look on Perkins's face as Dr. Durant's guts are rearranged by Maximilian...priceless.

Other favorite movie deaths?

12 comments:

Jamie Eyberg said...

the death of the sword swinging bad guy in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The one where he comes out and does his routine only to be taken out by a single bullet of Indy's pistol.

Aaron Polson said...

Jamie - Nice choice, and it provided fodder for the other films.

Fox Lee said...

Quint getting eaten by the shark in Jaws. I loved that scene as a kid!

Anonymous said...

This is tough. There are just so many to pick from. The Raiders is definitely classic. And, though it's not my favorite, for some reason the Samuel L. Jackson death from Deep Blue Sea comes to mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMwmqp3GLMc

Jeremy D Brooks said...

I really need to see Black Hole again...that was my absolute favorite when I was little, but I've been afraid to watch it again and have the magic sucked out by the reality of bad movie-ness. Same with TRON.

I think he was technically already dead, but I love the end of Fargo where Steve Buscemi is being fed into a wood chipper.

BT said...

The death of The Kurgan in Highlander. The look of sheer amazement on Clancy Brown's face as he realizes Connor (Lambert) is getting the upper hand, followed by the head sliding sideways and releasing the pent up quickening to deliver The Prize. A quick salute with a sword from a headless corpse is a nice touch.

K.C. Shaw said...

I like that part near the end of Fellowship of the Ring where Aragorn cuts off the head of that one uruk-hai. There's not enough blood, though.

Jameson T. Caine said...

An old B-Movie: The Brain That Wouldn't Die when the lab assistant has his armed ripped off by the creature in the closet and then proceeds to stumble around the lab for at least two minutes, dripping blood on everything and generally taking forever to croak.

Aaron Polson said...

Natalie - Shark consumption is high on the list.

Robert - nice.

Jeremy - that's a classic moment. The Black Hole holds up better than Tron, in my opinion.

BT - decapitation is always a plus

KC - another decapitation. I think they curbed the blood to keep the rating down.

Jameson - but in the B movie world, there's no curbing the blood. Let it pour!

Bobbie Metevier said...

There's an old B Movie, circu 1987, called Epitaph where a woman puts a rat in a tin bucket and ties the bucket around another woman's waist . . . She then holds a torch against the bottom of the bucket and the rat has only one option for escape. Let's just say his teeth came in handy.

Eeek!

brady said...

Two favorites:

-The chestburst in Alien. Will that ever not be horrifying?

-In Gremlins, when they rig Mrs. Deagle's stair-climbing chair-thing to launch her through the window. Because that's somehow possible.

Danielle Birch said...

Haven't seen this one. Think I'll have to check it out.