Top Gun Maverick has shattered Tom Cruise's personal best at the box office, further cementing the 59-year-old actor as one of the last true Hollywood stars.
The release of the movie has many film buffs revisiting the original Top Gun, the star vehicle that helped a much younger Cruise soar to top in the first place. Celebrated for its high-octane action sequences, romance, and a peer rivalry that would later turn into unbreakable friendship, Top Gun was a masterful lesson in compelling storytelling. But it was the death of supporting character Nick "Goose" Bradshaw that shredded viewers' hearts, paving the way for a trend of beloved movie characters whose cinematic deaths felt harrowingly real.
Rue - The Hunger Games
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) grows close to Rue, a 12-year-old from District 11 chosen as tribute for the 74th Hunger Games.
Rue reminds Katniss of her sister, Prim. With a name that means "sorrow," it's evident things aren't going to end well for Rue once she forms an alliance with Katniss, the eventual winner of the games. Smart, beautiful, and too pure to be entangled in the messiness of the brutal games, Rue is fatally wounded by a boy in District 1, dying after asking Katniss, "Did you blow up the food?" Later, Katniss covers her friend with flowers and sings to her, digging the wound deeper into viewers' hearts.
Mufasa - The Lion King
The death of Simba's father in The Lion King remains one of the most excruciating movie deaths of all time, whether in animation or live film.
Mufasa's brother Scar thirsts for the crown and the power, so he meticulously plots Mufasa's death. Sure, the act is a Shakespearean nod to Hamlet; however, the animated feature handled it in a surprisingly realistic manner. Mufasa unwittingly begs Scar for help while desperately clinging to the side of the mountain, completely unaware he's asking his saboteur for help. When Scar shoves Mufasa to his death, viewers' tears tumble to the pit with him.
Ricky Baker - Boyz N The Hood
It's very rare for movie theaters to go silent, but when Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) is gunned down fleeing for his life, it's a shock that is equal parts masterful, and cruel.
Ricky's an average student with a below-average life. His only hope for escaping the hood life his brother Doughboy (Ice Cube) thrives on is scoring high enough on the SAT test to get financial aid for college. Following an altercation with a rival gang, Doughboy's enemies take their anger out on Ricky, guns blazing. As traumatic as it is to witness, it's even worse to accept that the one who never causes trouble is the one who dies.
Han Solo - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Han Solo (Harrison Ford) has one of the Star Wars saga's most important character arcs, evolving from rogue to hero over the course of the original trilogy, which makes his death even sadder.
From the moment he originally explodes onscreen, fans and critics fell in love with the gruff yet charismatic smuggler who's the ultimate anti-hero and one of the Star Wars franchise's favorite characters. The Force Awakens finds Han desperate to get his son back from the dark side, making it all the more tragic when his corrupted son murders him.
Private Silas Trip, Glory
Glory is the first major motion picture to document the story of Black U.S. soldiers fighting for freedom from slavery in the Civil War.
Private Silas Trip (Denzel Washington in his first Oscar-winning role) is a runaway slave gone AWOL from the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. When Col. Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) discovers Trip was merely trying to get the shoes Black soldiers have been denied, Shaw not only fights to get the infantry the supplies they need, but equal pay as well. Trip's tortured soul is defiant, moody, and resilient against all odds. After Shaw is shot and killed during battle at Fort Wagner, Trip picks up the American flag, dying as he charges into gunfire. Trip becomes a symbol of pride and a source of tears, especially seeing Shaw's lifeless body tumbling into a mass grave with his.
Radio Raheem - Do The Right Thing
During the hottest day of the summer in Bed-Stuy, Sal's Pizzeria is about to become the source of destruction from more than just the heat.
Initially, Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) strolls through the tension-filled neighborhood like an east coast pied-piper, blasting his personal theme song, Fight the Power, from his boom box at eardrum bursting levels. The music speaks for him, unless he's expounding on topics such as love and hate to Mookie (Spike Lee), proving he's deeper than most people expect. After the penultimate confrontation with Sal, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), and Sal's sons over pictures not being hung on the wall, Radio Raheem's senseless demise moves audiences to tears...and stunned silence.
John Coffey - The Green Mile
In its entirety, The Green Mile is a tearjerker, but it's especially the death of John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) that causes viewers to shed the most tears.
Coffey is an inmate sentenced to death after being wrongfully convicted of murder. He's kind, compassionate, honest - and possesses supernatural powers to heal. It soon becomes obvious to everyone in the prison - especially guard Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) that Coffey isn't guilty of the heinous crime he's accused of; however, his scheduled execution remains intact. The final scenes when Coffey asks for the black hood not to be put over his head because he's afraid of the dark, and Edgecomb holding his hand before he's put to death are embedded in viewers' hearts.
Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie - Steel Magnolias
All Shelby (Julia Roberts) wants after getting married to the love of her life is to start a family with her new husband, but because she has type 1 diabetes, her doctor advises her not to attempt to have children.
Much to her mother M'Lynne's (Sally Field) dismay, Shelby is headstrong and determined to not let her diagnosis stop her from having what she wants. Gleeful to discover she's finally pregnant, Shelby's health quickly deteriorates as those who love her tearfully look on. She delivers a beautiful baby boy, Jackson Jr., but Shelby's kidney fails, and she's forced to undergo a transplant with a donated kidney from her mother. On Jack Jr.'s first birthday, Shelby's body rejects the kidney; she dies shortly after. Not only is her death incredibly painful, but knowing Shelby sacrificed herself to give her son life makes it all the more poignant.
Erik "Killmonger" Stevens - Black Panther
Yes, T'Challa's (Chadwick Boseman) cousin broke every rule known to Wakanda and in the United States, but that didn't ease the pain when he died.
Most villains have an origin story, and Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) is no different. His father is taken from him at a young age, he's misunderstood, and the adversity he consistently faces makes him that much more sympathetic. After being mortally wounded by T-Challa, Killmonger is taken to a mountain to watch the sunset with him, refusing treatment that will save him from death. For Killmonger, death is better than imprisonment, making his death even more powerful.
Cleo Sims, Frankie Sutton, TT Williams - Set It Off
Three different characters, one horrible fate. When Cleo (Queen Latifah) suggests she and her friends Stony, Frankie, and TT (Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise) rob a bank because a crew in their neighborhood pulls off a robbery, it's obvious things aren't going to end well, especially considering their friends die after being caught.
Simply put, the crew gets greedy, wastes the cash they've stolen, and keeps going when they simply should've stopped. Still, it's horrifying to see karma pick them off one by one except Stony, the lone survivor.