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Image via Focus Features
Warning! This list contains spoilers for every movie discussed.
Usually, when a character dies in a movie, it's an emotionally weighty event. If it's a hero that the audience has grown to care about, their death will likely be a poignant moment that might even lead some to shed a few tears. If it's a villain that dies, viewers will likely have a satisfied smile on their faces. In certain movies, however—comedies or otherwise— some character deaths are irresistibly amusing.
Whether it's because of a dark twist of irony, a funny stroke of creativity, or simply because the death is part of a gag that was always supposed to be hilarious, funny movie character deaths tend to become some of the most memorable scenes of their respective films. From Pulp Fiction to Monty Python and the Holy Grail and more, these are the funniest death scenes in movies, proving that even an inherently grim event can bring out some cathartic laughter.
10 Harry (Ralph Fiennes)
'In Bruges' (2008)
Image via Focus Features Martin McDonagh is primarily a playwright but has also delighted movie audiences with his distinctly sour, philosophical, darkly humorous writing and directing style. His debut (as well as perhaps his best movie to date) was In Bruges, a morality play about two hitmen awaiting orders from their ruthless boss, the foul-mouthed Harry, in Bruges, Belgium, after a job gone terribly wrong.
In Bruges is one of the funniest dark comedies ever made, and that's in no small measure thanks to its hilariously terrifying and merciless antagonist. At his core, though, Harry is a man of principles, so when he accidentally shoots a man with dwarfism who he mistakes for a little boy (the accidental shooting of a little boy being the reason why he's hunting down the protagonist), he must take his own life. It's a shocking finale but also one full of the pitch-black irony that makes McDonagh's films so clever and hilarious.
Release Date February 8, 2008
Runtime 107minutes
9 Marvin (Phil LaMarr)
'Pulp Fiction' (1994)
Image via Miramax Quentin Tarantino, one of the most acclaimed screenwriters and directors of modern Hollywood, has never quite been able to top his sophomore directing effort: Pulp Fiction, a multi-story narrative following the lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer and his partner, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits. The lives of these people intertwine in a grander tale of violence and redemption.
Being as big and as masterfully written as it is, Pulp Fiction is packed with fascinating characters. Toward the film's final section, viewers are led to believe that Marvin, who's working with the two lead characters, is about to join that list until Jules drives over a bump in the road, and Vincent accidentally shoots and kills Marvin. Everything about the scene, from the initial shock of the death to John Travolta's perfect line delivery, elicits laughter. Tarantino has always been a master of finding humor in violence, and this is perhaps the greatest example of that in his career.
Release Date October 14, 1994
Runtime 154 minutes
8 Eileen Coady (Patricia Hayes) and her dogs
'A Fish Called Wanda' (1988)
Image via MGM The incredibly smart, incredibly likable heist comedy A Fish Called Wanda is about four very different people who team up on a jewel heist and then try to double-cross one another for the loot, which is complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister. It's one of the most rewatchable comedies of the 1980s, largely thanks to its immensely talented star-studded cast, featuring the likes of John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis.
In one of the film's most elaborate gags, animal lover Ken Pile is tasked with assassinating the Crown's sole witness to their robbery: the elderly lady Eileen Coady. Instead, Ken keeps accidentally killing Eileen's three small dogs in all sorts of cartoonish ways. Finally, she dies from a heart attack, and he's able to celebrate his victory. It's a surprisingly smart, endlessly hilarious set piece with a hysterical performance by Michael Palin.
Release Date July 15, 1988
Runtime 108 min
7 Bill Murray (Bill Murray)
'Zombieland' (2009)
Image via Sony Pictures Releasing Zombieland is one of the best horror comedies of the 2000s, a hilariously spooky and terrifyingly charming road trip film that sees a shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio during a zombie apocalypse. He's accompanied by a gun-wielding cowboy in search of America's last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park on a journey across a country that wants to eat them.
Toward the end of their adventure, the group enters Bill Murray's house, delightfully finding out that he's still alive and well. So, Tallahassee and Wichita decide to get his help to play a prank on Columbus by dressing Murray up as a zombie, which only causes the protagonist to shoot the actor. On his deathbed, Murray is asked about his regrets, Garfield being pretty much at the top of the list. It's a surprising, hilariously tragic twist that underlines that in the world of the movie, not even esteemed actors are safe.
Release Date October 2, 2009
Runtime 88 minutes
Writers Paul Wernick , Rhett Reese
6 The Cairo Swordsman (David Terence Richards)
'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981)
Image via Paramount Pictures Indiana Jones pretty much needs no introduction. The archaeologist adventurer from Steven Spielberg's classic action-adventure franchise has been the star of several (three) exceptional movies. Many people's favorite is still his first appearance: Raiders of the Lost Ark. In it, Indy is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis obtain its powers at the start of WWII.
The film is delightfully pulpy and fun, very reminiscent of the kinds of old serials that directly inspired George Lucas and Spielberg's creation of this thrilling story. This pulpy tone is best exemplified in one of the film's most iconic scenes: A swordsman in Cairo shows off his intrepid tricks, ready to fight Indy before the hero just shrugs it off and shoots him. There was originally supposed to be a proper fight, but Harrison Ford was sick with dysentery, so he suggested the idea of just "shooting the son of a b*tch," which Spielberg loved. It's subversive, laugh-worthy moments like this that make Indiana one of the best movie heroes of all time.
Release Date June 12, 1981
Runtime 115 Minutes
Writers Lawrence Kasdan
5 The Steamroller Henchman (Michael McDonald)
'Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery' (1997)
Image via New Line Cinema Love or hate his unique style of comedy, the fact of the matter is that Mike Myers was as successful as he was in the '90s for a reason—and, in no small measure, that reason is called Austin Powers. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is the first installment in this trilogy of James Bond parodies about a world-class playboy secret agent from the '60s who emerges after thirty years in cryogenic sleep to face his nemesis, Dr. Evil.
One of the best spy comedy movies of all time, International Man of Mystery is packed with the kind of silly yet subtly clever humor that characterizes Myers's style. Crass language, goofy dialogue, and absurdist slapstick make up the comedic DNA of Austin Powers, as can be seen in one of the film's most hysterical scenes. A guard stands in horror as Austin warns him to get out of the way, approaching him on a steamroller very... very... very slowly. As soon as the man gets squished, Austin, who had given no indication of wanting to kill the poor guy, ditches the steamroller and runs away. It's the kind of gag that's so stupidly nonsensical that it somehow feels like a stroke of genius that Myers (who penned the film's script) was able to come up with it.
Release Date May 2, 1997
Runtime 89 Minutes
4 The Animator (Terry Gilliam)
'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975)
Image via EMI Films There's no comedy troupe that has ever graced the big screen with more irresistible laughter than Monty Python. For proof, one needn't look further than the group's magnum opus, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's a sketch-based fantasy comedy about Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embarking on a quest to obtain the mythical Holy Grail and encountering many a silly obstacle along the way.
An iconic cult classic purely because of how hilarious it is and how cleverly it utilizes its shoestring budget, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is arguably the funniest fantasy movie of all time. There are more hysterical gags than any one person can count, but one of the smartest comes when Arthur and his Knights are fighting a giant animated monster with seemingly no way out when The Animator (played by Monty Python member and the film's director, Terry Gilliam) suddenly dies from a heart attack. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment that comes out of left field and completely disarms the expectant audience, showing that not even the most sacred narrative conventions are safe from Monty Python's parodic claws.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Release Date May 25, 1975
Director Terry Jones , Terry Gilliam
Runtime 91 minutes
3 Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson)
'The Other Guys' (2010)
Image via Sony Pictures Releasing One of the funniest action movies of the 21st century so far, The Other Guys is a buddy cop comedy about two mismatched NYC detectives seizing an opportunity to step up like the city's top cops, Highsmith and Danson, who they idolize. The problem is that things don't go quite as planned. What goes wrong is one of the genre's most hilarious moments ever.
Highsmith and Danson feel like indestructible action heroes through and through, and they know it. They chase a group of criminals to a rooftop, who escape on a zipline they then cut off. Highsmith and Danson look down confidently, decide to "aim for the bushes" (spoiler alert: there are no bushes in sight), and plummet to their deaths out of their own free will. It's a hell of a way to kick off a hilarious story, and Sam L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson play their cocky parts to perfection.
Release Date August 6, 2010
Director Adam McKay
Runtime 107 Minutes
Writers Adam McKay , Chris Henchy
2 Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan)
'Tropic Thunder' (2008)
Image via DreamWorks Pictures Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder cemented him as one of the most talented comedic minds in Hollywood back in 2008. It's a hilarious showbiz satire full of pitch-black humor about a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie in Vietnam. Through a series of freak occurrences, they are forced to become the soldiers they were supposed to only be portraying.
Beneath Tropic Thunder's façade of stupidity lies one of the smartest comedies of the 2000s, with as many provocative themes as it has provocative jokes. One of its funniest is actually the death that ignites the main plot. The inexperienced director Damien Cockburn, after giving his actors a rousing speech about being dedicated and making the best, most realistic war movie ever, steps on a landmine and can only say "oops" before he blows up into little pieces, leaving the cast are on their own. It's undeniably a shocking moment for those who have never seen the movie, but whether they're newcomers or veterans, all viewers are guaranteed to cackle at the absurdity of this moment.
Release Date August 13, 2008
Runtime 107 minutes
1 X-Force
'Deadpool 2' (2018)
Image via 20th Century Studios The Deadpool movies are three of the funniest superhero films ever made, it not the funniest. It may not be the most rewatchable Deadpool movie or the funniest, but Deadpool 2 certainly does contain the most hilarious sequence of the whole superhero genre. The film sees the Merc With a Mouth assembling a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young mutant boy from the brutal time traveler Cable.
After spending a pretty long chunk of time setting up the X-Force lineup with a recruitment and suit-up montage, viewers are expecting the crew's main mission to make for a thrilling set piece. A thrilling set piece indeed ensues—just not the one anybody was expecting. One by one and with Domino and Deadpool being the sole exceptions, the X-Force members start suffering deaths of the most gruesome, absurd, and absolutely hilarious variety. It's a scene that no Marvel fan will ever forget watching with their jaw on the floor in a packed theater, but even after multiple re-watches, the whole thing is just as funny as it was the first time.
Release Date May 10, 2018
Runtime 120 Minutes
Writers Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza , Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick
English (US) ·