I had to vote for Wash, because it was genuinely shocking. Many of the other deaths were kind of inevitable. And some are from such famous films I went into them knowing who would live and who would die. But I saw Serenity in preview and had NO IDEA. It's still one of the most shocking moments I've ever had in a cinema.

crossoverman | November 29, 13:34 CET

That was a toss-up for me between "The Departed", "LA Confidential" and "Serenity".

Went with "LA Confidential" in the end, partly because it's a great moment in a great film and partly because i'm getting a bit bored of "Serenity" always winning these things ;).

Saje | November 29, 14:08 CET

I went with Wash because it was genuinely the most shocking, to me. A close second for me was Wm. Costigan in The Departed, because the set up was so masterful .... I really believed he was going to die until almost the last minute, then barely had time to breath a sigh of relief thinking he'd made it, when it came out of nowhere. But that's Scorcesse, that other great film maker :)

I also voted for Wash because hey, more Serenity recognition. Costigan has double the votes of any other entry, but Wash is in second place, in almost a dead heat with #3, from American History X.

Shey | November 29, 15:35 CET

It was hard to choose between Wash and Ed from Shaun of The Dead.

Dan Corson | November 29, 17:36 CET

Psycho of course.

I don't understand why The Departed is winning. That is like the least surprising death on the entire list!

Storyteller | November 29, 18:13 CET

Man, all the deaths in The Departed were shocking. Though I have to say that as soon as Costigan got in the elevator, I knew he was dead meat.

I picked Wash because that's the cinematic death that most horrified and stunned me. I was cryin' like a baby.

UnpluggedCrazy | November 29, 19:14 CET

I don't understand how the death of Lester Burnham in "American Beauty" can be a surprise. He's dead when the movie starts.

[ edited by barboo on 2007-11-29 20:45 ]

barboo | November 29, 19:28 CET

Unfortunately, Wash's death was spoiled for me. I didn't know exactly when it was going to happen, but I knew it was coming.
Tommy's death in "Goodfellas" surprised me.
All the deaths at the end of "Departed" kind of blurred together.

witchlover | November 29, 22:39 CET

Yeah, in an absurd Keystone Cops sort of way. In my humble opinion, of course.

The first time I saw Serenity, I missed a good minute and a half following Wash's death because I was so shocked. Never, ever saw that coming.

Samantha | November 29, 23:02 CET

Like Saje, I had to go with "LA Confidential". Usually, I am pretty good at foreseeing such things in movies, but it took me by total surprise. And mind you, this was after I read an interview with Kevin Spacey in which the article said something along the lines of "he spent all day being shot by the beloved Farmer Hoggett". So, I knew it was coming, but I still didn't see it coming!

And with Wash, I'm still in denial.

Pliny | November 29, 23:03 CET

None of the deaths in The Departed were shocking to me, because I'd seen the original Hong Kong version of the film - Infernal Affairs. Okay, okay, the ending was changed so there was one more death - but hey, it's Scorcese. No surprise there.

crossoverman | November 29, 23:40 CET