Sure, movies in general usually feature quite a bit of death. After all, it's a fact of life, and something that can happen to anyone at any time. Movie deaths can be sad, funny, or exciting, and so characters can and will die. No genre will protect a fictional character from the fictional Grim Reaper itself.

Then some films go one step beyond when it comes to death. Some films - often war, action, or disaster movies - can feature body counts in the 100s, and the following films demonstrate that better than any. The following list includes on-screen deaths only of humans or humanoid creatures, and all can be considered among the most death-heavy and bloodthirsty of all time.

15 'Blood Diamond' (2006)

187 deaths

Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (1)
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

In 2006, Leonardo DiCaprio took some time off making films with Martin Scorsese to star in Blood Diamond, a tough and gritty action/thriller movie set during the final year of the 1990s. The setting is Sierra Leone at a time when the place was being torn apart by civil war, with the narrative following two men who form a partnership with the hope of finding success in two risky missions. One involves recovering a valuable diamond, while the other involves rescuing the captive son of one of the men.

Blood Diamond is a movie that runs for close to 2.5 hours, so it certainly has time to spare when it comes to delivering large-scale action scenes. As such, Blood Diamond is able to feature a good deal of on-screen death, both through action sequences but also through more harrowing and dramatic scenes that showcase the brutality of the Sierra Leone Civil War. It's not always an easy film to watch, as a result, but it does manage to be quite a riveting one.

Blood Diamond
R

Release Date
January 26, 2006
Director
Edward Zwick
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio , Djimon Hounsou , Jennifer Connelly , Kagiso Kuypers , Arnold Vosloo , Antony Coleman
Runtime
143

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14 'Bullet in the Head' (1990)

214 deaths

bullet in the head john woo

This is one of John Woo's most underrated pre-Hollywood movies, and definitely deserves more attention from action fans who enjoy his style. It begins as an action/crime/drama film, but as it goes along, ends up becoming more of a war movie (and an intense and downbeat anti-war film, at that).

That ensures Bullet in the Head isn't as gleefully fun as John Woo's other action movies, but it still contains a lot of action and a body count that ends up being more than 200-strong. It's quite spectacular, ambitiously blends genres to great success, and also proves hard to forget, once seen. Those most familiar with John Woo's American productions ought to check out some of his Hong Kong films, because they arguably push the action genre forward even more.

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13 'Equilibrium' (2002)

236 deaths

Christian Bale in Equilibrium

Equilibrium feels like it's trying to match The Matrix in some ways, at least in terms of aesthetics and action. It's certainly not on the same level, but it proves to be a decent action/sci-fi film, with a plot that follows one man trying to overthrow a totalitarian regime that has effectively banned all emotions from society.

The one area it beats out any of the films in the Matrix series is when it comes to body counts. Far more people die in Equilibrium, with the near-constant action (and the combat skills of the protagonist) being a significant factor as to why. Also contributing to one of the film's deaths: Sean Bean is in this, and as most people know, he rarely plays someone who makes it to the end credits alive. It's a fairly straightforward film that might not quite be a classic or anything, but it delivers some good sci-fi action.

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12 'Rambo' (2008)

247 deaths

Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (2008)
Image via Lionsgate

The Rambo series is an unusual one, as when it began, it wasn't focused as much on big, explosive action set pieces and massive body counts. 1982's First Blood was still an action movie, sure, but it was a surprisingly grounded and relatively death-free one, being as much of a psychological drama/thriller about PTSD as it was a vehicle to deliver action sequences.

The second and third movies leaned heavier into the action genre, and then the fourth movie in 2008 took the series to new, grisly heights. Rambo (2008) is excessively bloody and savage, and features numerous characters - both innocent civilians and villains - getting mowed down and killed in often horrific ways. It could be described as being a bit much, but those who like their action movies gruff, tough, and no-nonsense might find something to like here. As far as late-career Sylvester Stallone movies go, it's a pretty good one.

Blood Diamond
R

Release Date
January 26, 2006
Director
Edward Zwick
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio , Djimon Hounsou , Jennifer Connelly , Kagiso Kuypers , Arnold Vosloo , Antony Coleman
Runtime
143

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11 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998)

255 deaths

Saving Private Ryan’  (1)
Image via DreamWorks SKG

Saving Private Ryan is among the most acclaimed war movies of all time, and also one of the most celebrated films directed by Steven Spielberg. It's a World War II movie following a squad of U.S. soldiers who are tasked with finding the titular Private Ryan and ensuring he gets sent home safely to his family.

There are many on-screen deaths throughout Saving Private Ryan, with most of them being found in either the film's iconic opening D-Day sequence, or during its action climax. These deaths are shown as ugly and brutal, making Saving Private Ryan a war movie where even if the main characters and their heroism are presented in a positive light, the overall concept of war itself is criticized. It does end up being one of Steven Spielberg's best historical movies, even if it's only based on historical events and has a story/characters that are mostly fictional.

Saving Private Ryan
R

Release Date
July 24, 1998
Director
Steven Spielberg
Runtime
169

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10 'We Were Soldiers' (2002)

305 deaths

We Were Soldiers

We Were Soldiers is a film detailing the early stages of the Vietnam War, focusing on the first large-scale battle between American and North Vietnamese forces. We Were Soldiers emphasizes the scale and destruction of the conflict by featuring 305 on-screen deaths in just over two hours, featuring about 2.2 people dying every minute, on average.

While We Were Soldiers might not have a reputation for being one of the very best war films of all time (and certainly not mentioned as often as something like Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now), it does have the highest body count for any war movie depicting any conflict that happened from 1900 onward. It does feel fitting that a war movie starring Mel Gibson would be quite violent, considering he's often tied to such movies; at least the ones he's directed, including his own war movie with 2016's Hacksaw Ridge.

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9 'Titanic' (1997)

307 deaths

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack and Kate Winslet as Rose on the wooden door at the end of Titanic.
Image via Paramount Pictures

It's to be expected that your average disaster movie will have a reasonably large body count. James Cameron's box-office-breaking, Oscar-winning Titanic depicts one of the biggest disasters of the 20th century, and as such, it rather appropriately features the most on-screen deaths of any movie in that genre. It's one of James Cameron's greatest movies, and also one of the most successful, appealing to a wide audience and being a gargantuan blockbuster that's still highly regarded to this day.

Of course, it's not just a disaster movie, as plenty of people love it for the tragic romance angle, the music, and the (non-violent) spectacle of it all. In the end, Titanic is a disaster film, arguably one of the best, and without a doubt one of the most death-heavy.

Titanic
PG-13

Release Date
November 19, 1997
Director
James Cameron
Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio , Kate Winslet , Billy Zane , Kathy Bates , Frances Fisher , Gloria Stuart
Runtime
194 minutes

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8 'Hard Boiled' (1992)

307 deaths

tony-leung-chow-yun-fat-hard-boiled
Image via Golden Princess Film Production

Hard Boiled ties with Titanic for the eighth-highest on-screen body count of all time. However, given Hard Boiled is about an hour shorter than James Cameron's epic, it can be ranked ahead based on it having a higher average rate of deaths per minute. And most of those deaths are caused by guns, because Hard Boiled contains several long and gleefully over-the-top shootouts.

It's what you'd expect from John Woo, who has a knack for putting out some of the best action/crime movies of all time. Hard Boiled is one of his best, and owing to all the great, copious action (seriously, the last 45 minutes of this movie is just lots of people shooting each other), it might well be one of the best action movies of the 1990s, too. Those who want action of the biggest kind, with some of the most indestructible characters and the hugest explosions ought to check this one out.

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7 'Grindhouse' (2007)

310 deaths

Grindhouse

Grindhouse cheats a bit, because it's technically two movies in one, plus some fake trailers made exclusively for the film. Penned as a double feature that tributes sleazy exploitation movies of the past, Grindhouse features Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino, and Planet Terror by Robert Rodriguez.

Both are plenty of fun, but Planet Terror ends up doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to Grindhouse's body count. It has more action, and plenty of human and zombie deaths, whereas Death Proof "only" has half a dozen on-screen deaths (making it neither one of the most violent and death-heavy Tarantino movies nor one of the least death-heavy, for what that's worth). The hilariously violent trailers boost the body count up further, enough to get Grindhouse pretty high up in the overall body count chart.

Grindhouse
R

Release Date
April 6, 2007
Director
Robert Rodriguez , Eli Roth , Quentin Tarantino , Edgar Wright , Rob Zombie
Runtime
185

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6 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' (2002)

468 deaths

Merry, Pippin, and Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Image via New Line Cinema

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the second film in one of the best film trilogies of all time, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. It serves as a good middle chapter, following the fallout from the fellowship disbanding at the end of the first film, and setting up for a huge final battle for the third and final film.

Along the way, it manages to have a good number of its own battles, too. The biggest is certainly Helm's Deep, which takes up much of the film's final hour, and is where most of The Two Towers' on-screen deaths come from. It ensures the body count of The Two Towers dwarfs that of The Fellowship of the Ring, which only features a measly 118 deaths. The increase in action and death doesn't necessarily make The Two Towers a better movie than what came before, but it can still be considered a great movie sequel.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
PG-13
Action
Adventure
Fantasy

Release Date
December 18, 2002
Director
Peter Jackson
Cast
Bruce Allpress , Sean Astin , John Bach , Sala Baker , Cate Blanchett , Orlando Bloom
Runtime
179 minutes

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5 'The Last Samurai' (2003)

558 deaths

Tom Cruise as Nathan Algren, holding a sword with tears in his eyes , in The Last Samurai
Image Via Warner Bros.

The Last Samurai is a movie featuring Tom Cruise as an American man who becomes enamored with the samurai way of life in the 1800s. He ends up fighting for them, and aiding their resistance to the Westernization of Japan.

That in turn leads to a lot of death, as the modern samurai film goes all out in terms of scale when depicting some huge battle scenes. It clearly had a hefty budget behind it, and clearly, some of that money went into staging huge action sequences that could allow for a staggering 500+ deaths to be shown on-screen. It might not be up there with the best samurai movies of all time (the greatest ones did tend to get made in Japan, and by Japanese filmmakers, after all), but The Last Samurai can claim to be one of the bloodiest and most deadly, with some genuinely huge battle sequences.

The Last Samurai
R

Release Date
December 5, 2003
Director
Edward Zwick
Cast
Ken Watanabe , Tom Cruise , William Atherton , Chad Lindberg , Ray Godshall Sr. , Billy Connolly
Runtime
154 minutes

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4 'Troy' (2004)

572 deaths

Troy (2004)

Troy was another large-scale action/war film focusing on a historical conflict, perhaps comparable to The Last Samurai in that way. It can't be said for absolute certain that it was the success of The Lord of the Rings that made these projects get funded more easily in the early to mid-2000s... but it's certainly a possibility worth entertaining.

Troy might not be the best historical war epic, but it's a good bit of fun if you accept it for all its overblown grandeur and melodrama. It also doesn't skimp when it comes to the big battle scenes depicting the Greek invasion of the city of Troy, complete with its 572 on-screen fatalities. It's a movie that further demonstrates director Wolfgang Petersen's skill at making action/war movies, though 1981's Das Boot remains arguably his best.

Troy
R

Release Date
May 14, 2004
Cast
Brad Pitt , Eric Bana , Orlando Bloom , Julian Glover , Brian Cox , Nathan Jones , Adoni Maropis , Jacob Smith
Runtime
163 Minutes

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3 '300' (2006)

600 deaths

Leonidas (Gerard Butler ) yelling and holding a sword during battle in 300
Image via Warner Bros

It's fitting that a movie called 300 has 600 on-screen deaths. It's a nice, even number for the body count to be, considering the title itself is a nice, even number. There's a great deal of bloodshed in its story of 300 Spartans making a stand against the far bigger Persian army, with a great number of on-screen deaths also being very bloody.

Still, it's filmed in a stylized way which might lessen the impact of seeing over 600 people die in less than two hours. It's easy to do the math, here: more than five people die every minute during 300, on average. It's without a doubt one of the bloodiest and deadliest war movies of all time, and also one of the best movies in Zack Snyder's filmography. It's a fairly silly movie at times, and maybe the sort of movie where you shouldn't try to think about it too much while watching, but at the end of the day, 300 does deliver on action.

300
R

Release Date
March 9, 2007
Director
Zack Snyder
Runtime
117 minutes

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2 'Kingdom of Heaven' (2005)

610 deaths

Crusaders in Kingdom of Heaven
Image via 20th Century Fox

Kingdom of Heaven is a Ridley Scott blockbuster that's very underrated, considering it didn't find success or a fanbase until it got a superior Director's Cut on home media. It focuses on the Crusades and the battles that were fought between various sides of a Holy War, including an extended siege on Jerusalem. If you assess it by said Director's Cut, it could well be up there with Scott's very best historical movies, and it's also perhaps his most underrated, considering it's not quite as popular as say Gladiator.

It has an impressive cast, featuring Jeremy Irons, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom, and Brendan Gleeson. Even more impressive are the huge battles, probably only rivaled by The Lord of the Rings film around this time. Armies of thousands clashing will, unsurprisingly, lead to hundreds and hundreds of deaths in Kingdom of Heaven.

Kingdom of Heaven
R

Release Date
May 3, 2005
Director
Ridley Scott
Cast
Martin Hancock , Michael Sheen , Nathalie Cox , Eriq Ebouaney , Jouko Ahola , David Thewlis
Runtime
138

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1 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)

836 deaths

Viggo Mortensen in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Image via New Line Cinema

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King shows that the series was saving the best for last, when it came to on-screen deaths at least. The most well-reviewed and praised of the three at the Oscars, The Return of the King also has by far the most characters getting killed on screen, at 836!

There are a huge number of battles throughout the film, which is fitting, given that the entirety of Middle Earth is at stake. The heroes and villains alike give it their all - as do the costume makers, extras, and CGI special effects team - making The Return of the King the most kill-heavy film of all time. Also something The Return of the King can claim to be? One of the longest fantasy movies of all time, as it runs well over three hours if you watch the theatrical cut and a little over four hours if you watch the extended cut.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
PG-13

Release Date
December 17, 2003
Director
Peter Jackson
Cast
Noel Appleby , Alexandra Astin , Sean Astin , David Aston , John Bach , Sean Bean
Runtime
201 minutes

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