While Sean bean doesn’t quite crack the top 10 most murdered actors of all time, nevertheless he is an actor who has become infamous for dying on screen multiple times. He has been murdered in more than 20 movies and TV shows during his career, most of them before 2012. This is because in recent years he has been looking for more roles that don’t let his character die.
Whether it’s because he often stars in action/thriller movies, or because he plays villainous roles quite often, there are definitely some iconic Sean Bean death scenes. That makes it morbidly entertaining to try and rank his best and see how they all compare. On that subject, here are 10 of his best death scenes, ranked from least to most creepy.
The following list contains spoilers for many Sean Bean movies.
‘GoldenEye’ (1995) – Dropped on a satellite dish + crushed by debris
Golden Eye perhaps the most popular James Bond movie that doesn’t even get a star Sean Connery or Daniel Craig. In the plot, James Bond tries to stop a group of Russian criminals from using a devastating weapon from outer space, with Sean Bean playing someone who once worked with Bond, before seemingly dying, and resurfacing as his nemesis several years later.
As he emerges as a villain in a James Bond movie, that Bean would die here was almost a guarantee. Admittedly, falling dead in a movie isn’t usually too creepy or unusual, but it just sneaks into the top 10 because it actually shows Bean’s character, Alec Trevelyan, colliding with the satellite dish he fell on. Though he would have succumbed to these injuries for the record, he is then buried under fiery debris from an explosion, increasing the level of violence that this death scene entails.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (2001) – Shot by Multiple Arrows
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring kicks off the beloved Under the spell of the Ring trilogy in a truly epic way. It sets the stakes for the rest of the series by showing that the Fellowship’s mission is not an easy one, as they have two causes in the film, before the Fellowship is broken and goes their separate ways.
Fortunately, Gandalf does not remain dead, because in the second film he is resurrected as Gandalf the White. However, Sean Bean’s character, Boromir, is not so lucky. In the climax of the first film, he is shot through the chest with multiple arrows and eventually succumbs to the wounds in one of the most lengthy (and emotional) death scenes in the trilogy.
‘Don’t Say a Word’ (2001) – Pushed into a Grave and Buried Alive
A lesser known Sean Bean movie, but one worth bringing up when discussing his death, don’t say a word is a movie with stars Michael Douglas as a psychiatrist who must retrieve his kidnapped daughter. Sean Bean’s character is the one behind the kidnapping. This, of course, means things don’t end peacefully for Bean.
After a confrontation in the film’s climax, Douglas’ character kicks Bean into a large hole, which effectively becomes his grave, as Douglas uses a backhoe to drop the dirt from the hole over Bean. It may not really be horrifying, in terms of what we see, but it’s a pretty awful way to go, which is why it deserves to be ranked among Bean’s most iconic death scenes as a result.
‘Equilibrium’ (2002) – Shot in the head, through a book
A science fiction/action film about a oppressive dystopian future where emotions and artistic expression are forbidden, Balance is a relatively well-known cult film. A lot of inspiration is needed from The Matrix (as many sci-fi/action movies in the 2000s did, of course), but remains a solid – if somewhat flawed – watch for action movie fans.
Sean Bean’s death is pretty quick here, but the suddenness and the fact that it happens so early in the movie magnifies its impact. He defies the rules of this dystopian society by reading and is promptly executed by the protagonist. It helps establish the brutality of the movie world, and while many people have been shot in the head on screen, it rarely happens through a book.
‘The Field’ (1990) – Pushed off a cliff by runaway cows
An early role in Sean Bean’s filmography – and thus one of his first death scenes – The field is about the conflict between an Irish family’s farmland and a wealthy American businessman who wants to buy it from the family’s stubborn, traditionalist patriarch to build a highway across the country.
Since this isn’t an action movie and Sean Bean isn’t the main antagonist, his death here is quite surprising. It’s also very new, and maybe even funny, when disconnected from the context of the actual movie. He’s essentially run off a cliff by a pack of runaway cows, which, to be fair to say, isn’t one way many people exit this mortal spiral.
‘Caravaggio’ (1986) – Slitting His Throat
A simple but quite gruesome death, the demise of Sean Bean in Caravaggio also earns the honor of being the actor’s first on-screen death. It is a semi-biographical film about painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggiowith Bean as Ranuccio, one of the painter’s muses, models and lovers.
Through a complicated love triangle and lots of romantic drama, things come to a violent end, with Caravaggio slitting Ranuccio’s throat towards the end of the film. The passion behind the murder heightens its intensity, and while it’s a style of death often seen in historical dramas, it’s still undeniably personal, intimate, and gory, making it one of Bean’s most gruesome on-screen downfalls. is.
‘Henry VIII’ (2003) – Hanged in Chains to Death
Henry the eighth represents the point where Sean Bean’s death starts to get particularly violent. This one is from a two-part miniseries that follows the life of King Henry VIIIin particular his 38 year long rein, showing Bean as Robert Askea true leader of a rebellion who was sentenced to death by Henry VIII.
Treason was seen as an unforgivable crime in 1537, leading to Aske being sentenced to death. In the miniseries, he is shown being hanged in chains in public for all to see, essentially left in that position until dead. That’s all that’s shown in the series, which is grim enough, but apparently Aske’s death was in real life much more gruesome and longer lasting than implied here.
‘Game of Thrones’ (2011) – Beheaded
No list of Sean Bean deaths is complete without mentioning Eddard Stark’s demise in Game of Thrones. The beloved character was seemingly set up to be the show’s lead character, but was punished for his honor and desire to do what was morally right by King Joffrey, the young, tyrannical ruler of Westeros.
It is a death that is truly shocking for several reasons. He was a likeable character that most viewers definitely wanted to see more of, he died before the first season was over, his execution was unjustified (he even confessed his “crimes” of being spared, but Joffrey refused to show mercy), and he was executed in front of his two daughters, in public. Decapitation may be a quick death, but it’s a violent and unsettling one to witness, making Ned Stark’s death one of the hardest Bean deaths to watch.
‘Patriot Games’ (1992) – Impaled on an Anchor by Harrison Ford
A political action thriller starring Harrison Ford, Patriot games sees Sean Bean in yet another villainous role. Here he plays a revolutionary who takes revenge on Ford’s Jack Ryan, while Ryan foils a kidnapping attempt of his, killing his younger brother in the process.
In the finale, Ford’s and Bean’s characters fight hand in hand on a boat, with Ford coming out on top by pushing Bean backwards onto an anchor. The sharp metal point goes through his back and out of his chest, killing him in what was probably a short time… but maybe not right away. Because of the impactful way it was shot, and the fact that it would be such a painful way to die, it’s high on the Bean kill list.
‘Black Death’ (2010) – Torn to pieces by horses
It’s not really a competition. A year before they are beheaded in Game of Thronesanother Sean Bean character was graphically killed in a public execution…although this one was a lot messier.
The Death of Sean Bean Inside Black Death turns out to be the most horrific for obvious reasons. His limbs are tied to two different horses which are then sent in opposite directions, pulling his character apart. It’s a bloody and barbaric way to go, and the scene in question isn’t for the faint of heart, making it Bean’s most brutal on-screen downfall to date.