Killed Mid Sentence / Live-Action Films

• In one scene from American Gangster, Frank Lucas is in the middle of breakfast telling his brothers (newly recruited into the drug trade) the most important things about business, (honesty, integrity, hard work, family, etc.) when he spots a rival called Tango who had recently cheated Frank in a deal across the way, standing on a busy street in front of plenty of people. Frank politely excuses himself, walks up to Tango, puts a gun to his head, and demands the money he was supposed to get according to their deal. Tango laughs, assumes that Frank is bluffing because of the witnesses, and begins taunting Frank. He doesn't quite make it the end of the taunt before Frank blows his brains out all over the sidewalk. Frank then calmly walks away and goes back to eating breakfast with the family. See it here.
  Tango: What the fuck you gonna do Frank, huh? You gonna shoot me, in front of everybody? Huh? Come o- [Frank shoots him]
• A Better Tomorrow: Mark Gor is shot by Shing just as he's in the middle of convincing the Sung Tse brothers (Kit and Ho) to reconcile with each other.
• In the Val Lewton film The Body Snatcher, a street singer's song abruptly stops when she is murdered offscreen.
• In Bumblebee, after an extended brawl, Bumblebee manages to ensnare anchor chains around Dropkick's helicopter form, whose attempt to escape by transforming back into robot form only gets them tangled within his body. Before Dropkick can even finish his attempted Badass Boast, Bumblebee yanks the chains so hard that they tear him to pieces.
  Dropkick: You think these little chains can hold— (RRRRIIIP)
• Swan is killed mid-sentence, in the middle of a musical number no less, in Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Cannibal! The Musical.
• Clue: "Duh-duh, duh-duh duh duh! I, am, your singing telegram—" *BAM*
• The film adaptation of Arthur Miller's The Crucible ends with protagonist John Proctor being offed in this manner, forcefully and abruptly hanged while reciting the Lord's Prayer (he gets to the penultimate "forever and ever" line before he gets it).
• Selma from Dancer in the Dark is killed mid-song.
• This is how Rachel Dawes died in The Dark Knight, making what was said from the Final Speech that got cut off a slight Tear Jerker. In her case, she is cut off by the warehouse she is trapped in blowing up.
  • Earlier, in a Pre-emptive Declaration, when Grumpy pulls a pistol on Bozo during the bank robbery:
    Grumpy: I'm bettin' the Joker told you to kill me soon as we loaded the cash.
    Bozo: [sighs, checks his watch and steps to one side] No, no-no-no. I kill the bus driver.
    Grumpy: Bus driver? [Bozo gives him the Death Glare] What bus dri- [The back end of a school bus bursts through the front doors and runs over him]
• Played with in Deadpool (2016), Deadpool has a gun to the villain's head when Colossus starts giving a speech to Deadpool to convince him to spare the villain's life. It seems to be working for nearly a minute until Deadpool decides not to wait until the end of the speech to pull the trigger.
  Colossus: WHY?!
  Deadpool: You were droning on!
• In an awesome subversion of a monologue, this is how Samuel L. Jackson's character died in Deep Blue Sea. The Sedgwick Speech variant of this trope.
• Django Unchained: Stephen gets blown to bits together with the entirety of the Candyland mansion while attempting to curse at Django. "DJANGO! You uppity son of a -" (BOOM)
• Billy in Final Destination is cut off mid-rant by a large shard of metal kicked up by the train that just took out Carter's car, which whistles up apparently out of nowhere and beheads him. He stays on his feet for a few startled seconds before his legs realize he's dead, whereupon he topples over.
• In Alfred Hitchcock thriller Foreign Correspondent, World War II has just broken out, and a British passenger plane has come under fire from a German naval vessel. An indignant lady passenger is expressing her righteous outrage when she is killed by an anti-aircraft round.
  "I shall see the British consul as soon as I—"
• Goodfellas
  • Tommy can barely squeak out an "Oh n-!" before he gets shot in the back of the head by his bosses for killing Billy Batts.
  • Morrie is killed while describing the Boston College point shaving scandal.
    Morrie: Nunzio up in that a- [Tommy stabs him in the head with an ice pick.]
• David Mamet's Heist features an amusing variation.
  Bergman: Don't you want to hear my last words?
  Joe Moore: I just did. [shoots him]
• Subtle example in I Miss You. Cilla begins to say something and gets hit by a car and dies.
• Dr. Mann in Interstellar, is self-righteously ranting about saving the human race when he's killed by an Explosive Decompression sending the airlock hatch smashing into him. It's even more effective because it averts Sound In Space, so there's silence after this point despite the subsequent destruction.
  Mann: This is not about my life, or Cooper's life,. This is about all mankind. There is a moment— [he's Thrown Out the Airlock]
• James Bond
  • Bond pulled this at the very start of Casino Royale (2006), talking to a traitor about his first kill.
    Traitor: Made you feel it, did he? Well, you needn't worry. The second is - *BAMM*
    Bond: Yes. Considerably.
  • MI6 agent Henderson in You Only Live Twice is talking to Bond when he suddenly stops talking mid-sentence. As Bond approaches him, he finds that a knife was stabbed into his back through the shoji wall. Anybody who has seen a death by knife knows that knives do not work this way.
  • This is precisely how a corrupt banker is killed in the opening of The World Is Not Enough, and how Elektra King gets it at the end.
  Elektra: Dive! Bo- (gets shot)
  Bond: I never miss...
  • A non-lethal version is Played for Laughs in From Russia with Love. Bond is in the Soviet embassy waiting for his friend to set off a bomb so he can steal the coding device. He checks his watch, frowns, then goes to the Russian on the desk.
    Bond: Excuse me, is your clock correct?
    Russian: Russian clocks are always — [explosion covers everyone in dust]
• Jane Got a Gun: Jane blows away one of the Bishop gunmen while he's in the middle of talking with Dan, trying to cut a deal.
• The titular character of the John Wick films is a No-Nonsense Nemesis who doesn't let his targets finish talking if it means an easy shot.
  • In the first film, Iosef Tarasov gets as far as "It was just a fucking-!" before John shoots him in the head at point-blank range.
  • In John Wick: Chapter 2, Santino D'Antonio meets his fate in the Continental, at Wick's hand this way.
    Winston: Jonathan. Just walk away!
    Santino: Yeah, Jonathan, walk a- [gets shot in face]
• Happens twice in a Karmic Death sort of way in Last Man Standing (1996). When the Irish gang decides to finally go all out against the Italians, burning down a place where they were all gathered when given false information that the man their looking for is being hidden by them. One of the leaders, Strozzi, is killed while trying to surrender. Fast forward to the climax and the Irish gang leader, Doyle, who ordered the raid against the Italians is killed mid-sentence while trying to convince John, the man he was after that the two of them can put their differences behind them and become business partners. For bonus points, he is killed by the Inn Keeper he would always mistreat in town, who also lied to him about the Italians hiding John.
• Audrey II's death in Little Shop of Horrors combines this with Curse Cut Short. "OH SHI--"
• The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines has the main villain, Kamawas, having his throat slashed while taunting the hero Merong about raping Merong's Love Interest.
• Marathon Man: Roy Scheider's character "Doc", "I couldn't give a fuck about your... [stab] ...*gasp*! The fact that the stab is offscreen makes it even more effective as you are genuinely surprised by Doc's reaction.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Iron Man: In his return to Gulmira in his new Mark III Suit, Iron Man proceeds to take down the Ten Rings terrorists until he is stopped by a small group holding hostages at gunpoint while screaming at him in their native tongue(s). Iron Man shuts them all up by shooting all the terrorists simultaneously.
  • Captain America: The First Avenger:
    • What happens to Steve in his final conversation with Peggy over the radio, even when the audience knows he is only frozen, not killed.
      "We'll have the band play something slow, I'd hate to step on your—" [radio transmission abruptly ends]
    • Also this scene:
      Hydra Mook: CUT OFF ONE HEAD, TWO MORE—
      Colonel Phillips: [blasts him with a shotgun] Let's find two more.
  • The Other, Thanos' right hand man in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), during his argument with Ronan the Accuser.
    The Other: Lower your tone! I may be your... [Ronan lets a sonic blast loose from his Universal Weapon that breaks the Other's neck]
  • Lampshaded in Avengers: Age of Ultron:
    Ultron Drone: You can't save them all... you'll never— [thrown off a cliff by Captain America]
    Captain America: We'll never what? YOU DIDN'T FINISH!
  • Avengers: Infinity War: Nick Fury says "Motherfu-" as he disintegrates due to Thanos.
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol: The Secretary is in the middle of talking to Ethan when he gets shot through the head.
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
  • We're given a glimpse of a character who may have died mid-sentence while writing on a wall:
    Maynard: It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Arimathea. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the Holy Grail in the Castle of ... aaaaagggh."
    Arthur: What?
    Maynard: "... the Castle of aaaaagggh".
    Bedevere: What is that?
    Maynard: He must have died while carving it.
    Lancelot: Oh, come on!
    Maynard: Well, that's what it says.
    Arthur: Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't bother to carve "aaggggh". He'd just say it!
    Maynard: Well, that's what's carved in the rock!
    Galahad: Perhaps he was dictating.
    Arthur: Oh, shut up.
  • Appropriately enough, this is how Brother Maynard dies, devoured by what the fans know as the "Black Beast of AAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!"
    "It's the Legendary Black Beast of — [is eaten] — AAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!"
  • Frank the historian is giving a lecture about King Arthur when Lancelot rides past him and slashes his throat.
• In Muppet Treasure Island, more like "Died of a Heart Attack Mid Sentence", the dying Billy Bones warns Jim, Gonzo and Rizzo to beware the one-legged man, but also "Beware running with scissors or any other pointy objects! It's all good fun, 'till somebody loses a-" and he screams "Aaaahh" and dies before possibly saying "leg" or something else, putting the trio in a room "where the dead guys roam".
  • His death scream completes the sentence, which would have been "till someone loses an eye."
• Pacific Rim:
  • Played straight with Yancy in the Action Prologue when he is killed halfway through his final words to Raleigh.
  • Subverted when Hannibal Chau tempts fate by giving a long description of how the newborn Kaiju was doomed from the first, only to get swallowed mid-rant. The Stinger reveals that he was Swallowed Whole and is still alive and kicking.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides played this for Black Comedy. After various pirates and the British have been fighting over the Fountain of Youth (and thus are tired and have whittled down their numbers) the Spanish suddenly arrive on the scene. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the Spanish, Theodore Groves defiantly attempts to claim the land for King George. He doesn't quite make it to the end of his sentence:
  Theodore Groves: This land is hereby forever claimed for the glorious name of his majesty, King Geor— [gets shot by the Spaniard]
  Spaniard: Someone make a note of that man's bravery.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has this Played for Drama when one of Sri Sumbajee's minions tries to disregard the pirate's code.
  Hang the code! Who cares about th- [Gets shot by Capt. Teague]
• Inverted in Pulp Fiction. Vincent Vega turns around to explain something to Marvin while being driven by Jules, and accidentally blows Marvin's brains out while Vincent is mid-sentence.
• In the film Radius the police officer is asking Liam questions but drops dead in the middle of one when she walks into his aura.
• In Scrooge (1951), near the end of the expanded Christmas Past segment, Marley dies mid-sentence while attempting to tell Scrooge to "save himself".
• Wash in Serenity (2005).
  Wash: I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I— (gets harpooned by a Reaver ship)
  • Also, Mr. Universe. Okay, technically he didn't die right away, but he gets his speech cut off by a sword to the guts, and he is dead the next time we see him. Fortunately for Mal and crew, Mr. Universe had just enough life left to make a helpful recording.
• Shoot 'Em Up. Smith discovers Senator Rutledge (running for President on a gun control platform) has done a deal with the Big Bad, gun merchant Hammerson. Smith says he's going to shoot Rutledge, and his death will outrage the public and help his anti-gun bills get passed.
  Rutledge: Then do it. Let me regain some honor. With my— [Boom Head Shot]
  • Another variation on the trope — Hertz has been speculating about Mr. Smith's true identity throughout the movie. He comes up with a theory, but Smith refuses to confirm it.
    Hertz: Oh yes-sir-ee, it has been a pleasure. But before we part ways, just tell me one thing. I am dead on about who you are, right?
    Smith: Say that again?
    Hertz: I said, I am dead—
    Smith: Stop! That part of it you got right. [shoots Hertz]
• Star Trek (2009): George Kirk dies telling his wife he loves her. Somewhat odd in that he had an actual countdown until his ship impacted, and thus knew exactly when he was going to die, but apparently not when he was going to finish his sentence. Still, it was his Moment of Awesome and a Tear Jerker too.
  • More likely he was just repeating "I Love You" over and over so that it would be the last thing his family hears him say.
• Star Wars:
  • Attack of the Clones:
    • Zam Wessell, the assassin who Anakin and Obi-Wan capture, is about to rat out her boss:
      "It was a bounty hunter called—" [hit by toxic dart; curses in Huttese before dying]
    • Shmi Skywalker's last words to Anakin are "I love—"
  • Revenge of the Sith: Nute Gunray tries to plead with Darth Vader to spare his life before being fatally slashed across the chest.
  • The Empire Strikes Back:
    • An audio-only version: "Imperial troops have entered the base! Imperial troops have—" [ABRUPT BLAST OF STATIC]
    • Admiral Ozzel reporting in to Darth Vader, only to be Force-choked through the video intercom for his failure.
      "Lord Vader, the fleet has moved out of lightspeed and we're preparing to—urk!"
  • Quite a few pilots have their fighters explode as they're talking, though only about half can be heard by the audience.
  • Solo sees an Imperial officer blown up on Mimban during a rallying cry.
    Major: Troopers, forward! Solo, get up! We're almost there!
    Han Solo: Almost where? Where are we going?
    Major: Just over that last ridge! Victory is—(BOOM)
• Super 8: The main military bad guy and his soldiers have the kid protagonists captive aboard an army bus when it's attacked and forced off the road by the alien. When the Colonel hands one of his subordinates a rifle and tells him to leave the bus and shoot it - a rifle loaded with tracking darts, no less - the poor bastard doesn't make it very far.
  Overmeyer: Sir, is there a particular place you'd like me to shoot- (yanked out of the bus by the alien as everyone else aboard shits themselves)
• Taken. The final bad guy. "We can nego*BLAM*"
• From Transformers: Dark of the Moon: Que/Wheeljack: "Why did you—?" right before he is finished off execution-style.
  • Also from the same film... Starscream's Ironic Last Words
  "I'm gonna kill y—*BOOM!*"
• TRON: Legacy: "DEATH TO THE USE—" *gets shattered*
• The 'Bowtie Driver' in The Untouchables (1987). Mid countdown.
• Vet Hard: Katja is shot dead by Bennie mid-sentence (to be precise, swearing at him; he didn't take that well). Subverted when we later find out she wasn't shot dead, just shot in the arm.
• A Walk Among the Tombstones: "You know... I just wanted t—" before getting shot in the head by Liam Neeson's character.
• R.K. Maroon in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
  "Unless Acme's will shows by midnight tonight, Toontown's gonna be land for the free—" [gets shot]
• The Wild Geese: Faulkner's final confrontation with Sir Edward Matheson. Sir Edward is so inflated with hauteur that he cannot conceive of there being any threat to himself - the discovery that the murderous mercenary with a gun and grudge is, yes, there to kill him completely baffles Matheson, and he's left stammering "now wait just a minute—!" before Faulkner fires.

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