10 Movies That Hired Famous Actors Solely To Kill Them Off
Hey, I didn't know Bruce Willis was in this movi...oh, never mind.
A surprise cameo by a big name star is a proud cinematic tradition, and there are many fine examples to choose from. There’s Alec Baldwin’s blistering scene in Glengarry Glen Ross, Gene Hackman's hilarious turn in Young Frankenstein and best of all, Hulk Hogan in Gremlins 2: The New Batch; it still moves me to tears.
Some directors like to get a little sadistic with their big name cameos, and instead of having them do some silly wink wink appearance, they use the opportunity to dismember them in creative ways. After all, there are few things more shocking to viewers than watching an A-lister suddenly show up, and then get offed just as quickly.
Some movies have perfected this art, staging their high profile executions for maximum effect. They can be shocking, they can be hilarious or they can be shockingly hilarious. Here are ten movies that recruited big movie stars solely to wipe them out for our sick entertainment.
10. The Rock / Samuel L. Jackson - The Other Guys
The Other Guys is a spoof action movie that works better than it probably should, thanks to great performances and razor-sharp dialogue. The plot involves a couple of bumbling cops (Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell) who have to take over a case from their hot shot rivals.
Said rivals are played by The Rock and Sam Jackson, who get into all sorts of high-octane car chases and gunfights, and are basically the duo you see in every buddy cop movie. This is where the movie starts breaking rules, though, when we follow them chasing some thieves onto the roof of a very tall building. When the bad guys escape via a zip line the cocky duo decides to “Aim for the bushes”, and promptly jump off the roof.
Sadly for them, there are no bushes, so the camera follows them all the way to their deaths. The suddenness of this is what makes it hilarious, with a very game Jackson and The Rock perfectly setting up the punchline.