10 Deaths That Movies Totally Forgot About
5. Gordon Silberman - 2012
In Roland Emmerich's disaster movie 2012, protagonist Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) of course doesn't just have the end of the world to deal with - he also wants to get back with his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet), who has nevertheless moved on with her current boyfriend Gordon (Thomas McCarthy).
Gordon is presented as nothing less than a rock solid, totally affable guy, impressively skirting the tendency for disaster movies to make romantic rivals into horrible a**holes (looking at you, San Andreas).
This doesn't stop Gordon dying a horrible, horrible death in the third act, though, when he rather ironically slips while entering one of the arks intended to save humanity.
Though Jackson tries to rescue him, Gordon is pulled feet-first into the gears controlling the ark's loading gate, turning him into pure pulp. As much is implied, anyway, this being a PG-13 movie.
But the real kicker is that the rest of the movie spares not a thought to poor, brave, nice Gordon, and in the film's epilogue set mere weeks later Kate has already reconciled with Jackson, seemingly forgetting all about her smushed ex. Gross.