10 Saddest Character Deaths In Movie History

While rumours of Steven Spielberg directing a Hollywood remake of Kurosawa's Ikiru turned out to be untrue, his appreciation for the overwhelming power of cinema to play on our sentiments is apparent in his body of work. One character death in particular stands out as being so effective that even Princess Diana was reportedly reduced to tears.

The death in question is, of course, the death of E.T., by far the cutest alien to have ever graced a screen (with no apology to the Ewoks), who comes face to face with earthly mortality even as he demonstrates his ability to bring things back to life. With his wide eyes, gauntly deformed diminutive body and pallid skin, it's impossible not to share young Elliott's distress as this adorable extra-terrestrial breathes his last - perhaps because E.T. represents the sense of awe and wonder in us all.

This being a family-friendly blockbuster (and, according to some critics, a retelling of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ), E.T. inevitably rises from the dead to reunite with his galactic brethren. Sometimes we should be thankful for happy endings.