10 Unintentionally Hilarious Movie Deaths

The death of Gondor's corrupt steward Denethor (John Noble) in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King achieves a beguiling fusion of epicness and accidental hilarity.

Driven mad by the apparent death of his son Faramir (David Wenham), poor Denny vows to burn himself and his not-so-late son on a pyre, only for Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) to pull the pair from the flames.

Denethor doesn't take kindly to having his ceremony interrupted though, prompting Gandalf's trusty steed Shadowfox to kick him back into the fire. Denethor gets just long enough to realise Faramir isn't dead before he bursts into flames and runs off.

We then cut to Denethor having inconceivably run all the way out of Gondor tower towards the nearest cliff edge a considerable distance away, while still on fire, before flinging himself to his demise. On one hand it looks cool as hell, but on the other it's absolutely ridiculous to picture Denny legging it for a literal hot minute or two before finally getting his end.