4. Star Trek: Death of Captain Kirk...Senior
If Yinsen managed to conjure up empathy and sadness at his death in only 20 minutes of screen time, then Chris Helmsworths prelude performance of the doomed George Kirk must rank as the quickest lump in the throat moment in film history. Except for that time someone bet me at the cinema that I couldn't down a whole bag of M&Ms in one go. In many ways it was the sheer shock value of being confronted so soon with such dramatic loss, accompanied as it was by the symbolism of the birth of the son and death of the father. As we all know, father and son dynamics are a Hollywood staple and when done well they can get to our emotional funny bones quickly. The best deconstruction of this anxiety driven topic is Cormac McCarthys The Road, which was made into film in 2009. This is a book and movie which should have a health warning for any father of a young son who experiences them, such is the distress they create. In this case, however, there was no 2 hour psycho drama set against an apocalyptic America to soften us up before JJ Abrams exposes us to Kirk's doom. Rather, all we had was a quickly arranged baby naming brain storming session, a heroic moment of self sacrifice and a desperately traumatized widow. All in about 5 minutes of screen time. It worked though, and a masterful reboot of the Star Trek universe was set. Oh, and a Hollywood career was launched in the form of our good friend Chris Helmsworth.