Long before he was CSI's Gil Grissom, actor William Petersen was best known for appearing in a couple of thrillers from the 1980's. One was Michael Mann's stylish Manhunter, which contains the first onscreen appearance of a certain Hannibal Lecter. And the other was director William Friedkin's glossy To Live and Die in L.A., a hardnosed thriller with a highly regarded car chase. While neither movie made a big box office impact on release they've since become well-regarded cult films. In To Live and Die in L.A. Petersen plays Chance, a morally ambiguous Secret Service agent chasing the counterfeiter (creepily played by Willem Dafoe) who murdered his partner. Throughout the film it's made pretty clear that Chance is a dick. He's reckless, egotistical and determined to get his man no matter the cost. And he's also great fun to watch. After surviving several scrapes throughout the film Chance finally sets up a sting operation to arrest Dafoe and his henchman. The bad guys take the bait and Chance and his weedy new partner swoop in to arrest them. When the henchman suddenly pulls a shotgun Chance fires at him and BOOM, he takes a point blank shotgun blast to the face. This death is made all the more shocking for how sudden and abrupt it is. The unstoppable Chance isn't even killed by the main villain, and it's left to his partner to finish the job. It's a great subversion of audience expectations on Friedkin's part. I mean imagine in Die Hard if they killed Bruce Willis and it was left up to Al to confront Hans at the climax. Pretty startling right? It's the same basic effect here, albeit with less Germans.
