Body Count in Movies

When you think of death in movies, what movies come to mind? Robocop? Saving Private Ryan? Titanic? Well according to moviebodycounts.com the movie with the highest body count in cinema history is Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King (extended version) with 836. Now, anyone who has seen LOTR: ROTK knows that the final battle scene is epic, and this is where the majority of the body count occurs.

It is interesting to think that a film that won 11 Oscars would have this much death in it, but typically war/battle movies do well with Oscars and have many demises in it. For example Saving Private Ryan won 5 Oscar and has a body count of 255, which ranks 12th all time in movies. Braveheart, which also won 5 Oscars, has a body count of 184. This places 20th all time.

Death in movies helps engage the viewer, it helps them connect with the picture and makes the plot more interesting. This is especially true when a main character dies. An example can be Starship Troopers. One would say this is an average movie, but when 4 of the main characters perish in the war with the Aracnids ( I won't list names for sake of spoilers), it shocks you and makes you really think. I believe this is why Starship Troopers is considered a cult classic and has spawned numerous direct to DVD sequels.

So, my point is you may be surprised when you hear that an amazing movie has an exorbitant body count, but that's what draws many of the viewers in. Movies with crazy battles or movies based on wars will never stop being made because of this and I'm glad that's true.