The Essentials: Sean Bean’s Greatest On Screen Deaths

I never get tired of seeing Sean Bean get killed. Someday that line could make me a suspect in a homicide case but it doesn’t change the fact that he is a man who has fully embraced his most amazing attribute as an actor; pretending to die. Lists like this one have been done to death (pun intended). But I’ve been known to beat a dead horse into mush. These are my all-time favorite death scenes from Mr. Bean and you better damn well believe that there are spoilers ahead. Enjoy…

Patriot Games (1992)

C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan has to have some of the worst luck in the history of mankind. He’s like John McClane but on a more global scale. If he visits your country it might be best of they first evacuate the airport, focus on getting all of the innocent people far away from him, and then let him parachute down into an empty field to be ambushed by some random terrorist organization. Sean Bean has a bit a beef with Jack Ryan (who doesn’t) after he got in the way of one of those assassination things those IRA boys used to love so much. The rest of the film is essentially Sean Bean trying to worm his way into position to take out Ryan and his family. I have two concrete rules in life when it comes to Harrison Ford: never fly with in a plane with him, and never, I mean never, mess with his family. Sean Bean finds out the hard way that commuting with Ford and/or trying to kill his family is a sure way to end up on the end of an exploding speedboat.

GoldenEye (1995)

While the role of James Bond has made several careers to this point, playing opposite the character hasn’t exactly turned out to be rocket fuel for the career. Sean Bean stepped into the shoes of Alec Trevelyan as a relative unknown here in the United States but his turn as a major villain opposite the British spy would go on to further establish him as a major player globally. Pierce Brosnan had taken over the role of Bond and in true Bond form, the two men pair off on top of a massive satellite dish. Where every misstep could spell certain death, Sean Bean somehow escapes dying on several occasions only to be dropped from about 15 stories up. Somehow Bean survives the fall only to have the entire structure fall on him…after it catches on fire. All in all, a pretty impressive way to go.

Equilibrium (2002)

We don’t get to spend much time learning about Sean Bean’s character in Equilibrium but we get just enough to know he isn’t what he’s supposed to be. The future setting of the film is one in which the masses are relegated to a life of unemotional living. They take government issued medication to numb their feelings, leaving the population in a state of submissiveness that must seem very peaceful. Bean’s character, Partridge, is what is known as a “Cleric”. Think of it as a cross between a Jedi and a kung fu federal agent. The Clerics keep the peace amongst the population, and by keeping the peace I mean they ensure that the people do not go off their meds and start realizing that their “perfect” lives aren’t really built on lies. Bean plays the partner of Christian Bale’s John Preston, a hardliner Cleric who executes Sean Bean after learning that he has been feeling. It’s no incredible death scene for an actor such as Bean but it packs a wallop for Preston who suddenly starts questioning the very system that made him do it.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Sean Bean has a really regal look to him. At least that is what casting people think because they keep casting him in roles where he has some sort of lordship. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is downright amazing. I try to break out the extended Bluray once a year and just make a weekend of it. Bean’s turn as Boromir doesn’t see him among the survivors of the quest to destroy the ring but it gives him an exit that is more than memorable. Many people will tell you that The Fellowship of the Ring is the worst of the three movies but the immense world-building and the epic battle at the end more than make up the for the almost endless monologues and walking scenes. Boromir may have attempted to take the ring from Frodo but his incredible showdown with the marauding armies of the Dark Lord and subsequent death scene have redeemed both himself and the film for all time.

The Island (2005)

The thing I remember most about The Island is how unbelievably hot Scarlett Johansson was in it. Now that you’ve returned from Googling pictures of her, strap back into your chair and enjoy some more pics and gifs of Sean Bean being killed!

Game of Thrones (2011)

I am one of those guys who has both seen every episode of the series and read each of the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series. While the last few seasons of the show have diverted from the book series in a major way, the first season of the program stuck pretty closely to the written words of George R.R. Martin. While you could tell that the makers of the show were definitely influenced by the reaction of fans to certain characters (Bronn and Shae have much more expanded roles on the show) they stuck to the arc of Ned Stark all the way up until his brutal end. Sean Bean’s involvement always made his decapitation at the hands of the headsman something I thought they’d change. How you gonna kill off your biggest star? But they did it and it became the first of many surprises that the show would spring on non-book reading viewers.

Black Death (2010)

Holy crap… I’m getting tired of watching Sean Bean die! He must have major psychological damage by now. It’s like getting picked last for the basketball team every single day but instead of getting to play, they just take turns beating the shit out of you. I guess it makes a big difference when they pay you loads of money to pretend to die. The year before Sean took his most famous role in Game of Thrones, he already had his hair and beard grown out so he starred in the Medieval action/drama Black Death. The movie itself isn’t amazing but the way that Mr. Bean finally bites the dust might be his best ever. Black Death shows us onscreen what Braveheart never had the balls to show; a man getting ripped apart by horses. A fitting way to kill the heroic Bean and a more than fitting way to end this article.