What are the 5 greatest moments of defeat in film?

Question

Please respond in the following way:

First, give your top FIVE, not just one item.

Second, be descriptive and explain why each item belongs in your top five.

An example of what one item from a response might look like:

In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Jack Nicholson tries to kill Nurse Ratched in revenge for causing Billy Bippet's suicide. You hate the nurse by this point and are desperately hoping he will succeed, but the orderlies manage to save the evil nurse and Nicholson's character is given a lobotomy, with Nurse Ratched escaping his attempt at justice and Nicholson's mind being destroyed forever.

Good luck, and as usual, ten points to the winner!

Answer 1

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:

When Chow Yun Fat says "I wasted my whole life". He's dying and this comes just after you think he may get to settle down with the woman and spend some good years together.


The Departed:

Leonardo Di Caprio did a good job of handling himself in most situations. He was making progress and then let his guard down for one second because he saw a cop and his first instinct was to trust. This is especially sad because he was having to see a shrink and said he was having paranoid / panic attacks and kept feeling like something was going to happen to him.


Kevin Spacey in L.A. Confidential: No one saw it coming. He was a good cop and star of the movie who should have been able to see it through with Russell Crowe


Jet Li in Fearless: He did so much good and during his demise, really emphasized hard that his death should not be avenged because it will only cause more violence. Now, THAT's a legacy!


Lawrence of Arabia: He helped lead thousands of men in war, was a great ambassador for peace, risked his life on the battlefield and in other desperate situations, then comes back home and loses his life in a petty meaningless motorcycle accident.

Answer 2

Number One:
Final Destination 2.
At the very end, death lets them know hes back by killing the kid at the barbeque and his arm lands on the picnic table where his family, and the survivors, are sitting.

Number Two:
What a Girl Wants.
Amanda Bynes' character thought she had lost her father to his fiance but he leaves her and goes to America to find his daughter.

Number Three:
The New Guy.
After becoming the Victim at two different schools Guil defeats his opposers and gets the girl when his jail friends show up and tape fake boobs to the two bullies at the schools dance.

Number Four:
The Black Cauldron.
The kid defeats the king/emperor/dead zombie corpse guy by jumping into the cauldron, the dead zombie man gets pulled into the cauldron and the kid gets out alive, gets the girl, and gets to keep his pig.

Number Five:
Phantom of the Opera.(2004)
After Prima Donna(her name is hard to spell) insults Christine by calling her a toad in the presence of the Phantom, he(under his breath) says "A toad madam, I think it is you who is the toad", and then(as planned by the Phantom as revenge before hand), she attempts to continue her song and croaks because of what the Phantom added to her "singing spray"