Sean Bean will forever be known as one of the actors that sustained more deaths in his roles on the big and small screen. From being deadly wounded by Uruk-hai’s leader Lurtz in The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring to his public execution in Games of Thrones, the actor has been synonymous with screen deaths, to the point that he told The Sun how he turned down roles that involved his death.
After celebrating Sean Bean’s best deaths on screen, it’s now time to consider those movies where the actor actually doesn’t die. It might surprise someone to know, but there are at least 10 movies whose plots don’t include the death of Sean Bean; in some of them, attempts are made to end his fictional life, but none are successful.
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10 Troy
Warner Bros. Pictures
Directed by Wolfgang Peterson and loosely inspired by the Iliad of Homer, Troy is an epic action drama depicting the war lashed out against the city of Troy by the Acheans, commanded by King Agamemnon. Despite the great performance at the box office, the movie was not met with the same warmth by the critics. Also, Brad Pitt himself, who portrayed the almost invincible Achilles, said in an interview with USA Today that he wasn’t a great fan of the movie.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Sean Bean plays the character of Odysseus, king of Ithaca and ally of King Agamemnon, widely famous for his intelligence and perspicacity; not coincidentally, it’s he who convinces Achilles to join the war and ideates the strategic plan that will forever mark the faith of the battle. Given the notorious fame of the English actor to have his characters always killed, it’s quite a surprise to see Odysseus delivering the last speech before the end credits.
Despite the inaccurate historical portrayal of the story, the movie is still entertaining in its epic fighting scenes and allows you to see Sean Bean survive until the end. Something rare these days.
9 Flightplan
Touchstone Pictures
Flightplan is centered on the story of Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster), an aviation engineer who recently lost her husband. After the tragic experience, she decides to move back home to the US with her daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) on a flight operated by captain Marcus Rich (Sean Bean). During the flight, Julia goes missing; neither the passengers nor the crew can recall seeing her boarding with Kyle.
This mystery thriller, directed by Robert Schwentke, is mostly set inside the airplane, whose restricted settings are fundamental for the tension build-up. At the same time, the psychological heavy plot allows the actors to fully express their range of emotions while simultaneously making the audience unsure about the mysterious disappearance.
Despite Jodie Foster shining in this movie, Sean Bean’s character is essential to the plot because of his role as the captain and highest authority on the plane. The dilemma of keeping control of the aircraft, the crew, and the passengers while being pressured by the increasingly erratic Kyle to find her daughter defines his actions.
8 Shopping
Impact Pictures
Stolen cars, expensive looting, live-fast-die-young attitude. Shopping, the movie that launched Jude Law’s career, takes you directly into Jo and Billy’s fast and wild life, portrayed respectively by Sadie Frost and Jude Law. Belonging to the underclass and rebellious by nature, the couple indulge daily in joyriding and “shopping”, a robbery that involves smashing a car into a shop and grabbing as much loot as possible.
Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, this movie is full of thrilling action sequences and strong characters, set in a gray and almost dystopian urban environment. The ingredients for a cult classic are all here: slick camera movements, rebellious teens and criminals, a captivating soundtrack, and a screenplay crowded with memorable lines.
Like Flightplan, Sean Bean again takes a secondary role in interpreting the rich and snob Mr. Venning, who uses Billy’s rival Tommy (Sean Pertwee) to obtain stolen goods. Despite only a handful of minutes of acting, Sean Bean is accurate and solid in his portrayal, with an impeccable suit and his disdain for the lower-class neighborhood he has to meet Tommy. A cult to rediscover.
7 Silent Hill
TriStar Productions
Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) sleepwalks and has nightmares about a town called Silent Hill, in West Virginia. Her adopting mother Rose (Radha Mitchell), despite the opposition of her husband Christopher (Sean Bean), decides to take Sharon to the alleged town to try and solve her problems. While at home, Christopher discovers that Silent Hill is a ghost town with a mysterious past avoided by everyone.
Silent Hill is an adaptation of the famous homonymous videogame, enriched with additional hints from the writers Roger Avary, Nicolas Boukhrief, and Christophe Gans, who is also the director. This 2006 horror movie is visually stunning, thanks to a well-crafted production design and convincing cinematography; despite the sometimes confusing plot, it successfully captures the spectators and transports them into the unwelcoming universe of Silent Hill.
Another successful survival for Sean Bean. His character’s initial opposition to the trip to Silent Hill is essential in keeping him alive until the end and saves him from experiencing the mysteries within the city. Not bad for a horror movie full of snares.
6 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Fox 2000 Pictures
Directed by the seasoned Chris Columbus and representing the first installment of the Percy Jackson franchise, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief tells the story of Percy (Logan Lerman), the half-man half-god son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), who is unjustly accused of stealing the lightning bolt of Zeus (Sean Bean). Percy has to return the bolt at Mount Olympus in two weeks before the Summer Solstice midnight.
The first chapter of the saga is characterized by a great blend of action scenes and more comedic parts, modernizing the Greek Gods theme and appealing to both young and adults. Moreover, the technical aspect of the movie is pretty convincing, with a well-crafted use of CGI and a steady pace editing.
Being accustomed to playing royal roles like the heir of Gondor, Sean Bean couldn’t be better for impersonating the king of the 12 gods of Mount Olympus. Zeus’s powerful and resolute character perfectly suits the English actor’s capacities, and Bean gifts us with a small but fitting like-a-glove part.
5 Stormy Monday
Moving Picture Company
Stormy Monday is the third movie in the career of Sean Bean and the first that sees him as the protagonist. Starring alongside Sting, Melanie Griffith, and Tommy Lee Jones, Bean plays the part of Brendan, a handyman working at the Key Club, a jazz club in Newcastle upon Tyne. Everything changes when Brendan overhears two individuals talking about obtaining the Key Club by any means necessary, even if that implies killing the owner Mr. Finney (Sting).
This neo-noir of the 1980s is a great testimony to the acting abilities of Sean Bean, who delivers an impactful performance both in the peaks of tension and in the romantic scenes with Melanie Griffith’s character Kate. Moreover, the movie is distinguishable for a top-notch photography by Oscar winner Roger Deakins and a convincing noir atmosphere, rendered thanks to the constant rain and the laid-back but hypnotizing rhythm.
Despite the presence of dangerous businessmen and gangsters, Brendan can move through the intense plot and see the ending credits alive. Stormy Monday is a lesser-known movie in Sean Bean’s filmography that should be watched to discover the actor’s versatility since his early career.
4 Jupiter Ascending
Village Roadshow Pictures
Jupiter Ascending revolves around Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), who leads a normal life and works as a housekeeper. Everything changes when Caine Wise (Channing Tatum) saves her from a group of Keepers, some kind of alien creatures came to kill her. After saving her, Caine reveals to Jupiter that she is the matriarch of the most powerful alien dynasty in the universe.
Written and directed by the Wachowskis and considered a polarizing movie since its release, Jupiter Ascending is sometimes hard to follow due to its convoluted plot, but it is always convincing for its visual aspects. It was mostly disapproved by critics and performed poorly at the box office, something that leading star Mila Kunis already knew before starting the production phase. However, the movie evolved in recent years to become somewhat of a cult, attracting new fans intrigued by the completely new universe created by the authors of Matrix.
Sean Bean stars as Stinger Apini, half man half bee exiled soldier who used to work with Caine. His courage in helping Jupiter Jones will pay off in the end, making him also survive this film. Fortune favors the brave.
3 Ronin
United Artists
Ronin is one of the best movies of the 1990s and by far one of the best action movies ever. The precise and detailed-oriented directing style of John Frankenheimer narrates the story of a team of ex-government agents assembled by an IRA member to steal a mysterious briefcase. The movie cast is stellar: Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Jonathan Pryce, and of course Sean Bean.
One of the last movies of master John Frankenheimer, Ronin sticks the spectators to their seats with breathtaking car chases, intricate plot twists, and solid performances by the cast, whose acting chemistry is palpable in many collective scenes. Sean Bean portrays a British man pretending to be an ex special forces operative. On a mission to gather weapons for the targeted briefcase, he gets sacked for being incompetent. Sometimes getting fired saves your life.
Ronin is a modern masterpiece that offers entertainment and tension, simultaneously giving us unforgettable action scenes and classic cinema moments.
2 Possessor
Ingenious Media
Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of the acclaimed body horror master David Cronenberg, Possessor mixes science fiction and horror perfectly. Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is a hired assassin who possesses other individuals’ bodies and uses them to complete her deadly assignment. At the end of each mission, Tasya commits suicide and returns to her body. When a hit against CEO John Parse (Sean Bean) and his daughter Ava (Tuppence Middleton) goes wrong, Tasya realizes she cannot leave the body she possessed.
It came very close, but it wasn’t in the cards. Despite being the target of a hit, Sean Bean survived this one once again. Besides this remarkable accomplishment, the movie is perfectly written to convey the utmost level of tension, while Cronenberg shines behind the camera delivering a compact and slick picture. The horror scenes are terrifying and full of impact, while Jennifer Jason Leigh offers one of the best performances of her career.
94% on Rotten Tomatoes, provocative, and Sean Bean survives. What do you want more?
1 The Martian
Scott Free Productions
Ridley Scott never stops to deliver high-quality movies and The Martian proves once more that the English director hardly disappoints. It stars Matt Damon as Dr. Mark Watney, a botanist who is presumed dead after an aborted mission on Mars. The surviving crew decides then to return to the mother vessel, headed by Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean).
By now, Ridley Scott’s way of directing has perfected the art of making intricate shots appear effortless. This movie is not just pure technical perfection but also a great showcase of the brilliant acting of Matt Damon, which sustains the whole movie, and Jessica Chastain, commander of the aborted mission.
The Martian is a great entertainment movie that stupendously depicts space and its beautiful dangerousness while at the same time showing how resilient and adaptable humans can be in extreme situations. At the same time, the movie shows us the so-called hard side of sci-fi, emphasizing the intellectual aspect of science and its technical intricacies.
