Which death scene did you think was better and why?

[Andrew Lucas]

Also, Harry died a hero.

Gwen died by being an idiot.

Yeah,she just helped helped Peter to defeat Electro since he couldn't do two things at the same time.

 

[LizardMan07]

I feel like this thread is a thinly veiled TASM2 vs SM3 thread.

A death scene is based on emotional impact, if the films managed to bother you for 2 hours straight with other bad things, you sure as hell aren't going to all of a sudden by devestated.

If Crazy russian rhino, Dr Kaaaaaaafa, and BIRTHDAY BOY didn't annoy you, you might go with TASM2's scene. If Peter Parker in the bar, deus ex amnesia and God the hitman didn't annoy you as much, then you'd like the SM3 scene better.

Y'all can say its based on an objective view of the scene, but when you take a look at the polls, all the TASM2 "lovers" are on one side, and all the TASM2 "haters" are on the other.

So in reality, all the discourse we're going to get it;

"OMG WHEN SHE HIT THE PAVEMENT I LOL'D SO HARD"

"OMG DID HARRY EVEN HAVE A DAD"

"THAT SCENE WAS SOOOO BAD, LOL"

"NO EMOTION MAN"

I mean, its an entirely emotional thing, you only care about whether a character dies if you care about the actual character, I'm not sure how far this discussion can go.

 

[AnneFan]

Gwen's. I really felt her loss, particularly given the strength of Stone's performance over the two films.

 

[Oscorp]

As much as the potential for Gwen's death was ruined, it was much better than Harry's one. Sure, better build up and all, but the scene itself was rubbish. Fake acting, Kirsten Dunst and Spider-Goose.

 

[The Joker]

There was nothing wrong with the acting from Dunst or Maguire in Harry's death scene. It was excellent, especially from Franco and Maguire. Just saying Kirsten Dunst is a weak criticism like her presence there just instantly ruins it. She doesn't even say anything. She just sits there tearfully holding Harry's hand while Harry and Peter have their final moment. This is why a lot of the criticisms against her are predominantly hyperbole. I say that as someone who generally really disliked her in Spider-Man 3, but there was nothing wrong with her in this scene, and she didn't hurt it in any way.

 

[Oscorp]

There was nothing wrong with the acting from Dunst or Maguire in Harry's death scene. It was excellent, especially from Franco and Maguire. Just saying Kirsten Dunst is a weak criticism like her presence there just instantly ruins it. She doesn't even say anything. She just sits there tearfully holding Harry's hand while Harry and Peter have their final moment. This is why a lot of the criticisms against her are predominantly hyperbole. I say that as someone who generally really disliked her in Spider-Man 3, but there was nothing wrong with her in this scene, and she didn't hurt it in any way.

Having a very unlikeable character being present in a major death scene definitely drags the scene down for me.

And to me, Andrew's acting during Gwen's death is so much more convincing than Maguire's.

 

[Andrew Lucas]

Having a very unlikeable character being present in a major death scene definitely drags the scene down for me.

And to me, Andrew's acting during Gwen's death is so much more convincing than Maguire's.

I think it was a very strong scene with Harry but agreed with the rest

 

[reowner]

I loved Harry's death scene was very emotion and I cry every time.

 

[ThatSpiderGuy]

Gwen's death of course. It was extremely sad, and the acting by Andrew Garfield was so much better than Tobey's acting in that scene.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Gwen's, clearly.

Holy wow, sent chills down my spine. I know it's pretty controversial, but I think that scene's gold class. Good acting, I liked the slo-mo, we knew she was going to die, so it was more effective than just bang, it wasn't the death, but what it meant, that was important, and giving it more time is what made that more effective. That "hand" thing was fine, it conveyed its message.

Yeah that.
I have no comment about acting.

 

[OcStat]

Harry Osborn RIP

 

[UltimateWebhead]

Gwen's death for me. Andrew's performance in that scene was exceptional.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Harry's is still best.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Of the two, I prefer the scene with Gwen's death. I really loved the symbolism of the falling clock parts as Gwen's time ran out. Stone's facial expressions as she "fell" were better than any dialogue could have been and the sickening crack as she hit the ground was shocking.

Harry's last moments were well-acted and except for some minor logic problems with how he was wounded, it was a fitting end to the Peter-Harry frienemies arc. It wasn't quite as memorable as Uncle Ben's death or Norman's death in SM1, but it was quite effective. I still think SM3 should have ended after that scene.

 

[DACrowe]

Harry Osborn.

I like Emma Stone much better as an actor than James Franco, and I thought she was the only saving grace of TASM movies while the Raimi films definitely could have continued without Harry Osborn.

However, Harry's death is built to gradually over three films. And as flawed as Spider-Man 3 is, his death hurts. It comes at the exact moment where SM3 has its one undisputed speed rush high of Peter and Harry teaming up after a movie of mean-spirited and violent clashing. Before the Avengers and MCU movies, there was this, which came after a trilogy of tension, so the team-up felt very cathartic.

And then Harry dies. It may have been very soap operaish that Peter gets to say goodbye and Harry looks peaceful, hiding his scarred face (the last bit goes back to '50s noir, and Nolan even used a similar shot in The Dark Knight after Harvey Two-Face dies). But it is emotional and earned sadness as a storyline is bittersweetly put to rest, as well as the saving grace of the third film, which puts a nice bow on the entire trilogy.

Gwen Stacy meanwhile is killed as an afterthought. A plot point included simply because suits thought fans wanted to see Gwen die, and yes man Marc Webb obeyed. There is no build up, no emotional or storytelling catharsis. It just happens randomly after the climax with Electro. It's included on a whim and not even seriously dealt with. Harry's death brought a somber note at the end of SM3 with Peter and MJ both finally growing up past their relatively immature issues and emotions.

TASM2 by contrast cheats with a time-jump, cutting short the emotion so it can end on useless set-up for sequels and spin-offs that will never come with a crappier version of Harry Osborn, the Sinister Six, and the false "high" note of Spidey battling Rhino. It hides from its tragedy. SM3, for all its problems, embraces its ending head-on.

That is one of the many reasons the third Raimi movie is still vastly superior to the second film in the Webb series that ended abruptly last year.

 

[PeterBenParker]

Gwen's, no doubt about it.

Harry's death would've been more meaningful had he just been a main focus in the film as opposed to being one of the coming-and-going devices that plague Spider-Man 3.

 

[Johnny-Oh]

When I first watched Harry's death scene I almsot cried, when I watched Gwen's death scene I cringed throughout. So yeah I prefer Harry's scene

 

[mclay18]

Harry Osborn.

[...]

However, Harry's death is built to gradually over three films. And as flawed as Spider-Man 3 is, his death hurts. It comes at the exact moment where SM3 has its one undisputed speed rush high of Peter and Harry teaming up after a movie of mean-spirited and violent clashing. Before the Avengers and MCU movies, there was this, which came after a trilogy of tension, so the team-up felt very cathartic.

And then Harry dies. It may have been very soap operaish that Peter gets to say goodbye and Harry looks peaceful, hiding his scarred face (the last bit goes back to '50s noir, and Nolan even used a similar shot in The Dark Knight after Harvey Two-Face dies). But it is emotional and earned sadness as a storyline is bittersweetly put to rest, as well as the saving grace of the third film, which puts a nice bow on the entire trilogy.

[...]

That is one of the many reasons the third Raimi movie is still vastly superior to the second film in the Webb series that ended abruptly last year.

This. So much.

I thought Gwen's death in TASM2 was emotional and Garfield did an exceptional job selling his grief. But there wasn't any proper buildup to it, it felt inserted just to appease Avi Arad.

 

[Herofan]

This is a rare instance of when I think Webb's take was better; the depiction of Harry's death in SM3 tried to hard to be a Grand Tragic end to a Beloved Trilogy (especially given that Harry was only so likable in the films and especially the third film) while Gwen's death felt comparatively understated but still actually tragic and appropriately so given how important she was to Peter and well-received with viewers and, despite #121, her death also felt a lot less inevitable and more surprising than Harry's.

 

[The Joker]

Harry Osborn.

I like Emma Stone much better as an actor than James Franco, and I thought she was the only saving grace of TASM movies while the Raimi films definitely could have continued without Harry Osborn.

However, Harry's death is built to gradually over three films. And as flawed as Spider-Man 3 is, his death hurts. It comes at the exact moment where SM3 has its one undisputed speed rush high of Peter and Harry teaming up after a movie of mean-spirited and violent clashing. Before the Avengers and MCU movies, there was this, which came after a trilogy of tension, so the team-up felt very cathartic.

And then Harry dies. It may have been very soap operaish that Peter gets to say goodbye and Harry looks peaceful, hiding his scarred face (the last bit goes back to '50s noir, and Nolan even used a similar shot in The Dark Knight after Harvey Two-Face dies). But it is emotional and earned sadness as a storyline is bittersweetly put to rest, as well as the saving grace of the third film, which puts a nice bow on the entire trilogy.

Gwen Stacy meanwhile is killed as an afterthought. A plot point included simply because suits thought fans wanted to see Gwen die, and yes man Marc Webb obeyed. There is no build up, no emotional or storytelling catharsis. It just happens randomly after the climax with Electro. It's included on a whim and not even seriously dealt with. Harry's death brought a somber note at the end of SM3 with Peter and MJ both finally growing up past their relatively immature issues and emotions.

TASM2 by contrast cheats with a time-jump, cutting short the emotion so it can end on useless set-up for sequels and spin-offs that will never come with a crappier version of Harry Osborn, the Sinister Six, and the false "high" note of Spidey battling Rhino. It hides from its tragedy. SM3, for all its problems, embraces its ending head-on.

That is one of the many reasons the third Raimi movie is still vastly superior to the second film in the Webb series that ended abruptly last year.

Well said

This. So much.

I thought Gwen's death in TASM2 was emotional and Garfield did an exceptional job selling his grief. But there wasn't any proper buildup to it, it felt inserted just to appease Avi Arad.

Sums up 95% of the TASM movies.

 

[ripse]

H. Osborn

 

[Zantera]

Easily Harry. His death brought emotion with it. If we're talking Gwen, they couldn't even do it right and drop her off the bridge. Instead they dropped her in a comical clocktower with giant gears in the middle of a power plant. The fact that the web Spider-Man shot towards her reached out like a tiny hand was also too silly to take seriously.

 

[Darkmania]

Harry's, for the reasons mentioned by other posters. I went to opening night for both; During Harry's death scene, I could actually hear a few people being sad, and saw some teary eyes outside the theatre after the movie was over.

For Gwen's, there was a lot of "whatever" reactions by the theatre goers I was with and no one seemed to be talking about it afterwards.

Raimi's films do have the advantage of a 3 movie build up, but credit to Franco and the others, you could sense some real chemistry there.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Gwen's death not earned. Harry's was.

 

[scarlet-witch]

Both have huge issues (Harry's - the acting. Gwen's - the web hand) but I give the tiny edge to Gwen's just because it was the most memorable part of TASM2.