Near the end of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the King of Atlantis is slowly succumbing to internal bleeding after suffering a fatal punch inflicted by Rourke, who steals the giant crystal by using the King's daughter Princess Kida as a host. During his death throes, the King explained to Milo that he holds himself responsible for the sinking of Atlantis as he tried to use the giant crystal as a weapon of war, which cost thousands of lives (including his beloved wife), and that he hid it beneath the city to keep history from repeating itself and spare his daughter from the same fate. Before succumbing to his death, the King gave his crystal to Milo, calmly entrusting him to return the giant crystal and save Kida and the lost city, to which Milo accomplished in the end after killing Rourke.
Near the end of Beauty and the Beast, the Beast gets fatally stabbed by Gaston, who ends up falling to his death. After being pulled in to safety by Belle, the Beast slowly succumbs to his wounds, but takes solace in the fact that Belle came back for him, saying that he got to see her one last time before accepting his fate. However, this became averted when Belle tearfully pronounces her love for the Beast before the last petal of the enchanted rose drops, which was enough for the curse to be lifted and for the Beast to be revived and transformed back into a handsome prince.
In Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, near the end of the second act, Double D and Eddy get into a fight after the former had thought that the latter and Ed had sunk in quicksand. After Double D wins, he declares his intention to return home. Ed tries to convince him that they can't go home, but Double D tells him that he'd rather face his consequences than wonder aimlessly with a so-called friend. However, Double D changes his mind after Eddy breaks down crying, and drops his Never My Fault attitude, admitting that he was to blame for the predicament that they were in.
At the end of Kung Fu Panda 2, Lord Shen reacts to the giant cannon about to crush him by calmly closing his eyes and accepting his fate, finally obtaining peace.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish delivers a literal version of this trope when Puss decides to stop running from Death and face him in a duel. Once it becomes clear to Death that Puss is no longer afraid of him, despite knowing he can never beat him, he decides to leave Puss alone for the time being since the latter has learned to value his last life, before parting ways in somewhat amicable terms and promising that they will meet again when Puss's time comes.
Sinbad is framed by Eris, the Goddess of Discord, for stealing the Book of Peace from Syracuse. His friend Proteus, heir to the crown of Syracuse, volunteers to be executed in Sinbad's place unless Sinbad can retrieve the Book. When he finally confronts Eris, she challenges him for the Book by asking Sinbad if he would return to Syracuse should he fail to retrieve it, calling him a liar when he answers "yes". Instead of running away, however, Sinbad chooses to return to Syracuse and take Proteus's place on the chopping block. Subverted when the execution is interrupted by an angry Eris, who is outraged since she was banking on the death of Proteus bringing chaos to Syracuse. Because she had vowed to return the Book of Peace if Sinbad answered her question honestly, and because Sinbad did return to Syracuse like he said he would, Eris ends up being forced to return the Book, which ultimately spares both Sinbad and Proteus from execution.
For that matter, the King does try to smuggle Proteus out of Syracuse so that he won't have to die for Sinbad, who by all appearances is unlikely to return, with or without the Book of Peace. Proteus refuses, however, both to keep his word and because he believes in Sinbad. Come the day of the execution, he walks to the chopping block willingly and calmly lays his neck bare for the executioner, only being saved at the last second by Sinbad's timely arrival.
In the end of Tarzan, Kerchak is fatally shot by Clayton, who later ends up being hanged on a vine after a fight with Tarzan. Before accepting his fate succumbing to his wounds, Kerchak apologizes for his uncaring behavior towards Tarzan, calmly entrusting him to take over the gorilla troupe as its new leader.
In The Snow Queen (2012), Vergard and Una embrace and say they love each other before the North Wind kills them.
The Spine of Night has Dae and Gull, two civilians who are exposed to the Bloom after their town was razed by Ghal-Sur's army. Instead of going insane at the revelation that humanity is meaningless, they instead accept this fact, seeing the beauty in humanity because it is meaningless. As they're relishing in this tranquility, Ghal-Sur's soldiers return to kill them. Knowing there's nowhere to run, Dae and Gull calmly embrace each other as the soldiers slay them.
The climax of Toy Story 3, where all the toys are about to fall into the incinerator. Fortunately, it isn't the end for them, thanks to the Squeeze Toy Aliens, who were presumed to be dead but are revealed to have commandeered a claw machine to pull them out in the nick of time.
Wreck-It Ralph: In the climax, Ralph tries desperately to pull Vanellope out of Sugar Rush when the Cy-Bugs start destroying everything. He finds that he can't due to her being a glitch. Vanellope tells him to leave her, and even smiles to reassure him. Ralph refuses and decides to find another way to save her.
Live-Action
Several characters in the film 2012 go out this way, realizing that there's nowhere to run when the whole world is essentially falling apart, so they meet their end as humbly and stoically as possible.
Subverted in Anaconda. The tied-up murderer Paul Sarone is about to be murdered by a vengeful Denise because he let the Anaconda eat her boyfriend, and he seems willing to accept his impending death and gives her some advice on never looking your victim in the eye. He's just using it to catch her off-guard and strangle her with his thighs.
In Andersonville, a prison gang called The Raiders was put down. The gang was given a trial, and six of their leaders were sentenced to death. Collins, the boss of The Raiders, walked to the gallows quietly and saluted before he was dropped. Contrast his weaselly second-in-command, who wept and tried to run away.
Apocalypto: After being bound and about to have his throat slit, Flint Sky simply looks at his son and tells him not to be afraid... Then refuses to so much as blink when his throat is cut.
In the finale of Armageddon (1998), the detonator for the nuke is damaged and someone has to stay behind to blow it. They pull straws and AJ gets the shortest. He puts on a brave face as he goes to his doom, but Harry decides to change the plan for him at the last minute.
The A-Team: Brock Pike, for all his trigger-happy and treacherous tendencies, actually faces death with humor when he thinks it to be inevitable. In fact he takes it upon himself to "educate" the rogue CIA agents on how to properly execute him so that he doesn't suffer the embarrassment of dying by the hands of men with an idiotic lack of firearm discipline. He doesn't know that events would conspire to give him a second chance.
In Avatar, Trudygoes down flying her little Samson Future Copter against Quaritch's massive Dragon gunship. In her final moments before a missile blows her gunship out of the sky, she appears calm and apologizes to Jake, just regretting that she couldn't do more.
Balibo: Tony, having locked himself in a room after being surrounded by the TNI, realizes he's going to be killed no matter what he does and accepts his fate, opening the door and promptly being impaled by a bayonet.
Batman (1989): Vinnie Ricorso stares defiantly at Joker when his former colleague interrupts Ricorso's attempt to take over the syndicate. Given how plenty of clown-clad enforcers appear behind Joker, and Joker uses the same Faux Affably Evil tone of voice he did before killing Rotelli, Ricorso likely knows he's about to die, but his last moments aren't spent panicking.
Batman Begins: When Ducard realizes that the train he is on is about to crash, he closes his eyes and calmly waits for the end.
Belle was never told by her father Maurice of what happened to her mother during her childhood. She and the Beast eventually learn that her mother was one of the victims of a plague that struck Paris when Belle was an infant. However, Belle's mother wasn't scared of dying and told Maurice to oblige to the plague doctors' orders to take Belle away so that the plague won't infect her as well, to which Maurice reluctantly obliged. Belle's mother then kissed Belle's baby rattle (shaped like a rose) to symbolize that she values her daughter's life over her own, right before accepting her fate succumbing to her death. It was then Belle realized that Maurice was unable to explain the circumstances behind his wife's death because of his grief of leaving her behind as he still loved her; even the Beast showed sympathy for this as he too lost his mother to an illness when he was a young boy.
Andrew: I am growing old, my body is deteriorating, and like all of you, will eventually cease to function. As a robot, I could have lived forever. But I tell you all today, I would rather die a man, than live for all eternity a machine. President Bota: Why do you want this? Andrew: To be acknowledged for who and what I am, no more, no less. Not for acclaim, not for approval, but, the simple truth of that recognition. This has been the elemental drive of my existence, and it must be achieved, if I am to live or die with dignity.
In Blade Runner, after spending the entire film looking for ways to extend his all-too brief life and finding out there's no way to do it (killing those responsible for his creation in the process) Roy Batty chooses to use his final moments to save the man sent to kill him, and then delivers a quiet monologue to Deckard about the transience of life.
Roy: I've... Seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams, glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those... Moments... Will be lost, in time. Like... Tears... In rain. Time... To die.
The Purifier acknowledges that he has betrayed his previous people's ways and converted to the Necromonger faith to serve the Lord Marshal. Afterwards, he calmly walks into a scorching storm where he is incinerated.
The Imam as well when he is cornered by a Necromonger soldier.
There will be an afterlife for me. Will there be for you?
Cruz Diablo: Carlos stays calm when Chacho and his bandits are about to shoot him, and as his final wish he asks for his mom and the carriage be let go so they may not see him die. Chacho admires his bravery and lets him live.
The Dark Knight: Towards the climax of the movie, the Joker rigs up two ferries—one of which is transporting the population of Gotham's biggest prison and one full of civilians, including hospital patients—with explosives, then presents each boat's detonator to someone on the other craft, promising that if they blow up the other ship, he'll spare them. He's attempting to prove that people are inherently self-serving and selfish, but ultimately, a leader on each ferry chooses to not destroy the other. While some of the other passengers are clearly distraught, not a single one panics or starts a riot, instead sitting quietly and bravely facing their fates (some of the prisoners even begin to pray silently). The Joker is so stunned by their empathy that Batman's able to get the drop on him and keep the ferries from exploding, so the passengers don't die (although they were clearly willing to do so, so it still falls into this trope).
Jack, the Wayne Financial employee who dies in Zod's attack on Metropolis calmly crosses himself and says a last prayer asking for mercy on his soul when he realises the building he's in is about to be destroyed in the fight between Superman and Zod.
At the end of the film, as Superman prepares for his Heroic Sacrifice, he calmly tells Lois that he loves her and that she is "his world", then grabs the Kryptonite spear and charges at Doomsday. Even when stabbed throught the chest by one of Doomsday's Spikes of Villainy, Clark just looks determined and pulls himself further towards the beast, making sure it goes down even at the cost of his own life.
Wonder Woman (2017) sees this averted with Steve Trevor. While he still ends up making a Heroic Sacrifice and dies smiling, he clearly doesn't want to die and has to psyche himself up to blow up the gas bombs before they can harm anyone else.
At the end of Death Race2, after the Big Bad has been cornered by an assassin, Lucas arranged to kill him, if he couldn't do it himself, he just takes a puff from his cigar and asks who sent him, then after being told, congratulates Lucas for getting the last laugh, before he is shot dead by the assassin.
Death Takes a Holiday: Grazia is in love with Death and decides to go with him to the beyond, meaning she has to die. This doesn't phase her.
Deep Impact: Jason Lerner, when the tsunami is seconds away, hears his daughter Jenny (Tea Leoni) say "Daddy?" He holds her closer to his chest, raises his head, and closes his eyes.
The crew of the Messiah volunteer for a Suicide Mission to destroy one of the comets by blowing up their engine inside it. They're all incredibly stoic as they fly to their deaths and the last thing any of them say is the pilots telling each other It Has Been an Honor right before they blow the engine.
In Elysium, after Psycho for Hire lethally stabs Corrupt Politician Kruger in the neck, he tosses her into a closet with Frey, who is a doctor. Frey frantically tries to stop the bleeding, with Kruger, with her last breath, quietly tells her, "No more," and dies seconds later.
In Enemy at the Gates, when Major König realises that he has been caught in Zaitsev's trap, he calmly removes his cap, stands to attention, and waits Zaitsev's shot.
In Epoch Evolution, Major Tower is shot twice in the abdomen by The Dragon, with his vest only stopping one bullet. Realizing they're too far from any medical help (being inside one of the Tori), he tells the protagonist to forget about trying to get him help and asks to be read the Bible one more time. He dies a few minutes later from blood loss, allowing the protagonist to continue.
Equilibrium. Partridge is aware that he's been sense offending, carrying a Yeats book of poetry. He's cool, calm, composed. Constantly, even when faced with death. When Preston becomes suspicious and finds him in the church, he doesn't look up, doesn't bat an eyelid, totally aware that Preston is armed. He even goes so far as to read from one of Yeats' famous poems, 'The Cloths Of Heaven'. He looks up, questioning everything the system stands for, hoping to get Preston to at least understand what's going on before he dies. We find out later from Mary that he was her lover and he secretly fought for the Resistance. The way he says the line below describes how resilient he is, because he doesn't do anything to prevent his own oncoming death despite knowing what was coming for him. He's going to die fighting for a cause and he wants it to stay that way. If it means dying for your beliefs, he's in no denial.
Partridge: You always knew.
Mary, too. Although she’s clearly afraid, she doesn’t cry or make a scene at her execution. Instead, she calmly steps inside the incinerator and, in her final moments, grips her robe to stop her hands from shaking.
Fools' Parade: Sizemore, an Innocent Bystander wounded when Council tries to ambush Appleyard and the others, straightens his collar and brushes his hair back as he lies wounded and sees the villains coming up to finish him off.
Salvatore "Sal" Tessio in The Godfather. Surrounded by Corleone men, he understands what is going to happen next. He gives Tom a message to Michael that betraying the family was only business, makes a slow, token, halfhearted reach for his shoulder holster (which Willie Cicci takes away), and asks Tom to let him off the hook with a wry grin, as a final, very dark joke about his own demise.
Contrast with the very next scene, in which Carlo — confronted with evidence of his own treachery — weeps, denies his guilt, and begs for his life.
Michael: Don't tell me you're innocent. Because it insults my intelligence.
Matt Kowalski in Gravity drifts away in space with no hope of rescue. He maintains radio contact long enough to guide another astronaut to safety, turns on his favorite music and admires his last sunrise as his radio signal fades away.
Kowalski: Oh, my god. Wow. You should see the sun on the Ganges. It's amazing.
Several of the hostages who are executed in reprisals for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Hangmen Also Die!, especially Professor Novotny (the only one we actually see die onscreen, calmly facing the firing squad).
Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack! During a confrontation between Godzilla and Mothra near the end of the film, the JGSDF's shorebound command post is destroyed by one of Godzilla's atomic blasts. Seeing the destruction, one of the soldiers exclaims that his friends had been stationed there, only for a nearby NCO to reply calmly "There's nothing we can do." Later, JGSDF forces launch an all-out assault to cover the unconscious Mothra and Ghidorah after both are soundly thrashed by Godzilla. Godzilla is, of course, unfazed by the barrage of missiles which follow and seems to actually snort in disdain before turning around and counterattacking the soldiers with his atomic beam, obliterating missile batteries, transports, warships, and personnel with equal ferocity. As the blue light of oblivion rapidly approaches the same trio of soldiers, most of them panic, looking for a way out, but their sergeant steps forward, squares his shoulders, and squints into the un-rushing light, as if daring Godzilla to do his worst.
Heart of Darkness (1958): When the Queen is sentenced to death by spear-thrust, she visibly works to control her emotions, then calmly climbs into her curtained palanquin to await execution. This not only gives the character a dignified exit, but also makes for a 1950s-TV-friendly Discretion Shot.
At the end of Hell's Angels, brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge are shot down in enemy territory and taken prisoner by the Germans. They are offered clemency if they reveal the Allies' plans for an upcoming battle, and Roy tries to invoke Better to Die than Be Killed by asking for a gun and two bullets to Mercy Kill his brother (in case he misses his first shot), but he is only given one bullet (the Germans realising he intends to use the second bullet on himself), so he uses it on Monte, reneges on his promise to tell his captors the Allied plans, and goes before a firing squad. As his executioners ready themselves, he tells Monte that they'll be together again soon.
Hellboy (2004): When Professor Broom is cornered in his office by Rasputin and Kroenen, the former shows him a vision of the future that will result when Hellboy embraces his destiny and brings about the end of the world, making it clear that he intends to have Kroenen kill Broom. Broom replies that no matter what, he will always see Hellboy as his son, and calmly accepts his demise; for his part, Rasputin ensures that Broom's death is quick and painless.
Gangster Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) in Hoodlum. He gets shot at a urinal (right after taking a piss) by a man he deemed as unimportant. While throughout the movie he had been emotional and a Large Ham, his reaction to what just happened is that of calm incredulity. He musters enough energy to walk out of the toilet, sit at a table, give his killer a look full of contempt, and die.
Toward the end of Hook, the titular villain is on his knees, disarmed, defeated, and even dewigged by Peter Pan. He mournfully asks for his dignity and, when Pan tells him he deserves to die for killing Rufio and kidnapping Jack and Maggie, Hook simply nods and tells Peter to "strike true". He takes mercy with a lot less honor, brandishing a sword and trying to stab Pan in the back, which ultimately leads to his demise.
The Hunter: When Martin finally spots the thylacine, the creature doesn’t even try to escape. Instead, the thylacine lowers its head, and appears to allow itself to be given a Mercy Kill by Martin.
The German sergeant Werner Rachtman prepares to face death with dignity, rather than betray the location of his comrades, while Brad Pitt's Aldo Raine goes "Donny! We got us a German here wants to die for country. Oh-bliiige him." He is then beaten to death by Donny Donowitz, the Bear Jew.
Later on in the film, a British spy behind German lines slips up badly when ordering three fingers of Scotch. Presented with a gun under the table for his mistake, and knowing he's not getting out alive, he calmly finishes his drink, with the line:
"There's a special circle in Hell for men who waste good Scotch."
In Ink, the Storyteller faces down the Prince while meeting his eyes, with her expression filled with nothing but stoic defiance.
After Lucia Sciarra attends her husband's funeral, she knows that his old associates will kill her because She Knows Too Much. After getting home she walks into the mansion's courtyard and calmly prepares to be shot in the back by two assassins before Bond saves her.
At the end, when Bond has Blofeld cornered, he calmly states, "Finish it", clearly having no intention of pleading for his life. But Bond does not grant Blofeld that wish.
No Time to Die: For James Bond, he was faced with the choice of living and potentially letting the nanomachines that the villain infected him with murder Madeleine and their daughter Mathilde, or letting the barrage of British missiles vaporize him with a confident smile on his face so that his family will be safe. He chose the latter fate like a true hero.
Joker (2019): Murray Franklin, realising he is sitting next to a mad killer on live TV with two other guests and a live audience who can also be potential victims, stays calm and continues the interview with Arthur, trying to figure out what kind of man he's facing and possibly also buying time for security.
In Kill Bill, Bill reacts to Beatrix's Five-Point-Palm Exploding Heart Technique attack with resounding grace, at first expressing understated surprise that Pai Mei taught her the technique, then a lovingly insulting final exchange with Beatrix before voluntarily standing up and taking six steps before falling down dead.
At the beginning of Killshot, Mickey Rourke's character goes to assassinate an old crime boss. Wearing only a towel, the old man calmly asks if he can get dressed first. Being rather civil about it, the assassin agrees, and afterwards the man lies down on his bed in a fine suit and pulls the sheet up over his face before Rourke shoots him.
Kill the Irishman, when Danny Greene realizes he's about to be blown up by the car bomb next to his Cadillac, he sees Ray Ferrito driving by with the detonator in one hand and tipping his hat in farewell with the other. Accepting death, Greene pointed his finger like a gun just as the bomb kills him.
In Kingdom of Heaven, as the Christian Armies leave Jerusalem, Balian of Ibelin exchanges words with his friend the Hospitaller for the last time:
Balian of Ibelin: You go with the army? Hospitaller: My order is with the army. Balian of Ibelin: You go to certain death. Hospitaller: All death is certain. I shall tell your father what I've seen you become. [rides away]
In the sequel, Merlin goes out with total class. He takes Eggsy's place on top of a landmine, then attracts the attention of some of Poppy's Mooks (by singing a badass rendition of "Country Roads, Take Me Home"), and when they're close enough, steps off the mine and blows them all up.
Commander Kril in The Last Starfighter. Distinguished himself from his second-in-command by not panicking when facing imminent death.
Kodan 2nd: She won't answer the helm! We're locked into the moon's gravitational pull! What do we do?! Cmd. Kril:(calmly) We die.
The Limehouse Golem: Say what you will about the Golem, she faces death without showing fear.
At the end of The Man Who Would be King, facing certain death through his own stupidity, Daniel Dravot asks for (and receives) forgiveness from his best friend, then walks proudly to his death, singing.
Billy Fish also qualifies, showing no fear, wishing his companions the best of luck before before charging head-on and being mobbed to death.
Zuri takes responsibility for his role in N'Jobu's death and offers himself to Killmonger to keep him from murdering T'Challa. Unfortunately, Killmonger opts for killing them both instead.
Killmonger's death is a combination of this and Defiant to the End. He's offered the chance to be healed by T'Challa, but refuses, saying that all that's left for him is life imprisonment, and pulls out the spear stuck in him. As he bleeds to death, he calmly asks to be buried in the ocean, just like the many slaves who'd jumped from the ships to choose death over a life of bondage.
Klaue subverts this hard, not by begging or getting afraid, but by simply cackling psychotically at this absurd turn of events.
Avengers: Infinity War: The people who are disintegrated when Thanos snaps his fingers follow this trope to varying degrees. Some, like Dr. Strange, who calmly maintains that this turn of events is necessary for Thanos' eventual defeat, play this straight. On the other hand, it's soundly averted with Peter Parker, who dies in Tony's arms, utterly terrified in his final moments. T'Challa tries to get others to do this, even telling Okoye "Up, General, Up! This is no place to die!" right before it happens to him.
At the start, as Heimdall lays dying, they show no concern and instead marshal the last of their resources to teleport Bruce Banner from the Statesman to Earth so that someone can send a warning about Thanos.
At the beginning when the heroes confront him on The Garden, he puts up a fight but once restrained he is relatively calm even though he knows that the heroes have good reason to want him dead — especially after he reveals that he destroyed the Infinity Stones and thus he is of no use to them.
Later, a past version of Thanos witnesses a holographic recording of his future self's demise. As the recording also confirms that his plan ultimately succeeded, he rather calmly regards the events as destiny fulfilling itself, clearly accepting his inevitable death soon after the fulfillment of his goal.
At the very end, as his defeat became clear, he quietly sits down, bows his head, and closes his eyes, accepting his impending death by disintegration.
In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, after he and Shang-Chi begin to reconcile, Wenwu is captured by the Dweller-In-Darkness and is unable to free himself from its grasp. However, rather than struggle, lash out, cry or beg, he bestows Shang-Chi (who is Forced to Watch) with the Ten Rings so that he can undo Wenwu's mistakes. He even encourages him with a small smile just before he dies, his final thoughts being of the times he had with his son.
In the very beginning of Eternals, a father and his son are informed that a Deviant is coming their way. Being too close to the beast to escape, the former calmly tells his child to run away before being devoured by it.
In Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Lane prepares to take his life in the nuclear explosion when handing Walker the detonator, calmly telling him that his running days are over and this is where everything ends for him.
In Moon, the fifth Sam Bell clone chooses to let the sixth clone go back to Earth in his place because he knows that he'll die soon, and wants to give the newer Sam a chance to see his daughter. He goes back to the crashed rover and spends his last moments watching Sam #6's shuttle launching towards Earth, knowing that he'll finally get to go home.
At the end of Morning Departure, the storm is so bad that the captain of the salvage ship decides his own men are at risk, and abandons the salvage operation altogether. The three left in the submarine sense that there is no hope for them. The film ends with Armstrong reading from a naval prayer book.
Natural Born Killers: Lampshaded and zig-zagged with Wayne's death. At first, as soon as Wayne realizes that Mickey and Mallory are going to kill him, he pathetically starts running off in plain view of them. Then Mickey cocks his gun and says "Wayne...have some dignity." Wayne then gives up, walks back to them and calmly accepts his fate.
In A Night to Remember as the RMS Titanic is about to go down, a group of men are found in the lower chambers standing around calmly not even wearing their life vests. When ask why they don't have them on and are out on the deck, they explained that they saw no point and had gotten rid of them, accepted their fate, and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.
Dr. Ferreiro of Pan's Labyrinth has quite a dignified death. A doctor in a Spanish fascist military camp with secret sympathies to the doomed republican cause, Ferreiro is instructed by the sadistic Captain Vidal to tend the wounds of a captured rebel fighter so he can be the victim of further Cold-Blooded Torture. Ferreiro, in a crisis of conscience, instead gives the poor sufferer an overdose of morphine. When Vidal pieces it all together and asks the good doctor why, Ferreiro hits back with the below speech and then calmly walks outside knowing he will be shot. He staggers a few steps and takes off his glasses, then finally falls down dead.
Captain Vidal himself tries this when the rebels overrun his command post and surround him, by calmly delivering his newborn son to their leaders and requesting that they pass on his legacy to him. Because of all blood he shed and cruelty he meted out while creating that legacy, however, the rebels are in no mood to oblige him, and tell him straight up that his child won't even know his name before executing him like a dog.
Patriot Games. After Irish terrorists rescue their cohort from the van transporting him to prison, they ask one of the guards if he has any last words. The man refuses to beg for his life and simply states:
Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow may be an Immortality Seeker and find any way he can to cheat death, but when he's trapped with no way out and he knows it, he doesn't face his end like a coward. Case in point: when he's at the Kraken's mercy near the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, he simply quips "Hello, Beastie," and jumps right into its jaws, sword at the ready.
One of the most iconic examples is in The Pride of the Yankees, as Lou Gehrig, who knows perfectly well that he is dying, gives a moving, optimistic speech. ("But today... today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.") Gary Cooper's speech was condensed and rearranged from what the real Gehrig said, with the "luckiest man on the face of the Earth" line moved from the beginning to the end.
Ravenous (1999): Captain John Boyd. It's especially notable because he began the film as a Dirty Coward who let his entire command die in an ambush to save himself, and for nearly the entire film he was frantically trying to survive by all means possible. However at the very end when faced with the prospect of either living but being stuck with the Wendigo curse forever, or dying free of the curse after having found the courage to stand up to a monstrous evil, Boyd chooses to die rather than continue the curse.
Blind Mag in Repo! The Genetic Opera. She knows she won't survive long after she leaves GeneCo, so rather than waiting for Rotti to send a Repo Man to kill her and take her eyes, she plucks them both out on stage during her farewell performance. Rotti kills her by dropping her onto a wrought iron fence.
Reservoir Dogs sees the double death (maybe) of Mr. White and Mr. Orange. The latter, having accomplished his mission, feels honor-bound to confess the truth of his betrayal to his protector, even if he knows it will probably get him killed. The former, meanwhile, feels obligated to off the traitor at the expense of his own life. It's subverted by the fact that neither death is particularly dignified; both characters are already severely wounded, Mr. Orange spends his last moments frantically apologising and begging for forgiveness, and Mr. White falls apart at the revelation and spends his last moments sobbing and screaming.
In Six: The Mark Unleashed, the inmates of the prison that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and that have refused the Holy Implant accept their fate, which is death by guillotine, with dignity, including Tom Newman at the end of the film.
Spock, blinded and dying of radiation poisoning, pulls himself to his feet and takes a moment to straighten his uniform before speaking to his friend and captain.
Spock, again, this time preparing to die in the reboot, does this in the opening of Star Trek Into Darkness, after getting stranded in an active volcano and insisting that the Enterprise cannot violate the Prime Directive to save him. He's rather annoyed that they do anyway. This becomes a sore point with Uhura later.
This is averted with both Pike and Kirk. Spock, who was connected to him via mindmeld, says his last thought were of fear, confusion, and anger. The latter tearfully admits he is scared before dying.
Near the climax of The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo, whose earlier behavior bordered on that of a Lovable Coward, chooses to go into the carbonite-freezing chamber this way. Though he punched the treacherous Lando Calrissian in the face and spoke sarcastically to him after his capture by Darth Vader, Han does a reasonably good job of keeping his emotions in check, even as Princess Leia looks frightened out of her wits for him. When she confesses "I love you!" just before the time arrives, all Han says is "I know." Then he sticks out his chin defiantly as he's lowered into the chamber and immediately turned into a carbonite block. True, Han doesn't die, but he spends an entire year in a weird state of semiconscious darkness, and is temporarily blind for a few hours after being freed.
Earlier in the film, the Millennium Falcon has managed to escape the grasp of Captain Needa, and Vader demands an update. Rather than throwing his men under the bus, Needa decides to see Vader personally and apologize. It's all but stated that Needa is well aware that this is a one way trip, and Vader for his part seems to respect that Needa made that decision despite still executing him.
Towards the end of Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader turns back to the light side, accepting his old identity as Anakin Skywalker again, as he saves his son Luke from Emperor Palpatine. He kills Palpatine, but at the cost of his own life support systems.
Anakin: Now, go, my son... Leave me... Luke: No, you're coming with me. I'll not leave you here, I have to save you. Anakin:You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister... you were right...
Most of the protagonists who die in Rogue One. Kaytoo battles to the last, bidding Cassian goodbye before collapsing. Chirrut dies in complete serenity in the arms of his closest friend, convinced to the last that he will become one with the Force. Baze, in turn, wipes out an entire squad of Imperial Death Troopers while reciting Chirrut's Survival Mantra, and dies looking back at the body of the person who meant the most to him. Cassian and Jyn are embracing on the beach while the shockwave from the Death Star's attack on Scarif hits them; they knew, well in advance, that the shot was coming, and faced it down rather than panic uselessly.
The Last Jedi shows Cpt. Canady, commander of the First Order Dreadnaught Fulminatrix, standing stoically on the bridge of his exploding ship as the rest of the crew is panicking. A surprisingly dignified showing for a Star Wars villain.
In The Belko Experiment, when Barry and some other men are lining several employees up to execute them; while others are screaming, crying, begging and damning their killers to hell, one woman just simply takes a deep breath and closes her eyes before she's shot.
Terror at Black Falls: Manuel is surprisingly calm at his lynching, refusing to cry or show fear as he's led up to be hanged. Once the hanging actually starts, though, he screams, "PAPA! PAPA!"
Pieces. All he does when Mr. Shush comes for him is nod and say, "Do it quickly." Which Shush does.
Jimmy later also faces the hitmen coming for him coolly before being shot.
Third Star: For James this is the entire point of the trip to Barafundle Bay. He is in the last stages of cancer, and wants to choose the moment and manner of his death.
In Three Days of the Condor, when Joubert and his partner come across Janice after killing everyone else in the workplace:
Many of the deaths in Titanic (1997), especially during the scene when the quartet are playing "Nearer My God To Thee", as passengers and crew gradually realize that it's futile to fight for a place on a lifeboat.
Captain Smith is depicted as retreating into the bridge as the ship sinks, dying when water bursts through the windows whilst clinging to the ship's wheel. It is actually unknown how he died.
Thomas Andrews, as well. He is depicted during the sinking of the ship as standing next to the clock in the first-class smoking room, lamenting his failure to build a strong and safe ship. It is unknown how the real Andrews died, although the last place he was seen by any survivor was in that smoking room.
Seok-woo, when he is recalling his first memories with Su-an as he is turning into a zombie.
Jong-gil allowed herself to be devoured by zombies when she opened the door with the zombies after seeing her sister In-gil sacrifice herself for Seok-woo and his crew after they risked their lives to save her from the zombies, but the other passengers and Young-suk were concerned only for their own safety and lead to their unnecessary deaths, and her last moments were of her reaching to In-gil in zombie form and thanking her for everything.
Dennis Hopper's character in True Romance on realizing he won't make it out alive.
A morally ambiguous example would be Little Bill, staring down the barrel of a shotgun in Unforgiven.
Gentlemen, he's only got one barrel left and when he fires that I want you to take out your pistols and gun him down like the vermin he is.
In Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Luc is leading a separatist group of Uni Sols against the U.S. government for their brutal treatment towards Uni Sols. As such, the government sends in a former military man named John to kill Luc by revealing that the latter is responsible for murdering John's wife and daughter. However, John soon learned that he himself is a Uni Sol and that he never had a family as the government implanted false memories on him, and that Luc had nothing to do with it. Eventually, Luc sympathizes over John's plight and allows himself to be killed by John, entrusting him to take over the group and rebel against the government in revenge for the pain they caused to them.
Fox in Wanted fires one bullet, killing every other assassin in the room, before calmly stepping into its path. Made all the more awesome by the fact that out of all of them, only one was badass enough to follow their own code.
