History ThouShaltNotKill / LiveActionFilms

*** By ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' his moral philosophy appears to have evolved somewhat, as towards the end [[spoiler:he goes out of his way to save ComicBook/TheJoker's life. On the other hand, the Joker ''was'' trying to drive Batman to murder, so this looked like the only way to beat him. When Batman ''does'' kill at the end of the movie, it's to save a life -- namely, the life of Gordon's son from a tragically maddened Harvey Dent/Two-Face]].

*** By ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' his moral philosophy appears to have evolved somewhat, as towards the end [[spoiler:he goes out of his way to save ComicBook/TheJoker's life. On the other hand, the Joker ''was'' trying to drive Batman to murder, so this looked like the only way to beat him.]]

*** Another fact to consider is that Batman ''personally threw'' the Joker off the building. If he didn't catch the Joker, then he explicitly killed him. But with [[spoiler:Ra]]'s, he willingly put himself on the train with the knowledge that Batman would try his absolute hardest to stop him. [[spoiler:Ra]]'s taught Batman everything he knows and remembers that one time that Bruce unintentionally burnt down an entire fortress to avoid killing. [[spoiler:Ra]]'s obviously understood the potential risk of going against Batman, and one could reasonably assume that he would have some sort of way to escape. Nolanverse's Batman follows the code that he will never intentionally kill a person, but if the bad guy puts himself into a position where s/he will be killed by collateral damage in the act of Batman saving Gotham / the innocent, and there is no way to save them, then there is nothing that can be done. [[spoiler:Ra]]'s had no way of saving himself on the mountain, but Bruce could save him, and so he did. On the train, Batman had reason to believe that [[spoiler:Ra]]'s could save himself, and the only choices were Batman and Gordon destroy the train, '''''or every living thing in Gotham dies.''''' The same exact problem comes up in Film/TheDarkKnightRises, when [[spoiler: the nuke will go off in less than ten minutes, the tanks are actively trying to kill Batman and Catwoman, they can't force the truck to go back to the generator, and all warning shots have failed to get the truck to stop. Either the truck and tanks are stopped with force, '''''or literally everything in Gotham is wiped off the face of the earth and the rest of the US gets hit by the fallout.''''']]

* Subverted in a rather surprisingly brutal way in the movie ''Film/{{Darkman}}''. The protagonist has caught the bad guy from falling to his doom by the pantleg. The bad guys starts into a typical "You can't kill me, you're the good guy..." speech, [[spoiler: and unwisely ends it with the line "you couldn't live with yourself." The protagonist, who by this point has been burned beyond recognition, left for dead, surgically altered, and has already killed ''every'' one of his hired thugs (which he knew about!) promptly lets go of the bad guy, letting him fall to his death, replying "I've had to learn to live with a lot of things."]]

* Powerfully done in ''Film/TheHobbitAnUnexpectedJourney'' as Bilbo while invisible has Gollum at his mercy and about to slit his throat, which in some ways would be merciful thing to do, but Bilbo instead spares him and jumps over his head to freedom. Like Gandalf says in ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'' when Frodo claims "it was a pity Bilbo didn't kill Gollum when he had the chance", it was ''pity'' that stayed Bilbo's hand, not to kill without need and at an unfair advantage. It's also one of the very few times anyone has ever used the [[ArtifactOfDoom One Ring]] in a positive fashion.

** Played Straight in the LighterAndSofter ''Film/WonderWoman1984'' as Wondy doesn’t have her sword and notable doesn’t kill either of the villains (albeit Cheetah ''almost'' getting drowned and electrocuted in the climax). Although a few of henchmen driving trucks in the Egypt convoy ChaseFight [[WhatMeasureIsAMook aren’t so lucky]] and are killed by Diana.

* Subverted in a rather surprisingly brutal way in the movie ''Film/{{Darkman}}''. The protaganist has caught the bad guy from falling to his doom by the pantleg. The bad guys starts into a typical "You can't kill me, you're the good guy..." speech, [[spoiler: and unwisely ends it with the line "you couldn't live with yourself." The protagonist, who by this point has been burned beyond recognition, left for dead, surgically altered, and has already killed ''every'' one of his hired thugs (which he knew about!) promptly lets go of the bad guy, letting him fall to his death, replying "I've had to learn to live with a lot of things."]]

* The Creator/TimBurton[=/=]Creator/JoelSchumacher ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' movies have been a bit more flexible with this trope than the comic book version, with Batman demonstrating that he's not especially concerned if his enemies end up dead on numerous occasions. The Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy movies]], however, have been a bit closer to this trope, with Bruce Wayne's refusal to kill being a key element of his motivation. ("That's why it's so important. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim It separates us from them]].") However, in ''Batman Begins'', he informs [[spoiler:Ra's Al Ghul]] that "I won't kill you... but ''I don't have to save you''.", before flying off, leaving [[spoiler: Ra]]'s in a train car that soon after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard crashes and explodes]], [[NeverFoundTheBody presumably killing him]]. Anyone who knows [[spoiler:Ra]]'s from the comics knows it's a case of [[spoiler:ImmortalLifeIsCheap]], even if Batman doesn't.
** The Nolan Film [[JustifiedTrope Justifies]] this (or at least tries to) because the last time he saved [[spoiler:Ra]]'s he came back and continued his KnightTemplar plan [[UngratefulBastard despite that]]. It's even lampshaded:
-->'''Bruce:''' "I saved your life."
-->'''[[spoiler:Ra]]'s:''' "I warned you about compassion."
** In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', he [[GrenadeTag gives a circus strongman a bomb]], then '''''smiles sadistically''''' before knocking him down into the sewer to be blown to pieces. He ''enjoys'' killing in Burton's films.
** By ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' his moral philosophy appears to have evolved somewhat, as towards the end [[spoiler:he goes out of his way to save ComicBook/TheJoker's life. On the other hand, the Joker ''was'' trying to drive Batman to murder, so this looked like the only way to beat him.]]
** He also has another justification besides personal philosophy: he's a HeroWithBadPublicity in the Nolan films, so he knows acting as judge, jury, and executioner isn't going to help his reputation.
** Another fact to consider is that Batman ''personally threw'' the Joker off the building. If he didn't catch the Joker, then he explicitly killed him. But with [[spoiler:Ra]]'s, he willingly put himself on the train with the knowledge that Batman would try his absolute hardest to stop him. [[spoiler:Ra]]'s taught Batman everything he knows and remembers that one time that Bruce unintentionally burnt down an entire fortress to avoid killing. [[spoiler:Ra]]'s obviously understood the potential risk of going against Batman, and one could reasonably assume that he would have some sort of way to escape. Nolanverse's Batman follows the code that he will never intentionally kill a person, but if the bad guy puts himself into a position where s/he will be killed by collateral damage in the act of Batman saving Gotham / the innocent, and there is no way to save them, then there is nothing that can be done. [[spoiler:Ra]]'s had no way of saving himself on the mountain, but Bruce could save him, and so he did. On the train, Batman had reason to believe that [[spoiler:Ra]]'s could save himself, and the only choices were Batman and Gordon destroy the train, '''''or every living thing in Gotham dies.''''' The same exact problem comes up in Film/TheDarkKnightRises, when [[spoiler: the nuke will go off in less than ten minutes, the tanks are actively trying to kill Batman and Catwoman, they can't force the truck to go back to the generator, and all warning shots have failed to get the truck to stop. Either the truck and tanks are stopped with force, '''''or literally everything in Gotham is wiped off the face of the earth and the rest of the US gets hit by the fallout.''''']]
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' Batman explicitly tells [[Comicbook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]] "No guns, no killing.". She is less than enamored with the idea, responding, "Where's the fun in that?!" [[spoiler:Selina later saves Bruce's life by shooting Bane dead right as he is about to kill the hero, and jokingly states that she doesn't feel too strongly about the whole no-kill thing.]]

** This is in comparison to ''Film/BatmanTheMovie''. When Batman was trying to find a safe place to dispose of a bomb he refused to throw it where anybody could get hurt. Including at ducks. Later in the movie when he and Robin accidently kill some mooks they do mourn for them as they weren't expecting them to [[ItMakesSenseInContext combust]].

* Deconstructed[[note]]Along with [[DeconstructorFleet many other tropes, superhero-based or otherwise]][[/note]] in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', where Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the PhantomZone -- just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage...so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] This is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.
** Expanding on the above, WordOfGod says that in the ''Man of Steel'' continuity, [[spoiler:this incident is ''why'' Superman swears never to kill anyone: he knows first-hand what a terrible, traumatic thing it is to take a life.]]

* In both the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' franchise, Peter Parker will always try to reason with his enemies instead of killing them. However in ''Film/SpiderMan1'', Peter killed one of Uncle Ben's muggers [[HoistByHisOwnPetard and arguably killed the Green Goblin by inaction]] but when he appears in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', he makes it clear that [[RevengeIsNotJustice he deeply regrets both of these]].

* Averted in ''Film/SupermanII'', where Superman smiles as he throws Zod down a pit to his death.

** Nightcrawler, given his religiousness...

** In the novelization and the original screenplay for ''Terminator 2'', the Terminator is shown to be having a great deal of trouble with this. Its' original orders before traveling back in time were to ''destroy'' anyone or anything that threatened the safety of John Connor. The Terminator also self-preservation programming that would not allow it to let any threat or attack against itself go unanswered. These scenes were left out of filming because there wasn't really any feasible way to show the Terminator experiencing internal conflict. In the film, the Terminator simply uses non-lethal but incapacitating attacks when dealing with humans, although it's very clear that it would use lethal force without hesitation if it was necessary to protect John.

* In both the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' franchise, Peter Parker will always try to reason with his enemies instead of killing them.

** This is in comparison to ''Film/BatmanTheMovie'' when he was trying to find a safe place to dispose of a bomb he refused to throw it where anybody could get hurt. Including at ducks. Later in the movie when he and Robin accidently kill some mooks they do mourn for them as they weren't expecting them to [[ItMakesSenseInContext combust]].

* The Creator/TimBurton[=/=]Creator/JoelSchumacher ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' movies have been a bit more flexible with this trope than the comic book version, with Batman demonstrating that he's not especially concerned if his enemies end up dead on numerous occasions. The Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy movies]], however, have been a bit closer to this trope, with Bruce Wayne's refusal to kill being a key element of his motivation ("That's why it's so important. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim It separates us from them]]."). However, in ''Batman Begins'', he informs [[spoiler:Ra's Al Ghul]] that "I won't kill you... but ''I don't have to save you''.", before flying off, leaving [[spoiler: Ra]]'s in a train car that soon after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard crashes and explodes]], [[NeverFoundTheBody presumably killing him]]. Anyone who knows [[spoiler:Ra]]'s from the comics knows it's a case of [[spoiler:ImmortalLifeIsCheap]], even if Batman doesn't.

* The Creator/TimBurton[=/=]Creator/JoelSchumacher ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' movies have been a bit more flexible with this trope than the comic book version, with Batman demonstrating that he's not especially concerned if his enemies end up dead on numerous occasions. The Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy movies]], however, have been a bit closer to this trope, with Bruce Wayne's refusal to kill a key element of his motivation ("That's why it's so important. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim It separates us from them]]."). However, in ''Batman Begins'', he informs [[spoiler:Ra's Al Ghul]] that "I won't kill you... but ''I don't have to save you''.", before flying off, leaving [[spoiler: Ra]]'s in a train car that soon after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard crashes and explodes]], [[NeverFoundTheBody presumably killing him]]. Anyone who knows [[spoiler:Ra]]'s from the comics knows it's a case of [[spoiler:ImmortalLifeIsCheap]], even if Batman doesn't.

* In both the ''Film/{{SpiderMan Trilogy}}'' and ''Film/{{The AmazingSpiderMan}}'' franchise, Peter Parker will always try to reason with his enemies instead of killing them.

* Deconstructed[[note]]Along with many other tropes, superhero based, or otherwise.[[/note]] in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', where Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the PhantomZone -- just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage...so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] This is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.

* Subverted in a rather surprisingly brutal way in the movie ''Film/{{Darkman}}''. The protaganist has caught the bad guy from falling to his doom by the pantleg. The bad guys starts into a typical "You can't kill me, you're the good guy..." speech, [[spoiler: and unwisely ends it with the line "you couldn't live with yourself." The protagonist, who by this point has been burned beyond recognition, left for dead surgically altered, and has already killed ''every'' one of his hired thugs (which he knew about!) promptly lets go of the bad guy, letting him fall to his death, replying "I've had to learn to live with a lot of things."]]

* Averted in ''Film/SupermanII'', where Superman smiles as he throws Zod down a pit to his death.
* Deconstructed[[note]]Along with many other tropes, superhero based, or otherwise.[[/note]] in ''Film/ManOfSteel'', where Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the PhantomZone - just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage...so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] This is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.
** Expanding on the above, WordOfGod says that in the ''Man of Steel'' continuity, [[spoiler:this incident is ''why'' Superman swears never to kill anyone: he knows first-hand what a terrible, traumatic thing it is to take a life.]]

* In ''Film/WarriorsOfVirtue'', the Warriors cannot kill. In fact, when Ryan arrives, he learns that their leader, Yun, is in the middle of a HeroicBSOD because he accidentally broke that code in the heat of battle. [[spoiler:The fact that the soldier he killed was actually Elysia's ''brother'' probably didn't help his mindset much.]]
* Subverted in ''Film/MysteryMen''. The Bowler, a woman whose bowling ball has her father's spirit within, confronts her father's killer. He taunts her, saying that she doesn't have the nerve to take her revenge. He is right; she's a hero and as such above that. Her father, however, is dead and pretty pissed about it and is something of a prick, so he really has no problem killing the guy.
** But played ''perfectly'' straight with Dr. Heller--which makes the heroes ''reject'' his help, until he shows them how effective his inventions can be.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series, [[AllLovingHero John Connor]] orders the T-800 to not kill anybody. This carries over to ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''... where both John and Sarah try to live by this, but over the course of the series are forced into taking a life each (see below).
** In the novelization and the original screenplay for Terminator 2, the Terminator is shown to be having a great deal of trouble with this. Its' original orders before traveling back in time were to ''destroy'' anyone or anything that threatened the safety of John Connor. The Terminator also self-preservation programming that would not allow it to let any threat or attack against itself go unanswered. These scenes were left out of filming because there wasn't really any feasible way to show the Terminator experiencing internal conflict. In the film, the Terminator simply uses non-lethal but incapacitating attacks when dealing with humans, although it's very clear that it would use lethal force without hesitation if it was necessary to protect John.
* In ''Film/BlueThunder'', protagonist Frank Murphy is a police helicopter pilot, and he naturally goes to some lengths not to kill anyone (except the BigBad) even while they're trying to shoot him out of the sky. This despite being in command of a heavily armored BlackHelicopter armed with a [[{{BFG}} 20-mm]] [[GatlingGood rotary]] [[MoreDakka cannon]], which has an [[MagicBullets uncanny ability]] to blow away cars, choppers, and aircraft without harming the people inside.

* Recited verbatim by Brother Gilbert in ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' before deciding to kill the evil king Einon. Einon survives the attack however.
* Surprisingly averted in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainMarvel'', where the titular hero kills no less than 3 people over the course of the 12 chapter film serial. Given this take on Cap was more of a two fisted pulp adventurer than a traditional superhero it makes sense, and he does spare the lives of most of the villains he faces.

** This is the hallmark of Professor X for most of the X-Men hexalogy;[[note]]the original trilogy and the First Class trilogy[[/note]] he detests violence and firmly objects to the notion that deadly force is required to subdue evildoers. A grey area occurs in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', where Magneto's insatiable desire for revenge corners Charles into a moral bind--[[spoiler:if he releases Sebastian Shaw from his psychic grip, then Shaw will eliminate Erik, but if he maintains the mental hold, then Magneto will kill their target, and Xavier becomes an accessory to murder; Charles opts for the latter]]. In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he breaks his one inviolable rule when his own life, the lives of his team and billions of others are at stake: [[spoiler:he's unable to take down Apocalypse on his lonesome, so he commands Jean Grey to immolate his adversary with her Phoenix Force]].

* Subverted in a rather surprisingly brutal way in the movie ''Film/{{Darkman}}''. The protaganist has caught the bad guy from falling to his doom by the pantleg. The bad guys starts into a typical "You can't kill me, you're the good guy..." speech, [[spoiler: and unwisely ends it with the line "you couldn't live with yourself." The protagonist, who by this point has been burned beyond recognition, left for dead surgically altered, and has already killed ''every'' one of his hired thugs (which he knew about!) promptly lets go of the bad guy, letting him fall to his death, replying "I've had to learn to live with a lot of things."]]
* As in the original series, ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' wants the justice system to deal with the villains rather than take revenge himself, and enforces this trope on Tonto, despite the fact Tonto wants vengeance on Cavendish [[spoiler:and Cole]]. [[spoiler:In the end, Tonto passes up killing Cole... but has no qualms about leaving Cole to his KarmicDeath.]]
* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', the Jedi have compassion for all living things, and so they extremely dislike having to kill someone or something. However, they realize that it is sometimes necessary. This view gets slowly degraded during the Clone Wars.

* The Creator/TimBurton[=/=]Creator/JoelSchumacher ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' movies have been a bit more flexible with this trope than the comic book version, with Batman demonstrating that he's not especially concerned if his enemies end up dead on numerous occasions. The Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga movies]], however, have been a bit closer to this trope, with Bruce Wayne's refusal to kill a key element of his motivation ("That's why it's so important. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim It separates us from them]]."). However, in ''Batman Begins'', he informs [[spoiler:Ra's Al Ghul]] that "I won't kill you... but ''I don't have to save you''.", before flying off, leaving [[spoiler: Ra]]'s in a train car that soon after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard crashes and explodes]], [[NeverFoundTheBody presumably killing him]]. Anyone who knows [[spoiler:Ra]]'s from the comics knows it's a case of [[spoiler:ImmortalLifeIsCheap]], even if Batman doesn't.

** Expanding on the above, WordOfGod says that in the ''Man of Steel'' continuity[[note]]Itself part of The Dark Knight continuity.[[/note]], [[spoiler:this incident is ''why'' Superman swears never to kill anyone: he knows first-hand what a terrible, traumatic thing it is to take a life.]]

* The Creator/TimBurton[=/=]Creator/JoelSchumacher ''Film/{{Batman}}'' movies have been a bit more flexible with this trope than the comic book version, with Batman demonstrating that he's not especially concerned if his enemies end up dead on numerous occasions. The Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga movies]], however, have been a bit closer to this trope, with Bruce Wayne's refusal to kill a key element of his motivation ("That's why it's so important. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim It separates us from them]]."). However, in ''Batman Begins'', he informs [[spoiler:Ra's Al Ghul]] that "I won't kill you... but ''I don't have to save you''.", before flying off, leaving [[spoiler: Ra]]'s in a train car that soon after [[HoistByHisOwnPetard crashes and explodes]], [[NeverFoundTheBody presumably killing him]]. Anyone who knows [[spoiler:Ra]]'s from the comics knows it's a case of [[spoiler:ImmortalLifeIsCheap]], even if Batman doesn't.

** In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', he gives a clown a bomb, then '''''smiles sadistically''''' as the guy is blown to pieces. He ''enjoys'' killing in Burton's films.

** This is the hallmark of [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Professor X]] for most of the X-Men hexalogy;[[note]]the original trilogy and the First Class trilogy[[/note]] he detests violence and firmly objects to the notion that deadly force is required to subdue evildoers. A grey area occurs in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', where Magneto's insatiable desire for revenge corners Charles into a moral bind--[[spoiler:if he releases Sebastian Shaw from his psychic grip, then Shaw will eliminate Erik, but if he maintains the mental hold, then Magneto will kill their target, and Xavier becomes an accessory to murder; Charles opts for the latter]]. In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he breaks his one inviolable rule when his own life, the lives of his team and billions of others are at stake: [[spoiler:he's unable to take down Apocalypse on his lonesome, so he commands Jean Grey to immolate his adversary with her Phoenix Force]].

** In the novelization and the original screenplay, the Terminator is shown to be having a great deal of trouble with this. Its' original orders before traveling back in time were to ''destroy'' anyone or anything that threatened the safety of John Connor. The Terminator also self-preservation programming that would not allow it to let any threat or attack against itself go unanswered. These scenes were left out of filming because there wasn't really any feasible way to show the Terminator experiencing internal conflict. In the film, the Terminator simply uses non-lethal but incapacitating attacks when dealing with humans, although it's very clear that it would use lethal force without hesitation if it was necessary to protect John.

** By ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' his moral philosophy appears to have evolved somewhat, as towards the end [[spoiler:he goes out of his way to save SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker's life. On the other hand, the Joker ''was'' trying to drive Batman to murder, so this looked like the only way to beat him.]]

* ''Film/{{SpiderMan Trilogy}}'': Peter Parker will always try to reason with his enemies instead of killing them.

** The Nolan Film [[JustifiedTrope Justifies]] this because the last time he saved [[spoiler:Ra]]'s he came back and continued his KnightTemplar plan [[UngratefulBastard despite that]]. It's even lampshaded:

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Superman is placed in an impossible situation where, [[spoiler:General Zod, enraged beyond reason, has sworn he will ''never stop killing'' humans in an effort to hurt Kal-El for preventing the rebirth of Krypton. There is no super prison, no gateway left to the PhantomZone - just Kal, Zod, and a family of four about to be incinerated by Zod's rampage...so he ''breaks Zod's neck''.]] This is not an action he undertakes lightly however, as the following scene shows.
** WordOfGod says that in the ''Man of Steel'' continuity, [[spoiler:this incident is ''why'' Superman swears never to kill anyone: he knows first-hand what a terrible, traumatic thing it is to take a life.]]