Highest Body Counts Around

Some of the most entertaining films around are full of blood and gore. Actually, these days, it almost seems to be a Hollywood requirement to have a certain amount of death and mayhem in a movie. But what films reign supreme when it comes to leaving a trail of dead bodies to fill your silver screen? The obvious answer would be any movie with a man in a creepy hockey mask wielding a knife, chainsaw or sledge hammer. But to be honest, Jason Voorhees and Mike Myers can only kill one victim at a time, especially at the achingly slow pace these killers stalk their fleeing victims. No, the genre of films that tops the "highest death count" charts goes to another type of movie: the action-packed summer blockbuster (according to http://moviebodycounts.com/). Allow us to present you the current top dogs...

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The Last Samurai

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Collection Worthiness

Clocking in at number 5 on the body count movie list with 558 deaths, this 2003 historical offering about Japan's last samurai was directed by Edward Zwick and starred Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. While the idea of Mr. Jerry McGuire teaming up with the rebel samurai might bring a bit of incredulity to the film, the meticulously-rendered battle scenes make this film worthy of this collection. It's the final showdown between the Imperial Army and the samurai that racks up the death toll with some good old hand to hand combat and the final, valiant charge of the dying samurai. Just for the record, while Cruise's character gets more kills, it's Watanabe's stunning performance and suicide that renders him as the last and most compelling samurai.

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Troy

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Collection Worthiness

While Brad Pitt's long Goldilocks like hair and naked body as Achilles is what made this 2004 Wolfgang Petersen film so famous, the death toll of 572 bodies is what drew our attention. Brad Pitt's fight against Eric Bana's Hector is perhaps the most memorable scene, but the large death count comes during the big battle scenes -- when the Trojans launch a surprise attack the Greeks, and of course, when the Greeks hide in a wooden horse to lay a final siege on Troy. Pitt's manly Achilles leads the murder count at 35 deaths with Bana's Hector at a distant second with 14 kills. Played by Orlando Bloom, the cowardly Paris finally finds some of his killing mojo after he learns how to shoot a bow and arrow. And even then, it's only to bring down a mere 4 bodies. As you can see, we're more impressed by the big numbers here.

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300

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Collection Worthiness

Based off Frank Miller's graphic novel rendering a fictional account of the famous Battle of Thermopylae, this 2007 film, directed by Zack Snyder, racks up 600 deaths. The movie plot is basically centered around one never-ending battle scene. Led by Gerald Butler's King Leonidas, 300 Spartans fight the intimidating the Persian Army, which yields over one million soldiers. What the film lacks in characterization, it makes up in literal gore, making it one of the most cinematically violent blockbusters around. Of course, while the Spartans lost the battle, Butler's 30 kills helped to inspire the Greeks to keep on fighting.

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Kingdom of Heaven

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Collection Worthiness

This 2005 war epic is number 2 on the death count list with 610 bodies. Directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan, the movie centers around the battle of Jerusalem between Christian and Muslims during the twelfth century Crusades. As the French blacksmith, Balian, Orlando Bloom heads up a cast that includes Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson and Michael Sheen. As the hero of the film, Balian has the most kills with 40 slain. But it's the arresting Ghassan Moussad's Saladin, head of the Muslim forces, that leads the Battle of Hattin scene, which cranks up the death toll quite nicely. While the movie might not gain any awards for historical accuracy, Kingdom of Heaven wins a spot on this list with its numerous dead bodies.

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The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

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Collection Worthiness

No other film trilogy has more deaths than The Lord of the Rings. All three movies rank in the top 50 with body count, and both Two Towers (468 deaths) and Return of the King (836) are in the top six. Directed by Peter Jackson and based off J.R. Tolkien's seminal books, the death toll is nicely spread throughout the cast. Quite the popular actor for these type of films, Orlando Bloom once again pops up as the bow and arrow shooting elf Legolas, but it's actually Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn that continually tops the kill list of these three movies. Sadly, Elijah Wood's Frodo doesn't even get to end a life until the final film. However, due to its epic storytelling, visuals and large display of discarded life, this trilogy is worth repeat watching -- even if it is just to confirm that the Uruk-hai and Orc deaths outnumber the human ones.

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