Club Dread (2004) (aka Broken Lizard's Club Dread)

Director Jay Chandrasekhar's film about a tropical resort called Pleasure Island was a combination horror-comedy spoof that also had a who-dun-it element.

The resort was being terrorized by a maniac machete-wielding killer who was slashing staff members one by one. When the crazed murderer was revealed to be "fun police" officer Sam (Erik Stolhanske), three others put an end to the slaughters:

• Lars (Kevin Heffernan), a massage therapist
• Jenny (Brittany Daniel), a toned blonde fitness instructor
• Penelope (Jordan Ladd), a resort guest

The trio fought off Sam on a floating dock-raft, twisted a rope tightly around him, and drove away in a motorboat attached to the rope. Sam became pinned on one of the dock's wooden posts. He comically lunged at them when they came close, although they were able to gun the boat, and slice him in half with the rope as they circled the dock.

He screamed out as his torso was split in half, and the bottom half of his body bloodily descended into the water. When Sam finally sank under the water, Lars spoke: "Let's get the hell out of here." However, the truncated upper body of Sam - still alive miraculously - grabbed Penelope over the side of the boat, but Lars saved her by seizing the torso and heaving it away.

The shocked group reflected on what had just happened:

Lars: "They'll probably kick me out of the Pacifist Club now."
Jenny: "Or at least ask you nicely to leave. (Chuckling) Tian-tu - the Heaven Point." (Both moaned after touching each other's sensual pleasure points. They kissed.)

As "The End" title came on the screen, Sam's disembodied legs were still kicking through the water.

Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004)

The Bride's (Uma Thurman) vengeful killing spree continued, after she had been buried alive by Budd (Michael Madsen), Bill's (David Carradine) degenerate brother, but she had miraculously escaped from the coffin. She was aided in her quest for revenge against Budd, her next target, when one-eyed, black patch-wearing Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) helped her to eliminate him.

Elle met Budd in his small mobile-home trailer with a red case containing $1 million, to exchange for the Bride's priceless Hattori Hanzo samurai sword, but then double-crossed him by placing a Black Mamba snake in the case. The deadly creature bit him in the face as he grabbed the wads of cash, and he died within 20 minutes.

On the floor where he was convulsing and his face was swelling up, Elle discussed calmly and matter-of-factly with him about the snake and how he would die, from Internet notes she had taken on a note pad:

"Fascinating creature, the black mamba. Listen to this. 'In Africa, the saying goes, 'In the bush, an elephant can kill you, a leopard can kill you, and a black mamba can kill you. But only with the mamba (and this has been true in Africa since the dawn of time) is death sure. Hence it's handle -- Death incarnate.'' Pretty cool, huh? 'Its neuro-toxic venom is one of nature's most effective poisons, acting on the nervous system causing paralysis. The venom of a black mamba can kill a human being in four hours, if, say, bitten on the ankle or the thumb. However, a bite to the face or torso can bring death from paralysis within 20 minutes.' Now, you should listen to this, 'cause this concerns you. 'The amount of venom that can be delivered from a single bite can be gargantuan.' You know, I've always liked that word, "gargantuan"... you so rarely have an opportunity to use it in a sentence. 'If not treated quickly with anti-venom, ten to fifteen milligrams can be fatal to human beings. However, the black mamba can deliver as much as 100 to 400 milligrams of venom from a single bite.' Now, in these last agonizing minutes of life you have left, let me answer that question you asked earlier more thoroughly..."

Soon after, Elle (who was the Bride's next target) was also confronted and Elle's second eye was plucked out as they dueled with swords.

Eyeball Plucking and Squishing

The detached and bloody right eyeball was dropped to the floor, then squished under the Bride's bare and grungy right foot, and ground into the carpet. Elle was left to die (presumably) in the trailer with the deadly Mamba.

Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004)

In the conclusion of the film, there was the surprisingly-calm and dignified death scene of Bill (David Carradine), brought on by Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride (Uma Thurman), his former lover and assassinatrix.

To kill him, she delivered fatal blows to his chest and heart.

She used "the five point palm-exploding heart technique" taught to her by martial arts master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu).

After she applied the forceful blow to his chest, he offered his killer a respectful goodbye:

"You're not a bad person. You're a terrific person. You're my favorite person, but every once in a while, you can be a real c--t."

Then, he stood up, buttoned his jacket, slowly walked away about five steps, collapsed on the grass, and died.

Man on Fire (2004)

In this revenge action-thriller from director Tony Scott, ex-CIA bodyguard and intelligence agent John Creasy (Denzel Washington) sought to exact violent vengeance.

The jaded mercenary was seeking justice by targeting those who were involved in the kidnapping of Lupita "Pita" Ramos (Dakota Fanning), the 9 year-old daughter of Mexican businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony) (and American mother Lisa (Radha Mitchell)) - a girl he had been hired to protect. Creasy was left to die when the young girl was taken, although he survived multiple gun-shot wounds.

He delivered on security firm executive and ex-military operative Paul Rayburn's (Christopher Walken) prophetic words about his redemptive vigilantism:

"Creasy's art is death...he's about to paint his masterpiece."

He placed a 5-minute (counting-down) time bomb up the rectum of corrupt police gang collaborator Victor Fuentes (Jesus Ochoa), and interrogated him to reveal names as he was draped over the hood of a car.

Close to the end of the five minutes, Fuentes begged: "A last wish, please, please," to which Creasy replied coldly when only ten seconds were left:

"Last wish? I wish you had more time."

He walked away as the bomb detonated.

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Director/star Clint Eastwood's Best Picture-winning (melo-) dramatic sports film told about an amateur female boxer, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), who through determination and guts became a professional athlete. Maggie had a white trash background as an Ozark Missouri waitress ("somewhere between nowhere and goodbye"). And at the age of 31 with no experience, it made her an unlikely and dubious underdog fighter, but she was reluctantly trained by veteran LA manager/mentor Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood).

She proved herself, however, during a Las Vegas title match for the WBA welterweight championship (with a prize of $1 million) against a dirty German fighter named Billie (nicknamed "The Blue Bear") (Lucia Rijker). But she was severely injured when given an unfair punch from behind on the left side of her face, and she fell into a red wooden stool, broke her neck, and became a quadriplegic.

During her hospitalization, she develop a leg infection and suffered a leg amputation. She asked a "favor" from her weathered and beaten-down trainer Frankie who was faithfully at her bedside - she wished to be euthanized:

I can't be like this, Frankie. Not after what I've done. I've seen the world. People chanted my name. Well, not my name, some damn name you gave me. But they were chantin' for me. I was in magazines. You think I ever dreamed that'd happen? I was born two pounds, one-and-a-half ounces. Daddy used to tell me I'd fight to get into this world, and I'd fight my way out. That's all I wanna do, Frankie. I just don't wanna fight you to do it. I got what I needed. I got it all. Don't let 'em keep taking it away from me. Don't let me lie here 'til I can't hear those people chantin' no more.

He initially told her, "I can't. Please. Please don't ask me...I can't."

In the dark, emotionally-wrenching and controversial ending of the film, however, he finally honored her request one evening. The irascible but caring trainer Frankie entered her room and told her the meaning of the Gaelic phrase on her green fight robe: "Mo chuisle" (literally meaning "Pulse of my heart" or "My pulse," but also "My love" or "My darling") that cheering crowds had chanted.

Euthanasia For a Quadriplegic

After kissing her and saying goodbye (a tear ran down her cheek), he turned off her life-support machine, unhooked her breathing tube and injected her with an adrenaline overdose, to cause her instant death. Afterwards, Frankie's silhouette exited from the hospital - and from boxing altogether.

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Director Mel Gibson's passionately-told story of the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life was greeted with controversy, mainly for its lengthy and graphic scenes of blood-letting and torture depicting Jesus' (James Caviezel) suffering during his sadistic execution by Roman officials. Even Gibson admitted that the film was deliberately "shocking" and "extreme" in order to depict Jesus' enormous sacrifice.

It told of the agonizing, unsparing crucifixion death of "Jesus Nazareth/ King of the Jews" on the cross. He was first severely beaten, forced to carry part-way his own wooden cross to the hillside of Golgotha outside Jerusalem, and then was nailed to the cross to suffer and die.

The Crucifixion

The scenes were visceral, horrific to watch, and brutal, although artfully portrayed with gorgeous cinematography and slow-motion in part. When Jesus' spirit perished, a single magnified drop of rain fell from the sky, causing an earthquake that destroyed the Temple.

Saw (2004)

The first film in the Saw franchise marked the directorial debut of filmmaker James Wan.

In the endless series of Saw films, sadistic mastermind serial killer and terminally-ill cancer patient Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) devised impossible live-or-die situations for victims. In them, individuals had to make outrageous moral choices to survive in the trap-filled environments, while self-inflicting lethal wounds and finding a new "life-purpose."

Besides the main plot set in an industrial bathroom where two confined individuals faced a terrible fate, another earlier victim, a 46 year-old male named Paul (Mike Butters), had to claw through a cage of razor wire to reach safety within two hours, but he didn't succeed.

Detectives David Tapp (Danny Glover), Steven Sing (Ken Leung) and Kerry (Dina Meyer) entered a trap door and descended some stairs as they came upon the crime scene (lit in lime-green). Kerry noted the victim while black and white crime photos were taken of the bloody corpse:

This one's not fresh anymore. At least three weeks out...Died of massive blood loss. Mostly through the femoral artery. He started at the back of the cage and tunneled his way through that razor-wire so fast, it's amazing he got as far as he did. Cut himself so deep we found traces of stomach acid on the floor.

Kerry also explained how they had found a cassette tape recording, which she played, of Jigsaw instructing Paul about the 'Razor Wire Room' (with some flashbacks):

Hello Paul. You are a perfectly healthy, sane, middle-class male. Yet last month, you ran a straight razor across your wrists. Did you cut yourself because you truly wanted to die, or did you just want some attention? Tonight, you'll show me. The irony is that if you want to die, you just have to stay where you are, but if you want to live, you'll have to cut yourself again. Find the path through the razor-wire to the door - but hurry. At 3:00, that door will lock and then, this room becomes your tomb. How much blood will you shed to stay alive?

One of the additional wounds found on Paul's body was a piece of flesh carved out in the shape of a jigsaw puzzle piece - hence the name Jigsaw killer, although it was a misnomer:

"Technically speaking, he's not really a murderer. He never killed anyone. He finds ways for his victims to kill themselves."

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

In the tense finale of this blockbuster superhero film sequel, the setting was a New York waterfront warehouse.

Mad scientist Doctor Octavius (aka "Doc Ock") (Alfred Molina) was using rare tritium fuel to produce energy through fusion.

During the initial demonstration of his experiment earlier in the film, the unstable mechanism exploded, and the inhibitor chip at the back of his neck became inoperable, and four mechanical tentacles (attached on a waist-harness) became fused to him and began to control him.

In the film's conclusion, after fighting against Spider-Man and being electrocuted, he appeared to come back to normal. Spider-Man unmasked himself to reveal his alias as physics student Peter Parker, and convinced Doc Ock to shut it down and destroy his mechanism:

"You once spoke to me about intelligence. That it was a gift to be used for the good of mankind...These things have turned you into something you're not. Don't listen to them....Sometimes, to do what's right, we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams."

Octavius took control of the antagonistic, anthropomorphic tentacles when he told them:

"He's right. Listen. Listen to me now. LISTEN TO ME NOW!"

He decided to drown the doomsday reactor in the river in a self-sacrificial death to save the city of New York, by collapsing the floor of the structure. He spoke his final words:

"I'll do it... (screaming) I will not die a monster!"

The last view of him was from underwater.

Troy (2004)

In the film's opening, a one-on-one combat was staged between two formidable combatants, a David vs. Goliath type contest:

• Achilles (Brad Pitt), the Greek's greatest legendary heroic warrior
• Boagrius (Nathan Jones), a seven-foot opponent from Thessaly

They were backed up by their respective armies - with the decisive victory going to the winner of the contest (as Agamemnon (Brian Cox)) of Mycenae had proposed to the Thessalonian leader Triopas (Julian Glover):

"I don't want to watch another massacre. Let's settle this war in the old manner, your best fighter against my best."

A messenger boy was sent to look for Achilles, and when he located him naked in the arms of a lover, asked him questions about his legacy: "Are the stories about you true? They say your mother is an immortal goddess. They say you can't be killed." Achilles replied: "I wouldn't be bothering with the shield then, now would I?"

The young messenger told Achilles of the fearsome Thessalonian opponent he was daring to fight: "He's the biggest man I've ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him." Achilles replied: "That's why no one will remember your name."

Before fighting, Achilles was advised:

"Look at the men's faces. You can save hundreds of them. You can end this war with a swing of your sword. Let them go home to their wives."

He acquiesed, although he muttered: "Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight?" Agamemnon spoke as Achilles readied himself: "Of all the warlords loved by the gods, I hate him the most."

Helmeted Achilles raced on foot toward his fearsome opponent as he dodged spears with his shield, then lept into the air. With one stroke, he thrust his broadsword into the left shoulder of the muscle-bound giant and directly into the opponent's heart. Boagrius stumbled away, dropped to his knees, and fell over dead.

After his victory, Achilles walked over to the Thessalonian army - and challenged their leader:

Achilles: "Is there no one else? Is there no one else?"
Triopas: "Who are you, soldier?"
Achilles: "Achilles, son of Peleus."
Triopas: "Achilles? I'll remember the name. The ruler of Thessaly carries this scepter. Give it to your king."
Achilles: "He's not my king."