Going by what happens in movies, it seems like getting into an elevator is a very dangerous thing to do. But in the so-called real world, I have never heard of anyone dying because they were in an elevator that fell down the elevator shaft. I'm sure there must be brakes and redundant cables, but is that it?

Because everyone knows that you just have to jump before impact

As Judas wrote, they can fall but only if the safety standards weren't respected. Normally even if the cable or the winch fails, it has safety breaks that would be deployed.

Because this guy won't let them!

Elevators have several safety mechanism that engage as soon as there is no cable tension and/or electrical power is gone among things.

I still don't like elevators though, a woman died from thirst in China not long ago because the elevator repairmen didn't check the elevator after taking it out commission for a time.

They don't? Games and movies have made me wary of elevators. I don't often find myself in one, but when I do, I usually expect it to crash.

The elevator is actually the safest mode of mechanized transport in the entire world according to some statistics.

"...consider that today, elevators move the equivalent of the world’s population every 72 hours."

That's over 7 billion people.

http://anyflip.com/rqqd/uhag/basic

The problem is.. when? :P
(jk)

Strangely, an elevator operator died in 2000 during the fire in Moscow's Ostankino tower fire. The elevator car plummeted to the ground. I wonder why the safety systems didn't kick in or if there ever were any safety systems from that Soviet-era bulding?

Probably true. Then there are those of us around the world who are not able to take the stairs even if we wanted to.
And think about skyscrapers. I don't know about you, but good heart or not, I'm not taking the stairs to the 60th floor everyday to work.

There is a race every year to the top of The Empire State Building (102 floors). As far as I know there are paramedics stationed on every floor and several times a year they end up saving someone's ass.

I use the elevator a minimum of 8times a day at my work. People smells. There I said it, I'm a bad person. It's hard to get the timing right.

I wonder what happen if you ride the empire state building elevator and press the buttons for all floors. Or do they have a mechanism to prevent abuse, like a cancel button.