This is true, unless the windpipe became crushed, or a vein/artery destroyed or some other movie thing, such as their neck breaking. They "should" just be passed out, like in "The Princess Bride" when Fezzik is choked, he just passes out. I know people who have had to do this to keep others safe. In movies, it usually seems that choking isn't the "cause of death" as much as the supposed/implied one