BEST/ WORST Movie Endings

I have mixed feelings about the shrink's speech in Psycho (the real Psycho). Perhaps Hitch meant for that speech to be too pat, to easy, as if the audience will need some explanation for what essentially has no explanation. Hitch says he was playing the audience in Psycho. I think the speech is part of the "playing." Here's your answer, but it's really no good. And besides the real ending is the sublimal superimposition of the dead mother's face over Norman's and the move to the car coming out of the swamp. That part of the ending blows the shrink's explanation off the table.

[This message has been edited by Terry (edited 09-01-1999).]

[This message has been edited by Terry (edited 09-01-1999).]

[micahp]

I still count the shrink as part of the ending. It is definatly part of the epilouge and it just doesn't work. Nobody in the whole damn planet couldn't figure out what was up with old norman. The speach was just distracting.

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Resident Me,
Micah P.
Digital Dreams

Again, I think Hitch meant for you to have that feeling about the explanation. It really isn't very satisfying, but any other explanation makes us look some place we don't want to look. After all, Hitchcock shifts our sympathy to Norman after he has killed Marion Crane. Watch an audience watch the movie and see them hold their breath when the car with Marion's body stops sinking. We become Norman, and we should question how that happened to us. The answer is much deeper than the psychiatrist's answer. Accept the psychiatrist's answer if you will, but it's shallow. You and I participated with Norman and no explanation for that is offered.

I'd put Titanic near the bottom of the barrel, and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir near the top. I admit this is odd, since they essentially have the same ending! However, the "reunion in the next world" works for me when the film has fantasy elements to begin with, but when the film is supposed to be realistic it just seems like something thrown in at the last minute. (Furthermore, with Titanic, the one thing that really annoyed me was everyone else applauding the final kiss. Come on!)

However, one of my choices for worst ending has to be L.A. Confidential. I will grant that it is true to the book, but the cynicism of that ending left me with a sour taste in my mouth, and detracted from what would have been a great film. Had the film ended at the end of the shoot-out, with Exley holding his badge up to the arriving police, I think the film would have been a lot more popular, and probably would even have beaten out Titanic for Best Picture (which it should have, anyway).

In the same genre, an even worse ending was Chinatown. This didn't even have the benefit of being true to the source material; the Robert Towne script ended with Gittes and Evelyn solving the case. Polanski decided, on his own, to change it so Evelyn got killed, and the bad guy got away scot-free, because he was still not over the death of his wife Sharon Tate at the hands of the Manson gang. As Towne (still furious over the mangling of his script) put it, Polanski's rationale was "That's life. Beautiful blondes die in Los Angeles. Sharon did." What you wind up with is a film-noir detective story where, at the end, the detective is suddenly prevented from solving the case, and everything winds up worse than it was before.

With regards to Chinatown's ending, I think it was somewhat appropriate. At the beginning in Gittes office, in the script, Burt Young's character says he's gonna kill his wife. Gittes tells him that in order to kill someone and get away with it, you have to be rich. Fitting I think considering it is LA we are talking about and we all know a particularly famous rich man getting away with a double homicide. What I'm trying to say is I think that was an idea behind the film, that rich people can get away with it, and so in that sense, it was an appropriate, albeit downbeat ending, but hey, it's film noir we are talking about here. Ever seen a film noir movie that had a happy ending?

[StrangeNova]

The ending is what Chinatown is all about. The constant references to Chinatown and hints at what happened before we enter the story foreshadow what's going to happen. If it had been a happy ending none of that would have made any sense.

Talking about movie endings...
One flew over the cuckoo's nest :
Why did the chief killed him ???
I'll never understand this...any ideas ?

PS : i know this is a great spoiler, but who hasn't watch this film ???

...what's more of an enigma with the Titanic afterworld ending is interpreting it in light of Cameron's comments that it isn't a heavenly afterlife. Apparently, he's existentialist. That portion of the ending made no sense to me either -- unless Rose is dreaming and not really dead.

I disagree with whoever said the Saving Private Ryan ending sucked...It was totally necessary for him to talk. It would have left it completely empty if he wouldn't have said "tell me I've let a good life...tell me I'm a good man."

Also, someone said that the shrink's speech was totally unnecessary in Psycho?...Man! that was what made it less confusing...it summed it up all right there...PERFECT!

sam

[manigrasso]

Mariano,
I've got a mental brain fart & can't remember Nicholson's character's name in Cuckoo's Nest, BUT...
Chief killed Jack Nicholson at the end of Cuckoo's nest becuase Jack's character was such a rebel, "the man" had to lobotomize him in order to keep him in line. The Chief realized that's not the way Jack-O would want to live. It was a mercy killing; in fact I believe earlier in the film, Jack mentioned that hed rather die than become like the vegetables in the asylum. When Chief killed him, it liberated both of them. Nicholson escaped what for him was a fate worse than death, and the Chief managed to break the pattern of being afriad & intimidated that left him unwilling to speak.
manigrasso

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If He had the opportunity to get to know you first, maybe Jesus would not have died for your sins...think about it...

In Private Ryan, I contend that Private Ryan isn't saved until the end when he knows his life was worth the sacrifices the others made. The "Saving" of Ryan has several dimensions. Stopping at the bridge sequence would only have saved his body.

Any survivor of what those men went through would have to ask, "Was it worth it?" "Am I worthy to have lived when so many died?"

It's the point of the film.

I think at the end of saving private ryan it would have been all worth while if Ryan had been on a ship at the end and then walked to the railing when no one was looking and then climbed up the railing and then threw the bag of dog tags over the side.
Then later died in his bed and then met Tom Hanks in a Big dream/death sequence and then gave him a big kiss in front of all the guys that died in their unit.Then they all applaud.
[que] celione Dione music[/que]

Abyss non-director's cut. The aliens are some kind of deus ex machina that appear at random times for no apparent reason.

[RegniL]

Best Endings:

The Usual Suspects (He Is Keizer Scholzig..)
Se7en (That Is One Troubling Ending... Sad)
Braveheart (Freeeeeedom... what a classic!)
Fight Club (Surprised Me!)
Sixth Sense (Holy Crow!! Hit Me From Nowhere!)
Stand By Me (Makes me think of my childhood)
Armageddon (Powerful....)
12 Monkeys (Oh my Goodness!!!)
Apollo 13 (What a Powerful ending)
Arlington Road (Troubling....)

Worst Endings:

The Matrix (don't get me wrong.. i love the movie... but that's why they're making Part 2 )
Blade (Um.... good movie... but lousy Blood God)
The Mummy (They just didnt' put any effort into this ending... DISAPOINTING!)
The Haunting (STUPID.....)
House On Haunted Hill (Resembles The Haunting)

Oh, i have so many more worst endings.. they just pick at me.. but i'll leave it at that... OOOHHHHHHHHH .. anyways... thanks for the awesome topic

sixth sense

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Best:

2001: A Space Odyssey - This one confused the hell out of everybody, but I love it. I've been thinking about it since 1969.
ET - No dialog needed - just amazing images (look at the faces and try to tell me Spielberg can't direct actors) and John Williams' glorious music.
Schindler's List - Must defend Stevie here. Perhaps the most emotionally powerful moment I've experienced in a movie theatre. When you realize you're looking at the actual men and women Schindler saved... everyone in the audience I was in lost it.
The Man in the Moon - The 1991 coming-of-age drama with Reese Witherspoon, not the current Kaufman bio-pic. Absolutely perfect. Seek this one out.
The Usual Suspects & The Sixth Sense - Gotta agree with the masses here. Twists that worked.
Limbo - Echoing Will Munney above, this is a ballsy, non-Hollywood ending that, in retrospect, is the only possible ending for this film. Pissed a lot of people off, though. Rent or buy this DVD - a great John Sayles film.

Worst:

Hmmm, try to put these outta my mind, so gotta think about it.


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Too many DVDs, too little time...

[DJRobX]

Endings I liked:

Sixth Sense (speaks for itself)
Contact (thought-inspiring)


Endings I hated:

Haunting ("You go to hell!" .. was that all she needed to say? If so why didn't she just say it sooner dammit)

Sphere (Lets all agree to forget... how to write an ending)

These are some of my favourite all time endings - one's to play over and over with the volume all the way up!

Aliens: The final fight with the Mother Xenomorph just kicked serious booty - "Get away from her you BITCH!"

Army of Darkness (Theatrical cut): The S-Mart ending, both exciting and hilarious - "Lady, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave the store!"

Back to the Future I, II and III: Very clever, very self-referential. Make you want to see the next one straight after.

Blade Runner: The director's cut: Just really, really dark, leaves you wondering. I love the way that Harrison Ford looks at the origami unicorn, then turns and walks straight out, with Vangelis' theme tune fading in.

The Blair Witch Project: This one left me so freaked I was shaking for about an hour. Every time I see it my heart beats faster and faster.

The 'Burbs: I love the way that Tom Hanks' character becomes like the friendly neighbourhood hero, plus the credits are cool.

The Empire Strikes Back: Best cliffhanger ever. Top.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: As someone already said, the whole ending sequence was very powerful. Even my gran, who thought E.T. was just a joke, like a kids film, was surprised at how heart-rendering it was.

The Evil Dead: I thought the stop-motion was great, especially considering the budget. And the 'spirit-cam' shot at the end? Classic.

The Exorcist: I love that moment, right at the end, when father Dyer stands at the top of the famous steps...and then Tubular Bells kicks in.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Great way to end the trilogy, the defining 'riding-off-into-the-sunset' shot for me.

The Italian Job: Classic comedy moment - "Hold on lads...I've got a great idea..."

Jaws: "Smile you son of a..." Says it all really.

Leaving Las Vegas: One of the saddest endings I've ever seen - just that final frozen shot of Ben (Nic Cage) smiling. Very haunting.

The Matrix: I have to admit, I love that moment when he puts the phone down and Rage Against the Machine kick in.

Raiders of the Lost Ark: Great. Just great.

Return of the Jedi - Special Edition: Such an improvement over the original that you've gotta love it really. Wraps up the saga nicely.

Saving Private Ryan: I like this ending personally, because it reminds us just what the film was saying. If he hadn't have spoken, then the movie would have looked like it glorified war by making him a martyr.

Seven: Very tragic. BTW, listen to the end really close, you can hear helicopters flying away behind you!

The Shawshank Redemption: A really nice end to a really good movie. Nice.

Star Wars: The music is ace, good feel-good ending.

Superman: I love the turning back the world bit, with John Williams excellent love theme, and tears streaming down his face. Then the cheesy grin at the camera at the end, followed by Williams' triumphant score.

Whew. That's quite a few. I'm not going to list the bad ones, because unfortunately there are too many to list that I really despise (a good example would be Tomorrow Never Dies...so so hollow). Anyway, I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them now.
Si

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"I have a bad feeling about this..."

Visit my John Williams website at http://homes.arealcity.com/sithlordsi/

[RegniL]

about sphere:
well. yeah.. the movie sucked shit.. it gave away that the ship was an american space time travel thingy.. in the book it was soo awesome.. i read it like 5 times.. just how troubling the end is, you never know! and it has it's moments in the book! as you can see.. i'm a big michael crichton fan.. with jurassic park and sphere and all.. but yeah.. don't watch his movies.. they're not worth it.. read his books.. i guarantee you'll like em 100X better!

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RegniL is Linger Backwards!

Worst:
*The End Of Days: So far it was a good movie, but a film critic from CINEMA said, that originally the ending had the best one-liner in a film and was sadly replaced by this "normal popcorn lame you know what is coming" end.
*Event Horizon: the end is to drastically and destroys the mood of the film
*Alien 4: right after Ripley is revealed as SUPERWOMAN, with superstrengh and superpower. Where is the suspence, when the protagonist is able to master every situation?
*Matrix: the god-like ending. I would have liked more an ending of a "Straship Troopers" kind, that the fight is not over, and that they will fight back, but with the role of an underdog. Especially for part 2 it is very diffucult to build up a tension (see comments on Alien 4)
Michi

[Sykes]

My picks..........

Worst:
The Magnificent Ambersons (RKO butchered Welles' original vision with a cop-out ending.)
The Great Dictator (Chaplin layed a major egg with his final speech.)
The Night of the Hunter (Sorry, fellas. This one don't work for me.)
L.A. Confidential (Big climactic shootout and off-into-the-sunset finale. Cliche anyone?)
Lolita (1962) (So pretentious I could scream.)
Back to the Future III (I know Doc was stuck in 1885...but a flying locomotive?!)

And the worst ever ending.......I know I'll get dragged thru excrement for this.....The Usual Suspects!

Best:
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Incredible.)
M (Unforgettable.)
The Palm Beach Story
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Sullivan's Travels (Or just about anything by Preston Sturges.)
Vertigo (Jolts like a bee-sting.)



[This message has been edited by Sykes (edited 01-20-2000).]

Worst - Little Shop of Horrors (remake). Happy ending makes no sense, considering the crimes Seymour has committed (and, yes, I was part of a prescreen audience where I filled out the card and said the new ending sucked).

I'd love to get a VHS copy of the recalled DVD that's out there with the 'alternate ending'...if some generous sole with the DVD wants to arrange a nominal fee for a dub, I'd love to get a copy.

Roy

[eltravi]

Best ending ever is Heat

[Prophet]

AHHH! BEST YES THE BEST!

Alien & Aliens:
A lone ship floating out into the nothingness of space, complete desperation...

Blade Runner:
yes yes yes! if you care, you know.

Blues Brothers:
Aw kick ass, dey's in prison singin' Da King! Fricken Great!

12 Monkeys:
A wonderful ending, the moment you realize Cole has seen his own death...and has no idea...

Taxi Driver:
"nah"

and of course there are a bushel and a half more, but i need to bitch bout the

WORST:

BLADE:
Blood god my ass. Stick him in an old Mayo jar for christ's sake. weak weak weak

ID4:
"I promised you fire work" (followed by crazy little Zimbuezian's dancing)

Any movie starring or featuring Jim Belushi:
Crazy bastard wont go away, "QUICK! Call K9-11!!!"


and perchance the fellow who mentiond Deus Ex Mahina when speaking of the Abyss has played the game of the same name, yes?
(dhensley methinks?)


[This message has been edited by Prophet (edited 08-04-2000).]

Best

Touch of Evil (I'm surprised no one said this yet)
Dr. Strangelove ("Mein Furher, I can Walk!")
The Usual Suspects
Apocalypse Now (gotta love it)
Easy Rider (unsettling yet so perfect
Chinatown
Raging Bull ("I coulda been a contenda.")
Magnolia (BRILLIANT!!!!)
The Last of the Mohicans (extended cut)
Lolita 1997 (Never seen anything so beautiful.)

Worst

Green Mile (Loved the movie up to the last five minutes.)
Two Jakes (Can you hear my teeth grind?)
Apt Pupil

My opinions of course,

Cheers,
Gary

[sin]

lets see...the best endings (in no order):

Se7en - brilliant, perfect

Fight Club - both the movie and book share different but great endings

Usual Suspects - i don't like this film much, but the ending carries it

Sixth Sense - everyone loves this ending

Blood Simple - just saw the DC, really satisfying ending

Simple Plan

All the Evil Dead's

American Beauty

Magnolia

12 Monkeys

I can just tell i'm forgetting some...
here's the worst/disappointing endings

Heathers - i really like this movie, which makes the ending all the more disappointing

The Generals Daughter - with the conspiracy known, a stupid ending follows

that's all i can think of right now. most bad endings follow already bad movies so it doesnt bother me much. i know im forgetting some though...

oh yeah, no one say anything bad about Lost Highway or True Romance, those movies are favorites of mine.

[mahavishnu]

Sure is strange seeing something you wrote a year ago crop up again! Didn't realise I had been posting here that long...

Hmm, do I have anything to add 12 months down the line?

Nekromantik
Rosetta
Two Lane Blacktop (of course)

[Yoda]

Best and Worst........

Batman: the movie (the original one)

it is so bad that it is good!!!!

[Grizzly]

i love Twelve Monkeys, i just got the Collector's Edition and the almost-90 minutes documentary is so awesome! i really got to know everything that they have to do when making a movie, it was really nice to see how it was to make a movie from start to finish, the troubles and all that. the ending is awesome and Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt are excellent in it.

as far as others i really can't say, atleast not best/favorite endings except some that others have already pointed out like Seven and The Usual Suspects (which left me in awe)..

as for bad movie endings there are too many to even try to list.. The Astronaut's Wife ending was just plain, everything in the movie led up to the obvious ending, very disappointing. i just saw it the other day so it's fresh in my memory.

[fuzyman]

Best:
The Usual Suspects
Wayne's World

Worst:
Every teen movie ever made where everyone ends up happy and together just like you know they're going to! Stupid teen movies. *grumble*

Thanks for reading.

[maverick101]

Best: The Conversation, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blair Witch Project

Worst: Pleasantville comes to mind.

Weirdest ending: Birdy (Matthew Modine, Nicolas Cage) That kind of ending takes balls.

[Enzian]

Okay. I'll iterate what has beensaid all too often:

Best:
Usual Suspects - not to mention the great cinematography
12 Monkeys
Matrix - c'mon! How many of you didn't leave the theatre like a 12 yr old watching a ninja movie? I felt invincible!
Many others I can't think of right now...

Worst:
The Talented Mr. Ripley - talk about aggressive! I guess it wasn't that bad, but it was too aggressive for me. I do appreciate it, though.
Very Bad Things - I actually think this is an excellent movie, albeit obviously thematic. My problem with it is not so much the ending as the amount of cigarettes it made me want to smoke! I was quitting at the time I saw this, and it drove me up the wall! Another aggressive movie.