NationStates Jolt Archive

I was just intrigued to know what makes a good film ending and what makes a conclusion worthy of abhorrence. What specific endings do you dislike and what films have the best endings in your eyes?

I like violent movie endings, like when everyone dies.:D

The good, the bad and the ugly ending is the best ever.

i HATE when the guy gets the girl. HATE HATE HATE HATE.

Titanic.

Leonardo di Caprio dies.

The end of Godzilla 1985 when they lure him with the birds into the volcano to suffer a fiery death, and it's so depressing even raymond burr sheds a tear.


Best. Ending. Ever.

The ending to Planet of the Apes what the shit. As for the best nothing really comes to mind as the best, SLC Punks is in the top 3.... maybe number 2, but i cant put my finger on numero uno....

the ending to return of the king was crap, five f***ing fades? what the f*** was that? badly ending a decently good saga.

In an action film, the worst ending is romance between the lead male and the female who by chance ended up helping him .

The first matrix film.

and then the third as well, but this time, because the torture had ended...

I was just intrigued to know what makes a good film ending and what makes a conclusion worthy of abhorrence. What specific endings do you dislike and what films have the best endings in your eyes?
I hate supposed 'twist' endings like in The Sixth Sense, because you can usually figure out the twist way before the end of the film. Depressing or poignant endings work best. I watched Gangs Of New York yesterday, and the last ten minutes were far better than the rest of the film, which was pretty standard fare. One of my favourite endings is that of Ghost World, although I'm fed up telling people that the writer himself says it isn't a metaphor for death.

I was just intrigued to know what makes a good film ending and what makes a conclusion worthy of abhorrence. What specific endings do you dislike and what films have the best endings in your eyes?
The most important thing is that, when the film ends, I know why I watched that specific 2-3 hour segment. That is my main complaint with a lot of horror movies that try to be edgy by letting the villain win, I'm left wondering why that particular victim was important. At the end of Saw, the killer is still moving about the same as ever, he hasn't "evolved", "devolved", died, or even saved the local community center yet. So the movie ends on an unbelievably anticlimactic note.
When a movie ends, I want to think to myself "I just saw something end" and have a feeling of finality about it all.

The Italian Job,the original not that shit hollywood re-make

The Italian job is a close 2nd,

but 1st has to go to baz Lehmeins Romeo and Juliet. Absoloutly magnificent.

I was just intrigued to know what makes a good film ending and what makes a conclusion worthy of abhorrence. What specific endings do you dislike and what films have the best endings in your eyes?
The only truly great movie ending I can remember is the ending of "The Sting." Usually, I can figure out what the ending of a movie is going to be, but this one totally blew me away!

One of the most confusing endings I ever saw was Donnie Darko. But, that whole movie was confusing. I had to look up the plot and a bunch of other stuff on Wikipedia. Something about alternate universes, superheros, and manipulative dead...

I dunno if this really fits, but in crash the "end" of one of the stories (w/ the hispanic guy and his daughter) was friggin good. If the Pakistani guy had actually shot her I would have flipped.

As for endings in general I think it really depends on the movie, my relationship with the characters, etc.

There are many styles of "good ending". For example, you have the killer twist (that you may or may not have figured out), such as in Saw I and The Sixth Sense.

There are also many styles of crappy ending, such as the "that was total bullshit, and it ruined an otherwise good movie" ending from The Butterfly Effect. The worst endings, however, are those that are confusing and make the entire film lose all semblance of sense.

My personal favorite ending was to the B-movie They Live. I don't want to spoiler a good MST3K style movie for those who haven't seen it, but lets say it involves a hooker riding a guy who suddenly turns into a rather gross looking alien.

*If you haven't seen these movies, don't read the descriptions following the names of the movies. I don't want to ruin the endings for you*

The Sixth Sense -- Bruce Willis realizes he's a ghost

Titanic -- Rose is applauded by Jack and the others in what must be -- I think anyway, and it seems fitting -- her final dream. (I bawled my eyes out at that scene, and i hardly ever cry)

The Usual Suspects -- The cripple is Kaiser Soze (sp?)... he's been using words from around the room as the names of his consorts in the tale he tells the cop.

One of the most confusing endings I ever saw was Donnie Darko. But, that whole movie was confusing. I had to look up the plot and a bunch of other stuff on Wikipedia. Something about alternate universes, superheros, and manipulative dead...

agreed.. i remember sitting there thinking... wtf?

Star Wars Episode 4, the Throne Room sequence. great music, great atmosphere, one of the best endings ever I think. Episodes 2 and 3 also had good endings, in the former case because you have the feeling of spiraling out of control, and in the latter because it led wonderfully into the episode 4. in both cases, the feeling of wonder was heightened by the anticipation of godawful movies finish.

george lucas should have his gonads removed violently for what he did to star wars with those three movies.

1. The Sixth Sense -- Bruce Willis realizes he's a ghost

2. Titanic

3. The Usual Suspects
1. Saw it and figured that out about 2/3 of the way through the movie.

2. Never saw it, probably never will.

3. Haven't seen it yet, but may.

The Shawshank Redemption, for the huge smile it brings to your face.

In an action film, the worst ending is romance between the lead male and the female who by chance ended up helping him .
I agree.

Also, some movies are better when the Hero dies. Shows the kind of sacrifice he/she is willing to make.

Endings are important. To illustrate, has anybody seen The Butterfly Effect (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289879/)? Of the two different endings, I like the Director's cut version best.

Or, Army of Darkness (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/)? The (*Spoiler warning*?) showdown-ending in the Supermarket with the shotgun and the zombie is way better then the "I slept too long"-ending. I saw the first one originally, and I doubt I would have loved the movie quite as much if I had seen the second ending first.

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Intense chase, escape to the ruins of Sydney, Max remembered by the children, and disappearing into the sunset. All brought together by Maurice Jarre's fantastic score.

I hate supposed 'twist' endings like in The Sixth Sense, because you can usually figure out the twist way before the end of the film.

You are crazy - that was one of the best twist endings ever - if you saw it coming - you probably went into the movie knowing that there was a twist and you were searching for it.

1. Saw it and figured that out about 2/3 of the way through the movie.

2. Never saw it, probably never will.

3. Haven't seen it yet, but may.

You should see #2. I didn't want to see it either, thought it was going to be a total chick flick, but it was one of the best all-around films i've ever seen: action, intrigue, romance, and a hateful villain. You'll hate Cal. And the special effects are awesome.

3. Haven't seen it yet, but may.

Now that you know the ending - it isn't going to be as good.

Now that you know the ending - it isn't going to be as good.
But if you haven't read too carefully, you should see it. It is a great movie for it's genre.

And for aditional fun: See if you can spot Benicio Del Toro ;)

Favorite Endings:

Fight Club
Ladder 49
Man on Fire
Pulp Fiction
etc, etc

Favorite Endings:
Fight Club

Definitely one of my favourite last lines for a movie...
You met me at a very strange time in my life. Just... perfect...

The best movie ending ever is Unforgiven. It doesn't get any better than the last 15 minutes or so when he rides into town to settle scores.

Wow. How can anyone not mention the Crying Game's ending? That was the greatest, most mind-blowing twist ever.

Basically, think of Gangs of New York's style of film, but purely a romance between a black woman and a white guy. At the very end, and I mean the very end, they are about to have sex, but when the woman pulls down her pants, you can clearly see she's really a man.

And that was not a twist you could see coming at all. I mean, it just comes out of freaking nowhere.

...The Usual Suspects ...

Of modern movies this has to be one of my favourites. Spacey is amazing anyway, and he pulls this ending off brilliantly.

But I also can go back to a film most NSers probably never saw, and never even heard of. It was called CHARLY (no, I didn't misspell it; that's how it appeared on the movie posters, except the "R" was backwards).

Unlike Frangland, I won't risk spoiling it by describing it and then telling you not to read the description. I'll just say, find this film by any means and watch it. See if it doesn't make you think.

In an action film, the worst ending is romance between the lead male and the female who by chance ended up helping him .

So, that's all the James Bond films ruined for you, eh?

So, that's all the James Bond films ruined for you, eh?

Nah, there's never any implied fidelity.

Best ending ever? Seven. I'll not spoil it, but I think that 'the killer' is one of the best actors of all time. :) I didn't expect it at all.

The Usual Suspects runs a close second. Kaiser Fucking Soze. :)

And a kind of pop movie that I didn't care for, but loved the ending to? Blow. "Everything that I love goes away..." :(

I thought the ending to the Sixth Sense was fucking dumb. Ruined what was otherwise a semi-watchable movie. They should have ended it by putting that kid in an oven, or otherwise killing him horribly.

What makes a great ending? When the bad guy wins, or the hero dies. Case in point, John Wayne's 'The Cowboys'.

EDITED: To add another great ending: Apt Pupil - Air in the tubes? FUCK.

Best ending ever? Seven. I'll not spoil it, but I think that 'the killer' is one of the best actors of all time. I didn't expect it at all.

Aw hell yeah, can't believe I forgot that.

American Beauty has to have one of the best endings...then again most of the movies Kevin Spacey films are utterly amazing.

i HATE when the guy gets the girl. HATE HATE HATE HATE.

Yeah, the guy should get the guy. What? They were both hot!!

The first matrix film.

and then the third as well, but this time, because the torture had ended...

Amen to that. But then there's the whole: "Second and third Matrix? There were no sequels! NONE!!" point of view, to which I hold.

The butterfly effect, when it turns out the world would have been better had ashton kucher never existed at all.

Excellent.

So, that's all the James Bond films ruined for you, eh?

A few seconds at the end hardly ruins an entire movie.

Amen to that. But then there's the whole: "Second and third Matrix? There were no sequels! NONE!!" point of view, to which I hold.
That's a healthy view :)

Actually, both Sin City and Brokeback Mountain can be mentioned here. Both have great endings :D

One of the most confusing endings I ever saw was Donnie Darko. But, that whole movie was confusing. I had to look up the plot and a bunch of other stuff on Wikipedia. Something about alternate universes, superheros, and manipulative dead...
The guy get's killed by a jet engine from the future! *Head explodes!*

A few seconds at the end hardly ruins an entire movie.
Well... The remake of the Italian Job... While a crappy movie, the couple of seconds at the end actually made the movie worse. Boy, that movie sucked! :(

I can usually predict a "twist" ending by just watching the trailor. I've done that for every M. Night Shamalamadingdong "film".

However, three movies stand out in my mind that have absolutely amazing endings:

1] The Usual Suspects. I'm sorry, but anyone who says they knew the gimp was Soze is a liar. As for anyone who hasn't seen it, come on ... it's a 15 year old movie. Catch up!

2] Fight Club. Deeply impressive film on a great many levels, and while it's not the first movie of its type (with that particular split personality twist), it did it better than any other film I can currently bring to mind. The idea that Project Mayhem started with a guy beating himself up in a parking lot? Fabulous.

3] A Few Good Men. Not really a surprising ending, but one of the best ones ever put to film. Staggering in its build up, brilliantly written characters, and a believable story that captures me every time I've seen it - and I can number that in the dozens.

Best ending is Dead Poets Society. Endings that leave a mark on you and are unexpected are the best.

a good ending is one that enhances the movie experience, and not cheapens it with cliche endings. like the implications that the monster/villian lives.

the only execption to that rule was the Cave. while it may seem that the last infection was "out of the blue" they did leave some clues as to what happened. while you didn't see the exact point of infection, if you look at the Dr.'s arm when they're sitting at the cafe, you will notice the scar, indicating a cut where the parasite entered the blood stream.

another good ending was IMHO, Deep Impact. in that movie, you really didn't know who would live or who would die. Armaggeddon was to cliche for me.

I can usually predict a "twist" ending by just watching the trailor. I've done that for every M. Night Shamalamadingdong "film".



2] Fight Club. Deeply impressive film on a great many levels, and while it's not the first movie of its type (with that particular split personality twist), it did it better than any other film I can currently bring to mind. The idea that Project Mayhem started with a guy beating himself up in a parking lot? Fabulous.


Y'know, I think they're making a couple more of Paluhniuk's books into films! I hope the do Choke. You can keep all your fancy plot twists.. I just want to see a fat guy dressed up as Tarzan bent over with a mangy orangutan shoving chestnuts up his ass..

I hated the ending to War of the Worlds. The son goes over a hill and three seconds later a fireball engulfs that entire side, yet somehow he makes it to Boston well before the dad and sister who are apparently aided by the fact that the machines are already started to self distruct. It would have been a better movie if Dakota Fanning had died in the opening five minutes, I don't care if I go to hell for saying so, she annoys the hell out of me.

The Day After Tomorrow is another movie whose ending I hate, oh, look, the storm is over and we have all learned from our actions, now we will live a happy go lucky life together.

Signs, I kind of like the ending for that one, obviously if the aliens can reach Earth we are S-K-R-U-D screwed unless we find some weakness, like the whole water=poison gas thing. Of course now I can never walk alone in the corn fields after dark ever again, but that's a small price to pay.

I really like the ending to 40 Year Old Virgin, during the credits I mean, the whole Nequarius thing, classic.

My favorite can be narrowed down to Independence Day, The Patriot (Mel Gibson version.) and Gettysburg. I don't know if it is the ending so much as the movie that I like though.

I can usually predict a "twist" ending by just watching the trailor. I've done that for every M. Night Shamalamadingdong "film".
That's exactly why I try to avoid watching trailers of interesting movies in the first place. I LIKE to be surprised by twists and turns. The problem with M. Night is that I now expect a twist-ending when I see a movie by him. The Village held no surprises for me, and was therefor only... long...

See also: Equilibrium, Léon, Seven, Snatch, Strange Days, and Training Day.

Y'know, I think they're making a couple more of Paluhniuk's books into films! I hope the do Choke. You can keep all your fancy plot twists.. I just want to see a fat guy dressed up as Tarzan bent over with a mangy orangutan shoving chestnuts up his ass..

Wasn't that already done in Every Which Way But Loose?

Time Bandits is a good one:
"It was just a dream!"
"Oh not it wasn't."
But Gilliam might have taken that from Phantasm.

Equilibrium deserves a mention here; whatever you may think of the movie, it has one of the coolest anti-climactic endings I've seen... plus Taye Diggs got his face cut off. How cool is that!?! :p

has anyone mentioned Vanilla Sky?

How about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?

Equilibrium deserves a mention here; whatever you may think of the movie, it has one of the coolest anti-climactic endings I've seen... plus Taye Diggs got his face cut off. How cool is that!?! :p

that was ahhhhsome.... comes in thinking that Christian Bale's character sucks with the sword... then phhhht, off goes his face.

Brazil
Layer Cake
Matchstick Men
Ghost Dog
Dog Soldiers :D (Especially the newspaper at the end!)

Casablanca has a great ending.

Casablanca has a great ending.
Oh! Which reminds me:
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. " - Gone with the wind! :p

40 year old virgin.
Aquarioouussss....Aquariouuuuussss

You are all by far wrong the best movie ending ever is the ending of Fight Club

Usual Suspects. No question.

"I remember saying something like, 'I feel a bit light-headed. Maybe you should drive.' "

That movie didn't have the best ending ever, but it was great.

What movies did have really good endings though, were Full Metal Jacket, and also Reservoir Dogs.

The whole song and dance at the end of the 40 Year Old Virgin was about the dumbest fucking thing I've ever seen in my entire life. The movie itself was very amusing, but the ending kind of swan-dived it.

Another great ending? Silence of the Lambs. "I'm sorry, but I've got to be going... I'm having an old friend for dinner."

Dont have a favorite, but these are among my favs:

"The Chinese Connection" - Bruce Lee taking death head-on
"Heat" - I actually thought DeNiro might take the girl
"Rocky" - Doesn't win even though he pushed himself to the limit
"Empire Strikes Back": - No Luke... I am your father...
"Soylent Green" - Soylent Green is a food product made from actual people

Someone might have already said these,

Good:
-Matchstick Men- When he walks out of the "hospital room", amazing stuff
-Star Wars Episdoe 3 - Tell me that you did not even a little bit want to go and rewatch Epidoe 4

Bad:
-Lord of War- If he had that good of connections he would never have taken any crap from any law enforcment agency

Dr. Strangelove.

Just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Everyone dies, and you get a million and one awe inspiring pieces of video footage to boot.

hrmmm... SAW II had a wonderfull ending....the so called 'bad guy' legacy lives on while the scumbag dirty cop (are there any other kind?) finally gets his!

ohh, Ichi The Killer ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296042/ ) had wikkid ending...had to watch the film 3 or 4 times to figgure out what actually happened, and im still not totally sure i fully grasp every aspect of it...but most any Takashi Miike is not olny beautifully directed, but wonderfully ended.. one of the greatest japaneese directors http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586281/ ....

also... kind of a bad movie...but GREAT ending.... "I Got 5 On It" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462351/


also, directors cut of natural born killers ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110632/ ) was a wonderfull ending

i suppose what makes a great movie ending is the little guy, the underdog, or the opressed winning out over the opressors...espicially when it is very large institutionally sanction group of opressors...such as police or government...
or societial convention...

as far as dissapointing/bad endings.. Blow ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221027/ ) great movie till it got twards then end...but i suppose such tragidy is the wadges of the US's war on peoples freedom over what they put in thier bodies



ohh a bit of a departure from that formula would have to be the The Cube series of movies ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215688/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285492/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377713/ ) , they end in such a way that leaves you quite disturbed and unforfilled...but in a good way
hrmm...thats all i got for right now....might come up with some more later

Usual Suspects. No question.

You are all by far wrong the best movie ending ever is the ending of Fight Club

This definitely proves that no one has The Crying Game. Also surprised no one has mentioned Chinatown.

I like the endings that leave a little bit, that you know that a change has happened and the people are going to have a long road afterwards to deal with, I saw what led up to it which is more interesting.

The two masterpieces of this kind of ending are-

The Graduate. Someone should have played that ending over and over for Zach Brath and it would have saved his movie, it really wanted to be a good movie, just fell short in some ways that The Graduate could have helped out.

The Conversation-well earned fucked up ending.

I liked the ending to Con Air where Garland Greene ends up gambling in Las Vegas, because the character was quite funny with his Ken doll but I was wondering if anyone considered that despite killing Cyrus the Virus and his pals the worst murderer on the plane is loose again.:eek:

For recent films, the ending of Broken Flowers was amazing. Brought the whole movie together in one scene, very nice.

Planet of the Apes (the original, not that shit re-make) - if only I didn't know the ending before I saw the movie.

The Good the Bad and The Ugly - it's not so much the ending, but the suspense leading up to the ending, when Tuco is running through the cemetery, and then the final showdown. HOLY SHIT! that's a good movie, I'm going to go watch it now...

Just perfect. There's about 4 all time great quotes in the last five minutes alone...