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Movies with ambiguous endings?

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Movies with ambiguous endings?

Old 05-20-12, 04:56 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Basic Instinct
Old 05-20-12, 05:00 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

The ending to Basic Instinct isn't really ambigious unless
Spoiler:
you're wondering if Michael Douglas gets offed or not...if you're wondering who the killer was, you're just not paying attention


Rampart is another...watched it this weekend.
Old 05-20-12, 05:28 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Some good ones mentioned already.

'Cache' was wonderful, it ended perfectly.

'Memories of Murder' - A type of ambiguity, anyway one of the best endings to film I've ever seen, so rare a conclusion adds so much to what you just watched.
'Local Hero' - Love it
'Shane' - arguably the greatest western ever made
'Pale Rider' - Eastwood's homage to Shane
'A Serious Man'
'Monsters'
'Zodiac'
'Meeks' Cutoff' - excellence in every way, including the ending
'Children of Men'
Old 05-20-12, 05:59 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by KillerCannibal
The Thing
The original movie wasn't ambiguous. The alien had to be destroyed so that two remaining humans had to stay behind to make sure it was done. And the recent prequel wasn't ambiguous, either. It ended with the beginning of the original movie.
Old 05-20-12, 06:03 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather
The original movie wasn't ambiguous. The alien had to be destroyed so that two remaining humans had to stay behind to make sure it was done. And the recent prequel wasn't ambiguous, either. It ended with the beginning of the original movie.
The 1982 movie isn't the original. And it ended with one of them being the alien.
Old 05-20-12, 06:03 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by RocShemp
Highlander

Spoiler:
The ending of the movie left me with the impression that Connor was the last and won the Prize. But then all these sequels turned up...
Even considering the other 3 movies and the two tv series, Connor had won the prize. If you recall, the third movie had an immortal trapped in a cave. I've always thought that if one of the immortals was trapped or shut off from the others, he wasn't participating in the fight and therefore didn't count. That was even the whole idea behind the 4th movie. There was a group of Watchers that kept a bunch of immortals in a coma and restrained so that they couldn't fight, keeping the ultimate prize from just one person.
Old 05-20-12, 06:05 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by PopcornTreeCt
The 1982 movie isn't the original. And it ended with one of them being the alien.
The so called original 50s version was so far off from the story, I don't really count it as the same story. Where was it said that one of them at the end was the alien ?
Old 05-20-12, 07:00 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather
The so called original 50s version was so far off from the story, I don't really count it as the same story. Where was it said that one of them at the end was the alien ?
I think it was heavily implied.
Old 05-20-12, 07:10 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by PopcornTreeCt
I think it was heavily implied.
Which one do you think it is?
Old 05-20-12, 07:19 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by PopcornTreeCt
I think it was heavily implied.
Kurt Russell passively accuses Keith David of being the alien. Then they swig some booze and presumably die. That's all there really is to it.
Old 05-20-12, 10:38 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Quatermass
Limbo
Came in to post this.
Old 05-20-12, 10:54 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by troystiffler
Kurt Russell passively accuses Keith David of being the alien. Then they swig some booze and presumably die. That's all there really is to it.
I thought it was purposely ambiguous to everyone?? I decided to google it and here's a thing I found about the Carpenter commentary track Most notably:

"Carpenter still doesn’t know whether one, both, or neither of the men at the end are the Thing."
Old 05-20-12, 11:00 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

Shane (1953) - Most people watching it do not understand why it is ambigous, but it is.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - At the time the ending was very ambigous indeed but of course the sequels removed any such ambiguity. The ending to this one is great.
Old 05-21-12, 09:17 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

I would include Inception with that spinning top ending.

TV shows with these type of endings would be The Shield. In the final scene, Vic grabs his gun, and the viewer is left wondering what Vic does next. Lost's ending is also highly open to interpretation.
Old 05-21-12, 09:33 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Dogtooth
Cruising
Cast Away
Cache
Excellent choices.

I'll throw in Ghost World and The Door in the Floor.
Old 05-21-12, 09:48 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather
Even considering the other 3 movies and the two tv series, Connor had won the prize. If you recall, the third movie had an immortal trapped in a cave. I've always thought that if one of the immortals was trapped or shut off from the others, he wasn't participating in the fight and therefore didn't count. That was even the whole idea behind the 4th movie. There was a group of Watchers that kept a bunch of immortals in a coma and restrained so that they couldn't fight, keeping the ultimate prize from just one person.
Except that idea of 4 (keeping a group of immortals out of the Game in order for no one to win the Prize) goes against 3's concept that the Prize could be won (albeit temporarily) even if a group of immortals was kept out of the Game.

Last edited by RocShemp; 05-21-12 at 11:39 AM.
Old 05-21-12, 10:00 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

My vote goes to 25th Hour.
Old 05-21-12, 11:37 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

If we are talking about tv shows too then I have to bring up The Sopranos.
Old 05-21-12, 12:25 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by cliffzig
My vote goes to 25th Hour.
I haven't seen this since it was in theaters, but if I recall correctly, there was nothing remotely ambiguous about the ending.
Old 05-21-12, 02:08 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by dvdjunkie32
Lost's ending is also highly open to interpretation.
How? It's pretty cut and dry.
Old 05-21-12, 02:23 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by argh923
How? It's pretty cut and dry.
Well they didn't actually explain who the other Others were.
Old 05-22-12, 10:35 AM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Rampart
Old 05-22-12, 04:52 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

A Clockwork Orange (was he really cured, or was he saying that sarcastically? I feel he was being sarcastic in the movie, but the novel tells a different story.)
Old 05-22-12, 06:23 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Originally Posted by Dr Mabuse
'Monsters'
God I hated this piece of crap. I thought it was very clear what happened at the end though. I just wish I would have watched the first two minutes and the last two minutes and skipped everything in between.
Old 05-22-12, 06:27 PM
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Re: Movies with ambiguous endings?

Shutter Island's ending is ambiguous. There's only 2 possibilities but there seems to be decent evidence for either one.

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