worst ending ever?
 

don't get me wrong I liked all 3 movies, the battle scenes are awesome and the movies are great film making, but with that said that was the worst ending to a movie I have ever seen. It was so drawn out. Me and my friend stood up at least 3 times thinking that it was the end. The ending just took away from what would have been an incredible movie. If the movied ended when all the people bowed down to the hobbits that would have been a very very strong ending , but instead they have what was the most drawn out and stupid ending to a movie I have ever witnessed.

By the way the voting on imdb is getting out of hand return of the king is now number 3 and will soon take over the godfather. what a travesty!

anyone else very dissapointed with the ending?

Yeah, wrapping everything up and letting us know what happened to the main characters, that sucked.

Re: worst ending ever?
 

No, not at all. In fact the ending is why this is my favorite film of the trilogy. The Grey Havens...the return to the Shire....the final line in the novel....it was perfect.


Ending the film immediately after the coronation would have been pathetic and the fans would've rioted.

You see, I am the opposite...when I go to the cinema I want to be entranced by the magic of film and, thus, with all magic we, the audience, are tricked. I too believed the film to be over at least twice (the first moment, oddly enough, was when Frodo and Sam were traped in the lava flow and Frodo said something along the lines of "...I will stay with you...here, at the end of all things" and we fade to black. The second moment was when the boat was heading out and the Hobbits were watching it leave). Others around me had stood up as though to go --I usually stay until the end of the credits-- and I was sure it was over but, no, more movie.

To me, I enjoy a film with many endings...never knowing when it is over and especially with a film like this that I did not wish to end.

You could not end with the hobbits being bowed to as it would not be faithful to the books and there was still some issues to resolve and, come on, we HAD to see the shire one more time. As for Sam's epilogue, it was a fitting ending to the film. A closed door of a Hobbit house and the final lines from the novel "Well, I'm back."

To most, I have read, the ending dragged but I could have sat through many more for I just didn't wish to leave Middle Earth with the knowledge that, next year, there would be no fourth film to enjoy.

Re: worst ending ever?
 

I would actually like to thank Peter Jackson for a great ending to the trilogy. Drawn out and stupid.... hmmmmmm.....

What a travesty...... hmmm.... Everyone please raise your hand if you agree that The Godfather part 3 beats out ROTK? Anyone..... Anyone......

Re: worst ending ever?
 

:wave:

I was disappointed that PJ didn't show us the conclusions to ALL the characters stories..but, since the story was initiated by Frodo, I suppose it was right to end it with him too..

I wasn't disapointed with the ending. It was an ending for the trilogy, not for the movie. But, I do agree, the ending should have ended when everyone bowed to the hobbits, maybe followed by a Galadriel voice over with the map of middle earth wrapping up the story ... and then save the longer, drawn-out ending for the EE DVD.

Re: worst ending ever?
 

I'm gonna say that this award goes to A.I., which was a beautiful movie w/ a very flawed ending. If you've read the books, you would know that the ending to RotK was pretty true to that. But, IIRC, ?

My only beef with the ending was that Merry and Pippin were not taller than Frodo and Sam at the coronation. Maybe it was b/c the Ent Draught scene wasn't theatrical, but I was still hoping that they would be true to that aspect.

Be thankful that Jackson did what he did with the ending b/c if anyone drew it out longer than need be (IMO), it was Tolkien in the books. But, that's another story for another time.

What a travesty...... hmmm.... Everyone please raise your hand if you agree that The Godfather part 3 beats out ROTK? Anyone..... Anyone......

what does godfather part 3 have to do with it??

but anyways, I will raise my hand The godfather part 3 was a great movie people are to hard on it. Part 3 doesnt compare to I and II but no filma can compare to I and II. I found this movie to be way more moving then the lotr trilogy. the end of the movie with pacino's silent scream was one of the most moving scenes I have ever seen and then him falling to his death alone in his chair. I enjoyed the lord of the rings trilogy, all I am saying is that it's getting way to much praise. The bottom line is the godfather is the best trilogy.

Re: Re: worst ending ever?
 

That didn't happen until much, much later.

You don't find out in the books what happened to Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Arwen, Sam, etc, until you read the appendices. It's not in the book proper.

I really don't understand this whole attitude toward the ending. We've just spent 9-11 hours with these characters and it's supposed to end the instant the Ring is destroyed with absolutely no closure for our characters? People need to learn more patience.

Re: Re: worst ending ever?
 

it sort of felt like they left out gimli though. everyone else had an ending of sorts, other than gimli. i thought that was odd, but i guess it would have meant another "ending". what happens in the book to him?

i liked the ending, other than the part where all the hobbits jump into bed together, and everyone starts smiling in slow motion. there's nothing wrong with it necessarily. i just thought it went on way too long. other than that... it was great.

EDIT: i also thought that the fade out with sam and frodo on the rocks at "the end of all things" and then the fade in with them still there and the eagles saving them was very nicely done.

:up: I love the stuff after the ring is destroyed. I could have seen more.

Personally, I loved the ending and could have sat for another hour of it. What is wrong with wrapping up a great trilogy?

Agreed. :thumbsup: I mean, come on, you watched all the previous movies with extended scenes, probably more than once and all of a sudden half an hour at the end of the last movie (totally necessary IMO) is unbearable? I don't understand the people that are complaining about this aspect of it, either. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

I was extremely satisfied with the ending. I would have felt emotionally robbed if it had ended at Aragorn's coronations.

Why is this so hard for people to understand?

Lord of the Rings is *one* story. Ir wasn't even supposed to be a trilogy. The books came out that way because that is the way the publishers wanted it. Same thing with the movies. after 10+ hours the "end" was anything but drawn out.

Even comparing it to any other "trilogy" is unfair. Why? because it is still just one story. Not three story's using the same characters or one story that became two or three parts after the fact. (ie. Godfather, Star Wars, Matrix)

Have to disagree. The scene with Pacino's scream might've been moving for me if Coppola's directing wasn't so piss-poor. Sofia Coppola just standing there, 9MM gunshot wounds to the chest, going "Dad?" then falling over like a sack of potatoes. I would've started laughing if I wasn't so pissed off at what they did to this story and the characters. Don Vincent is a one-dimensional Rottweiler. You never once feel any real relationship between him and Michael. Why does Michael trust him? How does he learn and grow to become a Godfather? He just goes from a leather jacket to a suit. The Kay Adams character is wasted, no reason for her being in this film. Connie is now bloodthirsty, spouting lines like "They will fear you now!" WTF?!?? The Vatican plot is a bore. The opera climax is a rip-off of the first film's baptism scene. The movie has Father Guido Sarducci for Chrissakes! When he shows up I can't help but think of that SNL skit where he finds the Pope's wallet, looks through it and pulls out the Blockbuster Video card. The only scene I thought was well-done was Pacino confessing his sins to the cardinal in the garden. Otherwise.....


Most. Unneccesary. Sequel. Ever. Made. Period.

IIRC, Legolas and Gimli went travelling together for many years afterward, and introduced each other to their different cultures. The movies didn't dwell on their friendship as much, but for the record, the elves and dwarves of Middle-Earth were not on good terms. Legolas and Gimli overcame their own prejudices and formed a deep respect and friendship for each other over the course of the trilogy. In the book, during the Battle of Pelennor Fields (I think it was there) they made a vow that if they survived, Legolas would show Gimli all the wonders of elvin-kind (which he wanted to experience thanks to his infatuation with Galadriel), and that Gimli would show Legolas the underground cities of his own people, which he says are as awe-inducing as the forests of Lothlorien.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Also on a side note, those a-holes in the theater clapping during every god damn legolas scene.. where the hell were you during the credits? Oh big fans of the film My ass. give some respect to the crew that made it possible and sit down for the extra 10 minutes.

i hate to say it, but i think new line was right on this one. a galadriel voiceover after the coronation sending each of the main characters on their way, describing the scouring of the shire and the death of saruman, and bridging to the gray havens scene would have been much better. it also would have echoed the opening of FOTR.

as it is, we get fade after fade after fade and very little idea about what happens to the cast aside from the hobbits. plus a lot of screentime was used that could have been better utilized on saruman and a more coherent role for aragorn at gondor.

having said that, it would appear that the original poster has some sort of sad godfather agenda. boring.

lol, those c***sucking motherfu****s, how dare they leave when the movie ends!! In all seriousness, at my first showing 2/3rds of the sold-out show stayed for the credits and clapped at all the names of the cast.

Sean Bean's name got the loudest applause. :thumbsup:

LOL, you should check out the Godfather board over at the Movie Database. ROTK is currently at #3, past GFII and could knock GF1 off the top slot pretty soon. Some of those GF fans are up in arms!!

What absolute nonsense. One of the BEST endings ever IMO. How dare the moviemaker take the time to properly fade out rather than ending it with a series of explosions and a catchy quip.

They must have little experience with the imdb rankings. Almost every hot new movie does the exact same thing, peaking around #2-3 within the first month. If it remains there past the 6 month mark, then they have something to worry about.

Now THAT'S what I was looking for!

I imagine it's something like this:

Everyone bows to the hobbits. Suddenly, Pippin has an explosive fart. It's so bad, people run right off the ledge of the courtyard, flinging themselves to their deaths, like Denethor. Pippin looks ashamed. Suddenly, Yosemite Sam rushes in with a live stick of dynamite, which goes off. Everyone is covered in soot.

Aragorn: I'd buy that for a dollar!

THE END.


Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the ending. I enjoyed it a lot. And I have seen far worse endings to many films, good or bad. And I've also seen better films than the two Godfather films (although they're both amazing). I could see Return of the King beating out The Godfather, although 2001: A Space Odyssey should be at the top, anyway.

The ending at the Gray Havens is critical. The story is not about triumphing and becoming a hero, as would be implied by ending at the coronation. It's about self-sacrifice and acting on behalf of others. The Gray Havens scene closes out that theme with an exclamation point. Frodo took on the toughest job and paid the price of not being able to live in the world he saved. Sam loses the friend he risked it all to protect.

Quote:

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Originally posted by chess
as it is, we get fade after fade after fade...

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Perhaps star wipes would've been better...?

ooh, sarcasm, that's good.

maybe my memory is failing me, but i don't think that those fades were "middle of the movie" fades...they were "now the credits are gonna roll" fades and i don't think most people really knew what to make of them. i'm sure i've got this wrong, but i fully expected that the movie was over not once, but twice...they didn't get me with the fade to black at mount doom, but they did after the coronation and after the grey havens.

i didn't make it clear in my post, but i have read the books and do know that the ending was fairly faithful...minus the scouring. in fact, the ending didn't bother me at all, i just thought it could have been handled a bit better and that the time invested could have been better invested elsewhere...particularly on aragorn in gondor.

bottom line is that i got it, but the non movie-geek guys i went with didn't, and it's a shame to hear reasonably intelligent guys say that the movie was great but the ending was ridiculous. i'm not sure why, but on some level it was important to me that they liked it without any qualification.

basically, i would equate the christening to the medals scene at the end of star wars, and to most people, everything from there was superfluous and could have been handled beautifully in a narrative by galadriel. plus i think it would have been interesting to close this one 10 hour film the same way we started it. just an opinion.

star wipes...cute.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE ENDING!!!!

Thank you. Move along now.

Quote:

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Originally posted by chess
ooh, sarcasm, that's good.

maybe my memory is failing me, but i don't think that those fades were "middle of the movie" fades...they were "now the credits are gonna roll" fades and i don't think most people really knew what to make of them. i'm sure i've got this wrong, but i fully expected that the movie was over not once, but twice...they didn't get me with the fade to black at mount doom, but they did after the coronation and after the grey havens.

i didn't make it clear in my post, but i have read the books and do know that the ending was fairly faithful...minus the scouring. in fact, the ending didn't bother me at all, i just thought it could have been handled a bit better and that the time invested could have been better invested elsewhere...particularly on aragorn in gondor.

bottom line is that i got it, but the non movie-geek guys i went with didn't, and it's a shame to hear reasonably intelligent guys say that the movie was great but the ending was ridiculous. i'm not sure why, but on some level it was important to me that they liked it without any qualification.

basically, i would equate the christening to the medals scene at the end of star wars, and to most people, everything from there was superfluous and could have been handled beautifully in a narrative by galadriel. plus i think it would have been interesting to close this one 10 hour film the same way we started it. just an opinion.

star wipes...cute.

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easy there...

I may have missed a ":p", but I was not being sarcastic..your "fade after fade after fade" comment just kicked my Simpsons geekyness into drive. And, for the record, I usually don't think a movie's over 'til I see the credits start scrolling. And even THEN, i'll just stick around to see if there's a brief scene after the end of the credits.

And I see that the ending didn't bother you at all...so if we agree, then why are we arguing...? :p

we're not...i was being sarcastic too. i don't have a problem with fades, those were just awfully long fades and the crowd at my screening was getting restless.

plus i thought sam and frodo were gonna make out for a minute there... ;)

Yeah, why couldn't they just cut to a hip-hop song and shown hilarious "blooper" outtakes instead? Character development = BORING. "Blooper" reel = AWESOME.

I thought the ending stretched on way too long for an already long movie. Could have shaved a good 5 minutes off of it. I don't know what happens in the book, but i was certainly waiting for it to finally end.

The only fade that was really long was the first one. The rest had your typical delay between the fade and the next shot.

Aren't there only three fades anyways?

1. Fade to black (long) on Mount Doom as Frodo and Sam await death.

2. Fade to black (or was it white) as Frodo is carried away by an eagle

3. Fade to white as the ship is leaving the Grey Havens.

There might have been a fade between Frodo in the bed surrounded by Fellowship and Aaragorn's coronation... I can't remember. Aaragorn's coronation to Hobbits in the Shire doesn't have a fade between it though; the camera zooms out and transforms into a map of Middle Earth. The shots in the Shire have no fades between them.

It most certainly does

Re: Re: worst ending ever?
 

me too. hopefully in the EE.

:lol:

we have spent 3 movies, about 10 hours with these characters, i want a real ending to the whole story. ending it after the coronation would have been far too abrupt.

i wasn't suggesting that they end the film after the coronation, just that they wrap it up in much the same way they opened the first film...a series of short clips (including the scouring, the death of saruman, and the grey havens) with a voiceover by galadriel. Then cut to the final scene with sam and roll credits.

use the spare screen time for aragorn in gondor and the black gate/voice of sauron.

just what i'd have done, doesn't make it right. incidentally, i'm planning to go see it again the day after x-mas. maybe i'll see it differently on repeat viewing.

and for the record, i am praying for a blooper reel on the EE. there are some really funny people involved with this project.

Re: Re: worst ending ever?
 

You are by far, the worst judge of movies ever

I bet you think that Back to the Future was the greatest of the three also