Great films that have an IMperfect ending
#1
DVD Talk Godfather
Thread Starter
Great films that have an IMperfect ending
Play on the other thread.
So what movies do you think are great and then drop the ball in the last scene, final moments? I'm not talking From Dusk Til Dawn, where the movie switches stride halfway through. Just looking for bad endings to otherwise good movies.
First one that always comes to mind is
The Truman Show: It should have ended with Truman saying "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night! " waving and exiting the soundstage. Roll credits. Instead we get a cut shot of Lauren/Sylvia all excited.![Down](/images/smilies/thumbsdown.gif)
Shawshank Redemption: Should have left the beach scene out. Too much payoff for me. You have this great buildup during the film, "will Andy get out?" This rollercoaster of emotions and we get that payoff, but once Red reads the note, it turns into Red's story. It should have left the viewer wanting more, using their own imagination to determine how it plays out, much like the novella.
and to a lesser extent
A.I.: Too many endings. Just kept stringing the viewer along.
Return of the King: Same thing.
Both of those though are still quite satisfactory, I just think they could have been trimmed up a bit.
So what movies do you think are great and then drop the ball in the last scene, final moments? I'm not talking From Dusk Til Dawn, where the movie switches stride halfway through. Just looking for bad endings to otherwise good movies.
First one that always comes to mind is
The Truman Show: It should have ended with Truman saying "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night! " waving and exiting the soundstage. Roll credits. Instead we get a cut shot of Lauren/Sylvia all excited.
![Down](/images/smilies/thumbsdown.gif)
Shawshank Redemption: Should have left the beach scene out. Too much payoff for me. You have this great buildup during the film, "will Andy get out?" This rollercoaster of emotions and we get that payoff, but once Red reads the note, it turns into Red's story. It should have left the viewer wanting more, using their own imagination to determine how it plays out, much like the novella.
and to a lesser extent
A.I.: Too many endings. Just kept stringing the viewer along.
Return of the King: Same thing.
Both of those though are still quite satisfactory, I just think they could have been trimmed up a bit.
#8
DVD Talk Hero
I'm one of the few that really likes the end to the The Shawshank Redemption I know most people would like it to end while Red is riding the bus with his "I hope..." speach, But I really enjoy the final payoff.
I'll throw in another Darabont film, The Green Mile It goes on forever after Coffey is
. As if that's not depressing enough it contiunes to get worse until the end.
I'll Also say Speed The whole subway thing at the end just seems so tacked on. I think I even remember on the comentary that the writer says it shouldn't be there. The movie ends with
I'll throw in another Darabont film, The Green Mile It goes on forever after Coffey is
Spoiler:
I'll Also say Speed The whole subway thing at the end just seems so tacked on. I think I even remember on the comentary that the writer says it shouldn't be there. The movie ends with
Spoiler:
#9
DVD Talk God
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Directionally Challenged (for DirecTV)
Posts: 130,583
Received 675 Likes
on
546 Posts
Originally Posted by GoldenJCJ
I'm one of the few that really likes the end to the The Shawshank Redemption I know most people would like it to end while Red is riding the bus with his "I hope..." speach, But I really enjoy the final payoff.
I love that ending too.
#12
Mystic River
#14
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: The Illustrious State of Fugue
Posts: 6,255
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Originally Posted by devilshalo
Se7en
![Confused](/images/smilies/confused.gif)
You're not trolling, are you??? Probably my favorite ending of the last 20 years.
I know del Torro publicly detests Mimic, but I love that movie.
The ending, however, was completely tacked on. Bugs that are supremely adaptable, walk the surface undisturbed, are as fast as lightning, procreate at an alarming rate, have already spread through the cities' various underground systems all find themselves confined to a single killing zone the second one of the characters gets an opportunity to kill every single one of them and live through it??!!!!! Him then emerging to be reunited with his love sporting a convenient new (formerly someone's son, now conveniently orphaned) addition to the family (since one of them was apparently infertile).
WTF?!?!?
I love the rest, but, "Thanks rewrite guy. I hope you get herpes!"
Plus! The fertile male dies shortly after mating and never even takes place in the development of the colony. Tacked on ending monster worthy of such classics as The Howling IV or Anaconda.
Otherwise: best giant bug movie...EVER!
Last edited by Kudama; 03-31-05 at 01:04 PM.
#15
DVD Talk Special Edition
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Alexandria, VA
Posts: 1,197
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jeepers Creepers!!!! i can't believe i forgot this.
seriously, it's like the writer was trying to get the script finished before lunch time and ended it just as soon as the pizza was delivered.
seriously, it's like the writer was trying to get the script finished before lunch time and ended it just as soon as the pizza was delivered.
#18
DVD Talk Hero
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Somewhere between Heaven and Hell
Posts: 34,802
Received 832 Likes
on
599 Posts
Originally Posted by Kudama
![Confused](/images/smilies/confused.gif)
You're not trolling, are you??? Probably my favorite ending of the last 20 years.
Spoiler:
Last edited by devilshalo; 03-31-05 at 01:26 PM.
#19
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Folks, can we at least be consistent with explaining why and what you didn't like about the ending? Just posting the title really doesn't inspire any discussion; it's just list-making.
#20
Moderator
Originally Posted by taa455
Castaway left me disappointed, but some like that ending.
For me, I'd have to say that I am let-down by the ending to one of my all time favorite's, An American Werewolf in London, which is too sudden and anticlimactic.
#21
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: H-Town, TX
Posts: 3,662
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Minority Report - should've kept that rumored last line about the number of murders committed the following year
Chasing Amy - the 2nd to last scene where Asslick proposes the threesome always bugged me
Return of the King - End already!!!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail - They get arrested?
Blazing Saddles - This ending still doesn't make sense to me.
Return of the Jedi(DVD Edition) - Hayden's ghost.
Chasing Amy - the 2nd to last scene where Asslick proposes the threesome always bugged me
Return of the King - End already!!!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail - They get arrested?
Blazing Saddles - This ending still doesn't make sense to me.
Return of the Jedi(DVD Edition) - Hayden's ghost.
#23
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: H-Town, TX
Posts: 3,662
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by PixyJunket
I wasn't aware of any characters named "Asslick" in Chasing Amy. Maybe you saw a different version?
![Wink](/images/smilies/wink.gif)