Top 50 Movie Endings of All Time (@filmcritics.com)

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Top 50 Movie Endings of All Time (@filmcritics.com)

Post by lucimay »

this looks interesting...thought i'd post it before i go off to check it out. 8)


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I've seen Chinatown a dozen times, and while it's a great movie, two specific things about it stick in my mind:
Jack Nicholson's bandaged nose and the final line of dialogue. Acting, directing, a great script… these are essential
to any film. But a classic ending, now that can really make a movie.

We spent literally months brainstorming and corralling the 50 films with the absolute best endings we've ever seen.
We're not talking about the last half hour. We mean the last minute of movie. You know, the ending.

Needless to say you can consider this entire article one monster SPOILER ALERT. Most of the films here are classics
that you've probably seen several times over. But if not, skip past the ones you haven't seen and put 'em in your
rental queue, otherwise you're going to ruin a whole lot of good films. Check out the flicks and we promise you won't
be disappointed when the credits roll. As always, apologies in advance for the ones we stupidly forgot (and we know
you'll be writing to let us know -- yes, Jaws, The Sixth Sense, Seven, we're sorry!).

- Christopher Null, Editor-in-Chief
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
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Post by Cail »

Excellent call on Carpenter's The Thing. I think that's prolly the best ending ever as it's so ambiguous. I'd put it way higher.

As I would with Blair Witch. It's the only horror movie that's ever really scared the Hell out of me.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
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Post by lucimay »

i thought it was a pretty good list but...truth...

i don't think it's my list. tho i haven't thought much about it yet


was American Beauty on there?

great ending.


i just thought it might provoke conversation amongst you flickies. :biggrin:
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
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Cail
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Post by Cail »

Ah yes, American Beauty....Really good ending. Gotta add Braveheart too.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
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Post by lucimay »

and Blue Velvet. 8O
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
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Post by Plissken »

The Usual Suspects. It's practically a cliche', but damn!
“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
-- James Madison

"If you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise they'll kill you." - George Bernard Shaw
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Post by lucimay »

i'm pretty sure Usual Suspects was on that list, Pliss.


and i have to add another one of my own favorite endings...

Withnail & I

Richard E Grant doing the bit from Hamlet...and walking away in the rain, looking, for all the world, like Charlie Chaplin's Tramp. oof. it gets me every time i see it.

Image
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
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Post by Worm of Despite »

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Lethal fight scenes, great dialogue ("I love you." "I know."), a traitorous Billy Dee Williams, and the biggest paternal twist in sci-fi history. And then the final shocker: Han Solo is still frozen, and he's not getting out 'til the next movie! What!? Empire turned George Lucas' universe on its ear, raising his franchise's bar to a height no Star Wars sequel or prequel managed to touch. -SO
A-freaking-men.

I like the fact they mentioned Rushmore and Memento; very satisfying endings. Same goes for The Godfather (that closing door, wow; what an emotional exclamation mark), Pulp Fiction... Wish they had listed one of the Kurosawa flicks, such as Rashomon or Seven Samurai.
A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Stanley Kubrick excised the last chapter of the book in order to give Clockwork a nihilistic ending that has Alex (Malcolm McDowell in the role of a lifetime) learning absolutely nothing from the last two hours of screen time, dreaming of an orgy while trapped in a hospital bed. It's a controversial choice that has had cineastes debating for decades, but it still packs a wallop. The book's ending, suffice it to say, would have hardly been cinematic. -CN
A-freaking-man again!!
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Post by Loredoctor »

How is the book's ending uncinematic? If anything, according to those critics, the ending is thematically at odds with the book (I disagree, however). But to suggest that ending to the book is uncinematic is strange to say the least. What is and isn't cinematic? Odd.
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Post by Marv »

Ummmmm.....I'll say this once and I'll say it real slow....

BUTCH FREAKIN' CASSIDY!!!
It'd take you a long time to blow up or shoot all the sheep in this country, but one diseased banana...could kill 'em all.

I didn't even know sheep ate bananas.
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Post by Brinn »

The sixth sense? Was that on there?
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Post by The Laughing Man »

not sure if this qualifies, but when I saw Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, when it debuted in the theatre ;) , at the end I sat there, dumbfounded and transfixed, sitting thru the credits, and when the screen finally went dark, I jumped up and started applauding, and hooting, and as the lights slowly came on........I was the only one left in the theatre! I had NO awareness that anybody had even moved a muscle, and the place was dead empty.....I'll never forget that.... :shifty:
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Post by lucimay »

Brinn wrote:The sixth sense? Was that on there?
As always, apologies in advance for the ones we stupidly forgot (and we know you'll be writing to let us know -- yes, Jaws, The Sixth Sense, Seven, we're sorry!).
from the intro
you're more advanced than a cockroach,
have you ever tried explaining yourself
to one of them?
~ alan bates, the mothman prophecies


i've had this with actors before, on the set,
where they get upset about the [size of my]
trailer, and i'm always like...take my trailer,
cause... i'm from Kentucky
and that's not what we brag about.
~ george clooney, inside the actor's studio


a straight edge for legends at
the fold - searching for our
lost cities of gold. burnt tar,
gravel pits. sixteen gears switch.
Haphazard Lucy strolls by.
~ dennis r wood ~
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Post by dlbpharmd »

37. Rocky (1976) - As Bill Conte's score soars in the background, a bloodied Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and a hatless Adrian (Talia Shire) finally proclaim their love for one another. And in the distant background, a ring announcer tells a frenzied crowd that our hero has actually lost the fight that held us captive for an entire final act. In one dramatic move, two shy nobodies find their hearts and nothing else matters. -NS
21. The Usual Suspects (1995) - For two hours, Kevin Spacey's spineless Verbal plays helpless lamb being lured to Chazz Palminteri's slaughter. But with the drop of a coffee cup, and the shaking off of a limp, the true identity of a criminal mastermind is revealed. -SO
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Post by [Syl] »

#2. Right on.

The same can be said about the translation as A Clockwork Orange, though. In the book, the buildings didn't come down (parafin never worked for me). Though it was incredibly amusing with the people in Heaven telling Joe (Jack/Tyler) that they're 'ready, sir.'
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Post by Worm of Despite »

Loremaster wrote:How is the book's ending uncinematic? If anything, according to those critics, the ending is thematically at odds with the book (I disagree, however). But to suggest that ending to the book is uncinematic is strange to say the least. What is and isn't cinematic? Odd.
Personally, I think the book's ending would've been a bit anticlimactic--to have a sequence right after showing a truly reformed Alex. Kubrick had the movie's rhythm leading up to an exclamation point (in this case, Alex dreaming of an orgy). To stop short of that high energy moment and tack on another sequence would've been extraneous--a false note.

Additionally, I don't think it would've added much to the film's overall statement; everything it wanted to say had already been well said. Had Speilberg directed A Clockwork Orange, I might have expected him to use a lighter, more accessible ending, but that's not Kubrick's sensibilities at all.

Yeah, you can make anything cinematic, but again, I don't think the book's ending would have been congruous with the tone Kurbrick was going for. He's the type who lets questions go unanswered, keeps things from resolving. He's all about keeping the mystery of his pictures long after they've been watched.
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Post by Plissken »

The book is more about language than image - I suppose that would be the reason for calling it uncinematic. As for the ending, it depends on which version of the book you read. In the original version (FINALLY released in the US just a few years ago!), the story continues past the end of the movie, until Alex runs into the guy who was the original Droog leader, who has settled down, gotten a wife and a job, etc - and this inspires Alex to reform himself, in the natural way: By growing up.

For us aging punkers, this feels like a bit of the old betrayal - 'till Father Chronos himself lays his spidery digits 'pon our pates, and we begin to viddy that there is something to a life that centers around dishing up a fine plate of eggy-weggies for the lil' carpet-chewers at each new days dawn, Oh, my brothers...
“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
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"If you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise they'll kill you." - George Bernard Shaw
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Post by Worm of Despite »

No way, Plissken! Not you too! Guess I'll be drinking at the Korova Milk Bar alone tonight. :cry:
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Post by Plissken »

Were we to meet there, it'd be Horrorshow deluxe...

Heh.
“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
-- James Madison

"If you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh. Otherwise they'll kill you." - George Bernard Shaw
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Post by The Laughing Man »

Alex: There was nothing I hated more than to see a filthy old drunkie, a-howling away at the filthy songs of his fathers and going blurp blurp in between as if it were a filthy old orchestra in his stinking rotten guts. I could never stand to see anyone like that, especially when they were old like this one was.
lets get 'em, droogs!
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