Films Ruined By Their Endings

[kidsick5000]

War Of The Worlds didn't need Tim Robbins to be cut. But yeah, just losing that little bit at the end makes all the difference.

Not a film, and pretty obvious, but LOST. BLOODY CUNTING LOST.

I didn't mind the finale itself, but that last season. What a waste.

[Mary is not amused]

Can you remember what was said?

Gah! I was hoping no one would ask.  You really would be better off listening to the commentary!

Del Toro was careful to leave hints throughout the film that supported both views: some suggesting the underworld being real; others that it's all in the girl's imagination.  My recollection is that del Toro stated this intended ambiguity extends to the ending of the film too.

When first watching it, the part that felt like a swift kick in the nuts to me was when the step dad, Captain Vidal, finally came upon Ofelia in the labyrinth

Spoiler alert

where she was talking to the faun, but he sees her talking to thin air

[close]

.  This really pissed me off because it seemed to ultimately state: all in the girl's head.  In the commentary, del Toro gets agitated at this point and says, no, Vidal would be simply incapable of

Spoiler alert

seeing the faun or perceiving anything of the underworld

[close]

.  At the time, that made me feel better about it.

It's a point that del Toro makes at times throughout the commentary.  I can't remember how he phrases it, but it's something along the lines of: the close-minded or materialistic would not be able to see the magical world, the open-minded or spiritual[nb] I hope he didn't use that word.[/nb] would.  Sort of, 'you see what you want to see', which of course extends to the audience.

Also, the 'Disneyfied' final scene in the fantasy world neatly book-ends with the start of the film, doesn't it?

---

So, errr, yeah, you should definitely listen to the commentary.  It's really rather good and del Toro has plenty say, which adds a lot to the film.  It's not a silence-for-twenty-minutes-followed-by-a-fact-about-lenses affair.  He highlights a lot of symbols that I'd missed (and, frankly, probably wouldn't have noticed in a hundred viewings), parallels between the fantasy world and the real (

Spoiler alert

dining room with a monster in it

[close]

) and plenty of other interesting tidbits.

[Jemble Fred]

I just remember every fantasy sequence being shot naturally, with the fawn popping up in Ofelia's world realistically, and the only actual frosty-focussed magical-looking jump cut was at the very end. Maybe I missed an earlier instance, but it spoiled it for me.

I certainly presumed that ambiguity was the aim – the 'it's all definitely in her head' theory outlined by thugler above just makes it sound boring. I didn't want any definite solution, I wanted the ambiguity to be maintained all the way through, and it felt fudged at the very last minute.

[Mary is not amused]

I just remember every fantasy sequence being shot naturally, with the fawn popping up in Ofelia's world realistically, and the only actual frosty-focussed magical-looking jump cut was at the very end. Maybe I missed an earlier instance, but it spoiled it for me.

Oh, the look of that scene is out of place, I agree.

I didn't want any definite solution, I wanted the ambiguity to be maintained all the way through, and it felt fudged at the very last minute.

No, no, no.  Ofelia could really have got back the the underworld and her mother and father; or it could have been the hallucinations of a girl dying a painful death.  I didn't think it wrecked the ambiguity, just looked a bit naff.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

Spoiler alert

Funnily enough, the recent US remake actually provided a semi-decent explanation, that left me a lot more satisfied. The series itself wasn't a fifth as good, mind.

[close]

What was it?  I'd love to know but don't want to watch through the bloody thing to find out.

[Custard]

What was it?  I'd love to know but don't want to watch through the bloody thing to find out.

From Wikipedia:

Spoiler alert

2 has afflicted 6 with a disease that will kill him, believing the threat of death will break him. 6 confronts 11-12 when he meets him at 909's grave, and then again at the Go Inside bar. But 11-12, unable to reconcile himself with his existence as a lie, proceeds to smother his dreaming mother, and hang himself. In New York, Michael is escorted to a car so he may meet "Mr. Curtis." Events in New York and The Village begin paralleling each other synchronously, and Michael is aware of it. 6's determination does not waver in the face of death, and 2 allows him to live. However, 2 intends to use 6's sense of nobility to finally control him. In New York, Curtis, who is 2, introduces Michael to Curtis' wife, who seems to be in a sort of waking dream, and reveals the purpose of the Village to 6. Curtis explains that the Village is a form of therapy used to help people that Summakor has identified, although without regard to those people's own desires. It exists within the mind of his wife, who 'discovered' the Village—a dream present in everyone at a level of consciousness deeper than the subconscious—and was its first inhabitant. Michael was drawn into the village because he worked so well at Summakor, finding people who needed 'help', and Curtis does not want Michael to resign. In The Village, at his son's funeral, 2 rallies The Villagers and tells them 6 is the only solution to the holes, while in New York, Curtis introduces Michael to Sara, the real world counterpart of 313, who is homeless and insane because of childhood trauma. Michael is overcome with his humanity and desire to help Sara and the villagers, and replaces Curtis as the head of Summakor. In The Village, 6 becomes the new 2, while 313 becomes the dreamer who keeps the Village in existence, freeing Curtis' wife from being the dreamer and allowing her to return fully to the real world. 6 begins planning how to 'do The Village right' and 313 sheds a tear, realizing that 2 has finally tricked 6 into accepting a number and The Village.

[close]

Not a great ending, but i prefered it heh.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

OK I admit it, I probably shouldn't have asked.  Now I have to watch the show to make sense of that.

[Custard]

Aha! My evil plan worked! ;-D

[QDRPHNC]

Sunshine.

Great film, own the Blu-ray and all, but wish it had the balls to end on the

Spoiler alert

supernatural/metaphysical

[close]

note it had been hinting it all along, instead of

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some guy who stared at the sun for 7 years and went mad

[close]

. Or maybe he

Spoiler alert

really was talking to God

[close]

.

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Fuck

[close]

knows.

[thugler]

because it seemed to ultimately state: all in the girl's head.  In commentary, del Toro gets agitated at this point and says, no, Vidal would be simply incapable of

Spoiler alert

seeing the faun or perceiving anything of the underworld

[close]

.  At the time, that made me feel better about it.

It's a point that del Toro makes at times throughout the commentary.  I can't remember how he phrases it, but it's something along the lines of: the close-minded or materialistic would not be able to see the magical world, the open-minded or spiritual[nb] I huse that word.[/nb] would

I hate this. It detracts from the horror of reality, the possibility of a magic fantasy world. I prefer the kick in the balls of it being revealed to be imaginary, and the child's imagination being destroyed.

Anything with a tedious 'it was all magic' ending, like a certain Christopher Nolan film, pisses me off. Still at least he said it was meant to be ambiguous. I'll keep believing my interpretation.

Nothing wrong with magic being in a film, but I'd rather it be consistently a part of it, rather than tossing it in to explain away things.

Still love the film.

[thugler]

Sunshine.

Great film, own the Blu-ray and all, but wish it had the balls to end on the

Spoiler alert

supernatural/metaphysical

[close]

note it had been hinting it all along, instead of

Spoiler alert

some guy who stared at the sun for 7 years and went mad

[close]

. Or maybe he

Spoiler alert

really was talking to God

[close]

.

Spoiler alert

Fuck

[close]

knows.

Maybe because it was a flashy mess of bits stolen from other films, that bit was very similar to event horizon. I didn't think it had any Depth whatsoever.

[Jones The Bond]

A recent example. Buried.  Ending was fucking appalling.  Won't say anymore though.  Till I learn how to do invistext.

[Beagle 2]

Taxi Driver. I have no idea what kind of message it was trying to get across, or what they thought the ridiculous conclusion to events would add to the mostly brilliant stuff that had gone before. I would have to say it's a terrible movie, just because of that ending.

[Ignatius_S]

The American version of Descent - where they cut out the last five minutes or so, which made no sense.

[Maybe Im Doing It Wrong]

Taxi Driver. I have no idea what kind of message it was trying to get across, or what they thought the ridiculous conclusion to events would add to the mostly brilliant stuff that had gone before. I would have to say it's a terrible movie, just because of that ending.

Um, isn't the ending ambiguious, a la King Of Comedy ie

Spoiler alert

it might all be in his head?

[close]

[Beagle 2]

Yes.

Edit -

Spoiler alert

It just feels all the way through like the gritty, increasing intensity of Bobby's performance and the whole tightening claustrophobia is really building to a massive terrifying conclusion, and then it just goes very very silly, imagined or not.

[close]

[waste of chops]

So, errr, yeah, you should definitely listen to the commentary.  It's really rather good and del Toro has plenty say, which adds a lot to the film.  It's not a silence-for-twenty-minutes-followed-by-a-fact-about-lenses affair.  He highlights a lot of symbols that I'd missed (and, frankly, probably wouldn't have noticed in a hundred viewings), parallels between the fantasy world and the real (

Spoiler alert

dining room with a monster in it

[close]

) and plenty of other interesting tidbits.

Del Toro does do excellent commentaries; he clearly prepares what he wants to say and delivers a shitload of insightful info instead of, as you say, getting caught up watching the film and then muttering some shit nobody really cares about.

(I don't know how much his infleunce extends to other DVD extras but the behind-the-scenes doc on Hellboy is pretty much the best I've ever seen.)

[Famous Mortimer]

I disagree with the Prisoner mention, the last episode is great. Makes you have to reach for an explanation, certainly.

My choice. Heat.

DeNiro gets away with it, but for the minor bit of revenge which he goes back for, the most obvious trap in film history. He's given no indication he's that sort of person. In fact, he explicitly states that if you can't walk away from something in 5 minutes, you shouldn't get involved with it in the first place. It just felt like the big Hollywood film, the good guy had to win, and blah blah fucking blah.

[sirhenry]

The whole final episode of The Prisoner i took as the writers openly pissing in the eyeballs of the mums of every viewer, too.

In the remake they managed the impressive feat of ruining it in the first scene. Our hero wanders off in a random direction in an empty desert, only to happen across the only human habitation within a hundred miles. Just as They'd planned.

Though I suppose it does prepare you for the Gorgonzola of logic holes that follows.

[Big Jack McBastard]

I love The Mist's ending.

Spoiler alert

Incredibly bleak and harsh, but it certainly stays with you!

[close]

Agreed.

Constatine should have been smoking at the end, fucking chewing gum.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

While all this discussion of Pan's Labyrinth is very interesting, it does remind me of Danny Baker's blunt dismissal of it as "Fraggle Rock for perverts". As far as succinct reviews go, it's one of my favourites.

[boki]

While all this discussion of Pan's Labyrinth is very interesting, it does remind me of Danny Baker's blunt dismissal of it as "Fraggle Rock for perverts". As far as succinct reviews go, it's one of my favourites.

It's certainly sold it to me!

[SteveDave]

Can't believe nobody's mentioned Unbreakable in this thread. Enjoyed it all until the last 2 minutes.

[Serge]

Funnily enough, I like the ending of 'Unbreakable', because it's the only one of Shyamalan's twist endings that I didn't guess before I saw the film!

Spoiler alert

Although I like the fact that there are subtle hints towards it - my favourite being Samuel L Jackson's character saying that Comic Book Villains always have oversized heads, hence his wild hair-do - surely Bruce Willis would have picked up on his 'touching people and finding out what they're up to' powers before the last 20 minutes of the film?

[close]

[El Unicornio, mang]

Taxi Driver. I have no idea what kind of message it was trying to get across, or what they thought the ridiculous conclusion to events would add to the mostly brilliant stuff that had gone before. I would have to say it's a terrible movie, just because of that ending.

I like the ending, it's basically a comment on how someone like Bickle can go on a murder rampage and be hailed a hero by the press/public. But after that he's in the car, looks at himself in the rearview mirror, and does a double take with that weird backwards sound, implying that it's only a matter of time before he does it again. (Scorsese stresses that this is the meaning of the ending too, so it's not open to interpretation)

Also, I hated the Mist ending. It was just horribly depressing and clearly done for shock value.

[Famous Mortimer]

Being John Malkovich

I'm not spoilering a decade-old film...but the treatment Cusack gets at the end, when it's not like he was that much worse a person than Cameron Diaz, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and retroactively ruins the rest of the film.

[Benjie Trufflesnort]

Being John Malkovich

I'm not spoilering a decade-old film...but the treatment Cusack gets at the end, when it's not like he was that much worse a person than Cameron Diaz, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and retroactively ruins the rest of the film.

Interesting. I'd have to watch it again, but it's surely about the fact he cannot resign himself to who he is, even when he's JM - he has to make JM someone else.

The other characters eventually realise they're not who they're trying to be and become themselves - he's permanently trapped unable to control himself as he couldn't give up controlling others.

[Tiny Poster]

BJM has one of my favourite endings! More haunting than any horror.

[Big Jack McBastard]

BJM has one of my favourite endings!

<smoothly reclines on silk sheets> You heard it here first folks. 

More haunting than any horror.

Harumph.

[tygerbug]

  I could make a list of films ruined by their end credits alone. Unbreakable comes to mind. There's a bunch of big cheesy end titles which tell us what happened afterward in comic book style, and it's all stupid crap which completely ruins the mood of the ending.

   Ronin, with De Niro, is also ruined by cheesy opening and end credits- ugly and red and defining Ronin.

   Some TV series have had alarmingly cheap looking beginning and ending titles, which hurts them. Party Down is what I'm thinking of at the moment.

   I hate the ending to Chinatown, because it goes against what the script is trying to do. Polanski was just on a kick that the entire world was horrible. His soul a dark black pit, he spills this out onstage, but it's completely fighting the script, and it's a shock, which is probably why others love it.