Do YOU sit through the credits?? Why? (1 Viewer)

[Tom Blizzard]

Hi,
I just returned from watching the new Harry Potter movie. By the end of the credits, I was the only one still in the theater. For many, many years now I have always watched the credits, ALL the credits. I have a feeling that many of you do the same. But why?
I enjoyed getting to see what happened to the Kenneth B. character, knowhatimean? Everyone else had left and of course they missed it. Not a BIG deal, but interesting. I also enjoy seeing locations, company names ,etc., etc. Those 5 minutes or so give me time to enjoy the music and think about the film. (is that statement corny or cheesy?)
What movies do you remember having "neat" things happen after and/or during the credits?
Regards, Tom B.

 

[David Norman]

Don't know in general, but I almost always do just in case they do something like Potter or sometimes just to marvel at the the sheer number of people involved. I was there along with about 3 college age girls who obviously knew something was coming up, but everybody else was gone.

I can't remember the specifics, but I remember some quite funny moments during or after the credits. I probably started during some of the original Monty Python movies where some of the credits were just plain bald faced funny.

Sometimes I'm looking for an actor's name, other times I just like annoying the cleanup crews who just can't wait for the credits to end before coming through like a tornado -- isn't this illegal to interrupt the movie, if not it ought to be. I think I've told some of them to be quiet when they were messing up the end credits song or just plain being loud for no reason. I'm old enough to be a curmudgeon now so might as well enjoy it.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I do sometimes. More often than not lately, I haven't. Simply, most film credits are monotonous and a pointless exercise to find out who the Gaffer was. If there is a good song, or the credits are done Zucker style, I'll stay. Otherwise, any info I need can be found at home, on the Net.

Bruce

 

[Peter McM]

Sometimes for the music, but normally because all those names--just to scan them with your eyes as they scroll by, that's the best tribute you could ever give all those people who worked hard behind the scenes of a motion picture. They just want to be acknowledged for that instant.

 

[Vickie_M]

Tom and David, I'm with you all the way. Unless it's a movie I hated (rare, because I tend not to see movies I think I'll hate) or my bladder's been busting for the last half hour (rare, because I don't drink much before or during the movie), I'll stay until the very end. I like to see surprises, such as the end of Harry Potter: COS. I also like to listen to the music (LOTR: FOTR or The Matrix or Solaris) and I often like to see the music credits and where something was filmed. Beyond all that, most especially for an excellent film, I do it out of respect for all the people who worked on it, big or small. Gaffers deserve respect too. I'd love to be one of them.
Jay and Silent Bob had a surprise at the end.
Wild Things had big (important!) portions of the plot interspersed with the end credits.

 

[Vickie_M]

Peter, yep!

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I'll watch the credits if they're done in an interesting fashion, I really liked the movie, I want to find something out about the movie (like an actor's name), or there's something after the credits. Otherwise, I don't watch them.

 

[RichardMA]

I sometimes sit through them to see who did the music
or if they were made in a certain area, just in case
they don't identify the city, etc. Also, to see if they
list bit-parters I think I recognize but who don't
get a listing at the front of a movie.

 

[Dan Brecher]

Combination of reasons. For me, a film begins with the studio logo, and end's with it two. The credits are part of a films running time and deserve to be watched, most especially if you enjoyed the film itself. I sit and watch the credits for everything however, even stuff I didn't enjoy. On subsequent theatrical and eventually home video viewings, I will still watch them right through again and again...

It's often nice to take in the names of those involved. It's hard to read them all in one viewing, but you do what you can. It's also indeed nice to reflect on the film by sitting there for a few minutes listening to the music as you read the many names that pass. I also enjoy looking for which locations are credited at the end, and even little things like the choice of camera equipment and film stock interest me...

It may be the filmmaker in me that forms my appreciation for the film credits, I am not sure. My family has always stayed, so even was I was six years old I was there happily watching the credits, never kicking up a fuss.

Those who helm a film project are often left so very greatful and proud of their cast and crew and I can completely identify with that because the growing list of names giving their all for my project are talented names I damn well want people to know come the close of the film. In that respect, I think the viewers with a more general all round appreciation of the hard work that goes into making films, even the bad ones, will stay and watch the credits. So many take what they see for granted with any art form, they couldn't care less even if the enjoyed a movie.

It's nice when a film reward's staying viewers sometimes, and I don't look to the Pixar blooper reels as examples, I find those rather distracting. Wild things as noted above is a wonderful example of a reward for staying. So many people are utterly clueless about those important moments. Great example that a film is never truly over until the last credit rolls up at the end.

Dan

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Wild Things disappointed me, as before seeing it I heard it was a good example of why everyone needs to stay through the credits, but it just had scenes placed in between credit screens; nothing after the final "boring" white-on-black credits at the end. Anyone who would leave before the scenes in Wild Things were done is REALLY impatient!
I never understood the logic of leaving during any part of the movie; the earliest I remember was Star Wars when people in the theater left but I wasn't even thinking about leaving until the entire thing was over.

 

[Bill McCamy]

As credit scrolls have grown longer, and longer, and then even longer, I have found myself alone in the theater, or at least with only the cleanup crew for company. As others have mentioned, the credit crawl provides an opportunity to determine locations used, and who catered lunch, and more importantly, to reflect upon the film just viewed.

I've gone with friends to a workday matinee (the advantages of not punching a clock) who were up and running as the credits began. It wasn't so bad for "Training Day," but I couldn't leave my second viewing of "The Fellowship of the Ring" until the credits were done.

Watching older movies, and thinking back to my childhood trips to the movies, I realize that once the title card said "The End." Period, fin. Everybody got up and left. At some point, either the unions or the moviemakers themselves decided we should know who provided the watches, toothpaste, and motor oil to the film crew. Most viewers just do not care about that information, and if they reflect, they do it once they are out of the theater. More would stay if the crawl was limited to the cast and an assurance that no reptiles were injured in the filming.

 

[Charles Ulysses]

Post Scripts are a reason to stay all the way through the credits. Although they are very rare. A few examples:
Young Sherlock Holmes' Moriarty origin.
Lethal Weapon 3's bomb arc.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Chain Reaction
Clerks - Film Fest Version

 

[David Echo]

Yes, always - at home and in the cinema. Why? Because films are always a group effort and this is really hammered home as you watch the end credits scroll by.

Besides I'm hoping some of the people whose names I read as they go by will return the favor someday and watch my name crawling up the screen.

Dave

 

[Richard Kim]

I almost always watch the entire end credits of movies, but one in particular really tried my patience, and that was Fellowship of the Ring: EE. Sitting through over 20 minutes of additional fan club member credits was just too much, and I just had to fastforward through all the names.

 

[Vickie_M]

I almost always watch the entire end credits of movies, but one in particular really tried my patience, and that was Fellowship of the Ring: EE. Sitting through over 20 minutes of additional fan club member credits was just too much, and I just had to fastforward through all the names.

Then you missed the best thing about that sequence, the MUSIC! It was composed and recorded specifically for that scroll, and picks up on several different themes of the movie. I'm not in that list, and don't know anyone who is, yet I've sat through the end credits several times. If the names try your patience, close your eyes, relax, and listen. Or not, if the film's music doesn't interest you. I'll listen an extra time for you.

 

[Richard Kim]

Alright, I'll listen to the music next time I watch the EE. It was getting late and I was about ready to sleep last time I saw the EE. I did notice the various actors and crew from the film in the fan club credits.

 

[Jon Sheedy]

I always watch the credits. Since my father worked in the film industry for many years, and I spent lots of time growing up on film sets, I'm always looking for familiar names. Most times I find a person's name whom my father might have worked with (or often, relatives of these people), sometimes I see people credited whom I've actually met, but most often, I just recognize names that I've heard my father speak of.

Jon

 

[TheLongshot]

Sometimes I like to sit there just to let people clear out. Usually, I like to sit through the actors at the very least, to see if there were any I missed in the film. When I see a film with a group of friends, sometimes we just sit there and talk about the film while it is going on.

Jason

 

[Neil Joseph]

YES. I like to experience the entire movie including the ending score. As well, I have seen too many people miss bloopers and extra material placed during the end credits.

 

[NickFoley]

I normally sit through the credits if the credit music is good or I really enjoyed a movie.