Movie Endings you hate and why (1 Viewer)

[Joseph Young]

I've become the HTF's resident Lars Von Trier basher, so why stop now?

[rant]Breaking the Waves[/rant]:

She spends the entire film sacrificing herself, giving herself away due to the fact that her husband is irredeemably paralyzed from the neck down. The moment her painful agony finally subsides (cause she's dead), her husband miraculously recovers all of his health. Either her 'sacrifice' brought him back to life, which in the context of the film is pointless and masogynistic -- or it's a simple twist of fate timed just perfectly to summon a collective gasp of ironic sorrow from the audience.

Either way you look at it, it's insulting. And I would have no problem with it were there some believability, truth, or dramatic explanation for it in the context of the plot and characters up until that point. But it just feels inserted artificially. The last shot of pealing Church Bells tolling high up in the sky to signal she 'earned her wings' by dutifully obeying her husband, it's nauseatingly false.

Joseph

 

[Chris]

Chris, I believe there were a couple of instances in Godzilla where he blew fire from his breat. Still not a good movie.

 

[Terrell]

I'm almost ashamed I know this, but it was both a he and a she. It was both, similar to frogs. I think that was the case. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The first breath happened once or twice I believe. Once during the car chase finally.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Simon Massey said:

close[/I]]

I'll leave it to you to decide which of these is less of a stretch.



In any event, whichever of these interpretations comes nearer to the author creators' intentions, the weepiness-maudlinism of the ending---whether we're supposed to feel sad or glad for David (or even, as I think more likely, both at once)---, in my opinion, the blame/credit falls to Spielberg, NOT Kubrick, whose movies---the ones I've seen at least (all his "genre" films)---no matter how they end, don't have that kind of "feel" attached to them, ambiguous though they may be, not even the lugubrious-comedic Dr. Strangelove, . . .





As A.I. went on and on---don't get me wrong. I like long movies, if the pay-off is good and follows from what has gone before---I thought at points "Is this the end?" "Is this the end?" "Is this the end?"



What a gas if Spielberg had had the guts to let the movie end with the android trapped FOREVER underwater staring at his image of the "blue fairy". I actually was about to praise Spielberg for giving us this "downer" ending, but, nooooo .. . It went on further into (perhaps) unwise territory. A great technical movie, but, alas, a missed opportunity.

 

[James Fucich]

Adam and Chris,

Now that were talking about the many ID4 plot holes and inconsistencies. You don't know how much I wanted this movie to be good! It could have been so much more! Especially at the end. The REAL nagging question, although I can't take anything away from your excellent questions/observations, is...How the hell could a tactical nuclear weapon destroy with one blast, an entire mother ship said to be 500kilometers wide and 1/4 the mass of the moon? Sure it would do some damage, but c'mon am I missing something here! In addition, you know damn well there's gonna be alot of SH%$#T hit the ground after it blows up.

Other movies with stupid endings:

Sphere

Hollow Man

End of Days

Godzilla (Roland Emmerich)

JP III (Very bad ending! What a rip-off!)

The Pledge

 

[Raymond Johnson]

I thought the girl in The Crying Game was still beautiful regardless
As a extremely beautiful transsexual friend of mine said when i mentioned the last comment on the topic...."beauty is beauty no matter what is or isn't between the legs"
So true
My pics for endings that just weren't that good...and this does contain spoilers..so don't read on if you don't want them ruined...sorry i don't know how to use/do the spoiler tag:frowning:
Less Than Zero: It should've ended in the desert with that one shot far away & slowly zooms in on them in Clay's car,realising Julian is dead. That shot was perfect & powerful...but nope......they had to cut to an extra scene with Clay & Blair in a cemetary after his funeral i assume talking about Julian as a kid,trying to be sad ect.....but comes off as corny. Then they throw in Blair's "I'm going with you" for a somewhat i assume "happy" ending. Yet for anyone who's read the book(required reading!)....not only is the movie a extremly loose adaption of it,Blair never left LA & it just ended & i doubt they went on to happy lives,but it's left open & packs a wallop.
Friday the 13th part 3- The final dream sequence "suprise" as used in the first two. It's good up until the ultra-cheesy Mrs. Voorhee's(head attached!) pops up & pulls Chris under.....sure Jasons splash of that was scary in the original,but this was just overdone & ughh. The scene was tense though up until that with Jason seen in the barn window & the busting out of the door.......this is also one of the scariest Jasons for the very reason that the person who plays him truly makes him insane & a person who seems to enjoys his work & is having fun at it!
The original version seems like it's far better + original(!) with Chris,thinking she made it.....literally loosing her head at the hands of Jason! Unfortunatly it was cut & changed for some reason & to me(and the fans i'm sure),it was a mistake:frowning:
The Shawshank Redemption: Great movie.....but it should've ended sooner. The two places that would've been perfect + i thought it'd end at was the shot of Andy driving along the coast and then the camera pans out into the ocean....or the scene with Red on the bus going to look for Andy & his "final" narration(if it ended there)....very sad,powerful & hopeful. But we get that last shot on the beach & it's obvious they found each other. Sure it's only a few seconds + all that they've been through,they deserve happiness.....but if it ended with Red on the bus. It'd really leave your imagination going & wondering/wishing to know what happen.

 

[Simon Massey]

Rex, Re AI

Quote "the stick men from outer space"

Why would aliens just appear in the film for no reason whatsoever. The film had nothing to do with aliens.

I quote this from Steven Spielberg : "The ending has elicited a torrent of misunderstanding with, for example, critics and audiences misconstruing the creatures as aliens. That's the liability of my name on the picture. I am so identified with aliens. They are the stasis of artificial intelligence, the point of perfection of robots. They've created themselves and continued to procreate because mankind is gone from the face of the planet"

And Kathleen Kennedy : "I can't tell you how much thought went into the discussion of what this evolution might be, and what these robots might look like. And to think that no-one picked up on that is distressing."

 

[Luis Esp]

I remember watching "Switch" with Ellen Barkin. The film was somewhat entertaining, but near the last 30 minutes of the film you'd believe it was written by a completely different writer.

My worst movie ending, no wait, worst movie experience is The Colour of Night with Bruce Willis.

First what a waste of my time and Jane March's time. Secondly, I could smell that ending like week old toe jam! That's how bad it was!

Other bad movies endings...anything starring Sharon Stone. Anyone remember "Sliver"? Yes dear, we won't be watching anymore.

 

[Holadem]

Re: Shawshank Redemption: My second fav movie. There is nothing wrong with feeling good once in a while, I absolutely love the ending. It could have been much worse, they could have actually said something, etc... instead the camera pulls away, we see their hug from far away... with the ocean on the left... perfect.

--

Holadem - my opinion, obviously.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I didn't hate it...just didn't really understand it. Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Either I missed the symbolism...or it was badly pulled off. But, I was miffed at what the ending meant.
I'm still trying to find out why the ending to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is considered bad. Maybe it's me, but I thought it was a PERFECT ending.
Bruce

 

[Matt Stone]

I also had no problem whatsoever with CTHD...great film, great ending.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Bruce, I take it to mean that Hedwig is finally "healed" ala the song "Origin of Love", the nudity symbolizing newness or rebirth into the world. Whether or not he will now seek his perfect match or that he no longer has that need to find his "other half" is probably a bit up to interpretation.

I think he is whole and independent finally.

 

[James D S]

Cable Guy
I think they dropped the ball on the ending to Cable Guy.
Had Chip died after falling onto the dish the movie would have been poignant. End it with everybody's TVs going out at that exact moment and fade to black after the man picks up the book to read. Might have been a powerful moment.
As it stands - the movie does nothing.
...other than entertain.
But it could have been so much better, IMO.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Simon Massey said:

"They [men] are afraid of us because when the end comes we're all that will be left."

needed to span a narrative that takes place over more than 2000 years.
Changes not a thing as to my other comments, though. If anything it re-inforces that the sentimental mood of the end is pure Spielberg, not Kubrick.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Enemy at the Gates
Totally lame and against the spirit and the reality of what these two snipers were up against.
I fully appreciate this attempt to base a war drama on a conflict not based around US or British forces. Even more daring in that before you walk in over 98% of the viewers have no idea when the battle took place, where, what nations and armies fought each other, for what reason, etc.
So we can dispense with a lot of the patriotic support a film maker can engender in more traditional war films. That said, the film seemded to evoke the look, feel, and savagery of the conflict. The use of snipers in warefare has always been controversial, so why not add this layer to the film that already has a big uphill climb?
The snipers, Russian Vassili and German Major Konig are two Gladiators who are pitted against each other in a game of ultimate chess. Stealt, concealment, subterfuge, human psychology are all factors the sniper deals with to complete his horrific task. As the two antogonists maneuver to gain minute advantages the audience knows that only one will walk away. Time to cue up the theme music from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and root for the Russian who is patriotically defending is homeland against the super race and supper sniper Major Knonig. We learn that the Russians are every bit the equal to the Germans through the success of their Sniper. We are also lead to believe that the success of one of these snipers will be the result of application of the deadly skills that they have learned and honed.
My understanding is that during the actual battle, Vassili could not get a clear shot on Konig. After all of their efforts, Vassili guesed that Konig was hiding under a piece of metal. He took a shot at the metal and got Konig. The fate of the sniper was determined by the skills employed by both combatants.

 

[Anthony_D]

jeepers creepers....nothing was resolved!!!

 

[Rex Bachmann]

jeepers creepers....nothing was resolved!!!

Universal Studio Exec: "Be it resolved: Jeepers Creepers II: Where'd you get those Peepers? will go into production as soon as we total the box office, video sell-through and rental, and broadcast and cable deal receipts from the (un)original. A 'no-brainer.'"
Need one say more?

 

[Simon Massey]

Rex Bachmann - Re AI
I posted on a new thread, on AI, since this thread isn't really just about that
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=43751

 

[DonMac]

Chris wrote:

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[Dennis Nicholls]

Even more daring in that before you walk in over 98% of the viewers have no idea when the battle took place, where, what nations and armies fought each other, for what reason, etc.