Who sticks around for the end credits? (1 Viewer)

[Steve Christou]

This is the 4th or 5th incarnation of this particular topic, my usual excuse is it depends on the company, if I have some film buff friends who want to sit thru the credits I don't mind, but we usually talk about the movie rather than make mental notes on each name that pops up.

If I'm with my girlfriend than its get up and go as soon as the first credit appears, she even nudges me to get up in case we waste too much precious time watching those pesky credits come up. I'll try taking my time getting up as slowly as possible but she'll give me that 'move your bloody arse the films finished everyones leaving' look and I'm up and on my way out.

If I'm on my own I'll stay up 'only' if I really enjoyed the movie, or the end credit music is worth listening too (very rarely nowadays), or there are outtakes, or if I'm curious to see who played that woman in red.

I certainly don't feel obligated to stay and watch every bit of credit, it's not in my contract.

 

[MatthewA]

I stay. I pay to watch the entire movie, so I watch the ENTIRE movie.

 

[Steve Christou]

Yeah well I pay to watch the movie right up to when the end credits appear, than I flip a coin.

 

[MartinTeller]

I love this insistence that somehow the credits constitute part of the movie. No less than three people have seen fit to capitalize "ENTIRE" as if the rest of us are missing out if we don't stick around to see who the catering company was. Do you also read the copyright pages and indexes of every book? If not, then you're not reading the ENTIRE book, are you?

Unless the credits somehow tie in to the point of the film (and usually they don't) they are not part of the movie.

 

[John Watson]

What Martin said (I obviously disagree with Robert).

The excessive crediting of trivial participations is an attempt to turn art or business into a kindergarten feelgood excercise.

I blame the unions, "the little people", political correctness, etc.

So, like the vast majority of the population, I leave before (or hit the stop button), unless I want to get a particular song-title or something like that.

 

[Ricardo C]

I never stay for the credits at the local theaters (which tend to cut them out anyway), and rarely watch them at home, unless there's something to watch out for (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Matrix Reloaded, FOTR during its final weeks in theaters, etc.) For me, the movie ends when the storyline does, period.

 

[Chris Dias]

Count me in as someone who ALWAYS watches all the credits. And I do it for all of the reasons already mentioned, music, surprises, locations, and it's the least I can do for the poor guy who's name is at the very end.

And some other surprises that haven't been mentioned yet that I can remember:

LA Confidential
K-Pax (short but significant)
Spider-Man
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

I Know I can think of a lot more but they're not coming to me right now.

 

[David Rogers]

If you want to stay and read the credit scroll, hey! More power to you.

But honestly, it strikes me as seriously silly.

If you want to know about the film, look it up on IMDB. There you can get an accurate list and can study it without the scroll. You can cross reference the people involved to see their prior or future project (of course, if you're possessed with an eidtic memory then nah-nah-nah), not miss anyone, have the total package available. That’s what computers are good for, storing and managing information. IMDB stores and manages it for me so I can further my enjoyment of movies.

Any film I seriously wish to know more about, IMDB is my friend. Has been since the late 90s. Parties I used to go to had long and frustrating conversations about "who was that guy in that thing that we all almost saw that one time"; these changed to "ah, he's that guy, and did this too, and that other thing we liked".

Staying for the credits doesn't make one a better or more complete movie goer. It's just a different way to go. It does have the advantage of avoiding the crowds around the exits and in the restrooms, but otherwise is just a thing to do.

Placing cute little bits at the end of the credits is something I don't quite get. Even if you do stay and read the credits, are the hundreds, sometimes thousands, of names going to stick in your head five minutes later? So why force someone to read them off a scroll, after having sat for 2-3 hours, needing to perhaps hit the bathroom or grab a smoke or stretch? It really just works out as a favor to fans, who know to sit around on their butts for another five minutes while the scroll goes by waiting for the extra 15seconds of whatever. Mundanes miss them, die hards know ahead of time and might want to wait.

 

[Raasean Asaad]

I like to watch the credits, I did some work for Carolco and DEG for a few summers between semesters in college, so I like to see if i see any old friends as well as the cast, crew and location information. It also burns me up when I see a movie on TV and they compress or speed-scroll through the credits.

 

[Henry Gale]

For me, the movie ends when the storyline does, period.

Yes, one more reason why.

The story line for Citizen Ruth ends after the credits.

 

[John Watson]

A bit of incidental music, something for the mother of the crew's driver, in the kind of credits were talking about, that's ok.

But putting an important plot feature in that morass? It's like hiding Easter Eggs in a "landfill" site

 

[Steve Christou]

Sometimes filmmakers reward people who stay up for the credits,
for instance Daredevil...

Bullseye survived his encounter with DD


Wild Things has all the conspirators revealed via flashbacks during the end credits.

Lethal Weapon 3 has an extra bit of explosive fun after the end credits.

Finding Nemo has a fishy surprise at the very end.

 

[Eric Peterson]

I nearly always stay for the complete credits. I've been this way since I was a young child and don't know why. I can clearly remember telling my dad to not change the channel because the show wasn't over as the credits were rolling.

My reasons in approximate order of importance

1. I feel that it is a show of respect for the countless crew members.
2. More often than not, I want to see a particular song title.
3. Listen to the music over the credits.
4. See if there are any outtakes, or bonus material, etc..
5. What's the Rush? I've just sat for 2-3 hours, what's another 2-3 minutes? I would rather spend 2-3 minutes sitting in the theater than sitting in my car!!
6. Wait for the crowd. There are few worse tortures in the world than moving along like cattle while trying to exit a facility. The bathrooms are busy, traffic is worse.[/list=1]
   
   If I'm at a subsequent viewing, I may decide to leave before the credits are over, but often I'll stay even then. At home, I usually will let the credits run, but don't necessarily sit and watch the entire thing now.
   
   I'm not going to knock others for not staying, it's each person's perrogative. All I ask is please respect the other people that do enjoy watching the credits. I'm absolutely amazed at the callous assholes that will stand up in front of me and carry on a full consversation, while they put on their coats. The entire time, I'm moving my head around trying to view the screen and many times these people even make eye contact with me and still refuse to move. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
   
   For myself and many others, the movie is not over until the Film Stock and Sound Recording images are on the screen and it's no longer scrolling. Please respect that!

 

[Brad Porter]

I always stay through the credits, because I almost always want to see:

The cast list (Who was that guy?)
The performers on the soundtrack (That voice sounded familiar...)
and the shooting locations (Montreal again!?)

Sure you can get this information from IMDB, but if I sit there passively for four freakin' minutes they'll show it to me right away!

I also agree that some of the better music pieces are saved for the end. My final reason, why rush out and play bumper cars in the parking lot when you can stay through the credits, stroll out leisurely, and get away later when the lot has been emptied. If you're in that much of a hurry, maybe you shouldn't have been at the movies in the first place.

To each his own, just please don't stand up in front of me while I'm trying to to see the one piece of information in the credits that I was really interested in.

Brad

 

[Ricardo C]

Yes, one more reason why.

The story line for Citizen Ruth ends after the credits.

I did say I'd sit through them if I've been alerted to the fact that something aside from the standard credits takes place.

That's where you come in

 

[Carlo_M]

I have a personal tradition; if I really enjoy the film, I stay for all the credits. To me, its like a curtain call for all the folks that made the film. I like to show them my appreciation by watching the credits.

This comes close to my personal stance as well. If I really enjoyed the film, or if I know there's something extra at the end (I usually don't watch on opening night so I've heard in advance if there's a reason to stay, ala Matrix Rev or Pirates of the Caribbean).

I will usually stay through the main credits (actors, main staff like Director, DP, etc.)

However I have been around a ton of movie shoots (our campus is used a lot in movies) and there are a ton of guys who seemingly just stand around doing nothing. Now I know that's not fair, they're probably doing something while I'm not watching, but I remember quite a few guys just diddling around not doing anything seemingly important. In the old days, end credits used to be a few minutes (and in the older days there were no end credits) with a hundred or so important names. Now they put the brother-of-the-guy-who-gets-coffee-for-the-hairdresser-of-the-dog-who-is-in-the-movie-for-5-seconds in the credits. Often I won't stay for his/her name.

 

[susanna]

A little ashamed to admit, only once--Platoon. Only because I was so stunned I couldn't get up.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

If you're in that much of a hurry, maybe you shouldn't have been at the movies in the first place.

Amen to that! BTW if you think reading credits is a waste of time, why are you reading this thread?

 

[StevenA]

BTW if you think reading credits is a waste of time, why are you reading this thread?

 

[David Rogers]

Because I can read it from my computer.

Snootch to the Nooch