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View Full Version : Great Endings in Film? (Spoilers galore)



Pathos
02-25-2010, 03:05 AM
Recently found myself in a conversation discussing favourite last scenes or endings in film. Stuff like Shawshank, Empire Strikes Back and The Usual Suspects sprang immediately to mind... as well as: CRAPPY movies with great final moments!!!

It goes without saying that this post/thread will be filled with SPOILERS.

The One (2001)
The title here is a clear reference to the number of good scenes in the film: The evil Jet Li (Yu-Law) is captured and transported to a prison colony, where we last see him atop a pyramid kicking the crap out of a rising horde of crazy-as-him types while shouting, "I am Yu-Law! I am nobody's bitch! You are mine!" Awesome. My wet dreams are a lot like this now. Except the horde are entirely women and entirely naked, and suddenly I am everybody's bitch! Mmm, excuse me a minute, I need to take a quick nap... [gets napkins ready]

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
This flick is so Riddickulous (sorry) that it actually sits amongst my guilty pleasures. Regardless, it does sport one terrific ending, with Mr. Riddick defeating the tiresome lead villain and assuming his mantle and throne with an army of 'Legion Vast' super-soldiers kneeling before him, clearly confusing him with Conan! Wow. I make it a point to shut my eyes and remember this scene whenever anyone brings up The Pacifier. [nervous twitch]

Escape from L.A. (1996)
A satire more on the preceeding bloody film than anything else, taken in that vein this one is actually pretty decent. Well, aside perhaps for the bizarre surfing scene. I mean, it even has that cool asian dude from Die Hard with the Fu-Manchu mustache who dies in every film! (http://www.filmdope.com/Gallery/ActorsL/182-5002.gif) Including this one. Anyhoo, the finale sees anti-hero Snake fooling the freakin' president and his cronies (via the holographic tradition of Total Recall) and destroying the worlds electronics with a handy remote, effectively "turning off the Earth". Even the bad guys here weren't ballsy enough to go that far! As if this coolness were somehow insufficient, he then lights up a cigarette, glances down at the camera and happily welcomes us to the Plissken version of the human race. F yeah man! I loved this ending so much I STILL wear my commemorative Snake Plissken eye patch every other day! Everyone at work just thinks I'm a pirate but screw those guys.

Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
So in the finale Jet Li immobilizes the villain (a wonderfully over the top Tchéky Karyo) with an acupuncture needle to the base of his neck. Our antagonist proceeds to awkwardly die, but not before Jet spares a moment or two to blather on and on about how this secret sweet spot is called the Kiss of the Dragon and is terribly forbidden and such. So what is our villains spluttered, dying-breath response? "Kiss... MY ASS!" Bwahaha! I'm sorry, but despite the fact that he then topples over and dies, I'm putting this one down as a win for the bad guy.

Tooth Fairy (2010)
Among the greatest endings in film history, is the final scene here... where the credits rolled. It was over. It was finally over! We had made it. We were alive! Everyone in my cinema cheered and hollered and leaped up for some serious hugging. All four of us. There may even have been an ass grab, but we were so relieved that no one cared. NO ONE CARED! In the distance, a toilet symbolically flushed and we cheered some more. Once the staff had unlocked the doors and set us free, we moved solemnly into the foyer and set fire to the over-sized cardboard standee of The Rock, praying that he would burn in hell... but in our hearts we knew that hell would not have him!

He Is Legend
02-25-2010, 05:44 AM
Requiem for a dream and Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind of course !

SASQUATCH
02-28-2010, 06:21 AM
I hope you went to the tooth fairy with an 8-yr old daughter/niece. If not, what drug made you open your wallet and pay for tickets to go see that?

LMAO

SASQUATCH
02-28-2010, 06:39 AM
The one that comes to mind is Spartacus the last sense with Kirk Douglas and many wonderful actors in that movie. The last scene is when he is crucified and sees his wife before he died and his son and when she would say to him that his son was free and lift the child up to him for him to see his son that he never got a chance to see because she gave birth during the big final battle against Roman army. She would say to him he is free not a slave but free. The child and his wife ride off to the sun set as free people and were given a second chance to live and no longer as slaves.

That scene until his day it still touches me so much because he only ever wanted was to be free and live a peaceful life.

Stanly Kubrick was the director of this movie and with Kirk Douglas, many wonderful actors were on that movie and I can bit you all that you will all enjoy this classical film, Released in 1960.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#v=AOWZpu8vS0c&feature=related

Pathos
03-06-2010, 06:32 AM
Eternal Sunshine is indeed every little kind of awesome (one of those I appreciate a little more each time I see it), ditto Spartacus, and as for The Sting... damn, I've had that sucker sitting here in Special Edition glory for years and it's still in the damn plastic wrapper! And I call myself a Newman fan. Bah! [arranges for someone to spit in my face and make me eat a bunch of eggs]


I hope you went to the tooth fairy with an 8-yr old daughter/niece. If not, what drug made you open your wallet and pay for tickets to go see that?
Haha! There was no kid involved... [sheepish] And worse still there were only 3 of us in the entire bloody screening, one of which was a child who had to be hospitalized on exit. In my defense, I had quite literally seen EVERYTHING else that was showing. Here in lowly Sydney we get most everything laaaaaate, so between the net, press screenings and a boatload of screeners themselves (all happy residuals from my old line of work), I am more often than not way ahead of the local cinemaplex. Well, okay, so I hadn't seen Valentine's Day either. But, as a man with functioning genitalia, I think I made the right decision.

More films with great endings:

Frailty (2001)
Once upon a time Matthew McConaughey could be taken seriously! You know, back when he actually owned a t-shirt. He was really great here, albeit in a smallish role. What this movie also tells us is that Bill Paxton needs to direct a whole lot more - both this and Greatest Game Ever Played were rather good.

Drag me to Hell (2009)
Great final scene! Enough for me to forget what Raimi did with Spiderman 3? Ahahaha... NO. Still, now that he has turned down Spidey 4: The New Fiasco, forgiveness is right around the corner!

REC (2007)
Satisfyingly gripping finale to a progressively tense film. The solid sequel also sports a great ending, and with a third on the way, this is one film series that makes me proud to eat human flesh.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Three-way standoff, baby! How do you measure up to that? Well, with evident difficulty, as it's been pretty much downhill for every western ever made since this one. (Although the Korean film 'The Good, the Bad, the Weird' was a cool homage/send up, and a top film period - I totally need to watch that one again.)

Cop (1988)
So the defeated bad guy is lying there telling our hero cop that he can't hurt him and has to take him in.... cue our hero's response: "The good news is you're right - I'm a cop and I've gotta take you in. The bad news is I've been suspended and I don't give a f*ck. " Then boom! Blows him away with his shotty and we cut immediately to credits. YEAH! One of my all time favourite endings to a film that had until this point been merely perfunctory. Rumour has it this kick ass final moment wasn't even in the script; it was an "ad-lib" from an armed and hungover James Woods.

Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior (1981)
Forget Benny Hill or Mr. Holland, THIS is how you do a chase scene to end your opus! [goes feral and throws a boomerang at your head]

Fist of Legend (1994)
12+ friggin minutes of well choreographed bliss! And that's just my squeals and squirms during the final sequence. I consider this the greatest martial arts flick ever put to celluloid. Apparently Donnie Yen is doing yet another remake of this sorta famous tale. Hoorah! Donnie has a good track record of late, so I expect to be flabber and possibly gasted.

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969)
The greatest freeze frame ending in the history of film? You better believe it! For a great example on how to get it completely and utterly wrong, refer to the end of the otherwise excellent Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Wicker Man (1973)
Original = great ending. Remake = great drinking game (pick your reason, but they will all involve Nic Cage punching things, usually women). HOWDITGETBURRRRNED (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyXl2RMZ0Po)?!

Resident Evil (2002)
This flick is iffy at best (despite the killer soundtrack), but that final scene? Showed mucho promise. I wanted to see THAT movie! Pity all we got was the middle finger of Resident Evil Apocalypse.

Bingo
03-07-2010, 02:03 PM
I thought the ending for The Usual Suspects was fantastic.

Not just for the big reveal, which was great but because of the absolute end. The screen goes black and you just hear:

"And like that...<poof sound> ... he was gone..."

Bingo
03-07-2010, 02:03 PM
The Nick Cage remake of Wicker Man had a GREAT ending!!

I say that because once it finally ended, I was all like "Great! Can we go now?"

FUS1ON
03-07-2010, 07:57 PM
^^^ :Oh_Snap: