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[TOM f'N CRUISE]

i <3 messed up ending where most or all of the main casts die.

 

[Strike]

Cast Away

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I don't know the extent to which I would call it a comedy. More of an art movie that happens to have some comedy in it (the parts with Winston and the rednecks). For what it's worth I think the movie has a point, but it's definitely not to make you laugh.

Winston was good, but I felt the bit with the rednecks was all too brief. I did like how the receptionist chick immediately hated him when he called on that pet therapist lady.

I guess I went into it with false expectations. The quotes on the DVD case led me to believe it was a comedy :|

EDIT: Atonement and Cast Away both had superb endings like this <3

 

[weepy]

i <3 messed up ending where most or all of the main casts die.

Check out "O". It's an alright movie, plus if you don't like the characters, most of them bite it in the end anyways :lol

 

[Chris R]

Memento (just saw it so I'll post it)

 

[ntropy]

Glory.

 

[Donos]

Se7en struck me hard the first time.
The Departed was really unexpected.

There are some more but i can't remember them atm.

 

[UraMallas]

I thought this was going to be a massage parlor tale, gone awry. Disappointment total.

However, I also like movies that leave you on a darker note. The one thing that bugged me about the Lord of the Rings movies was that there wasn't enough death in the main character group.

 

[Donos]

I thought this was going to be a massage parlor tale, gone awry. Disappointment total.

However, I also like movies that leave you on a darker note. The one thing that bugged me about the Lord of the Rings movies was that there wasn't enough death in the main character group.

Try to imagine the Nerd Rage if they had changed the original book story in such a way (kill one of the hobbits or something else)

Is there well-known book>movie adaptation where they did this? I mean kill someone in the movie who didn't die in the book ?

 

[BarrelMakingPenguin]

Try to imagine the Nerd Rage if they had changed the original book story in such a way (kill one of the hobbits or something else)

Is there well-known book>movie adaptation where they did this? I mean kill someone in the movie who didn't die in the book ?

It wasn't exactly the way that you described but the Fight Club ending changed pretty significantly...for the better in my opinion.

 

[UraMallas]

Try to imagine the Nerd Rage if they had changed the original book story in such a way (kill one of the hobbits or something else)

Is there well-known book>movie adaptation where they did this? I mean kill someone in the movie who didn't die in the book ?

I agree but I had never read the books and was hoping that was the way the story would go.

 

[ChackanKun]

Darkness was the first one that popped in my head, dunno why.

Of course horror movies rarely have happy endings lol

So I might say....My Sweet November?

 

[CiSTM]

The Departed hands down.

It kinda had lame ending imo.

Spoiler

In the end bad guy got what he deserved.

while in the orginal version

Spoiler

bad guy survived and showed that crime does pay.

So in it's own gloomy way it still had typical hollywood ending.

 

[xabre]

I kind of like ironic, 'the good guys are fucked' endings, sort of outer limits style. Too bad these are quite rare.

 

[CiSTM]

I kind of like ironic, 'the good guys are fucked' endings, sort of outer limits style. Too bad these are quite rare.

Outer limits was so awesome. You could almost every time bet on the bad guys :lol

 

[ShinoguTakeruKoeru]

Did anybody else watch "A Face in the Crowd" starring Andy Griffith? Great movie, professor had us watch it during class on the subject of media figures' perception by the public along the lines of Arthur Godfrey.

 

[Arozay]

Oldboy

 

[Fonds]

Before Sunset.

Yes, except there's no way he's going home after she sang him that song.

 

[Rur0ni]

Se7en is definitely king from what I've seen. But yeah, I love endings where bad guys win, or it's a more realistic ending of everybody loses a little.

 

[CiSTM]

Oldboy

Also Mr. Vengeance.

 

[StuBurns]

Yes, except there's no way he's going home after she sang him that song.

It's not really a happy ending either way.
He either stayed and cheated on his wife, or left her and went home to his terrible marriage.
Both suck.

 

[Haunted]

100% agreed with the OP.

Happy endings are usually contrived and Hollywood, so unhappy endings without perfect resolve ring more true and are more relatable, as a general rule.

Truth.

I grew up watching so many of those that I actually went out of my way looking for movies who didn't adhere to that standard Hollywood template. (Which I hope is what most people do, I just did it particularly early).

 

[EatChildren]

Requiem for a Dream. The movie just collapses in on itself for the last 3rd and leaves you feeling like shit. Brilliant ending, but about as doom and gloom as they come.

I also liked the ending to The Descent.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

THE movie which fits the most in this thread. Everything else is just not right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_of_Life

 

[The Blue Jihad]

Robots are awesome.

With that said, one of my favorite movies is In Good Company, largely because of how solid the ending is. The filmmakers didn't chicken out by

Spoiler

having Topher Grace and Scarlet Johansson get together at the end of the movie.

My girlfriend at the time (ex-girlfriend) and my fiancee both hate the movie for that. :lol

I guess it's not necessarily a sad ending, but I find it's one of those bittersweet ones like The Graduate.

 

[Discordian_taco]

This is why I enjoy Hong Kong and Korean cinema. They often have unhappy endings. I would LOVE to see a movie where the bad guy wins/comes out on top.

 

[Skiptastic]

Memento is the biggest mindfuck ending ever. You will have to google your ass off to figure it all out.

Or just watch it, like, twice? Three times? I mean, it's not THAT tough to figure out.

Following, Nolan's first movie, has a not quite happy ending. Actually, so does The Prestige. Nolan loves his non-happy endings!

Requiem for a Dream was my favorite.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"

Silly movie with the greatest fucking ending ever.

Gone with the Wind is "silly"? Really? One of the greatest films of all time.

Memento is the biggest mindfuck ending ever. You will have to google your ass off to figure it all out.

What did you have to Google? The movie is brilliant and it all falls into place at the end... which is the beginning. I seriously didn't have to Google a thing.

 

[EatChildren]

I would LOVE to see a movie where the bad guy wins/comes out on top.

The problem with concepts like this is that it requires a different narrative to what we're used to in most films, and the change in narrative can make the 'bad guy' shine under a different light.

What makes the good guy winning in so much fun is that the film's narrative makes the bad guy seem like a true 'villain', in that we the audience want to see them come to an end. Even if we really like the bad guy, they still need to 'loose' or the film doesn't feel complete.

If this same formula were to just have the enemy win, it would feel disjointed and unfinished.

So, in order for a 'bad guy' to win in a traditional sense, the narrative structure of the film also needs to change. It cant be some retarded nonsensical curve ball. It doesn't need to be expected, but it needs to fit with the flow and pace of the film, and the narrative needs to imply that the 'bad guy' winning forms as a completion to the film.

And, as said, that's when the film changes. In order for the narrative to change to support a genuinely quality 'bad guy winning' ending, the 'bad guy' in question is usually cast under a different light and we suddenly feel differently about them. They might even shift their perception by the audience from 'bad guy' to 'misunderstood villain' or 'anti-hero'.

Closure is still needed. It's why in a lot of films where the 'bad guy' wins there's a closing narrative by one of the major good guy characters, to help give a sense that somebody experienced something Earth shattering or meaningful.

 

[VGChampion]

Bridge to Terabithia

The only ending of a movie I've teared up in a long time. I had never read the book so it was completely out of left field what happened. Even the very end with his sister didn't change it for me.

 

[NekoFever]

I think Silent Hill would fit in quite well here.

Spoiler

The girl finally gets her mother and the mother saves her daughter, and they can be together, but it's on another plane where they can only see or hear echoes of people in the real world, so they'll never see the husband/father or anyone else ever again. Very melancholic in how it's presented as well.

 

[adamsappel]

To Live and Die in L.A.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Reservoir Dogs
D.O.A.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

 

[Carlisle]

The Departed hands down.

/thread

 

[Skiptastic]

I would LOVE to see a movie where the bad guy wins/comes out on top.

Then go watch The Usual Suspects.

 

[ShinAmano]

i <3 messed up ending where most or all of the main casts die.

I really hope you did not just spoil this movie.

 

[Ceb]

The Thing
Big Trouble in Little China

OK, so the first one is a horror film and they rarely end well. But it's so much better executed than the usual last "surprise! the killer survived after all" jump scare that we're usually subjected to in the genre. Perfect ending.

And yeah, BTiLC is a total cheese fest, but the cold "nope" and the return to Jack Burton's normal dreary life (with some added company) was actually the first thing I thought about when I saw this thread.

 

[Haeleos]

I really hope you did not just spoil this movie.

Spoiler

He did. I'm glad I watched it last night before clicking on this thread. I know this thread is about endings, but you don't have to spell it out exactly like that.

 

[Donos]

Oldboy

Yeahhh i totally forgot this masterpiece. I wanted to show this movie to my gf just for the ending although she totally dislikes this kind of (asia) movies.

i would rate it for me like this:

1. Se7en
2. Oldboy
3. Departed

 

[Macattk15]

Mirrors.

While not a great movie by any means ... the ending was pretty cool.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

With that said, one of my favorite movies is In Good Company, largely because of how solid the ending is. The filmmakers didn't chicken out by

Spoiler

having Topher Grace and Scarlet Johansson get together at the end of the movie.

My girlfriend at the time (ex-girlfriend) and my fiancee both hate the movie for that. :lol

I guess it's not necessarily a sad ending, but I find it's one of those bittersweet ones like The Graduate.

My girlfriend hates In Good Company for the very same reason :lol

 

[ratcliffja]

It's funny, I hated the endings to most of the movies posted in this thread. I typically like happy endings and can only stand a little bit of sadness mixed in with it unless dictated by historical accuracy. With that said, I do make a few exceptions. I loved the endings to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, La Vita E Bella, and Forrest Gump. Still, I think a movie can have a completely happy ending without it seeming cheesy or contrived. One of my favorite endings ever is that for As Good As It Gets. Likewise, some of my favorite movies are those made by Pixar, which all have completely happy endings. Monster's Inc. actually took away the "(not quite)" from the happy ending, which led to probably my favorite moment in any animated film.