# After Earth - Is there a big twist ending? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861 "2013-06-01T14:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/1 "2013-06-01T14:01:55Z")
First, I don’t care if you use spoiler boxes or not as I never had any intention of seeing this film even before it starting getting panned (but for others sake I guess you should). I did, however, just find out that it was made by\*\* M. Night Shamalama-ding-dong\*\* and so I was wondering what was his big, trademark, twist, reveal ending for it? I haven’t heard mention of any, does it not have one? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/2 "2013-06-01T14:13:21Z")
Judging by this [full plot synopsis](http://themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/afterearth.html), I would guess no. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/3 "2013-06-01T16:03:49Z")
Shamalan has directed ten films and only three have twist endings. It’s almost unfair to pigeonhole him that way, but understandable when you realize that… **- The Sixth Sense,** his breakthrough had a twist **- Unbreakable,** his followup to the breakthrough had a twist **- Signs,** his next movie, didn’t have a twist but everyone thinks it did. **- The Village,** his next movie after that had a major twist that makes little sense in the grand scheme of things. No movie he’s made since has had a twist. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/4 "2013-06-01T16:46:08Z")
For this film, I think the big twist ending is that the studio is going to lose their shirts on their investment in this film. Perhaps they could get together with John Travolta and do “After Battlefield Earth”. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/5 "2013-06-01T16:46:34Z")
I read a review…somewhere…that said explicitly that there was none. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/6 "2013-06-01T17:16:25Z")
It’s revealed at the end that… they were on earth the whole time! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/7 "2013-06-01T17:22:48Z")
And of course there are those of us who are surprised that anyone thinks _The Sixth Sense_ has a twist ending. It was pretty obvious what was going on from the get-go. One person’s twist is another person’s “about time it finally dawned on him”. Wasn’t he listening to a word of what the kid said in the hospital bed? Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/8 "2013-06-01T17:28:02Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Shamalan has directed ten films and only three have twist endings. It’s almost unfair to pigeonhole him that way, but understandable when you realize that… > > **- The Sixth Sense,** his breakthrough had a twist > **- Unbreakable,** his followup to the breakthrough had a twist > **- Signs,** his next movie, didn’t have a twist but everyone thinks it did. > **- The Village,** his next movie after that had a major twist that makes little sense in the grand scheme of things. > > No movie he’s made since has had a twist. Wasn’t the Happening’s big reveal… that it was the plants all along …supposed to be twist? An absolutely garbage one admittedly,but still broadly twisty ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/9 "2013-06-01T17:51:20Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > Wasn’t the Happening’s big reveal… > > that it was the plants all along > > …supposed to be twist? An absolutely garbage one admittedly,but still broadly twisty How is that a _twist_ versus a normal _reveal_? They were wondering what was causing the behavior, and they found the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/10 "2013-06-01T17:51:43Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Judging by this [full plot synopsis](http://themoviespoiler.com/Spoilers/afterearth.html), I would guess no. I’ve no plans to see this, but the plot sounds like it wouldn’t be that bad, excepting of course the awful reviews of the kids acting. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/11 "2013-06-01T18:06:18Z")
The big twist is: All the mutated animals’ energy is used to start the Titan. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/12 "2013-06-01T18:15:10Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > How is that a _twist_ versus a normal _reveal_? They were wondering what was causing the behavior, and they found the answer. Because up until that point, the movie had implied it was some sort of terrorist/chemical attack ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/13 "2013-06-01T18:16:51Z")
Apparently, MNS comes on the screen after the credits, points at the audience and cackles, “HA HAAAA! I SCREWED YOU OUT OF ANOTHER TEN BUCKS!” ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/14 "2013-06-01T18:50:41Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > Because up until that point, the movie had implied it was some sort of terrorist/chemical attack Damn. Now I am going to have to watch that crappy movie once again to refresh my memory. Twist or no twist, I am looking forward to renting **After Earth** , just to see what kind of trainwreck it is. With such a large budget and decent talent involved, it should be at least a good looking (and hopefully not boring) debacle. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/15 "2013-06-01T19:20:48Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Shamalan has directed ten films and only three have twist endings. It’s almost unfair to pigeonhole him that way, but understandable when you realize that… > > **- The Sixth Sense,** his breakthrough had a twist > **- Unbreakable,** his followup to the breakthrough had a twist > **- Signs,** his next movie, didn’t have a twist but everyone thinks it did. > **- The Village,** his next movie after that had a major twist that makes little sense in the grand scheme of things. > > No movie he’s made since has had a twist. It occurs to me that, except for The Lady in the Water (which I know by reputation only), I couldn’t name another MNS movie. I’m guessing that his memorable movies had twists so it’s assumed that they all did. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/16 "2013-06-01T20:05:51Z")
Roger Ebert pops back into existence and says, “I know I’m dead, but I had to come back to say this movie really, really sucks.” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/17 "2013-06-01T20:39:40Z")
Just to clarify, I meant another MNS movie beyond those **Justin\_Bailey** listed, not that I only know of Lady in the Water. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/18 "2013-06-01T23:28:41Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > For this film, I think the big twist ending is that the studio is going to lose their shirts on their investment in this film. > > Perhaps they could get together with John Travolta and do “After Battlefield Earth”. There are analyses out claiming AE is just a big scientology wank fest, so that’s not too far fetched to team it with that one. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/19 "2013-06-01T23:47:43Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And of course there are those of us who are surprised that anyone thinks _The Sixth Sense_ has a twist ending. It was pretty obvious what was going on from the get-go. So everyone says now. At the time, I never met a single person who saw it coming. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861/20 "2013-06-02T00:16:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > So everyone says now. > > At the time, I never met a single person who saw it coming. Every one of the 500,000 people who were in the stadium when Mark McGwire hit his 70th home run would disagree. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/after-earth-is-there-a-big-twist-ending/659861.md?page=2)