# Best closing scenes in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917 "2015-06-30T23:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/61 "2015-07-02T02:32:33Z")
_The Godfather II_ has been mentioned but I feel the closing scene of _The Godfather_ is better: the image of the mafiosi paying homage to Michael as the door slowly closes cutting Kay off from him. Even if they hadn’t made another movie, that scene alone told us the rest of the story. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/62 "2015-07-02T02:35:59Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > There was no affair. They never got further than making goo-goo eyes at each other, did they? Harrison Ford resisted temptation when he saw her topless (even though she was evidently willing…and disappointed when he didn’t consummate their mutual attraction). > > You’re right about it being a great ending, though. Correct. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/63 "2015-07-02T03:24:19Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > There was no affair. They never got further than making goo-goo eyes at each other, did they? Harrison Ford resisted temptation when he saw her topless (even though she was evidently willing…and disappointed when he didn’t consummate their mutual attraction). Ah, I’ve seen this argument before. The discussions on IMDb are full of it. However, it ignores the later scene where she removes her wimple and they kiss passionately. No question in my mind they bonked. ---
**Author:** ![Reads\_a\_Lot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9a28c/32.png) [@Reads\_a\_Lot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reads_a_Lot)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/64 "2015-07-02T03:25:02Z")
I’ve always loved the end of The Prince of Tides. Nick Nolte’s character is back home with his wife, voice over with him mowing and then riding over the bridge in that convertible. He laments the lover he lost and thinks about the second life that could have been his. I think particularly as we age, no matter how much we love our lives there is always that person, that moment, that time you wish had been yours for keeps. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/65 "2015-07-02T03:52:21Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > There was no affair. They never got further than making goo-goo eyes at each other, did they? Harrison Ford resisted temptation when he saw her topless (even though she was evidently willing…and disappointed when he didn’t consummate their mutual attraction). > > You’re right about it being a great ending, though. I always assumed they got it on in the barn, when he’s working on the car and listening to the radio, but they didn’t show it. Either way, it was close enough for me, consummated or not. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/66 "2015-07-02T04:04:18Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > The last scene in _Field of Dreams_. Night is falling, the camera pulls away and up, and for as far as you can see there are headlights of cars, on their way to the ball field. It is an illusion that all those cars were moving. Light was fading for the final shot and all those cars were volunteers, stuck in traffic, not moving. So instructions were relayed over the local radio station for everyone to blink the headlights from bright to dim and back. This gave the illusion of the cars passing in front of trees and moving forward. In reality they were just sitting there flashing their lights. > [@](#): > > The Final Shot" was a big community event, enlisting 1,500 volunteers to drive for the last scene. For only a brief time could the headlights and also the blue of the sky be shown in one shot. The first take was too bright. On the second shot the lighting was perfect, but the camera f-stop was messed up. Just before the third and final shot, the director realized that as with any heavy traffic, most of the cars weren’t moving. They would just look like lights on posts. He relayed a quick instruction through the local radio station: flash your high beams on and off. Though the cars are not moving, this simulated the appearance of lights passing behind obstructions to perfect effect. [Field of Dreams (1989) - Trivia - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/trivia) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/67 "2015-07-02T04:05:16Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I always assumed they got it on in the barn, when he’s working on the car and listening to the radio, but they didn’t show it. Either way, it was close enough for me, consummated or not. [They were interrupted by her father in the barn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKM0nH6-NnI). > [@Amateur Barbarian](#): > > Ah, I’ve seen this argument before. The discussions on IMDb are full of it. However, it ignores the later scene where she removes her wimple and they kiss passionately. > > No question in my mind they bonked. [Hmm. Maybe you’re right.](https://youtu.be/nS0fxM7sCHs) ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/68 "2015-07-02T04:33:21Z")
Brazil ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/69 "2015-07-02T05:10:42Z")
[Breakfast Club](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv1I4q6lOpo) [Star Wars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yixG8pfncOs) [Private Ryan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CARuMPsfGA) ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/70 "2015-07-02T05:37:16Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > \ > > Have a good laugh on me: the first time I saw Raiders, I totally whooshed on the ending. I thought the warehouse was full of bogus Arks, and they were trying to collect all the counterfeit ones that had been stolen over the years. And even though WE knew it was the real deal, the Powers That Be wouldn’t accept what Indy told them the Ark did, so it was consigned to the warehouse. I thought the exact same thing! ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/71 "2015-07-02T05:37:20Z")
_Against All Odds_ with Rachel Ward standing there, and the only way we know it’s not a still is her hair blowing, and the Phil Collins song fills the soundtrack. The interview of Phil Collins writing the soundtrack is also a great extra to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/72 "2015-07-02T05:48:29Z")
The ending of _Brokeback Mountain_, with the two shirts hanging on a hook under the postcard picture of the mountain. Heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/73 "2015-07-02T12:31:01Z")
Don’t know if it’s the greatest, but it’s thought-provoking. Its real meaning didn’t hit me until later. The John Sayles science fiction movie **Brother from Another Planet** \* ends with the titular black alien riding away in a subway car. You have to understand that the mute alien (played by Joe Morton) spends most of the movie dodging a couple of white aliens who are chasing him (one of them played by writer-producer-director Sayles himself) – they’re slave hunters running down an escaped slave, who has taken refuge on Earth. There’s a lot more to the film, which I highly recommend. But the ending has special significance – he’s getting away from the Slave Chasers in that subway car… …which is an _Underground Railroad_. \*Sayles was one of many who worked on script possibilities for what would eventually emerge as Steven Spielberg’s movie **E.T.** That film went through a huge number of iterations and changes in its development. I sort of this of _Brother_ as Sayles’ own version of _E.T._. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/74 "2015-07-02T12:46:53Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > The ending of [The Ghost Writer](https://youtu.be/AaibDdBhSAQ)had me leaning back in my seat and saying “Damn.” Pardon my stoopid, but can you clarify what is going on in this scene?I have actually seen the movie but it was a few years ago and I don’t recall that much about it. It looks like Ewan McGregor gets hit by a car off screen(?) If so, is that significant because we’re meant to think he finally “won”? Yeesh, you can tell I didn’t retain much from this one. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/75 "2015-07-02T13:20:43Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Pardon my stoopid, but can you clarify what is going on in this scene?I have actually seen the movie but it was a few years ago and I don’t recall that much about it. It looks like Ewan McGregor gets hit by a car off screen(?) If so, is that significant because we’re meant to think he finally “won”? Yeesh, you can tell I didn’t retain much from this one. [The long version of the ending.](https://youtu.be/vPmMbpzewhQ?t=1m20s) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/76 "2015-07-02T13:46:41Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > [The long version of the ending.](https://youtu.be/vPmMbpzewhQ?t=1m20s) Thank you. This had made me want to rewatch the film. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/77 "2015-07-02T13:55:10Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [Star Wars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yixG8pfncOs) I just saw that movie for the first time (I know, I know). The movie was fine but that ending was lame. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/78 "2015-07-02T14:51:41Z")
Also, _Yojimbo_ and _French Connection II_. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/79 "2015-07-02T15:36:53Z")
> [@Tinker\_Grey](#): > > Brazil I came back to this thread because I thought to myself “How could I forget Brazil?” That is the only movie that has ever left me stunned in my seat when the lights came up. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/80 "2015-07-02T16:45:01Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I’ll go a bit farther. This scene is great, but I found him sitting in the cab, just riding along to be a powerful ending. It let the viewers mind churn along with Clayton, and I still find that ending to be amazing. Hmm, I was thinking of that as one continuous scene, but if it’s not I’m good with that last ride in the cab. Really just fantastic writing and direction (and acting!). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917.md?page=5)