# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/81 "2015-07-02T17:21:35Z")
[The final scene of _Robocop_](https://youtu.be/lT0eiXSxEKg) (the original 1987 version). “Nice shooting, son. What’s your name?” “Murphy.” ---
**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, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/82 "2015-07-02T17:38:26Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > Friend Calmeacham, That was my point: the movie should have ended right there. The Tara sequence was unnecessary Very often the understated – or simply unstated – looks precisely like an error. Which we are pledged to correct. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/83 "2015-07-02T17:53:08Z")
[_The Long Good Friday_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9SG-zYvPjk): Bob Hoskin’s mob boss realizes his fate. No dialogue; the expressions on his face tell all. ---
**Author:** ![Teach-me-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Teach-me-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach-me-not)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/84 "2015-07-02T18:29:03Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > The ending of _Brokeback Mountain_, with the two shirts hanging on a hook under the postcard picture of the mountain. Heartbreaking. +1. I also liked the telephone scene – the one where the dead man’s wife conveys the news of his death to the other guy. (Sorry, I can’t get the names straight.) While watching this visceral and sad scene, I was thinking that it would be hard to top it in terms of the emotional punch, but the last scene did it. I didn’t see that one 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:** [July 2, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/85 "2015-07-02T18:46:49Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > [_The Long Good Friday_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9SG-zYvPjk): Bob Hoskin’s mob boss realizes his fate. No dialogue; the expressions on his face tell all. _The Seven-Ups_, where Roy Scheider tells his double-crossing informer that the mob has “learned” of his treason, and the audio goes completely silent as he gets in the car and drives away, leaving the informer framed in the rear window, screaming and raging after him. Which pairs nicely with the opening of _Falling Down_, totally silent until… ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/86 "2015-07-02T19:05:33Z")
[Spoorloos (The Vanishing)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096163/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2), very dark (both figuratively and literally). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/87 "2015-07-02T19:55:39Z")
Thelma and Louise. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/88 "2015-07-02T20:18:22Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Thelma and Louise. And then came the TV movie rip-off: “[Mr. Louise](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071868/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1),” Then the “official” sequel: “[Wanted: The Louise Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075412/?ref_=tt_rec_tti),” Then the “prequel” : “[Thelma and Louise: The Early Days](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078919/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3).” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/89 "2015-07-02T20:34:55Z")
I like you _anyway_, **burpo**. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/90 "2015-07-02T20:49:19Z")
It’s REALLY hot outside today. Did I type all that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/91 "2015-07-02T21:11:11Z")
[_The Shawshank Redemption_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfjpi9P2Uiw) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/92 "2015-07-02T23:29:40Z")
GalaxyQuest. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/93 "2015-07-03T08:03:24Z")
Tons of great closers already mentioned! I just saw Jaws on the big screen tonight in Hollywood. Never got to do that before, I was 4 1/2 when it came out in 1975. So great to watch without commercials too. I love this ending because it shows a long shot of Hooper & Brody kick swimming their makeshift barrel boat while the credits start. The screen doesn’t go black until they’re both on shore and safe. Not killed by shark or hungry seagulls, but not at home. They’re stil stranded for a few days I suppose. “I used to hate the water. I wonder why.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/94 "2015-07-03T08:41:02Z")
> [@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. The best part is that at the end, the very end, he allows himself to smile just a bit. I saw an interview once that the whole taxi scene was shot in live NY traffic, and that people in nearby cars and on the sidewalk were constantly catcalling him and trying to catch his attention. So the whole time you see him “thinking”, he’s actually trying to keep a straight face while a bunch of New Yorkers are shouting _“Clooney!, Yo, Clooney! Whatcha doin’, Clooney?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/95 "2015-07-03T15:27:22Z")
-_The Unbearable Lightness of Being_: the main characters are in a car, almost to the peak of a hill, and there’s a truck coming at them on the other side – we know they will be killed, but the film ends a nanosecond before it happens. I drive a hill on the way to work and think of this scene every doggone times. -_American Beauty_ -_Antonia’s Line_ ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/96 "2015-07-03T19:33:06Z")
“[The Cuckoo’s Nest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3Dz6FOE_Gk)” must surely be mentioned in a thread like this? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/97 "2015-07-03T20:16:06Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > What could have been the greatest closing scene ever: > > “Oh, Rhett, What will I do?” > > “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” > > As Rhett Butler slowly walks away, the credits roll and the house lights come up… The Ending to which All Other Endings aspire! I liked Snake Plissken’s final scene in Escape From New York. The whole story revolved around Snake’s assignment to rescue the President and a cassette with the President’s recorded speech to be delivered before a Very Important International Conference. In the movie, another cassette appeared containing rock (or maybe it was rap) music. Snake rescues the President and delivers the cassette, which is played at the conference – and it’s the music tape instead of the speech. Final scene shows Snake walking away with the real cassette, pulling the tape out of it. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/98 "2015-07-03T21:19:24Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I liked Snake Plissken’s final scene in Escape From New York. > > …In the movie, another cassette appeared containing rock (or maybe it was rap) music … It was Cabbie’s tape of “Bandstand Boogie”. I love the ending of _Withnail and I_. Withnail and Marwood parting for what is assuredly the last time … his tearful Hamlet recitation to the wolves … then walking off into the rain with his bottle as that maudlin, carnival-sounding song that might as well be called “Withnail’s Theme”\* begins to play. \*(_checks Wikipedia_ Well I’ll be damned.) ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/99 "2015-07-06T16:45:32Z")
A generally underrated movie _The Upside of Anger_ has a great ending. I remember thinking it was a pretty good movie overall but the closing scene made it unusually memorable for me. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917/100 "2015-07-06T19:26:29Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The prison rehearsal in _The Producers_. Better or worse than the prison concert in _The Blues Brothers_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-closing-scenes-in-movies/723917.md?page=6)