# Best ending to a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2002, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827 "2002-12-01T21:13:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827/61 "2002-12-03T00:27:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oblong \* > \*\*Usual Suspects. Only time I’ve literally jumped out of my chair. > > I had heard about the “big ending” so I went looking for it, and I was thinking it was Keaton. When Chazz Palminteiri tells Verbal that it’s Keaton, I thought, ‘that wasn’t so hard’. What were these people talking about? \*\* But the ending is so great because it goes one level deeper than that : It’s not just that you supposedly find out that verbal is Kaiser Soze. But once you find out that he’s been pretty much been making up either all or part of the story as he’s been giving his testimony makes you reconsider whether _anything_ he’s just narrarated has been true or if Kaiser Soze himself actually exists. ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827/62 "2002-12-03T02:19:00Z")
A bit of Usual Suspects discussion: That was the problem I had with the ending, **Euty**. Kobeyashi **is** real - he picks Verbal/Keyzer up at the end. But I thought he was fabricated from the bottom of a coffee cup? ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827/63 "2002-12-03T02:57:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > **It’s funny; I thought “The Shawshank Redemption” blew the ending. If you’re read the original story, the ending is three minutes too long in the movie; they sort of missed the entire point, actually.** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UWmite \* > \*\*[hijack] How did they blow the ending in Shawshank? I haven’t read the book.[/hijack] \*\* The central theme is about hope and how it can redeem a person. At the end, Red hopes to cross the border and he hopes to see his friend Andy, again. They should have ended the movie right there with the audience hoping, along with Red, that the two will eventually re-unite. Instead, the movie makers pandered to the audience and gave them a sappy crane shot of the two hugging on the beach. Hope is about uncertainty and the typical Hollywood happy ending completely missed that point. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827/64 "2002-12-03T03:52:36Z")
I’m glad it showed them being reunited. I would have felt cheated if it didn’t. Like maybe they both went through all that work for nothing, but there was no way we would know had it not been for the last 3 minutes. Another reason I love the ending is because the beach is so beautiful, and all you see is Andy and the boat. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827/65 "2002-12-03T05:40:56Z")
How about _The Great Escape_, which ends with Steve McQueen throwing his ball against the wall in the cooler? ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827/66 "2002-12-03T06:20:59Z")
In the spirit of creativity, I’ll put forth **Memento** as having one of the best “beginnings” 😉 My alltime favorite is the end sequence to **Dr. Strangelove**. When Vera Lynn starts singing and the bombs start dropping, I always sing along and raise my glass in appreciation to the greatest film ever made…that’s if I’ve managed to stop laughing from Sellers’ final scene. Other Kubrick endings would make my list as well. **Clockwork Orange** , with Alex’s devilish and contented final line. **The Shining** , with the startling cut from night to day centered on Jack. Strangely, Kubrick also has the _worst_ ending of all time. Two words: Space Baby. \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-ending-to-a-movie/139827.md?page=3)