I came in to say “Annie Hall” but I see I did that back in March.
How about “Zombieland”?
Funny Games. Either version.
Kitty! (Oh, sorry, I believe I have something in my eye)
And The Iron Giant..damn it and it’s ability to tug at my emotions
One of my favorites is the end of the original The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.
When Walter Matthau leans back into the apartment, after the other guy coughs and sneezes, oh, the look on his face!
Burn After Reading was not one of the Coen Brothers’ most brilliant efforts, but it’s an enjoyable romp, with J.K. Simmons as the CIA chief summing things up nicely: CIA Superior: What did we learn, Palmer?
CIA Officer: I don’t know, sir.
CIA Superior: I don’t fuckin’ know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir.
CIA Superior: I’m fucked if I know what we did.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir, it’s, uh, hard to say
CIA Superior: Jesus Fucking Christ.
Good call, an odd case of a pretty average film with a truely great ending.
No Way Out was a remake of The Big Clock from 1948 starring Ray Milland. You might find it worth checking out.
Someone else mentioned Fail Safe. Along that line, few endings beat the one in Dr. Strangelove.
On a different note, I always thought the ending to Vanishing Point not only was a complete surprise but also tied up the story nicely.
Bri2k
Yes! Love that movie and love that ending.
How about Jaws? Smile, you son of a bitch!
As one of my students said (after the entire class had INSISTED I watch it):
“There are two movies called Fight Club. The first one you see, and than every other time…”
Gotta mention the seventies movie Car Wash. The movie is mostly an ensemble comedy with a few poignant moments, but at the end, an angry employee who was fired turns up to rob the place, and for a few minutes everything is dead serious and unpredictable.
Just like in real life. It’s a perfect ending for an underrated picture.
And then there’s the press conference where Tony Stark is on his way to the classic “secret identity” ending: he’s setting up the straight-out-of-the-comics story, explaining that his not-the-hero-type self was at Point A while his armored bodyguard was playing superhero at Point B, and we’re suddenly watching Robert Downey Jr talk about his character defects and the highly publicized mistakes he’s made and, yeah, okay, the truth is – I am Iron Man.
Is straight-to-DVD a cheat? I thought the ending of the last Futurama movie was fantastic. First we get a cameo from pretty much every character that ever appeared on the show, and then a final moment that perfectly encapsulates everything that made the show so damn wonderful over the years.
A perfect, hopeful-yet-a-little-tearful goodbye to some of my favorite characters ever.
Then the show got picked up.
Call me a sentimental fool, but… the last scene of Saving Private Ryan, when the old Ryan begs his wife to validate his life, and is overwhelmed at the cemetery while looking at Captain Miller’s grave and the thousands of other graves around it. Brings a tear to my eye every time.
And Rocky, who ends up beat to shit, losing the fight and not even really noticing, since he’s the happiest man in the world because Adrian loves him too.
Came in to add this one, but you already took it.
How about the ending of Citizen Kane where they burn all of his stuff in an incinerator?
Huh, funny how different peoples tastes are. I haven’t read the other thread, but this belongs there IMO. I despised the ending of the Mist.
Some endings I liked in no particular order:
Saving Private Ryan - Earn this
Leathal Weapon 2 - It’s just been revoked!
Star Wars - YOU’RE ALL CLEAR KID!! NOW BLOW THIS THING AND LET’S GO HOME!
Unstoppable - Hey that’s Ned!
Planet of the Apes - YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!
Swimming With Sharks - What do you want?
Boggie Nights - You’re a fucking star!
Soylant Green - THEY’RE PEOPLE!!
American Psycho - I just had lunch with Paul Allen
The Iron Giant - SUPERMAN!
12 Monkeys - I’m in insurance…
Terminator 3 - Your father didn’t send us here to stop Judgement Day (the rest of the film sucked)
Have to second you on that. One of my favorite closing lines of all time, and one of the few that makes the lead’s survival completely irrelevant, in the best way possible.
The original Back to the Future had a brilliant sequence of repeated climaxes.
People I know in the intelligence community have told me that they’ve had very similar conversations in real life. Which is kind of scary.
The Blues Brothers (Everybody let’s rock).
ETA: The first few times I saw it in the theatre, the audience just roared!