# Biggest WTF-endings in movie history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2007, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654 "2007-07-30T06:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/21 "2007-07-30T18:12:37Z")
“Bitchin!” -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/22 "2007-07-30T18:16:01Z")
\*Eraserhead \* (although the whole damn movie qualifies as WTF). ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/23 "2007-07-30T18:21:08Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **2001: A Space Odyssey**. A psychedelic lightshow begets a giant fetus. Huh? (Note: I saw it in theaters the first week it was released. Years later, I realized it was just Kubrick punting to get the movie over with – he had no idea, either, and probably figured that anything specific wouldn’t live up to the buildup) [/QUOTE] I really enjoyed this explanation. [2001 Explained](http://www.kubrick2001.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/24 "2007-07-30T18:26:06Z")
_2001: A Space Odyssey_’s ending made perfect sense to me, and I’ve never even been on drugs when I’ve seen it. _Liquid Sky_ is full of WTF moments; the ending is just one of them. Gawdawful movie. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/25 "2007-07-30T18:26:51Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] That would make his visit in the early 20th century. So one intelligent ape (did he know how to read the star charts and twirl the dials so that he didn’t end up in orbit around say Aldebaran 100,000 years ago?) comes to earth and singlehandedly conquers it? I don’t care what kind of ray gun he had it ain’t going to happen. 1,000/2,000 years ago, or even earlier, and _maybe_ you could make the argument that he visits, teaches the local apes to speak and use weapons in some quiet corner of Africa, then comes out into human civilization and starts wreaking havoc with his ape army. Maybe. But early 20th century? Nuh Huh. [/QUOTE] Al that seems way more plausible than why Marky Mark would want to monkey around with Helena Bohnam Chimp when Estella Warren was running around in a rag-kini for the whole movie. My version would have diverged right into “Duke tries to re-populate the planet…was there some plot about monkeys somewhere?” Hell, Charlton Heston kissed the monkey-doctor in his version, but you can bet your ass he took him a little Linda Harrison along for a snack on the trail. Chuck recognized the allure of the rag-kini. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/26 "2007-07-30T18:30:13Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] That would make his visit in the early 20th century. So one intelligent ape (did he know how to read the star charts and twirl the dials so that he didn’t end up in orbit around say Aldebaran 100,000 years ago?) comes to earth and singlehandedly conquers it? I don’t care what kind of ray gun he had it ain’t going to happen. 1,000/2,000 years ago, or even earlier, and _maybe_ you could make the argument that he visits, teaches the local apes to speak and use weapons in some quiet corner of Africa, then comes out into human civilization and starts wreaking havoc with his ape army. Maybe. But early 20th century? Nuh Huh. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. Everyone is completely missing the point about what the ending was really about. It was Burton’s passive-aggressive way of telling 20th Century Fox to go fuck themselves and to go get another director to sort things out in the planned-but-never-produced sequel. (Of course, this theory is just based on stories from the Hollywood rumor-mill that Burton was unhappy with the suits at Fox constantly looking over his shoulder and interfering with the production of the movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/27 "2007-07-30T19:10:23Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] … running around in a rag-kini for the whole movie. [/QUOTE] This, for me, puts the whole movie into the “WTF?” category, not just the ending. I mean, Marky Mark _and_ “Planet of the Apes” savages and everyone is wearing nice ensemble sets. Not a “rag-kini” to be seen. Hell, Marky Mark wears _long pants and long sleeves_ on the jungle/desert planet of the apes! WTF? Too embarrasing to run around in a loin-rag after all those Calvin Klein ads? Please. ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/28 "2007-07-30T20:51:10Z")
Blair Witch Project. I straightaway searched the web for an explanation. I suppose it does make sense if you squint but I neither had the patience nor inclination to connect the dots myself. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/29 "2007-07-30T20:57:49Z")
[Two Lane Blacktop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=360194&highlight=blacktop). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/30 "2007-07-30T20:58:35Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **2001: A Space Odyssey**. A psychedelic lightshow begets a giant fetus. Huh? (Note: I saw it in theaters the first week it was released. …) [/QUOTE] Wow, you’re old! 😃 I “saw” 2001 in utero–appropriate somehow. My nom–Brotherhood of the Wolf. All this build-up about what the heck is going on and it’s [spoiler]an eeevil Catholic conspiracy :rolleyes: [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/31 "2007-07-30T23:39:57Z")
[QUOTE=NDP] No, no, no. Everyone is completely missing the point about what the ending was really about. It was Burton’s passive-aggressive way of telling 20th Century Fox to go fuck themselves and to go get another director to sort things out in the planned-but-never-produced sequel. (Of course, this theory is just based on stories from the Hollywood rumor-mill that Burton was unhappy with the suits at Fox constantly looking over his shoulder and interfering with the production of the movie.) [/QUOTE] Then how does that explain every _other_ movie Burton’s made? All the one’s I’ve seen have been pretty to look at, but plot and substance was an afterthought. A _very_ distant afterthought. Like from here to the monkey planet. The ending to _The Final Cut_ with Robin Williams. Good movie, but the ending just seemed to be something that they pulled out of their ass to end the movie. Another one is the ending to _Lord of War_, the film had started to go south before the ending, but what happens at the end doesn’t seem to make much sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/32 "2007-07-31T00:47:49Z")
Alfred Hitchcock’s **Suspicion** , with its studio & Selznick-mandated happy ending, and James Cameron’s \*\*The Abyss \*\* – because \*Deus ex Extraterrestrials \* is just as stupid as its classical predecessors. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/33 "2007-07-31T01:27:29Z")
[QUOTE=bleach] Blair Witch Project. I straightaway searched the web for an explanation. I suppose it does make sense if you squint but I neither had the patience nor inclination to connect the dots myself. [/QUOTE] Don’t waste your time; there’s not much to connect. Why did they think not having a script was a good idea? Anybody remember _Zabriskie Point_? Actually, I’m not sure if I do. ---
**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 31, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/34 "2007-07-31T03:22:10Z")
_The Shining_ - what was that photo suppose to mean? For that matter, I think pretty much every ending to every Kubrick movie ends up with the audience asking “wha…?” I suspect he was a riddle wrapped around an enigma wrapped around nothing. ---
**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 31, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/35 "2007-07-31T03:28:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Eraserhead (although the whole damn movie qualifies as WTF). My understanding is that the whole film is actually a dream sequence so it makes no narrative sense. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/36 "2007-07-31T04:35:40Z")
_Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry_. And the director’s cut of _Blade Runner_. ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/37 "2007-07-31T04:52:15Z")
Haute Tension Good, fast-paced, thriller/horror movie with, as the title suggests, lots of tension. Then comes an ending completely out of left field with the added bonus of making the first hour and half totally implausible. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/38 "2007-07-31T05:02:21Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] The ending to _The Final Cut_ with Robin Williams. Good movie, but the ending just seemed to be something that they pulled out of their ass to end the movie. [/QUOTE] The very plot of this movie is WTF. Would you want a device planted in your brain where other people could conceivably watch anything you’ve ever witnessed in life so it could be played at your funeral? Fuck no, I wouldn’t. How long does it take an editor to wade through 75 years of a person’s life so he can make a 5-minute montage? And why would publically exposing the creator of the technology as a sick fuck affect the perception of it? Would people stop shopping at Wal-Mart if the CEO was arrested for child molestation? The entire movie makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Tikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@Tikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikster)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/39 "2007-07-31T08:28:28Z")
Mulholland Drive - but then that’s David Lynch I guess 🙂 I Liked it - once I got it untangled. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654/40 "2007-07-31T22:33:05Z")
uh… a Japanese movie called **Dead or Alive**. I can’t even conceive of anything more WTF. and I vaguely remember thinking “WTF” at the end of a movie called **Nowhere** , but I don’t remember if it was the entire movie, or just the ending that made me think that. either way I remember it was a bizarre and pointless waste of time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-wtf-endings-in-movie-history/413654.md?page=3)