# Great Movie Endings **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972 "2001-04-14T18:07:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 15, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/21 "2001-04-15T22:06:02Z")
For some reason, movies in which the hero(s) finally takes off in the airplane, after the buildup of the entire movie, really give me a lift. So I LOVED **The Flight of the Phoenix** and **Firefox**. Th Frenh film **Le Dernier Combat** ought to do the same thing, but it’s so overall depressing a movie that I don’t get a kick out of it. I also love a movie with a good twist, as I’ve remarked before, so **Body Heat** , **The Flight of the Phoenix** (again), \*\* Charade\*\*, **The Last of Sheila** , **Sleuth** , and \*\* The Sting\*\*really work for me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/22 "2001-04-15T22:57:07Z")
Christine?! Christine?! Now that book ending, hell the overall book, that was a thousand times better. ::goes off muttering about young uns and their penchant for movies over books:: ::comes back:: Wait I have some good endings. **Pulp Fiction** - Guys who manage to look cool even wearing “I’m with Stupid”-esque t shirts and beach shorts. **Reservoir Dogs** - Oh so chilling. **Tous Les Matins du Monde** - If you’ve seen this…It’s just haunting, and not what I expected. Don’t want to give away anything more… **Clue** - And I mean the last of all the endings. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/23 "2001-04-16T13:46:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoggie \* > **Christine?! Christine?! Now that book ending, hell the overall book, that was a thousand times better. ::goes off muttering about young uns and their penchant for movies over books::** 😃 Did I not mention that the ending of the book was better? If not, I’ll say that. The book _was_ better, but this isn’t a thread about best book endings, so I just scrapped something up because I wanted a second movie. It’s not the BEST movie ending, but it’s the only one I could think of for a second choice. Plus, I never thought it was that bad of an ending. To make up for **Christine** , I just thought of another one. **Babe**. It may sound stupid, but the ending always makes me cry at the end. Everybody mocks the pig and then he shows them! “That’ll do pig. That’ll do.” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/24 "2001-04-16T14:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scampering gremlin \* > \*\* > > The Wizard of Oz. Can anyone argue with this? \*\* I will. I always hated the end of that film. "If I want adventure I won’t any futher than my own back yard’ Bleah, Girl leave the farm behind and have some fun! More great endings Field of Dreams Empire of the Sun ET The Sixth Sense Unbreakable Psycho Rear Window North by Northwest (and even though it takes a long time to get to it) Gone with the Wind ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/25 "2001-04-16T14:17:28Z")
**Citzen Kane** ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/26 "2001-04-16T14:17:49Z")
Okay, here we go: 1. “Seven,” which has already been said. 2. “Primal Fear,” Richard Gere’s realization about Edward Norton, and how the film keeps us as in the dark as Gere is until that moment. 3. “Clue” I own this, and have been known to fast-forward to the point where Tim Curry says, “Very well…I know who did it.” 4. The aforementioned “Usual Suspects.” 5. “Reservior Dogs” I love Steve Buscemi for just this reason! Had I been in that situation (not as an actor, but as a real particpant), I would have done the same thing. 6. “Wayne’s World” There are a couple of different parts to the ending. The part right before the credits roll, it shows Rob Lowe and Tia Carrere laying on a beach. She tells him how great last night was. He says “You were magnificent.” He then looks at the camera, and says “You didn’t really think she’d end up with Wayne, did you?” Wayne and Garth slide in to the picture, and Wayne says “As if we’d end the movie like that!” They do the Scooby-Doo ending, and then the “Mega-happy ending.” Then, after the cedits roll for a while, Wayne and Garth fade in, and Wayne starts talking about how he hopes that the audience found it light-hearted and whimsical, blah blah blah. Garth says, “I just hope you didn’t think it sucked.” And there’s another scene after more credits. That whole movie just kills me. ---
**Author:** ![User\_10K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@User\_10K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/User_10K)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/27 "2001-04-16T15:33:44Z")
The greatest are **The Sting** **The Usual Suspects** ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/28 "2001-04-16T15:44:38Z")
**Fall** , by Eric Schaeffer. The long voice-over of him reading the letter…and then that scream of utter anguish in the song…haunting. Another vote each for **Fight Club** , **Pulp Fiction** , **Reservoir Dogs** and **The Sixth Sense**. **The Empire Strikes Back** - what a cliffhanger! I was left breathless for 3 years waiting for the conclusion. **Heat** - great fianle with DeNiro and Pacino. **Dangerous Liasons** - everyone gets what they deserve. **True Romance** - what can I say? Tarrentino’s a master. ---
**Author:** ![BobSchroeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@BobSchroeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobSchroeck)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/29 "2001-04-16T16:40:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OrcaChow \* > **Forgot to mention Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The ending that just kept going. [yello]Ohhhhhh, yeahhhhhhh.[/yello] > Then as the credits end, the shot goes back to the Bueller house, where Ferris, just having showered, looks at the camera and says, “You’re still here? Go home. _The movie’s over._ Go.” Shooes us away with a sweep of his hands. "Go."** In the same vein, and years earlier: _The Muppet Movie_. The Muppets go nuts under the credits, and then the camera finds Animal: “Go home! Go home!” Then, “Bye-bye.” And he falls foward, out of shot, presumably onto his face. – Bob ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/30 "2001-04-16T17:22:51Z")
“Presumed Innocent”. Great last line - “There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is _punishment_”. Harrison Ford doomed to spend the rest of his life with the woman who murdered his lover. “The Maltese Falcon”. - “The stuff that dreams are made of.” “Blood Simple” - “If I see him, I’ll be sure to give him your message, little lady!” “Ordinary People”. - “I’m not disappointed, Dad. I love you.” The only people in the movie who let themselves grow, do, and the mother leaves because she can’t let herself. Like the line in “On Golden Pond”, from Katherine Hepburn - “Don’t you think everyone looks back on his childhood with a certain amount of bitterness and regret? It doesn’t have to ruin your life!” Not the last line, but the most important. And I can’t remember the name of the generally horrid Stephen King movie where Leslie Nielsen winds up buried up to his neck in the sand with the tide coming in, screaming and laughing at the same time, and trying desperately to convince himself that he isn’t doomed. “I CAN HOLD MY BREATH - FOR A LONG TIME!” For some reason, it gives me a chill. This is a cool thread! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/31 "2001-04-16T17:24:28Z")
**Exit Wounds** - T.K. and Tom Arnold made me laugh like hell. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/32 "2001-04-16T17:33:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\* > And I can’t remember the name of the generally horrid Stephen King movie where Leslie Nielsen winds up buried up to his neck in the sand with the tide coming in, screaming and laughing at the same time, and trying desperately to convince himself that he isn’t doomed. “I CAN HOLD MY BREATH - FOR A LONG TIME!” For some reason, it gives me a chill. > > This is a cool thread! > > Regards, > Shodan > > \*\* I think you’re thinking of one of the “Creepshow” movies (the first one, now that I think about it). Stephen King had a hand in writing the script for that, IIRC, but I think they were all based off of the old 50’s comics. Was it Leslie Nielsen? I never saw the first movie. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/33 "2001-04-16T17:42:34Z")
**Creepshow** it was, indeed. And Stephen King didn’t “have a hand in writing” it, he WROTE the screenplay. (But I don’t think he wrote the screenplay for **Creepshow II** , which was nonetheless based on his stories.) King liked the horror comics of the 1950s. George Romero directed and Tom Savini did the FX. Leslie Nielsen DID play the baddie in that. This was before “Police Squad” or “The Naked Gun”, so he didn’t have a reputation as a comedian yet (despite “Airplane”)\> By the Way – the guy buried up to his neck in the sand? Ted Danson. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/34 "2001-04-16T17:55:21Z")
I watched Creepshow yesterday before heading out to Easter dinner. As mentioned it had Leslie Nielsen and Ted Danson in that story. I was surprised that Ed Harris (Truman Show, Pollack) was in Creepshow as well (dance disco boy!). The nice touch, and proof that it was approved by King was his acting in the film itself. His was the comedic, yet sad, role as Jordy Varrel (you can only spell luck one way in my family, and that’s B-A-D, you lunkhead). As for great endings - The post credit bloopers in Bug’s Life (both versions) and Toy Story are hilarious. Dogma always brings a tear to my eye, even as a non-Catholic. * * * Creepshow it was, indeed. And Stephen King didn’t “have a hand in writing” it, he WROTE the screenplay. (But I don’t think he wrote the screenplay for Creepshow II, which was nonetheless based on his stories.) King liked the horror comics of the 1950s. George Romero directed and Tom Savini did the FX. Leslie Nielsen DID play the baddie in that. This was before “Police Squad” or “The Naked Gun”, so he didn’t have a reputation as a comedian yet (despite “Airplane”)\> By the Way – the guy buried up to his neck in the sand? Ted Danson. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2001, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/35 "2001-04-16T18:16:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LlamaPoet \* > **The post credit bloopers in Bug’s Life (both versions) and Toy Story are hilarious.** I don’t think the original _Toy Story_ had “bloopers” in the trailers; if I remember correctly, that Pixar tradition started with _A Bug’s Life_ and continued with _Toy Story 2_…? And while it’s not exactly an “ending”, I always got a **major** kick at the start of the final act of _Ghostbusters,_ when Venkman _et al_ are driving to the apartment for the final confrontation with Gozer. Somehow, between the police escorts, cheering crowds, and the guys’ ability to overcome the morons at the EPA and City Hall, I just get really jazzed up. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/36 "2001-04-17T05:03:06Z")
Man On The Moon. I loved the closing shot that pans to Bob Zmuda and then the Andy Kaufman neon portrait. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/37 "2001-04-17T05:18:14Z")
**Five Easy Pieces** had one of the most effective and appropriate endings for a movie that I’ve ever seen. Bobby (Jack Nicholson), in keeping with his previous habit of running away from things that are getting bad, abandons his girlfriend (Karen Black) at a diner/gas station and takes off with a truck driver. He even leaves his jacket behind, and they’re going to a very cold place. The credits start rolling as girlfriend comes out and looks around the parking lot for him. No music, no more dialogue. Superb ending. ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972/38 "2001-04-17T19:07:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by unwashed brain \* > **Fall** , by Eric Schaeffer. The long voice-over of him reading the letter…and then that scream of utter anguish in the song…haunting. Yay! I really have it bad for that movie and the (unfortunately unavailable) soundtrack. Another nomination goes to **[Romance](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0194314)**. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movie-endings/61972.md?page=1)