# Greatest Closing Scene... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666 "2000-12-02T01:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/1 "2000-12-02T01:43:42Z")
**DocDaneeka** started a thread recently regarding great closing (film) lines…I wanted to hijack that thread to make mention of a movie I saw a few weeks ago and figured I’d just start another thread. **Best closing _scenes_ anyone?** This is probably **not** my _favorite_ closing scene ever, but has anyone else seen **Pay It Forward**? I don’t recall any threads started about this movie and I just have to mention somewhere how much the ending of this film affected me. No spoilers here, just wanted to say that I don’t remember the last time (if _ever_) a movie had me bawling like a baby at the end. I’m not normally a weeper, but jeez, were the tears flowing at this one. What closing scene moved you? [sub]Thanks to **Doc** for the inspiration![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Falula\_Guinea\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@Falula\_Guinea\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falula_Guinea_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/2 "2000-12-02T01:49:56Z")
**The Big Blue** left me speechless and in tears! The closing scene to that film is pure poetry. I was gobsmacked!! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/3 "2000-12-02T01:54:01Z")
Slim Pickins riding the big one down in **Dr. Strangelove**. (I think the gradually expanding panorama of the closing scene of **The Untouchables** , with Robert DeNiro (Capone) caught up in the midst of the chaotic courtroom after his sentence is passed, is vastly underappreciated) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/4 "2000-12-02T02:00:11Z")
**Planet of the Apes**. Who can forget Charlton Heston and his classic reaction? More recently, **The Sixth Sense**. I went into the movie knowing that there was some sort of “twist.” I had it in my mind to try to figure it out, but the movie captivated me so much that I never came close to even trying. I was totally drawn in. One of the few times I’ve said “Oh. My. God.” at the end of a movie. Hmm, I’m sure there are more I’ll remember later. ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/5 "2000-12-02T03:20:50Z")
Yep, **Planet of the Apes** is probably the ultimate ball-grabbing closing scene. I loved Nicholas Cage’s pondering of the future in **Raising Arizona** “…a place where all children are loved, and all parents wise and strong… And if it wasn’t Arizona, I dunno, maybe it was Utah.” By the time of the “where all children are loved” line I’m weeping, but the “Utah” remark gets the laughter going again. The guy is on the brink of enlightenment, then slips back to thinking Paradise is a geographic location, not a state of mind. Along with Slim Pickens’ final ride in **Doctor Strangelove** , I was grabbed by Peter Sellers rising from his wheelchair: “MEIN FUHRER, I CAN WALK!!!” and the movie abruptly cuts to the series of nuclear explosions: “We’ll meet againnnnn, don’t know where, don’t know whennn…” Hilarious, bizarre, haunting, depressing. **Glory** , in which the Union dead are piled into a mass grave, and Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick tumble down face to face in the ultimate equality. My favorite is the close of **To Kill a Mockingbird** , with the grownup Scout’s voiceover describing how Atticus would stay with Jem through the night and would be there when he woke in the morning. A very gentle and beautiful ending. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/6 "2000-12-02T03:29:30Z")
A crowd of soldiers assembled to praise and applaud the heroes who defeated the Enemy and won (at least temporarily) them their freedom… a princess who bestows medals of great honor upon those heroes… two robots who pariticpated in the battle all shined up and dent-free… Need I say more? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/7 "2000-12-02T03:44:10Z")
No contest: **The Usual Suspects** The entire movie is twisted and remolded in less than five minutes, to become a bright shining gem of lies, suspicions and deceit. No other closing scene inspires the level of paranoia this one does, as we wonder just how much of the movie we can trust, or even how much of the movie actually existed. Kevin Spacey and Chaz Palminteri do a brilliant job of realization and revelation, as the brilliant cinematography and editing sweep us along. Forget Eastwood riding off at the end of **The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.** I’ll take Verbal Kint walking off into oblivion. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/8 "2000-12-02T03:52:07Z")
“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” Book, movie, cheesy TV movie, or quotation in a Star Trek movie, “A Tale of Two Cities” gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/9 "2000-12-02T03:53:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OrcaChow \* > \*\*I was grabbed by Peter Sellers rising from his wheelchair: “MEIN FUHRER, I CAN WALK!!!” and the movie abruptly cuts to the series of nuclear explosions: “We’ll meet againnnnn, don’t know where, don’t know whennn…” Hilarious, bizarre, haunting, depressing. > \*\* Yep. Every time I see somebody stand up out of a wheelchair, I start laughing. If it’s in a movie or TV at home, I’ll say the line. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/10 "2000-12-02T04:18:41Z")
It’s gimmicky, but the first time I saw it I actually yelped. Carrie’s hand coming out of the ground to grab Amy Irving (it was Amy Irving, wasn’t it?) as she lay down those flowers ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/11 "2000-12-02T09:05:54Z")
Planet of the Apes has been mentioned numerous times already. Also, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. [sub]All right. I admit I’m a sap. Bite me.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/12 "2000-12-02T20:09:37Z")
The closing scene in “Field of Dreams” where the camera pulls back and upward as Ray and his father play catch as night is falling. You see all the cars lined up for miles between the cornfields, filled with people coming to see a special baseball game. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/13 "2000-12-02T21:15:30Z")
I personally think the most poignant final scene is the ending of one of my favourite movies: _Ran_, aka _Chaos_ by Akira Kurosawa (the story of King Lear adapted to japanese noblemem). At the end a young blind man is waiting for his sister to come fetch him (his sister having been killed previously) and he is tapping with his cane at the edge of a cliff. Very moving. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/14 "2000-12-02T21:39:54Z")
It certainly isn’t one of the best endings ever, but I like Bottle Rocket’s ending. The guys are talking and Dignan explains how he has CRS Disease (Can’t Remember Shit). Then, Dignan, the eternal optimist says something like “We did it didn’t we?” and then Anthony replies, “Yeah, we sure did.” This conversation is taking place in the prison yard. Then as they’re walking out Dignan has his crazy plan to escape. The last line is something like, “isn’t it funny how I used to be in the mental institution and now I’m in here.” You have to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/15 "2000-12-02T21:40:27Z")
Call me a sentimental old fool, but my vote’s for **Casablanca**. Rick does the right thing (although it breaks his heart,) Louis does the right thing, the Nazi dies…it’s ideal. I concur also with **The Sixth Sense** and **The Usual Suspects**. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/16 "2000-12-02T22:14:33Z")
Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil”. Not what I expected at all. I left the theatre felling too stunned to talk to the friend I went with, and stayed that way for a couple days. When I saw it again a few years later it whacked me upside the head again. Felt much the same way the first time I saw “The Wicker Man”. You get so used to last-minute rescues and twists that some thing like that really catches you, even though it is happens at a fairly leisurely pace. ---
**Author:** ![Screwtape](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Screwtape](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Screwtape)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/17 "2000-12-02T22:28:48Z")
**John Carpenter’s “The Thing”**. Just two guys in the snow. Over the previous two hours you’ve learned that you really have no clue about when something really scary is about to happen. Remember the blood in the Petri dish? Caught you off guard, didn’t it? Or the defribrilator scene? Then, it comes down to just these two guys in the snow. McReady says, “I think if either of us has a surprise for the other, we’re both too tired to do anything about it.” And you’re nerves are totally flayed…but you’re waiting, ready to jump out of your seat again…it’s gonna be scary…and nothing happens. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/18 "2000-12-02T22:31:25Z")
My jaw dropped when I saw _Swimming With Sharks_ and I realized at the end who got shot. One of Kevin Spacey’s best performances. If you think _Usual Suspects_ turns his character upside down, you have to see this movie. I’d also have to nominate _Wizards_. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/19 "2000-12-02T22:40:39Z")
**Schindler’s List** , when the children and grandchildren of the people he saved, as well as his former wife, filed one by one to his gravesite and put rocks on his headstone. It just doesn’t _get_ any more moving than that. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666/20 "2000-12-02T23:37:15Z")
“The Italian Job”… a British comedy-caper film from the 60s starring Michael Caine (think “Gumball Rally”). At the end of the movie Caine and cohorts drive a van filled with gold towards a cliff and they end up halfway over a sheer precipice, with the weight of the gold dragging them toward the edge. The van is perched precariously over the cliff and nobody dares move lest they plunge to their deaths. Suddenly, Caine says, “I’ve got an idea!”, and the movie ends right there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-closing-scene/43666.md?page=2)