I’m not entirely sure how true the rumor is, but I’ve heard a rumor that initially, Lando did not make it out of Death Star II at the end of Return of the Jedi. I think that would have been better… to have at least one semi-main “name” character die in the enormous battle.
What makes it even worse, is that it was the same director! The American ending is so stupid. It’s like the ending of the film-within-a-film in The Player. “What took you so long?”
I like to interpret it as NOT a happy ending - the escape is all in his head. It’s an incredibly downer ending. Not entirely unlike Total Recall.
They did WHAT??
The original is such a great fucking film, I’m so glad I didn’t see the remake.
“Saskia!” still haunts me if I think of it…
Still a good movie, but the studio shoehorned an unnecessary narration at the beginning of Dark City that basically spoils the ending.
Yeah, I was surprised to hear that…
I can imagine Hollywood throwing a LOT of American green at the director and saying, “c’mon, we love the original, and it’ll basically be exactly the same movie, just one teeny tiny little change to suit American audiences…be a team player”.
The original ending of the movie was exactly the same, except before the credits rolled, a title card appeared, to the effect of: “The following year, the murder rate went up 300%.”
Spielberg cut it, and shouldn’t have. With that, the “happy ending” becomes dark and ironic.
The original Don Seigel Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in which the film ends with Kevin McCarthy futilely shouting “You’re next!” to warn people on the freeway about the threat of the Pod People. Seigel left it there in his original cut, but the studio insisted on the tacked on “happy ending” where he’s believed.
Well, it’s a relatively happy ending. We’re still being invaded by Pod People.
Moonfall (or basically any other modern globe shattering disaster movie)
So the Moon crashed into the Earth, killing billions of people, eradicating countless animal species, completely upsetting the climate, and other all sorts of truly awful things to ponder about, but because the main character and his estranged son are reunited, and the two divorced parents get back together, that’s supposed to be a happy ending?!
The Ice Harvest would have been better if Charlie hadn’t stood back up after the van knocked him over.
I posted in the other thread as well. Universal Studios did have their editors cut a new version of Brazil with a happy ending, but that’s not what was released to theaters. I’ve seen the Universal version on TV, though.
That’s nothing compared to the book, which IIRC had the pod people getting hurt feelings because they weren’t welcome, upon which the pods themselves all floated gently back up into space.
They run these things through test audiences, and in general, other than horror films, the audiences prefer happy ending. I do myself. I have not seen a happy ending yet that ruined the film.
It’s ages ago, but I remember “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” ending in the book and in the movie. The happy ending with the cat and the embrace ruined the movie for me. And I really like Audrey Hepburn!
Yes – that’s always bothered the hell out of me. It’s a ludicrous ending, yet people regard the Finney novel as a “classic”. Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters is IMHO much better. And predates Finney’s novel, anyway (1951 vs 1954)
Spielberg has a problem with endings. He didn’t use to, at first - in fact, Raiders of the Lost Ark has one of the best final shots in cinema history - but somewhere in the mid-90s, between the terrific cemetery scene at the end of Schindler’s List and the embarrassing and superfluous cemetery scene at the end of Saving Private Ryan, I think he started second-guessing himself, always striving for an emotional WHAM moment to end the movie with and rarely succeeding. It’s perplexing, actually. He may not be what he once was, but he’s still an incredibly skilled filmmaker, and directors must less capable than him have no problem bringing their movies to a acceptably satisfying conclusion.
All of Neill Blomkamp’s movies suffer from this IMO. District 9 and Elysium in particular (Elysium most of all). Really great sci-fi, generally not conforming to the obvious hollywood tropes, ruined by a trite final act with every dumb hollywood happy ending trope going.
To go back a ways, “And Then There Were None” – the best known version of the movie has a happy ending tacked on. The book version is a dark story about how ordinary people are capable of killing, sometimes accidentally but without remorse, sometimes casually and without regret, sometimes in the grip of powerful emotions. It is a book about the pernicious influence of social class and of colonialism. It has a message beyond the puzzle, unlike most Christie books. Most of that message is lost by the substitute ending.
Does District 9 really have a happy ending?
(Nitpick) prostrate
Though that would be some final shot otherwise! 
Two Ray’s, one cup, ammirite?