# Movies that cop-out in the end

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-cop-out-in-the-end/1027099>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies\
**Created:** [January 27, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-cop-out-in-the-end/1027099 "2026-01-27T18:16:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 103

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-cop-out-in-the-end/1027099/103 "2026-01-28T21:51:10Z")

</div>

> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> Here’s a related thread from 2017 (contained therein is a link to an even older thread).&nbsp;
> 
> [BAD Movie Endings](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-endings/803062)

Thanks for the link - I see I mentioned The Vanishing there, too, as well as in this thread. I’d completely forgotten being told there that the American remake was by the same director.

> [@Most horrifying movie finale you have ever seen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-movie-finale-you-have-ever-seen/986155/148):
>
> > [@Most horrifying movie finale you have ever seen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-horrifying-movie-finale-you-have-ever-seen/986155/139):
> >
> > The original version of **[The Vanishing](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096163/)** from 1988. I _so_ did not expect the ending, but understood the inevitability of it.
> > 
> > Evidently the American remake gave it a brand new ending which ruined it.
> 
> Another instance where the “American remake” was directed by the same (Dutch) director that made the original. So as far as the sucky ending goes, he only has himself to blame for tainting his original vision.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-cop-out-in-the-end/1027099)._