# Movies with legitimate different endings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297 "2017-09-02T03:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/1 "2017-09-02T03:41:25Z")
I just finished reading the [“alternate ending to the movie ‘Big’ thread”.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=109762) (To sum it up: it doesn’t exist). But there must be movies that had legitimate alternate endings, whether it be in theaters/TV/home video. What are they? And do they work as well as the original endings? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/2 "2017-09-02T04:04:01Z")
Well, there’s Clue, that had three different endings. Different theaters got different endings. It more or less worked - as a mystery movie, it wasn’t very mysterious. Or complex. There’s an alternate ending included on the DVD for What Dreams May Come. On the other hand, I hate that ending. It is much more “corny” and childish. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/3 "2017-09-02T04:11:58Z")
Clue was a comedy. A parody of a murder mystery. And to date, the only rewatchable game-based movie. As for the op, there are lots of directors cut type different endings that can be consideted “alternate”. The one i can think of off hand is Little Shop of Horrors. ---
**Author:** ![TaoPilot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TaoPilot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaoPilot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/4 "2017-09-02T04:29:17Z")
My friend and I watched 2004’s The Butterfly Effect separately, and when we were discussing it one day, we argued over how it ended. Later we found out that there were four different endings to that movie - one happy ending, one dark and sad ending, and two others somewhere in between. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/5 "2017-09-02T04:33:46Z")
_ **Brazil** _ is an interesting example of this. The producers had a contract with Universal to distribute the film in the U.S. When Terry Gilliam finished it, Universal chairman Sid Sheinberg hated it and ordered his editors to create a new version. There are numerous small changes, if you know where to look, and the ending is completely different. With a certain amount of guerrilla marketing, Gilliam got them to release the film pretty much intact from his original version. The studio version was shown on TV at least once, though. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Well, there’s Clue, that had three different endings. Different theaters got different endings. It more or less worked - as a mystery movie, it wasn’t very mysterious. Or complex. It wasn’t a mystery movie at all. The whole point of a mystery movie is to spot the clues and hints and identify the criminal before it’s revealed on screen. If you know there are multiple possible endings, you know there’s no point in even trying to figure it out. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/6 "2017-09-02T04:35:07Z")
_Clerks_ originally had a different ending. Kevin Smith was convinced to go with a ending more in tone with the rest of the movie. _I Am Legend_ had a different ending that was closer to the book’s ending. The studio decided to shoot a new ending that fit better with the action movie genre. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/7 "2017-09-02T05:09:45Z")
_Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story_ supposedly had a different original ending (that’s included as an extra on the DVD) that ends with Globo-Gym winning the final match (no double fault). And then the movie just ends with heroes losing. I think it’s more likely to be a joke than an actual ending - there’s just too many plotlines that only pay off with the actual ending. Although it certainly would’ve made for a twist in a comedy sports movie. _X-Men Origins: Wolverine_ didn’t really have different endings, but it did have different post-credit scenes. One had Wolverine drinking in a bar in Japan, the other had Deadpool recovering his head. Different theatres got one scene each. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/8 "2017-09-02T05:27:54Z")
The original ending to _Clerks_ was apparently only shown at the Independent Feature Film Market, not at ordinary movie theater showings. People there criticized the ending, so Kevin Smith changed it. It was later made an extra for the DVD and LaserDisc of the movie: > **[Clerk (disambiguation)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks)** > > A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. > Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. > **[An Askew View 2](https://books.google.com/books?id=lRPlbFsZBb4C&pg=PT28&lpg=PT28&dq=clerks%2Boriginal%2Bending&source=bl&ots=CDhRLGHdMY&sig=XZ74IdKj66ECPfXrz2oPFzgdqcI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCzO-Z34XWAhUBOSYKHZrlAmEQ6AEIazAJ#v=onepage&q=clerks%20original%20ending&f=false)** > > (Applause Books). In the year 2002, An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith was the first book to gaze at the cinema of one of New Jersey's favorite sons, the independent and controversial auteur of Clerks (1994), Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/9 "2017-09-02T05:30:32Z")
_Little Shop of Horrors_ and _Brazil_ have already been mentioned, so I’ll toss out _Bladerunne_r and _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_. (Also, _Return of the Jedi_ might count–no substantive plot differences, but bring back Yub Nub, dammit!) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/10 "2017-09-02T06:36:31Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > _Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story_ supposedly had a different original ending (that’s included as an extra on the DVD) that ends with Globo-Gym winning the final match (no double fault). And then the movie just ends with heroes losing. I think it’s more likely to be a joke than an actual ending - there’s just too many plotlines that only pay off with the actual ending. Although it certainly would’ve made for a twist in a comedy sports movie. With a few exceptions, the best sports movies are the ones where the result of the Big Game goes against the natural expectations of the movie. Rocky loses the big fight and it’s still a triumph, Fast Eddie beats Fats at pool and it’s still a tragedy. For a comedy where the heroes lose, there’s _The Bad News Bears_; it wouldn’t be nearly the movie it is if the Bears won at the end. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/11 "2017-09-02T07:06:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _I Am Legend_ had a different ending that was closer to the book’s ending. The studio decided to shoot a new ending that fit better with the action movie genre. Though that ending makes a little less sense with regard to the title of the movie. In the book he’s legend because he becomes a horror story for vampire parents to tell their vampire kids about the daywalking serial killer. In that ending he becomes… the guy who killed [del]vampires[/del] ape zombies for awhile until realizing he was wrong, then they made up and everything was okay. > [@magnusblitz](#): > > _Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story_ supposedly had a different original ending (that’s included as an extra on the DVD) that ends with Globo-Gym winning the final match (no double fault). And then the movie just ends with heroes losing. I think it’s more likely to be a joke than an actual ending - there’s just too many plotlines that only pay off with the actual ending. Although it certainly would’ve made for a twist in a comedy sports movie. Supposedly, that alternate was the intended ending, but [executive meddling gave it a happy ending](http://www.cracked.com/article_22564_6-secret-f-yous-lurking-in-famous-pop-culture_p2.html). I didn’t know it was actually filmed though. > [@](#): > > _X-Men Origins: Wolverine_ didn’t really have different endings, but it did have different post-credit scenes. One had Wolverine drinking in a bar in Japan, the other had Deadpool recovering his head. Different theatres got one scene each. There is some alternate, perfect, universe where that film doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/12 "2017-09-02T08:27:00Z")
In European theatres, the horror movie \*[Descent](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/)\*showed the last survivor, Sarah, emerge from the caves and escape the monsters - [though only in her head](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tSQT6sf5VM); she is still deep underground with the light of her torch slowly dying and the monsters closing in to eat her. In the USA, the audience mostly saw a more ambiguous ending: Sarah sees Juno’s ghost in the car, screams and the movie cuts to black. [_Army of Darkness_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX6g3Cr3Vdo) has Ash return to the S-Mart in [one ending](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrZwFAvlmVY), and screw up the drop count of the sleeping potion in another which results in his awakening far from his own time [in a dystopian world](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSfwt5gGzrQ). ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/13 "2017-09-02T12:22:51Z")
In the **George A Romero Dawn of the Dead** (1978) film, the ending is two survivors of zombies fly away from a shopping mall in a helicopter. The original script had the two abandon their attempts to get away and instead they kill themselves. The helicopter had the engine running and as the end title credits roll the machine then runs out of fuel showing they were doomed anyway. The scripted ending has (as far as I know) never been seen by the public but there are suggestions it was at least partially filmed although the footage was later lost. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/14 "2017-09-02T14:27:32Z")
The original ending of Blade Runner was happy and seemed way out of place where they imply they escape to a still beautiful wilderness that somehow could still exists in the future the rest of the movie showed us. The director’s cut has a more ambiguous ending. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/15 "2017-09-02T15:20:51Z")
“Kiss Me Deadly” originally had an ending where Mike Hammer and Velma are wading into the ocean to escape the fire and explosion caused by the MacGuffin…an atomic device. Later releases just has the beach house exploding, implying they were caught in it. In 1997 the original ending was restored and the dvd has it, with the apocalypse scene as a bonus. > **[Kiss Me Deadly](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Deadly)** > > Kiss Me Deadly is a 1955 American film noir produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, and Wesley Addy. It also features Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman appearing in their feature film debuts. The film follows a private investigator in Los Angeles who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery after picking up a female hitchhiker. The screenplay was written by Aldrich and A. I. Bezzerides, based on the 1952 crime novel Kiss Me, Dead... ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/16 "2017-09-02T20:23:05Z")
I’m surprised no one has mentioned **Wayne’s World** yet. I remember the 1st time I saw it and at the end thinking, that ending kind of sucked. Then the characters decided they didn’t like it either so they redo the ending and make a “Scooby Doo” ending. Then they do a 3rd ending to make it a happy ending. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/17 "2017-09-02T20:37:25Z")
I haven’t seen _Pretty in Pink_ listed, though I’ve always heard the ending to that one was reshot. Never seen it, but I’ve never bought any dvds of the movie, either. _Terminator 2_ had a tied-up, Judgement-Day-never-happened ending with old-Sarah but that one ended up not being used. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/18 "2017-09-03T00:32:43Z")
Teenage Dirtbag 🙂 It’s only a music video, not a full length movie, but the clip is completely altered by _not showing the very end where he wakes up from the dream_ So it was played as a trailer in movie theaters with a happy ending for happy kids movies, and shown with the postscript when a darker clip was wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/19 "2017-09-03T00:39:47Z")
**Terminator 2** had one where we see that the Skynet apocalypse did NOT happen. Cameron wisely left it open-ended. **The Shining** had one in its first weekend or so in theaters. It showed that the guy who offered Jack Nicholson the job at the hotel was spooky and in on the haunted stuff. Kubrick wisely trimmed it and ended with the far superior zoom on the party photo. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297/20 "2017-09-03T00:48:00Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > “Kiss Me Deadly” originally had an ending where Mike Hammer and Velma are wading into the ocean to escape the fire and explosion caused by the MacGuffin…an atomic device. Later releases just has the beach house exploding, implying they were caught in it. In 1997 the original ending was restored and the dvd has it, with the apocalypse scene as a bonus. > > [Kiss Me Deadly - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me_Deadly) I watched that on a pbs deries on film noir and I was into mike hammer because of the tv show I remember hurling a cup at the tv because dammit mike hammer didn’t die… And I knew about the t2 ending because that’s how the book version ended… a lot of people were confused when they referenced it in t3 … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-legitimate-different-endings/795297.md?page=2)