Movies that NAILED the ending!

[MJ Tanner]

One movie which hasn't been mentioned is 12 Monkeys.

When I originally watched it, it thought it was just ok....An interesting variation of a post-apocalyptic world, and a group making attempts to change history .

But when the ending occurred, I was wowed....The resolution gave the film a certain level of gravitas I wasn't expecting. Bruce Willis was essentially stuck in a time loop, and no matter how many times they try, that group can't alter the course of history to save humankind from what occurred.

I actually haven't heard that interpenetration before.
They can't change the past, they can just learn more about what happened. This time Cole got them close enough to get the future lady ("I'm in insurance") in the right place to get the original sample.


And also... MONSTER SQUAD is a great fun 80s movie. Anyone who wants to crap on it is playing the troll.

[Michael P]

Monster Squad's ending works for what the film is, but I don't know that I'd call it one of the best ever.

[harpier]

I actually haven't heard that interpenetration before.
They can't change the past, they can just learn more about what happened. This time Cole got them close enough to get the future lady ("I'm in insurance") in the right place to get the original sample.


And also... MONSTER SQUAD is a great fun 80s movie. Anyone who wants to crap on it is playing the troll.

Hmm..."interpenetration"?

I'm with Ramsay Snow on this one. Twelve Monkeys was a mildly clever, Gilliam-twisted post-apocalyptic drama until the closing scenes. But to a certain extent, it's the conundrum of every time travel story, which must somehow resolve itself, and that usually happens by some kind of loop. One of the best executions I can remember is Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes.

Either way, Gilliam movies are often hit-or-miss on their endings. Gilliam's got spectacular ideas, but sometimes they're not very narrative ideas, and they just kind of...stop. Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Twelve Monkeys resolve brilliantly. Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus just stop. Monty Python and the Holy Grail more or less does both. It just stops, but it's precisely the ending that that movie needed.

[JCAll]

M Night Shyamalan gets a lot of ****, rightly, but he nailed the landing in Unbreakable. Both the normal ending and the twist.

[dzub]

Batman Begins - Got you stoked as hell to see Batman versus Joker in the sequel.

i prefer this to post credits teasers

[arosenbarger]

(looks over computer to my movie titles)

Cabin in the Woods

Dr. Strangelove

Breakfast Club

Casino Royale

Fight Club

Good, Bad, Ugly (the stand off)

Memento

Prestige

Back to the Future

Clockwork Orange

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[Chris Lang]

Here are a few endings that I LOVED:

Toy Story 3: A beautiful and moving ending to the trilogy. The toys literally get a new lease on life after a symbolic journey to Hell and back, followed by the emotional scene where Andy gives them to Bonnie. And of course we get an epilogue showing us that their friends at the daycare center are going to be okay now that Lotso's reign of terror is ended, and a dance sequence with Buzz and Jessie -- showing us that though things have changed, life goes on.

The Usual Suspects: Normally, I don't care for endings where the bad guy gets away scot-free, but here, it works. The twist at the end brilliantly re-contextualizes everything we've seen before, as we realize names may have been changed to protect the guilty. For those who don't know the twist, it packs quite an impact, and shows us that if indeed Keyser Soze exists, he really is a clever sort that pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

To Live and Die in L.A.: The last ten minutes of this film definitely elevate this above the usual 'reckless cowboy cop seeks revenge' story. There comes a twist that goes completely against what some audiences are conditioned to expect, but in this context it works brilliantly. It deconstructs the aforementioned trope by showing that this sort of behavior can have serious consequences. The final ending, where the surviving character has quite a transformation as he takes on his fallen partner's persona, ties in thematically with many of the themes of the film. All in all, it packs a powerful punch as it subverts many of the clichés in favor of something far more realistic. And in this case, the realism works.

Casablanca: What's there to say about this one that hasn't already been said? Rick shows us indeed that he has a heart of gold in allowing Ilsa to leave with Lazlo, and then risking his own life to protect them. Then Captain Renault comes through and saves Rick with his 'Round up the usual suspects' line. It's easy to see why this movie became a classic.

Madagascar 3 - Europe's Most Wanted: This was a brilliant conclusion to the original trilogy, as the main protagonists finally return to the zoo they've been trying to return to for the past three movies, but after all the adventures they've had in Madagascar, Africa, and Europe they look at it with different eyes. Their choice to instead join their new friends with the travelling circus for activities more fulfilling than the zoo could offer worked brilliantly. It seemed so natural that it felt like that was what the movies had been building toward since the first one.

Wall-E: A beautiful and moving conclusion, as Wall-E and EVE not only survive but return the giant space ark to Earth. The best part is that it continues into the credits, where we see the humans and robots from the ark have indeed broken out of their rut (of being served or serving, respectively) and are now working together with renewed purpose to restore life to the long-abandoned planet. And it's all enhanced by the Peter Gabriel song ' Down to Earth', which was written for the movie and whose lyrics perfectly match what we've seen in the climax and what we're seeing in the end credits sequence. One of the best ending sequences I've seen.

[electr1cgoblin]

Star Wars
Unforgiven
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Jaws
12 Angry Men
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
The Bride of Frankenstein
Batman Begins
Ordinary People
Superman

[FlashEarthOne]

Off the top of my head the Usual Suspects nailed the ending like no other movie in the past three decades. I did like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable's endings. I do think that Identity was very underrated.

[Biff Pow!]

How has no one mentioned the ending to Star Wars yet? A celebration of triumph over overwhelming odds with John Williams providing the music? It remains one of my all time favorite movies endings.

What makes the ending to Star Wars so perfect is all the character arcs tie together in the final moments- blowing up the Death Star was the culmination of Leia/R2's plot to deliver the plans, Luke learning about the Force, and Han going from rogue to hero. It all happens at once, then they get to the credits only a couple minutes later.

Star Wars is such a tightly constructed and paced movie, that's why I can never agree with people who call Empire the better film.

[The Kid]

The Dark Knight has one of my favorite endings ever. When I saw it, the entire theater was quiet when it ended yet there was this feeling of excitement. Like a "what the hell did I just see and that was incredible" kind of atmosphere

[MagSeven]

The Mist. As crushing as that ending was, it made the whole movie. I usually see twists like that coming, yet I was one of the ones letting out an audible "Ohhhhhhh nooo." at the end.

[harashkupo]

The Mist. As crushing as that ending was, it made the whole movie. I usually see twists like that coming, yet I was one of the ones letting out an audible "Ohhhhhhh nooo." at the end.

Oh wow, I truly thought I was the only one that liked the ending of The Mist.

Evangelion 1.0 - up to the final battle the film had been a reasonably good but stiff condensing of the first 6 episodes of NGE with better animation, the final battle of 1.0 made what was the absolute most boring battle of the original series into one of the most epic I've ever seen in anime.

Evangelion 2.0 - from when Mari activates unit 2s special ability to the end of the end credits scene is absolute perfection, the best movie ending I have ever seen.
It's heartwarming and tragic all at once.

ditto

One movie which hasn't been mentioned is 12 Monkeys.

When I originally watched it, it thought it was just ok....An interesting variation of a post-apocalyptic world, and a group making attempts to change history .

But when the ending occurred, I was wowed....The resolution gave the film a certain level of gravitas I wasn't expecting. Bruce Willis was essentially stuck in a time loop, and no matter how many times they try, that group can't alter the course of history to save humankind from what occurred.

I was a kid when I saw this and realizing that everything he went through to prevent that future would fail over and over again just blew my mind. Before, time travel was fun like Star Trek and Back to the Future, but this made me look at it differently.

[GoingPostal]

Watched Sleepers some days ago and the ending sure is well made.

It gives you this nice feeling that justice has been rightfully served and it's all emotional and sad in the same time.

[Joker]

I like the ending of The Mist, too, but it's hard to watch!