good movies; bad endings

Number27 · #1 01-31-2010, 11:49 PM

so i was watching the abyss today for the first time. great movie, but for the ending; which is just a giant deus ex machina that wraps things up just a little too neatly. it got me thinking though: what other great movies are ruined by their ending scenes/sequences?

*we should probably keep spoilers to a minimum

Unrepresented · #2 02-01-2010, 12:57 AM

I didn't feel that the last act of Watchnmen lived up to the rest of the film.

In an inverse sense, I thought that the first half hour of Jeepers Creepers was much, much better than the last hour.

5StringBlues · #3 02-01-2010, 01:00 AM

Going back a bit...........

I was really enjoying the storyline in "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" before it turned into a cartoonish vampire movie.

Stigs · #4 02-01-2010, 01:06 AM

I was rather disappointed by the ending to the Book of Eli, I felt that it had a fairly interesting storyline and some good action scenes throughout most of it, but what they tried to imply near the ending just seemed ludicrous.

Gopherbassist · #5 02-01-2010, 02:41 AM

The Happening. I enjoyed the acting, thought it was well written, but the whole premise was pretty stupid. Plus the first thing they do is tell you the ending. I know there is one I just saw that was great, and then just had this horrid ending that ruined everything, but I can't remember it.

Also, I'd like to include God of War II. So. Damn. Stupid.

Alfie · #6 02-01-2010, 02:51 AM

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, I'm not entirely sure that it did end.

Number27 · #7 02-01-2010, 02:53 AM

thought of another: star wars: the empire strikes back. the ending just leaves you hanging... and i know at the time there was a sequal on the way but it came out like 5 years later! haha

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfie

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, I'm not entirely sure that it did end.

yea, like the abyss that movie ended like 5 times before it ended, but the time it was finally done you were just exhausted.

burk48237 · #8 02-01-2010, 05:01 AM

I always thought one of my favorite movies of all time The Search for the Holy Grail (Monty Python) had a mediocre ending. arresting the entire cast for killing the narrator kind of killed the sequel thing.

Relic · #9 02-01-2010, 05:43 AM

Steven King's "The Mist".
I enjoyed it all the way through, until the ending... it's not that the ending was outright bad or not written well, it was just a brutal, awful twist that I just felt was unnecessary. He could have stuck with his typical Steven King type ending and it would have been fine. This was far more sinister. Kind of like Hitchcock but darker.

Relic · #10 02-01-2010, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfie

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, I'm not entirely sure that it did end.

My wife ALWAYS complains about that movie. She calls it the "movie that never ends", because it took so ungodly long to wrap up everything at the end then after all of that, there really was no closure..
Lord of the Rings is still my all time fav trilogy though.

middlebit · #11 02-01-2010, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alfie

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, I'm not entirely sure that it did end.

I think I know what you mean - I was so disappointed it didn't contain the real ending. That's kind of the whole point of the story.

ubado · #12 02-01-2010, 06:02 AM

For a fairly recent flix ... Paranormal Activity

Didn't much care for the "Spielberg" ending ... found it typical.
(However ... I did like the Original/Pre-Spielberg ending, only available on DVD/BlueRay. IMO ... it to fit with the back story much better)

TallLankyBastyd · #13 02-01-2010, 06:40 AM

I Am Legend

The movie ending totally made a mockery of the book's great ending.

PSPookie · #14 02-01-2010, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

My wife ALWAYS complains about that movie. She calls it the "movie that never ends", because it took so ungodly long to wrap up everything at the end then after all of that, there really was no closure..
Lord of the Rings is still my all time fav trilogy though.

Ha! They even cut out a bunch of what was in the books for the movie version. IIRC the wrap up at the end of the books was something like 200 pages.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TallLankyBastyd

I Am Legend

The movie ending totally made a mockery of the book's great ending.

Good one

Asa Samuel · #15 02-01-2010, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5StringBlues

Going back a bit...........

I was really enjoying the storyline in "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" before it turned into a cartoonish vampire movie.

+1

Asa Samuel · #16 02-01-2010, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burk48237

I always thought one of my favorite movies of all time The Search for the Holy Grail (Monty Python) had a mediocre ending. arresting the entire cast for killing the narrator kind of killed the sequel thing.

I quite liked the ending actually, it's one of my fav films.

LarryO · #17 02-01-2010, 07:10 AM

So Many but one that comes to mind is The Ninth Gate

blendermassacre · #18 02-01-2010, 07:12 AM

Book of eli gets a huge +1. From dusk till dawn, however was awesome, imo.

Relic · #19 02-01-2010, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asa Samuel

I quite liked the ending actually, it's one of my fav films.

Same here, that ending was classic!

blendermassacre · #20 02-01-2010, 08:41 AM

Book of eli gets a huge +1. From dusk till dawn, however was awesome, imo.