Best movie ending

I think the endings of Memento and Fight Club offered some of the better surprises and for sheer fun Michael Caine's final line in the original The Italian Job, still cracks me up. So, what are your favorites?

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Permalink Reply by Snorii on July 19, 2008 at 9:48am: The Third Man is probably my favorite.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by jeldobar on July 19, 2008 at 10:21am: i can say that i've enjoyed many movies when they finally ended; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by spiderpig on July 19, 2008 at 11:38am: I guess besides the usual suspects like heh The Usual Suspects and The Sixth Sense. Recently, I liked the ending to Spiral. The movie had a kind of slow build up and then the ending redeemed it. It had a twist ending to its twist ending.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by joeoftexas on July 19, 2008 at 12:40pm: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Dr Strangelove Original Theatrical Trailer:; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by kristi_b on July 19, 2008 at 1:07pm: My favorite last line is in Some Like It Hot.

I would say that if I hadn't already known the ending beforehand, Psycho would have been a great surprise.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by mercurio3 on July 19, 2008 at 1:18pm: ending in films are always disappointing, they tend to leave you wanting more...and that makes the film great! I liked Dangerous Liaisons ending with Glenn Close defeated yet vengeful thirsty face.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on July 19, 2008 at 1:31pm: ending in films are always disappointing, they tend to leave you wanting more...and that makes the film great!

I tend to agree with this. I'm more drawn to endings that don't wrap things up into a pretty little bow. I like it when the filmmakers let us do some of the decision-making in our own heads. But then again, nothing polarizes people more than open-ended endings. I think a lot of people like closure.

I liked the endings to Limbo and Laurel Canyon.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by spiderpig on July 19, 2008 at 2:14pm: ARGH! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Say it isn't so Spin! I love John Sayles' movies, but I absolutely hated Limbo. Hated it with a passion in fact. I sat through that slow, painful movie hoping he was gonna turn it around and then

Yeah, exactly. It just stopped. Just like that sentence. Ugh!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on July 19, 2008 at 2:31pm: Yeah, exactly. It just stopped. Just like that sentence. Ugh!

And that's where my brain engaged and I worked out several possible endings on my own, even reading more about him and the film to help with my process. After watching it, we all sat around and speculated amongst ourselves as to what happened to them. Not surprisingly, nearly all of us had different scenarios. I thought that was very cool to allow us to decide rather than spoon-feeding us.

But, as it is with anything else... to each his own and I certainly understand why some want closure.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by spiderpig on July 19, 2008 at 2:47pm: Well, maybe if you go see Dark Knight this weekend, you can just leave 15 minutes early, and then you and your friends can have some fun thinking up your own ending. :)

But seriously Spin, you're right. To each his own. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on July 19, 2008 at 2:54pm: you can just leave 15 minutes early, and then you and your friends can think up your own ending

I know you're joking here, and point taken, but I'd like to add that an open-ended (or in this case, undecided) ending must have some kind of correlation within the context of the movie and its plot, or it doesn't work. (i.e. you can't just end The Wizard of Oz with Dorothy stuck in the Emerald City and expect it to work.) But certainly with a title of "limbo" (as well as many of its ongoing themes), the ending was appropriate if not pre-detetermined, imo.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Moviebunny on July 19, 2008 at 2:41pm: I remember people cursing out loud when Limbo ended, some people were furious; ▶ Reply to This