A couple of weeks ago I was over a friends house having a cigar in his office. After about an hour of solving all of the worlds problems, the topic changed to movies. We got to talking about movies with happy endings and how neither one of us really liked the ones where things ended on a sad, or bad, note.
This lead to my friend telling me about a movie he took his two kids to see a couple of years ago. This movie was entitled Bridge to Terabithia. From here he begins to tell me a story about a little girl that has an incredible imagination and befriends a little boy that learns to expand his mind.
After hearing this interesting story, he goes on to tell me that suddenly, this imaginative young girl drowns to death in a creek. Not only was the ending a bummer for him, his kids were a little confused and saddened by the death of this young girl.
After our movie discussion, we went back to solving the worlds problems over the remainder of our cigars, after which I headed home. Several weeks later I see an advertisement for Bridge to Terabithia on television. Having a fondness for this genre, I decided to give it a watch and see the story for myself. Sure enough, the depressing twist came towards the end of the film and it sucked all of my enjoyment right out of the movie.
While unhappy endings aren’t the norm and do a great job of setting the film apart from the rest, I find that I like the cheesy endings where the guy gets the girl in the end, or the hero prevails and the villain winds up in the slammer.
How do you like your
movies to end?
6 thoughts on “How do you like your movies to end?”
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I like movies to end differently! I hate always having the hero/heroine winning the battle and all mankind is saved. It doesnt happen that way in real life š
I want to see some movies where the villians win, where the hero gets eaten by the monster and normal everyday folk take up the fight and defeat it to save themselves.
Mike
I think I have that movie in my dvd collection, but never watched it – the wife picked it up when it came out. I might have to take a look and see what I think.
I love movies that end in cliffhangers. It’s really an artform to pull it off properly.
The best example I’ve seen in recent years was the final episode of The Sopranos. I love the combination of angst, anticipation, anger more that comes with that feeling of being left in limbo.
There was a movie made about 10 years ago that really exemplified what I’m talking about. It was called “Limbo” but John Sayles (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164085/) If you like cliffhanger plots, check it out!
I have not seen this movie but tend to agree with this review
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2HXEMDOHJN6IS/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2HXEMDOHJN6IS
Many times I sit down to watch a movie I just want to enjoy the time and escape. If that is the case I want the happy ending so everyone can feel encouraged and move on. Other times it is with the aid of a movie that helps bring up real family discussion. Frequently I feel like Charlie Brown’s teacher when I try to talk to my kids for more than a few minutes, granted they are still elementary school aged and younger but I have a hard time getting serious points across to them at times. So occasionally the sad or difficult parts of movies lend me a hand in explaining not only in regards to the film but also in real life.
I like a variety of endings, depending on the movie. I wanted “The Wizard of Oz” to have a happy ending, but I also like cliffhangers and suspenseful endings as well. I love the ending to “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” They were outlaws, but likable to the audience, so the ending left me with a bittersweet feeling. Another example is the movie “Ben” from 1971. The little boy’s pet rat, Ben, was the leader of a pack of violent rats, but he gets injured at the end, leaving the boy to cry as the credits roll, with the title song playing. Very emotional.
Happy endings are over-rated, whether it be in movies, books, or any other form of entertainment. What really matters is the journey to get to the ending (Stephen King explains this beautifully at the end of the “Dark Tower” series.
Without giving away endings to movies you may not have seen, some of my recent favorites that come to mind:
1) Cloverfield
2) Children of Men
3) I Am Legend
4) Donnie Darko
5) Fargo
6) No Country For Old Men
7) The “Dark Tower” series — in my opinion the best ending to any book/book series, PERIOD.
I must say I did NOT like the ending to Sopranos at all. It was a very disappointing ending to my all time favorite TV series.
I know this is an old post… sorry. I 100% agree with Chris. It’s HOW you got to the ending. I like for a movie to take me somewhere. I want it to make me feel something.
When the girl drowns in Bridge to Terabithia, that is pretty heavy. But it’s the legacy that she left behind, and the journey they had together that counts (for me). I like happy endings too, the new Star Trek was awesome.
Twist endings that you don’t see coming, or the big reveal when you’ve been kept in the dark the whole movie, I like that too. Happy or serious, that’s cool.
Finally, there are some really great movies with depressing endings. No Country for Old Men, American Beauty, and House of Sand and Fog come to mind. My wife doesn’t really like depressing endings, but she’s always happy she saw a great movie.