WARNING: A couple spoilers posted below.
If you haven’t already, make sure you check out parts one and two of our Favorite Movie Endings feature, in which we paid tribute to the finales of 40 films ranging from The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Vertigo and more. As our staff brainstormed for the movies to include, we quickly realized that there are way too many awesome endings to organize them into one of those definitive EW countdowns you know and (mostly) love. So instead we picked our personal favorites…no judgments!
Still, there were a few goodies that we remembered too late. If I had the chance to add another pick, it would be the poignant ending of The 25th Hour, in which Edward Norton’s character, en route to prison, has an elaborate fantasy about the alternate life he could have south of the border. Assistant managing editor Jason Adams had the ending of a different Norton movie in mind: ”Fight Club [pictured] has a pretty perfect final scene with the Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’ kicking in before the credits.”
What would you add? Pay tribute to your favorites below.
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“The Usual Suspects”. The whole theater just sat there with their mouths open. When I left I just wanted to go right back and watch it all again.
Thelma and Louise, of course!
I love the ending to Narc. Even though I’ve seen it a thousand times I still presume that Ray Liotta is a bad guy until that final scene when with his dying breath he whispers the truth to Jason Patric. Awesome.
Say Anything
“Ding”
Is there anyone who saw “Carrie” and didn’t jump ten feet in the air at it’s final ‘Gotcha!’ moment? Genius!
“The Silence of the Lambs.” It still gives me chills, hearing Clarice breathily saying Dr. Lecter,’ name over and over, long after he’s one off to feast on his greatest foe, his therapist.
I was surprised “Heat” wasn’t on the list. The final sequence in which De Niro and Pacino violently confront each other is taut and suspenseful, and the final moment when Pacino holds De Niro’s hand as he dies is unforgettable.
Oh, and because I’m a sucker for cheesy epic love stories, where was “Titanic”?? I’m still questioning if Rose died in the end, or if it was just a dream.
ulla is right, The Usual Suspects — because 2 that DID make your lists, The SIxth Sense and Saw, would not exist without The Usual Suspects and it’s Holy-crap-everything-is-falling-into-place ending. In a similar vain, I liked The Illusionist ending also, much better than the overrated Prestige.
Harold and Maude did tragicomedy better than anything. Deliverance is up there with Carrie for a final image that will haunt your nightmares.
But my all-time favorite is HALLOWEEN. It’s not the killing of Michael -shocking – it’s not that he’s gone – more shocking! – it’s those final shots of rooms in suburban houses – he could be in YOUR basement! Up YOUR stairs! In YOUR living room… right now! Could not sleep for weeks.
Ok, i really liked the ending to the Matrix, with Rage Against the Machine playing and he flys up, i thought that rocked. The final scene of Serenity was great. The ship’s finally patched up, we say goodbye to some of our fav characters and then the “love the ship” speech b/w River and Mal, LOVED IT! Plus, a piece flew off at the end, made the ending perfect.
I don’t think this list would be complete without “The Shawshank Redemption.” I mean really…(spoiler!!!) you’re watching those last few scenes, wondering if Andy killed himself, only to discover he’s escaped!! Pure brilliance!!!
Casablanca.
“Here’s looking at you kid.” My dad used to say that to me, and it wasn’t until I watched the movie with him that I understood just what it meant. And, of course, the shot of that bottle of Vichy water being thrown away makes the historian in me smile every time.
Just had a flip through the top 40 you guys put together, and was largely with you – some I wouldn’t have thought of, some missing I would have included – until I got to the American coda to 2005’s Pride and Prejudice. Are you KIDDING? That’s the most excruciatingly bad thing I’ve ever seen. I could hear Jane Austen spinning in her grave from here. The rest of that film’s lovely; the scene in the field and Mr Bennett’s study (the UK ending) are lovely, but that coda is just dreadful.
The Breakfast Club. When John Bender walks off into the late afternoon sun with his fist pumped in the air. And then a freeze-frame.
One ending I absolutely love that still gets me giddy to this day is the ending of THE TRUMAN SHOW. From the shock and realization of the schooner hitting the wall to the image of Truman walking on water to Christof’s appeal to Truman for him to stay, and then when he tells Truman to say something (“You’re live to the whole world!!!”), Truman just says his signature line, bows, turns around and walks through the door as Phillip Glass’ score peaks. And then the last bit with the security guards going “What else is on?”
It’s one of the most perfect endings to a movie in the last ten years.
Speaking of Edward Norton: I love the ending to Primal Fear. *clap, clap, clap* and the look on Richard Gere’s face as he figures it all out. “There never was an Aaron!” Spooky.
How about “Space Cowboys”? When Tommy Lee Jones’ character is sitting on the moon. It’s so great that his dream finally came true even though he dies.
What about the end of American Psycho, that was something else
‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ ranks with the best, but I’m still bowled over by the end of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. Sure, ‘A New Hope’ had been a phenomenal success, but it was still gutsy of George Lucas to end this crucial follow-up (the film that would ultimately determine whether this space opera had legs) on such a downbeat note after two hours of growing tension. Pretty ballsy, too, for him to suggest, in what is obstensibly a kid’s movie, that the good guys don’t always win. I was 10 when I first watched ‘Empire’ back in 1980, and it remains the single most thrilling movie-going experience of my life.
thdx333 you stoled my answer. Second choice would be “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry”
Usual Suspect and Sixth Sense. Just goes to show that some Hollywood writers and directors still know how to keep its audience entertained. X2’s ending was also rather good. Hate that X3 ruined the trilogy. For a girly movie, the ending to My Best Friend’s Wedding was great. Not everyone should have their happy ending.
Say Anything seems to (deservedly) end up on many of your lists here at EW, but this is the list it most deserves to be on! Best ending ever- two young (somewhat naive) lovers facing a dubious future. Sitting on an airplane, with fear of flight as a metaphor for their fear of unknown adulthood… Waiting for the “DING”. Perfect ending to a perfect movie.
The only movie to give me chills since I was a kid was Identity. The final scene of that movie sends a shiver down my spine every time I see it.
I would have to say Mrs.Robinson. When they are in the bus, like the characters, you can’t help to think: now what?
I concur for the Usual Suspects, that was some twisted ending.
I also agree for My Best Friend Wedding. Did not like the movie for years until I grew up a little (read grew up from my fairy tale ideas…) and realised that the ending was perfect, life just goes on!! Dancing with your friend that’s what it is about!
CITY LIGHTS has to be mentioned..the realization by the flower shop keeper that her benefactor was Charlie Chaplin’s character (the Tramp) may be the most touching movie scene in film history.
I do not have anything to add, however I would like to comment on the original list. In “A League of Their Own” there is no way Dottie dropped the ball on purpose! No way! She was pissed at Kit as evidenced by going to the mound before her at-bat and telling Ellen Sue to throw high fast balls – “can’t hit ‘em, can’t lay off ‘em.” Dottie wanted to win just as badly as anyone else. She was no quitter. Thank you. That is all.
the natural
EW named 3 of my favourites: Lost in Translation, North by Northwest and Before Sunset. But how about any of these endings to Ang Lee films: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Zhang Ziyi’s Jen descent into the clouds; Eat Drink Man Woman – father and master chef) regains his sense of taste and connects with his daughter for the first time over the dinner she’s cooked for him; The Ice Storm – Father (Kevin Kline) breaks down in tears after taking looking at each of his wife and children alive and well, and then cut to black as family looks on in astonishment.
King Kong–both the 1933 and 2005 versions. I bawl like a little child every time I watch the new one, even though I know what’s going to happen. From the quiet moments where Kong and Anne are skating in the park to the drama on top of the Empire State building, until he slowly falls off–it slays me every time. “It was beauty killed the beast”–aah.
The Usual Suspects, American Psycho, Memento, The Blair Witch, Butch Cassidy, Cast Away, The Departed, Eternal Sunshine, Fight Club, Hot Fuzz, The Prestige, I am Sam, Mystic River, Inside Man, The Machinist, The Truman Show, Matchstick Men, The alternate ending in 28 Days Later and The Descent.
I am sure there are others, but those endings I really enjoy