Movies with great endings

I'd been planning on doing a 'Movies with great, horrible or ambiguous endings' thread for a while, but as there's now a 'horrible endings' thread, I'll just focus on the other noteworthy endings.

• the original Planet of the Apes, though it's been parodied to death
• Angels with Dirty Faces. This is one of the most brilliant uses of ambiguity in Hollywood history
• White Heat. Not necessarily a surprise ending or anything, just brilliantly executed.

 

Godfather-not the action but the symbolism as the door shuts on Kay

Dirty Harry-shooting Scorpio off the pier and standing there as the credits roll

 

Escape From New York.

The President plays the wrong tape (with the Bandstand theme) while Snake Plissken walks away ripping apart the real one.

 

The Usual Suspects

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark-as the warehouse worker wheels away the crate containing the Ark of the Covenant and the shot widenes to the immense government warehouse full of secrets.

 

Casablanca
Chinatown

are the two that come immediately to mind.

 

"The Third Man". She just keeps walking...

 

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS- "I'm having an old friend for dinner."

 

Makes for a great double feature with another good 'un, Se7en.

 

Good call.

 

Beat me to it - one of the most intense endings ever!

 

I loved The Pledge. The ending had a lot to do with it.

 

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

 

Sixth Sense. I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

 

Another great ending: "ET". Simple and emotional without lots of overwrought theatrics...

 

Yes. Didn't much like the movie as a whole but the ending hit me pretty hard.

Also 'Jeremiah Johnson'.

 

Let It Be

 

The good the bad and the ugly
2001 -Because Kubrick doesn't sit around and explain his movies
Vertigo

 

Looking for Mr Goodbar starring Diane Keaton

 

"Nighthawks" with Sylvester Stallone

 

I think the movie that floored me with an ending that came from out of nowhere was the 1966 Henry Fonda film A Big Hand for the Little Lady. That's jaw-droppingly funny and surprising -- a very odd film.

There's a ton of films with great endings (and quite a few with bad ones), but I'm hard-pressed to name one that's more stunning than this one.

 

After Hours

Burn After Reading

 

An intense ending but I have to say for years I hated the movie because of that ending.

 

"Blade Runner"--the Director's cut ending. It leaves everything uncertain and unsettled even as he gets the girl and they escape.

"Alien"-A pretty intense ending as well.

"T2"-I know that Cameron has taken it on the chin for some of his writing but the ending works perfectly here.

"Night of the Hunter"

"Vertigo"--Scottie, powerless and emotionally destroyed discovers that his obsession has also led him down a path where "Madeline" dies a "second" time.

"Rear Window"--A brilliant ending. John Michael Hayes and Hitchcock were made for each other it's a pity that both their egos got in the way of their partnership.

"The Godfather Part II"-Michael completely consumed by the role he has to play, corrupted completely.

"Atonement"-Out of left field we suddenly discover that we are hearing a character's attempt to make right in fiction what she destroyed in real life.

"The Usual Suspects"

"The Time Machine"-The Traveler returns to the future to help humanity leaving a world that no longer needs him for one that does.

"Minority Report"-I actually feel that Spielberg does a nice job of tying up loose ends while showing us the consequences of eliminating the use of Precogs in predicting murders.

"Patton"-with its foreshadowing of Patton's death in a brief scene at the end of the film.

"2001"-Not the first time that Kubrick created an "open" ending that left a lot open to intepretation by the audience but certainly one of his more daring.

"District 9"-As our "hero" creates delicate flowers out of scrap metal waiting for the return of the only person that can make him human again.

"The Fly"-A brilliant, touching ending and also gross (the remake) and disturbing (the original).

 

"Field of Dreams." Subtle but effective.