Good movies with really bad endings.

[Yosemite Dan]

I was thinking of this as I'm deciding whether I should buy War of the Worlds or the upcoming Wedding Crashers. The first 2 acts are great but then the final act or ending is so bad that it ruins the whole movie for me where I can't enjoy it at all and find it not worth purchasing. Such a shame.

What movies do that for you guys out there and why?

[SPTO]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Easy, A.I. I thought it was a very good movie til Spielberg went with all the fake endings. It ruined what was a well acted and directed film.

[Blzer]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Easy, A.I. I thought it was a very good movie til Spielberg went with all the fake endings. It ruined what was a well acted and directed film.

Good call. I thought it ended about a thousand times. Craptacular!


By the way, Yosemite Dan, are you talking about down to the very end, or the last half?

As for down to the very end:

- Signs
- The Matrix Revolutions
- The Village (I really didn't like any of it, though)
- Dumb and Dumber
- The Ring Two
- Napoleon Dynamite (here we go...)
- Saw II (I loved the ending, actually... I just don't like how it's going to continue with another sequel)
- War of the Worlds
- The Forgotten

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Why didn't you like the ending to White Noise?

[Blzer]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Crap... it wasn't White Noise. Sorry. I meant The Forgotten.

Thank you for correcting me.

[CM1847]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Was the War Of The Worlds ending taken directly from the book or changed for Hollywood?

[Blzer]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Movies that I account for crappier last halves:


- The Shaft
- War of the Worlds (again)
- Godsend
- The Day After Tomorrow (it wasn't bad, though... just not as drastic and entertaining)



And I know I'm going to get flamed for this one, but:

- Shrek 2



Too rushed; too many pop culture references... too strange.

Again, it doesn't mean that I didn't like the movie... it just went a little off course.

[Yosemite Dan]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Was the War Of The Worlds ending taken directly from the book or changed for Hollywood?

With WOTW I'm not even talking about the demise of the aliens. What really ruined it for me was the last 5 minutes where Cruise ends up seeing his son who survives and gets there before him while the army he supposedly followed to fight the aliens is wiped out and then his ex-wife is waiting for him at the house looking like she just had Thanksgiving dinner while watching a Leave It To Beaver marathon on T.V.

This thread can either apply to the ending or the last act or 20 minutes or so where it seems the director left the movie early and let the production assistants take over to finish it up. Like the Wedding Crashers where it was just as unfunny in the last act as it was funny in the first 2, seems likes two different movies. Happens alot in comedies as they fall into the trap of trying to resolve the plot and have no imagination in trying to keep it funny.

Spelberg almost ruined Saving Private Ryan for me as well with those lame cematery scenes that seemed totally out of place. If he had made Jaws now I'm sure he would have included a message from Greenpeace speaking out agianst cruelty to sharks.

[nyyanksfan20]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

I thought Rat Race was a pretty good movie, but the ending sorta ruined it.

[CM1847]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

With WOTW I'm not even talking about the demise of the aliens. What really ruined it for me was the last 5 minutes where Cruise ends up seeing his son who survives and gets there before him while the army he supposedly followed to fight the aliens is wiped out and then his ex-wife is waiting for him at the house looking like she just had Thanksgiving dinner while watching a Leave It To Beaver marathon on T.V.

I'm just wondering how it ended in the book. If the son dies in the book and he doesn't find his wife, I can understand the complaints. But if that is how the book went, you can't mess with a literary classic. I'm just wondering how, exactly, the book was different(if at all).

[Blzer]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

I'm just wondering how it ended in the book. If the son dies in the book and he doesn't find his wife, I can understand the complaints. But if that is how the book went, you can't mess with a literary classic. I'm just wondering how, exactly, the book was different(if at all).

Not again...



Edit: Believe me... whether it was in the book or not, well then... you would have to question the author's motifs, especially when you see it on the big screen. It makes zero sense to keep him alive.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Not again...



Edit: Believe me... whether it was in the book or not, well then... you would have to question the author's motifs, especially when you see it on the big screen. It makes zero sense to keep him alive.

Agreed. That was a terrible ending.

In a twist to the original question, some movies are saved by a great ending.

Arlington Road had the best ending, that rescued a boring movie up until the last 30 min or so.

[TerpsJunkie]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Identity

[Ger]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

I'm just wondering how it ended in the book. If the son dies in the book and he doesn't find his wife, I can understand the complaints. But if that is how the book went, you can't mess with a literary classic. I'm just wondering how, exactly, the book was different(if at all).

the movie was incredibly off from the book. there is no son there is no daughter! in fact its placed in the 19th century england haha. the whole story revolves around one man, the narrator. the book is leaps and BOUNDS better than this movie. i still think they should do another wotw, but follow the book specifically. like take it back to the 19th, early 20th century. it would make more sense.

[bgeno]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Identity

Ugh, I hated Identity's ending.