Top Ten Favorite Movie Endings

Endings are a pretty important part of a movie.  My TA for a script analysis course I took told me that the first act is inspiration and the third act/ending is the message you, the filmmaker, are trying to send.  What constitutes a good ending is a matter of fun, interesting debate.  A friend of mine argued  the quality of Gladiator's ending by stating that when he and his friends watched the film one time they were talking and were distracted during most of the film.  But once the last scene began to play, everyone was silent.  This is certainly a strong argument but I do not think that is the only criteria necessary for a strong ending.  I find that an ending's strength often times comes from its relationship to the narrative that has played out for the duration of the film.  As an isolated scene, an ending may be weak, insignificant, and meaningless, but when seen after all the events that have just occurred, it is striking.  I am not saying these are the best endings ever made, these are only my favorites.  The ones that leave me satisfied, excited, or thinking.  WARNING: THIS IS A LIST OF SPOILERS (DUR) IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND DO NOT WANT IT SPOILED THEN DO NOT READ THE BLURB ABOUT IT AND DO NOT WATCH THE CLIP

10. Rocky (1976)

Rocky is probably one of the greatest sports films ever made.  For me, what makes Rocky (and other famous sports movies) so great is that it does not solely rely on the sport that is the subject of the film.  Yes, Rocky is about a boxer, but I would argue that it is more a love story than a boxing story.  Just look at this poster for the film.  In it, we see the backs of Adrien and Rocky.  If you look in the center of the picture you will see the two holding hands.  I believe that this is evidence that the film is more a love story than one of boxing.  The love story is further emphasized in the ending.  The results of the fight are hardly audible and it is not really clear who won or what the conclusion of the fight was.  What is clear, and what is audible, is the final lines between Rocky and Adrian.

9. Winter Light (1963)

This movie was already blowing my mind before the ending, but its final moments stabbed me deep in the gut.  Bergman further demonstrates that he was an absolute film-making genius in these final moments.  Specifically, I am referring to when Algot, the hunchbacked sexton, shares with Tomas, the pastor, his theory about Jesus' suffering.  In this scene Bergman is able to paint the agony and suffering that Tomas must be going through.  The decision to not have Tomas physically act his pain or verbally express it is brilliant, because I think that simply acting it would not be enough.  Instead, drawing this connection to Christ and juxtaposing the two is infinitely more effective, with Tomas sitting there with a blank face.  It's the Kuleshov Effect, but with words.

8. Glory (1989)

When I was younger and had this film on VHS I would rewind and re-watch the final moments of this film time after time after time.  This is drama at its finest!  We have these characters that we have become attached to throughout the film and all their efforts culminating in a single charge.  Once Shaw dies and the music strikes my emotions go nuts, my heart pounds, and the hair on my neck rises.  We lose two of the most prominent characters almost instantly and the viewers feel the rage and force of the 54th as they charge into Fort Wagner.  We also see bits of character development with Trip and Thomas and this only adds to the excitement and tragedy of the scene.

7. Schindler's List (1993)

I was barely holding on throughout Schindler's List, trying as hard as I could to hold in my tears, but once the scene came, I was done for.  After all he had done, after all the lives he had saved, after all he had sacrificed, Oscar Schindler still thought he could have done more.  He looks at all of his remaining possessions and is ashamed of them.  Why had he not sold the car?  If one compares this Schindler to the one found at the beginning of the film the only similarity would be that of physical appearance.  That is one of the most impressive parts about this film; Schindler has a massive arc, but the viewer can't point to a single moment in the film when he decided to become a hero.  It is so gradual, and so human.


6. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Ultimate goal in life?  Living out this scene.  Harry is defeated and alone, but he remembers all of the great times he has had with Sally.  He remembers all the good, all the reasons he loves her, and all the reasons that make any argument they have had beyond trivial.  Then there is his silly looking run; this can't wait he has to confess his love!  He confronts Sally, spills his guts, gets rejected, then lays down one of my all-time favorite lines of any movie ever to seal the deal.  It is perhaps the single best line of dialogue of any romantic comedy.  Right up there with the ending of Some Like it Hot.  Sally even says she hates him right before he gives her a big hug.  I find that so funny. 

5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Here is a classic WTF? ending.  Although, much of what is actually happening to the character is pretty straight forward, the way in which Kubrick goes about showing it to the audience is mesmerizing, and not so straight forward.  I watched it with a huge grin the first time I saw 2001; one, because it is nuts, and secondly, because I could just imagine people being so confused while watching this ending.  For me, part of what makes this films so great is the massive amount of mystery surrounding it.  The viewer is never entirely sure what is going on in the film and it all builds up to the viewer REALLY not knowing what is going on.

4. The Godfather (1972)

Most of the youtube comments for this scene revolve around the idea that this is the greatest ending in the history of cinema.  It's certainly up there.  Really, what is there to say about this ending and The Godfather that has not been said a bagilion times?  The music, the acting, the cinematography, heck, even the editing is amazing!  I love the swipe at the end to create the effect of the door closing.  That may even be my favorite part of the ending.  That, and Michael losing his cool for a second.  With epics it sometimes seems hard to imagine an ending.  After so much has happened how can this movie possibly end?  Coppola manages to do so in a relatively calm and exceptionally effective way, by suggesting rather than flat out telling.

3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Clarice did it!  She solved the crime, stopped the bad guy, and got some FBI cake!  All is over and happy now.  There are no loose ends or anything to make anyone the least bit worried.  Clarice, you got a phone call.  Oh yeah... that guy.  Hannibal the Cannibal is still out there, and is as charming and polite as ever.  Jodie Foster has an amusing look of shock during this whole scene while Hopkins could not look more relaxed.  Isn't it just great that he actually bothers to call her?  He knows he won't be caught and just wants to have a little fun, promoting his intellect in the process.  It's also interesting that a somewhat minor character (in terms of screen time) has the last line and is the final image.  Walking down the street, looking oh so suave.   

2. Paths of Glory (1957)

The power of the ending to Paths of Glory comes so much from the context of the whole story.  Isolated, it does not really mean much, I don't think, and I can't really imagine anyone really giving it a second thought.  But after watching the film, and seeing the cruelty that just unfolded amplifies the emotional effect of this scene.  The men all start off acting obnoxious and wild, but once the woman (played by Kubrick's future wife) begins to sing they slowly calm down.  What's next, is that they actually seem touched by the music, some even crying.  Now they do hum along with her, but I wonder if they actually know what she is singing.  They are French and she is speaking German.  An American audience almost definitely won't know what the lyrics mean.  I looked them up after a viewing and now the scene is even more effective.

Star Wars (1977)

I am such a huge sucker for this scene.  I sit at the edge of my seat, with a big smile, heart pounding, and I know exactly what is going to happen.  I've seen the film so many times, I have most of its entire dialogue memorized.  It doesn't matter that I know exactly how this scene will play out, I still get excited and absorbed in it.  For me, it is just SO exciting.  Oh no!  Vader is moving in!  Luke you're doomed!  "Let go Luke!", "hmm, the force is strong with this one.", "You turned off your targeting computer!"  "I have you now!"  BLAST! "yeeeehaaaaaa!!"  HAN SOLO TO THE RESCUE! Does it get any better than that?   Nope.  The one flaw with the ending is that Chewie does not get a medal at the end.