The ending of any film can really make or break the entire experience. Some movies end on the highest of notes while some completely ruin the journey you have just traveled on with a terrible, nonsensical closing shot. So sticking with my theme of listing films, here is the breakdown of my personal favorite final moments that made me walk away feeling satisfied and often in complete awe. Warning, some spoilers are ahead…
10. Primal Fear – Richard Gere walking away after his most triumphant victory feeling as though he has lost it all. It’s an incredibly somber feeling he is experiencing, maybe the first of his career. He has been defeated by his own client; a man he vouched for risked it all. He walks out of the courthouse alone and away from the media. He is left with everything and yet nothing.
9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre –Leatherface screams, swinging his chainsaw around in front of an incredibly beautiful backdrop. Cut to black. This is the most sadistic and maniacal closing shot of any film I have ever seen. The way Leatherface screams and swings his chainsaw is almost a vision of art. It’s both beautiful and frightening.
8. Se7en – Wow! I will forever remember the line, “Whats in the box?” The entire film leads to this conclusion that everyone was hoping would never come. We want some sort of happy ending. We want the killer caught and for the good-guys to prevail. He is caught but the good-guys still lose. The emotional destruction committed is so brutal that each character is left with nothing to say or do.
7. Whiplash – This is the most recent of film I have seen that really astonished me with its finale. The intensity is immense throughout and it’s quite evident that it’s building towards a conclusion of great magnitude. This is one of the few films that not only lives up to the hype but blows the audience out of the water with a final showdown between the two leads. As the film abruptly cuts to black their destiny together is left unwritten with the viewer’s feeling both amazed and exhausted.
6. Halloween – My favorite horror film provides one of the best and most eerie endings in film history. Dr. Loomis shows up just in time to save the girl and shoot the masked Michael Myers. He falls from a balcony and lands with a thump. Game over. Or so we think. There lies the genius of the film as Dr. Loomis discovers that the body is missing and Michael is still on the loose. He looks around as the familiar piano theme plays in and we are filled with fear as we know he is out there, waiting.
5. Cinema Paradiso – Salvatore is a good man who has grown to be well-respected and successful in his life. However, there is something missing. There is a big hole in his heart that he cannot seem to fill. He searches throughout the film to find what’s missing and finally discovers it in the form of a film reel he was forbidden to watch as a young projectionist assistant. His mentor, Alfredo, had saved the film for him. Salvatore sits and watches the mock movie of love scenes. We watch as emotion and joy pours out of him, finally finding the absolution he has been searching for.
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – This is, perhaps, the most emotionally invoking film from start to finish I have ever seen. We go through so many ups and downs with Elliott and his other-worldly friend who is just trying to get home. Elliott helps him to achieve this goal with a determination that is unbreakable until the final scene when he has succeeded. It is then he realizes he wants E.T. to stay and E.T. wants him to come. Their bond cannot be broken by distance or time. It is eternal. They share a final moment together that is the greatest representation of love I have ever seen on film.
3. The Usual Suspects –The way it plays out is like a well-orchestrated symphony. The build is slow. Verbal walks out of the police precinct with his usual limp and very calmly strolls along the sidewalk. We then see Dave get a fax about what Keyser Soze actually looks like and instantly realize it is the cripple who has played us all like a banjo. Dave gives chase to catch him as we hear a voiceover about coming so close to nabbing the famed criminal, only to lose him in the end. Verbal’s leg straightens out and his hand is no longer cramped. He gets into a car no longer as Verbal but as the full-embodiment of Keyser Soze.
2. The Shawshank Redemption – Andy and Red have been on a twenty year journey together through the worst kind of hell imaginable. Andy can no longer take it and escapes. He writes his friend and says that he hopes Red will be able to make it to him. Hope. This is the theme of a movie about never allowing the system to beat you down. Never giving in to the people who want to strip you of everything that makes you human. Red begins his quest to find Andy accompanied only with his hope to see his friend again. We finally arrive at the culmination of their journey on a beach. The camera pans out as the two men embrace each other. We don’t need to know what they are saying or what happens after this scene. All we need is this moment.
1. City Lights – This is the movie ending I have watched more than any other. After seeing it more than 50 times, it still strikes me in the exact same way it did the first time I experienced its beauty. The Tramp is back to being nothing. He walks along the streets being picked on by neighborhood kids and made fun of. He doesn’t really fight back because he believes they are right in a sense. As he walks along the sidewalk he makes eye contact with the blind girl. She doesn’t know who he is or what he has done for her because it is the first time she has ever actually seen him. She laughs at him as many others have done until she touches his hand. It is at this moment her entire mood changes and she realizes who he is. He asks her, in brilliant silent film style, if she can see now. She takes his hand and holds it to her heart and replies, “Yes, I can see now.” The Tramp gives her the most sincere smile ever expressed on film. Fade to black. Perfection.
It was quite difficult to narrow down my top 10 but it was my personal favorites after analyzing hundreds of films. Its a tough job but somebody has to do it. Let me know what you think!
Movie Hits and Misses 