Ambiguous Film Endings

snorkie · November 21st, 2010, 04:53 PM

It doesn't happen often outside of "Art House" films, but occasionally a movie can be well served by an ambiguous conclusion. When done well - and it is rare - an open-ended movie can be both entertaining and thought provoking. This would not include movies which are setting up an obvious sequel. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Inception.
2. A History of Violence.
3. Manhattan.
4. Hang Em High.
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Can you think of some interesting examples?

**squigg58** · November 21st, 2010, 07:12 PM

The original Italian Job. (Can't comment on the remake as I ignored it!)

**TexMadrid** · November 21st, 2010, 11:49 PM

Cast Away with Tom Hanks comes to mind.

I am going to come up with some more. That's all I have for now.

**Tmee2020** · November 22nd, 2010, 07:49 AM

The Third Man

**Davemetalhead** · November 22nd, 2010, 03:30 PM

"The Wrestler", starring Mickey Rourke and the delectable Marisa Tomei. Pretty good film too. Without giving away spoilers, the question is - what did happen at the end?

**Nylon** · November 25th, 2010, 07:08 AM

No Country For Old Men.

After two hours of Josh Brolin being chased by a psycho it ends with a Tommy Lee Jones monologue. Really took the cinema I was in by suprise. Funnily enough as I'd just read the book it made perfect sense!

**victor meldrew** · November 25th, 2010, 08:16 AM

Duslk till Dawn
The Thing
Usual Suspects

MaxJoker · November 25th, 2010, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davemetalhead

"The Wrestler", starring Mickey Rourke and the delectable Marisa Tomei. Pretty good film too. Without giving away spoilers, the question is - what did happen at the end?

Well without giving any spoilers away , i`d say he followed his heart

Quote:

Originally Posted by MayfairFan

Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes

Ambiguous

, more like insultingly pointless

Quote:

Originally Posted by victor meldrew

Usual Suspects

I pretty much found the excellent ending pretty much cut and dried self explanatory

Only thing that didn`t make that much sense was the cop suddenly realising everything he`s been told had been taken from the board behind him , and even from underneath a cup

Gee`s Spacey`s character must have had 30/30 vision or something

Or went up to the board and studied it every time the cop left the room

Quote:

Originally Posted by victor meldrew

The Thing

One of the best endings ever from a true Sci Fi classic

Which more than surpassed the original and deserved to have been a hit dammit

I watched Where the Truth Lies a couple night ago and that had a very ambiguous ending.

Decent film though

Mind you any film that shows a naked girl going down on a naked Alison Lohman is bound to get my respect

**smutwerx** · November 25th, 2010, 11:27 AM

I just saw a film two nights ago called Two Lane Blacktop. It was made in 1973 and is similar to Easy Rider or Vanishing Point. Folk singer James Taylor stars with Warren Oates and Laurie Bird. The movie's nominally about street racing, but there's little action. Actually, there's little dialogue. It's mostly visual and has a very meaningful ambiguous ending.

snorkie · November 25th, 2010, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenSkull

One of the best endings ever from a true Sci Fi classic

Which more than surpassed the original and deserved to have been a hit dammit

Excellent movie, true to the source story and could have been a hit except for one little problem: It was just too darn gross! I remember Siskel and Ebert calling The Thing "This week's barf bag special." Remember the autopsy scene, ewwww! To this day, I can't watch The Thing without having my thumb on the fast forward button.

November 21st, 2010, 04:53 PM	#1
snorkie Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Gizmonics Institute Posts: 521 Thanks: 2,711 Thanked 4,566 Times in 510 Posts	Ambiguous Film Endings It doesn't happen often outside of "Art House" films, but occasionally a movie can be well served by an ambiguous conclusion. When done well - and it is rare - an open-ended movie can be both entertaining and thought provoking. This would not include movies which are setting up an obvious sequel. Here are a few of my favorites: 1. Inception. 2. A History of Violence. 3. Manhattan. 4. Hang Em High. 5. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Can you think of some interesting examples? __________________ Searching for Swedish Erotica #0186 - SWING TIME (John Holmes, Johnny Keyes). Also, PLEASURE CRUISE (Andrea True, Harry Reems).

November 21st, 2010, 11:49 PM	#3
TexMadrid Vintage Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 996 Thanks: 5,741 Thanked 10,899 Times in 993 Posts	Cast Away with Tom Hanks comes to mind. I am going to come up with some more. That's all I have for now. Last edited by TexMadrid; November 22nd, 2010 at 12:38 AM..

November 21st, 2010, 07:12 PM	#2
squigg58 Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: My own little world Posts: 2,476 Thanks: 14,113 Thanked 25,970 Times in 2,473 Posts	The original Italian Job. (Can't comment on the remake as I ignored it!)

November 22nd, 2010, 07:49 AM	#4
Tmee2020 Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Aust Posts: 4,195 Thanks: 209,878 Thanked 71,444 Times in 4,151 Posts	The Third Man

November 22nd, 2010, 03:30 PM	#5
Davemetalhead Vintage Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Near Oxford, UK Posts: 528 Thanks: 3,930 Thanked 5,047 Times in 522 Posts	"The Wrestler", starring Mickey Rourke and the delectable Marisa Tomei. Pretty good film too. Without giving away spoilers, the question is - what did happen at the end?

November 25th, 2010, 07:08 AM	#6
Nylon Vintage Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK Posts: 407 Thanks: 6,186 Thanked 7,519 Times in 403 Posts	No Country For Old Men. After two hours of Josh Brolin being chased by a psycho it ends with a Tommy Lee Jones monologue. Really took the cinema I was in by suprise. Funnily enough as I'd just read the book it made perfect sense!

November 25th, 2010, 08:16 AM	#7
victor meldrew Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: At the bottom of an empty glass Posts: 15,778 Thanks: 531,920 Thanked 180,037 Times in 15,766 Posts	Duslk till Dawn The Thing Usual Suspects

November 25th, 2010, 11:27 AM	#9
smutwerx Vintage Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 619 Thanks: 2,859 Thanked 21,617 Times in 621 Posts	I just saw a film two nights ago called Two Lane Blacktop. It was made in 1973 and is similar to Easy Rider or Vanishing Point. Folk singer James Taylor stars with Warren Oates and Laurie Bird. The movie's nominally about street racing, but there's little action. Actually, there's little dialogue. It's mostly visual and has a very meaningful ambiguous ending.