Author Topic: the best ending  (Read 3195 times)

Re: the best ending
« Reply #25 on: 10 December, 2023, 05:12:24 pm »
The Wolf of Wall Street
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Kim

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #26 on: 10 December, 2023, 05:12:45 pm »
Arthur C. Clarke’s The Nine Billion Names Of God.

Oh yes, that's one of my favourites.

Re: the best ending
« Reply #27 on: 11 December, 2023, 08:26:40 pm »
The Book Thief, a tale told by Death

 “ I am haunted by humans.”
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citoyen

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #28 on: 11 December, 2023, 08:52:30 pm »
And not forgetting...

Planet of the Apes


The original, of course. Not sure if the remake ends the same way - I think I got bored with it and turned it off halfway through.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Pingu

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #29 on: 11 December, 2023, 09:19:59 pm »
And not forgetting...

Planet of the Apes...

Indeed

citoyen

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #30 on: 11 December, 2023, 10:00:45 pm »
Dang, forgot to check if it had already been mentioned.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

cygnet

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #31 on: 11 December, 2023, 11:14:58 pm »
Quote from: Rodney Archer
Those which tie up each and every one of their loose ends are satisfying in the short term, but sometimes you're done thinking about them before the lights come up

Can an unsatisfactory ending be "good"?
Yes, examples from those mentioned upthread:
The Graduate
The Third Man

I'll proffer my own

Film: Walkabout
Fiction: anything by John Le Carre (off the top of my head)

But there are also bad, and ugly "unsatisfactory endings" which also deserve exposure
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rogerzilla

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #32 on: 12 December, 2023, 06:22:53 am »
The original Get Carter and the risible Stallone remake are examples of a great ending and a terrible ending for (vaguely) the same film.

Mind you, few people will have noticed "J" in the railway carriage at the very start of the original film. 
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citoyen

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #33 on: 12 December, 2023, 09:36:33 am »
The original Get Carter and the risible Stallone remake are examples of a great ending and a terrible ending for (vaguely) the same film.

See also: The Vanishing

Remakes are rarely an improvement.

The Shining is a rare example of a film adaptation that changes the ending of the book and actually improves it. It's a long time since I read it but as I recall, the ending of the book is slightly disappointing.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #34 on: 12 December, 2023, 09:39:08 am »
William Shirer's The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich has a pretty good one,

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citoyen

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #35 on: 12 December, 2023, 09:41:16 am »
Quote from: Rodney Archer
Those which tie up each and every one of their loose ends are satisfying in the short term, but sometimes you're done thinking about them before the lights come up

Can an unsatisfactory ending be "good"?
Yes, examples from those mentioned upthread:
The Graduate
The Third Man

I'll proffer my own

Film: Walkabout
Fiction: anything by John Le Carre (off the top of my head)

But there are also bad, and ugly "unsatisfactory endings" which also deserve exposure

Corollary question: can a great ending rescue an otherwise terrible film/book? The example that springs to mind is The Italian Job. (Massively overrated film, and this is not open to discussion.)
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: the best ending
« Reply #36 on: 13 December, 2023, 08:31:54 pm »
I’m aware it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the final sentence of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the final instalment of the Dark Tower series, is pretty much perfect.

Re: the best ending
« Reply #37 on: 13 December, 2023, 08:42:52 pm »
The Shining is a rare example of a film adaptation that changes the ending of the book and actually improves it. It's a long time since I read it but as I recall, the ending of the book is slightly disappointing.
Stephen King endings are generally not great (the exceptions I can think of being The Dark Tower, Dolores Claiborne, and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (although I think King’s title of the last is a bit of a giveaway)).

ian

Re: the best ending
« Reply #38 on: 13 December, 2023, 09:56:55 pm »
They changed the ending of Shawshank too, and though the changed ending shouldn't be better as it's strictly speaking unnecessary, it strangely is – and the author agreed.

Re: the best ending
« Reply #39 on: 17 December, 2023, 07:55:51 pm »
"Next came the jagged bows of the Archimedes, still tip-tilted over to one side.  Right up in the peak the look-out stood, occasionally shifting his position from side to side. Presently he came aft a little and rang six bells: the only bells ever tolled over the grave of Mr Ramsay MacDonald, once a chief engineer.

'In Hazard'
Richard Hughes 1938
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Re: the best ending
« Reply #40 on: 20 December, 2023, 12:54:45 pm »
"The razor felt cold against his throat." - This Thing Of Darkness, Harry Thompson

mattc

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #41 on: 21 December, 2023, 06:55:43 am »
Planet of the Apes with Charlton on his knees upon finding ...

hard to beat that!

A (more) modern one that quite hit me was the fast Zombie sequel 28 Weeks Later. It combines a shocking realisation with a really beautiful cinematic vista.
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ian

Re: the best ending
« Reply #42 on: 21 December, 2023, 10:49:42 am »
Did anyone mention The Mist? Not sure the best, but brutal.

Re: the best ending
« Reply #43 on: 21 December, 2023, 04:47:35 pm »
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… . And one fine morning ——

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Redlight

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Re: the best ending
« Reply #44 on: 21 December, 2023, 10:35:05 pm »
Film - The Wicker Man, not only because the 'twist' is so clever but also because that final shot with the pagans dancing as the sun goes down and the structure burns is just perfect.

Book - two possibilities for me.

First, the original Restaurant at the End of the Universe, in which our heroes discover that the answer to the ultimate question is wrong: "I always thought there was something fundamentally wrong with the universe."

Second, Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty. At the end, he's wrapped up all the loose ends and it's not clear what happens next. If I recall, the final line is: 'I never could get the hand of endings'.
Why should anybody steal a watch when they can steal a bicycle?

Re: the best ending
« Reply #45 on: 20 March, 2024, 06:48:08 am »
As for short stories, I also add in the ending of another Fritz Leiber story, 'Later Than You Think'.

No spoilers at all. Find it and read it.
Thank you Steph!  That was five minutes well spent  :thumbsup:

Re: the best ending
« Reply #46 on: 22 March, 2024, 08:44:41 am »
For a book, Neuromancer has an excellent ending. Not going to put in spoilers, but it is so human and not hollywood.
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