In no particular order, here are 20 from Entertainment Weekly's list:
40-Year-Old-Virgin
Reservoir Dogs
Lost in Translation
Manhattan
White Heat
North by Northwest
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Godfather II
Vertigo
Once
Dr. Strangelove
Cinema Paradiso
Rocky II
Before Sunset
Gone with the Wind
Brokeback Mountain
Sideways
Casablanca
Big Night
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Sixth Sense (THAT'S the one I'd pick)
for the full list:
http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20050438,00.html
What do you think?
Posted: Aug 12, 07 5:45am
Because I am a nerd, the death of Spock in "The Wrath of Khan" really gets to me. His conversation with Kirk in the radiation chamber, the bagpipes, the funeral, shooting his container out into space.
Oh LORD. Cry like a baby.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Posted: Dec 25, 07 4:54pm
Being a "Trekker" from way back it got to me too. Amazing Grace on the bagpipes....always a killer.
Posted: Aug 15, 07 9:44am
What? No mention of Michael Caine's best film ever, the original 1969 "The Italian Job"?
Posted: Nov 17, 07 1:02pm
Right. And let us not forget, "The Sting". That was a beautiful ending. And a totally different type of film, but a magnificent conclusion,.."The English Patient". I saw it when it first came out, and had no clue about it. I was captivated,..by the story (stories) the acting,..everything. In fact, l was clueless about the real thing until the ending. I am a pretty tough old bird, but I even shed a tear...just a small one.....
Posted: Feb 24, 08 2:05am
* includes photos
Sir Michael was quite good as well in "Sleuth" 1972. I didn't see the 2007 version.
I always cry at the end of Return of the King.
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice (there's a theme going on here)
The Sixth Sense - fabulous ending
maybe more will come to me.........
Posted: Apr 26, 08 12:25pm
Greg,
That's the first one I thought of. What a cliff hanger!
Posted: Aug 15, 07 11:16am
Rocket Science, which is coming out in late Sept. I'm tempted to say why, but don't want to be a spoiler, so I shut up and hit Submit!
Posted: Sep 11, 07 10:47am
I'm a chick, so I vote for Steel Magnolias. It gets so taut when Shelby dies (I bawl like a big ol' baby), but the hope at the end of the movie brings back the sunshine.
Plus I LMAO at Ouiser and Clairee's bantering and carryin' on throughout the entire movie. I was born and raised in the South. I KNOW people like that!!
Posted: Sep 11, 07 11:05am
The 1962 Edgar Allen Poe based-thriller, The Premature Burial. I was so glad when it was over, because I then realized it was just a movie. I was petrified the entire two hours. In fact, I still have nightmares once every few years.
Posted: Feb 24, 08 12:50am
Hmm...I have read very little Poe because I have been prone to enough nightmares without help. But if the title speaks for itself, got a little trivia for you.
Did you know that before they could be sure of the difference between some comas and death, they would string a line from the inside of the coffin above ground. This also resulted in the term "graveyard shift" refering to the guy who had to be in the cemetary to listen for the possibly still live body to ring the bell. You have to figure that the bell must have been rung a few times or why else would they have gone to so much trouble?
Posted: Sep 12, 07 3:54pm
Yikes! No mention of "Field of Dreams?" When Kevin Cosner asks his dad - "hey dad, want to play a game of catch?" - I have seen the movie a dozen times and it still tears me up......
Posted: Sep 12, 07 4:40pm
* includes photos
Bonnie and Clyde. The stunner of all time. Back then (1967) we didn't see people, beautiful stars, being riddled with bullets in slow motion.
Bonnie and Clyde, a finish for the ages.
Posted: Sep 17, 07 9:23am
For me it was THE GREEN MILE... I still can't rewatch it. I enjoyed SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION's ending. DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES... SIXTH SENSE, SWORDFISH figuratively blew me away...
Posted: Dec 17, 07 1:41pm
I love that movie, too. We watch if often. Thank goodness for DVD players.
Too many good movies, too little time to watch them all!!
Posted: Jan 23, 08 1:55pm
Oh you are right Tom! My boyfriend at the time when it first came out bawled uncontrollably in the theater. This guy was a defensive football player! He was huge and tough but his heart was still his heart. His father, he had just learned, had actually committed suicide instead of having had an accident on the job. My guy had only been 6 at the time his father passed and baseball was all he remembered of his Dad. Even though he and I broke up 19 years ago, I still cry tears for him every time I see it. The ending is really awesome.
Posted: Sep 12, 07 4:57pm
When I think "ending", I'm thinking the last shot or scene, not the last third of the movie. In that vein, the list above includes some really excellent examples. White Heat, Casablanca, GWTW, Cuckoo's Nest and Sixth Sense are easy picks and would make a lot of lists. I'm pleasantly surprised that some like 40YOV, Before Sunset and Sideways made the cut.
What comes to mind for me that aren't listed above are things like Seven, Wicker Man or even Blair Witch Project (which I think of as 85 minutes and 58 seconds of film to set up two seconds of soul-crushing fear). I'm sure more will come to mind, but those came through first.
Posted: Sep 12, 07 5:16pm
Oh, puh-leeze. How about The Untouchables? What about Pulp Fiction? The Usual Suspects??????? [In fact, that may be one of the very best.] For happy endings, there's the the original Robin Hood [or just about any of Michael Curtiz's swashbucklers. And speaking of Michael Caine: The Man Who Would be King. And I'll go with Bonnie and Clyde, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Dirty Dozen, Unforgiven. Chicago ended well. Lost Horizon.
I guess I better quit. I could keep going just so I wouldn't forget any, but would run out of space...
I can never figure out just who comes up with those lists.....Or, for that matter, the * rating system.
Posted: Feb 24, 08 1:02am
When you say "Lost Horizon" you *must* mean the 1937 original with Ronald Colman. I mean, the 1973 remake truly (dare I say the word?) sucked. Hey, there's no other way to describe it. And I love musicals. It ('73 ver.) had a surprising main cast, but they sure didn't use them to their best advantage. So, when anyone says, "Lost Horizon," the only version anyone should think of is the 1937 version.
Posted: Sep 12, 07 7:01pm
Grindhouse!!! I still can't believe that Kurt Russell took the roll in the film!
I never thought I would ever see the movie but a group of co-workers were going so I went along and was supprised that I really enjoyed the movie.
Laughing at most of it!
Posted: Sep 14, 07 6:34am
What about Citizen Kane? The whole movie culminates in that final close up. Its also probably the easiest movie to spoil for someone who's never seen it.
Posted: Dec 14, 07 11:15pm
CGLC I saw Citizen Kane when I was twelve and did not find out what "ROSEBUD" really meant until I was over forty. Then I realized why ol' man Hearst spent a fortune--or tried to--in order to buy up all the copies and have them burned.
Posted: Sep 14, 07 4:24pm
Do I sound like a mankiller if I say Thelma and Louise?
I mean, it's not Scarlett at the end of GWTW, but quite memorable.
Posted: Sep 17, 07 8:32am
I agree w/ Sideways, great ending. Here are a few more w/ good to great endings. Ghost, The Prince of Tides, Message in a Bottle, City of Angels, Autumn in New York, Crash, and my favorite ending ever was "Little Miss Sunshine", but not the movie theater ending, but one of the "alternate" endings on the DVD...can't imagine they didn't use it.
Posted: Sep 17, 07 9:25am
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. Along these lines, is the classic with Jimmie Stewart, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, remade by Nora Ephron as YOU'VE GOT MAIL, and a great ending there...
Posted: Sep 17, 07 9:38am
Little Miss Sunshine! I laughed till I pee'd my pants!
Posted: Sep 19, 07 12:39pm
My Little Chick-a-dee: The last two lines, W. C. Fields says to Mae West, "Come on up and see me sometime." West replies, "I'll do that, my little chick-a-dee."
Posted: Oct 5, 07 12:42pm
We enjoyed the ending of the movie, but both my wife and I stuck it out because of YOUR recommendation, adwatkins... we almost - almost - quit altogether, but for you, because of a) It's a Disney (granted adult, but still - ) b) all the potty-mouth words and the f*Bomb used inappropriately.
Otherwise, there were a few chucles, but the middle bridge didn't work for us... 2 of 4 stars overall. Wonderful ending!
Posted: Sep 20, 07 10:53pm
I really like the ending of GREYSTOKE: The Legend of Tarzan of the Apes, with Christopher Lambert and Andie McDowell 1984. For me, it was an unexpected ending. I'm sorry they never made a sequel to it. As a footnote, Glenn Close dubbed Andie's voice in the movie. The producers thought Ms McDowell's voice was "too sexy to be Jane".
The ending of TOMBSTONE, with Robert Mitchum narrating the final scene (his last movie) was touching.
THE SHOOTIST's ending was unexpected. For being John Wayne's final picture, I'd have to say he went out with a bang (pun intended).
Posted: Sep 21, 07 5:09am
I have to go with "Lost in Translation" here....So much restrained passion....Edge of your seat as to what he whispered to her......
Posted: Sep 21, 07 6:12am
Shane.
Posted: Nov 15, 07 12:25pm
great movie, great ending....a whole lot of simmering undercurrents in that one
Posted: Sep 21, 07 7:57am
Definitely, Cinema Paradiso.
Posted: Sep 21, 07 9:12am
Absolutely no better ending to me than in Six Feet Under. OK, not a movie, but still... I've watched the ending at least three times and will probably do it again. I always cry when I see it.
Posted: Sep 21, 07 11:14am
THE NOTEBOOK; When James Garner curls next to Gena Rowlands in the final scene is emotional and begs the question, "Are they or aren't they?"
Posted: Nov 23, 07 8:56pm
You're right femaleimposter.. I have also watched the six feet under ending over and over and it hits me deep every time.
Posted: Jan 4, 08 4:20pm
femaleimposter.Please tell me what is six feet under if not a movie.Is it a series or something?I would like to see it.
Thanks
Posted: Sep 21, 07 11:10am
For me its Sixth Sense. Still the benchmark film for me when I go to the theater.
Posted: Sep 21, 07 12:20pm
I wholeheartedly agree with most above and would like to add:
Like Water for Chocolate
Shall We Dance (the Japanese version)
These two are a little scary as the endings both came true:
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
Being There
Posted: Sep 21, 07 12:41pm
I wholeheartedly agree with BEING THERE! One of my favorite movies, and I'd forgotten the twist at the end. Thanks for the reminder.
Posted: Sep 24, 07 10:24am
Roman Holiday
Posted: Sep 24, 07 11:02am
GuySmiley reminded me of this one from a different group: WHALE RIDER, a wonderful indie from New Zealand. Don't miss it...
Posted: Sep 25, 07 6:16pm
Hmmmm.... i love a lot of movies, and appreciate a variety of endings. My general favorite movie of all time is Dead Poet Society. And i love the ending of this movie as well.
A teacher is leaving the classroom, having been dismissed for being too encouraging for the strict prep school. A shy young boy, now empowered, confronts his fears and rises up on the desks to express himself and show respect and appreciation to the teacher who taught him.
In the background, a student reads what the stern substitute teacher required he read about the "Pritchard Scale":
"...One, how artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered, and two, how important is that objective...."
The ending is a poignant picture of triumph, and the reading of the Pritchard Scale in the background adds rich depth to this final scene.
Posted: Nov 17, 07 12:01pm
I have to agree. One of those movies that cling to you after leaving the theater and on into the night.
"Oh Captain, my Captain."
Posted: Sep 28, 07 10:34am
Doh! How could I forget:
Scent of a Woman
"If I was half the man I used to be I would take a flamethrower to this place!"
"Houagh!"
Posted: Sep 28, 07 11:38am
Not a big movie person, which my choices will give away immediately.
But even if it makes me seem a little shallow I have to say that The Sting (paul newman, robert redford) should be on that list and I am going to have to concur that Thelma and Louise meets the grade as well.......
Posted: Sep 28, 07 3:41pm
THELMA AND LOUISE brought me to Brad Pitt, which brought me to three terrific Brad Pitt movie endings: A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, and INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.
Speaking of Kirsten Dunst, THE BLUE LAGOON with Brooke Shields had a pretty good ending, and Susan Sarandon in DEAD MAN WALKING deserved her Oscar portrayal (the ending was good, too). Endings were pretty good in THE GYPSY KINGS and ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, aswell as BULL DURHAM,
Which reminds me of Lesley Ann Warren with Julie Andrews and James Garner in VICTOR, VICTORIA, then I segue into the ending of CABARET... My wife is pinching my fingers for dinner, so I'll stop for now.
Which reminds me... (To Be Continued)...
Posted: Sep 28, 07 11:40am
Big Fish. Great movie, I would highly recommend it. Primal Fear had a great ending too, I thought.
Posted: Sep 28, 07 3:30pm
Kudos for good taste, OwensMom (great pic!,BTW - flirt, flirt... ooops, s/b another site for that-blush)...
But one ending my wife and I got a tremendous kick out of, not normally liking the lead actors, was 50 FIRST DATES.
(Which reminds me of THE NOTEBOOK and why dementia is such a great illness: One gets to meet new people every day)