Best Movie Endings

Best movie endings

Today I analyze the greatest movie endings, based on memorability and just a plain good ending to a film, for an ending to be good, the movie first has to be good.

Boogie Nights 1997

I love all of Paul Thomas Andersons films, but I had to pick this one, the movie is basically about the porn industry and throughout the film not a single Vagina or Dick is shown despite it being about that, and once the dick of Dirk Diggler is finally revealed, since there is a lot of talk about his dick in the movie, about how big it is, you just know it’s the end, and the film closes beautifully on Electric light orchestra, Livin thing.

 The Shining 1980

A classic steadicam, dolly? Shot that must have been excruciatingly difficult for the operator, its pays off, the camera zooms in on a picture, which shows a smiling Jack Torrance among a crowd of people (probably dead) the lighting is just perfect and the eerie ballroom music, midnight the stars and you plays out loud, echoing around the empty hotel, the symmetry whilst the camera moves in is graceful and works well with the whole tone the film has set, a memorable and amazing film ending.

The Shawshank redemption 1994

Frank darabonts masterpiece, after all that Andy and Red have been through, the trials and tribulations of these great friends, and most of the film taking place in a dark and horrible prison, the embrace on a clear beach overlooking the pacific is just so memorable and beautiful.

The Searchers 1958

 One of John Waynes greatest performances, the physical frame the door has created as he walks off into the desert, giving the sense and showing that he is a loner, the dark surrounding the wooden frame and the rectangle of sunlit desert, with a man walking with a hunch into it, is just one of the most beautiful endings ever commited to film.

Gangs of New York 2002

A great film, the ending is not just a great shot, but a great use of the technology we have available to us, we literally see the growth of New york from low dirty buildings to structures that pierce the sky, and we come to appreciate how much the city has grown from the hellhole depicted in the film to this magnificent city of steel and our evolution over the recent centuries.

The Changeling 1980

The whole film is a nightmare, some of the scariest moments in American cinema, and when all the chaos is done, the camera zooms in on the closed music box in the midst of the charred remains of the house, as the key turns by itself and it flips open, a creepy image, an eerily beautiful song plays, and you come to appreciate just how good and frightening this film was, and it ends with the creepy tune of the music box, cinema at its best.

Dawn of the Dead 2004

Zack Snyder is a great director, no doubt about that, after the gruesome grisly events of the film, the ship silently gliding into the endless sea is beautiful beyond words, and the main character, a heroine, aware the hero is on the docks, is going to kill himself (bitten) the suicide is not shown on camera, but is represented by the heroines expressionless face as the gunshot rings and the film blacks out. Jim Caroll bands song, people who died, one of the greatest music choices for the end credits of a film, plays.

Memories of Murder 2003

Crazy good film, so they don’t catch the killer, literally the whole film is about catching this one killer, and this is years after the incident, and the detective visits the scene where one of the crimes took place, he now has a family, he speaks to a girl, and she says that a guy came and told her he did something here, and the audience is left in dumb awe as the detective turns and looks straight into the camera, as if looking at the killer in the audience, the film fades out and  a women starts humming a beautiful song, then it fades in on the much seen rice fields, leaving a cloak of awe on the people watching the film.

 

Black Christmas 1974

One of the most frightening slashers ever made, it basically invented the whole POV killer thing, not  Halloween, and the phone stalking thing, not scream, and once everyone thinks its safe,  we discover the murderer’s still in the house, and the most nerve wrecking phone ring occurs whilst the credits roll, leaving the rest to the audience, great cinema.  

Zodiac 2007

Unlike Fincher’s bombastic se7en, Zodiac backs away and lets the audience take in what’s happening. It ends on a low but powerful note, like memories of murder, they never really catch the killer, and the film uses the ending to play on this, instead of the detectives face in the close up, it’s the victims, stating 22 years after he was shot by the Zodiac, that the man in the picture was him, the film ends here with Donovan’s Hurdy Gurdy Man playing which can also be heard distinctively on the radio in the beginning of the film, a stalwart and powerful ending.

Reservoir Dogs 1992

A fast paced and brutal film, Reservoir dogs ends with a bang, the ending is far from subtle and is like a kick to the head, It leaves one in need for more Tarantino, although it won’t be for another 2 years.