5 Endings That Ruined The Movie
Alright everyone, get ready!
Today we’re going to talk about one of the worst things that can happen when you’re watching a movie. I’m not talking about the person in front of you at the theater texting (but that is obnoxious, like we can’t see the bright light?) or the kid behind you kicking your seat. Nope, what I’m talking about is much much worse.
Picture it: You’re invested in the film, and can feel the AMAZING story is about to be wrapped up into this EPIC ending when all of a sudden the filmmakers throw in their last scenes.
But the only thing is, they don’t fit with the rest of the movie. In fact, it feels like they just needed to finish the film, and in doing so the last few minutes RUIN the entire movie.
Don’t you hate it when that happens?
Here are a few films where the ending ruined the movie. Now be warned, there are MAJOR spoilers for the films mentioned below. We are talking about their endings, after all. If you haven’t seen these films and don’t want to know about their (horrible) endings, stop reading NOW.
[Warning: There might be spoilers for the movies mentioned.]
Based on the Stephen King novel of the same title, IT is about a group of kids that grow in Maine (I just described ALL of Stephen King’s novels), and end up unleashing a killer clown on themselves. Truthfully I’m a little sketchy on the details of HOW Pennywise the clown comes to be, but I do know that the kids are the only ones that can see him and he resides in a place called “the meadows”.
IT is a terrifying story. The children, now all grown up adults, once again start seeing Pennywise everywhere. and start dying off one by one. Or do they?
While you’re sucked into this story that scares on a primal level (I’m sorry, but clowns freak me out. Especially invisible homicidal clowns. NO. THANK YOU.), we’re shown that Pennywise isn’t really a clown.
Instead at the climax of the movie when the characters are about to conquer their fears it turns out that Pennywise is in fact….wait a giant spider?? Huh? And while the friends are killing this thing (I guess that’s why it’s titled IT, I still don’t know what it actually is). All of a sudden it opens up to revel a giant ball of light?
Yeah, I didn’t get it ether.
Great movie – HORRIBLE ending. IT, you lost me at “not a clown, but a giant spider/huge ball of light”.
I was hesitant to put this on this list because I LOVE the premise of the movie.
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME is an overall great film. The premise is horribly depressing. Robin Williams dies in a car crash, and decides to haunt his wife (…I’m giving you the cliffs notes version here – there’s more to it than that…) when he realizes that his presence is driving her crazy, he decides to leave and move on.
BUT, it’s too late. His wife, who has pretty much gone insane with grief (in addition to losing her husband, they also had two kids that died previously) and kills herself. Williams character blames himself (rightly so) and spends his time going into hell to save her soul. Sounds like a great love story, right?
WRONG. The entire family is dead. AND THAT’S THE END OF THE MOVIE. They are all dead. ALL OF THEM. Dead.
Really? You couldn’t at least let the mother live? Come on. I know that they’re all happy together in heaven, but THEY ARE ALL DEAD. I almost threw my remote through my TV when I gave What Dreams May Come a recent rewatch.
Another ending that will make you want to break your television.
THE MIST is a GREAT thriller. Based (again) on the Stephen King book, The Mist is the story of a small town that is over run by, well, a mist. But this is no ordinary mist. Nope. Hiding IN the mist (which is so thick you can’t see ANYTHING) are creatures that earth has never seen before. And they’re out to kill the humans.
Our main character takes shelter with a slew of other people from his town in a grocery store. His son is with him, and the main focus of these survivors is to find a way out. Filled with great jumps, and a very, VERY creepy atmosphere, The Mist is GREAT. Until the end.
Now, I have a feeling that people are going to be split on this ending. Either you love it or hate it. But our survivor and four (or three, I don’t remember) other people including his son (he’s about 7) all pile into a car and decide to drive through the mist until they find someone to save them. Like the army.
Well, there’s nothing around and the mist isn’t letting up. and then they run out of gas. NOW here’s where it gets bad. Our protagonist has a gun. With only enough bullets to kill the people that he’s with. SO what does he do? Figuring all hope is lost – HE SHOOTS HIS SON.
Yep. Granted, he’s broken up about it, but he kills the kid none the less, and gets out of the car to commit suicide by mist. AND THEN we hear a roar and the ground shakes and as an audience (still completely blown away that the kid got killed) we’re expecting to see something Godzilla like come out of the mist. Not so much. It’s the FREAKING ARMY WITH TANKS AND WEAPONS COME TO SAVE HUMANITY.
Are. You. SERIOUS?! TWO more minutes. Not even. ONE minute and they all would’ve been saved. Oh, the ending of The Mist made me ANGRY.
I’m going to preface this by saying the following: I really didn’t like THE VILLAGE, but the ending ruined ANY chance it had to be even a halfway decent film for me.
So, The Village is the story about a colony of people that live off of the land and never venture outside their village walls. There are also these things that terrorize the village if anyone tries to leave, so no one really feels inclined to jump the fence to the world beyond. Since everyone has everything that they need right in their village, there has never been a reason to leave. So, picture that we’re in colonial times, or around there.
Then something happens and one of the younger children (the daughter of one of the village’s elders) decides to leave to find medicine for her dying fiancée. Did I mention she’s blind? And is going to make this trip by herself?
Okay, fine. It’s a Shyamalan movie so we can expect two things: Shyamalan will make an appearance and there will be a twist to this simple story. And we’re right! Said girl ends up jumping the fence and Shyamalan DOES make an appearance – as a modern day park ranger.
Yep. Turns out the village isn’t in the past, it’s in modern day times and the village “Elders” decided to concoct the idea of the beasts that kill if people try to leave the walls to keep their families safe from the modern world.
WHAT THE HELL?! It was all fake?! All of it?! And no one cared that this group of people had just set up a VILLAGE in the middle of a park or something? Come on.
I’m probably going to be banned from writing opinion pieces when I put this movie on the list.
I don’t CARE that filmmakers, critics, and everyone else under the sun thinks that CITIZEN KANE is the best movie ever. I wanted to MURDER Orson Welles when I saw the ending of this movie.
I get that it’s all symbolic. That this broken man is dying and just begging for the ONE thing that brought him joy in his miserable life. And honestly Orson? You had me. You had me RIGHT UP UNTIL THE REVEAL! And then I found out “Rosebud” was his SLED. I about flew through the roof.
A SLED?! A sled. I don’t even know what to say to that other than that’s 119 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.
Well, there we are. Five movies where the ending just SLAUGHTERED the goodness that was the beginning and middle. Now, I realize that not all will agree with me, so let me know what you would have listed! What movies infuriated you with their endings?
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Great list, Kelly.
Yeah the ending for IT was a bit of a disappointment but I still like the movie. I don’t know why people have a problem with clowns.
They mostly irritate me. Always feel like punching them on their big nose and stepping on their big shoes…..Wait… maybe I do have a problem with clowns.
Regarding Citizen Kane, actually in the original Wells version, Rosebud was Kanes girlfriends clitoris. But you can see how that would not have gone over too well with the puritanical audiences of the day.
AHHHHH. I should’ve done my research before I bashed the ending of that movie. Yes, I can see now why THAT wouldn’t have gone over well. Thanks for the info!
That’s incorrect. Rosebud refers to the clitoris of W.R. Heart’s lover, who Kane is based on.
My apologies, I stand corrected. Thanks for the clarification.
You kind of missed the point of “what dreams may come”… and the ending of “the mist” underlined the sense of dread and despair that made this movie so good.
I agree that “The Mist” was a great movie. But the ending just left me ANGRY… which I guess is maybe the point.
As for “What Dreams May Come”, I LOVED the movie; I love the PREMISE of the movie. But for it to be tied up into a nice neat bow at the end ruined it for me.
When you talked about the ending of “The Mist” and how it added to the dread and despair of the film (which it TOTALLY did); what did the ending of “What Dreams May Come” provide in your opinion? I’d be curious to hear what you got from it! 🙂
The interesting thing about “What Dreams May Come” was that it wasn’t a religious movie – not in a judeo/christian/islamic sense – yet it managed to show a self-contained vision of afterlife. Basically, the “ghosts” or “souls” lingered among souls with similar personalities or states-of-mind at the moment of their death. The anguished and hopeless gathered in the wretched ruins of their dreams while those filled with love and hope would dwell on blissful meadows, i.e. what we do in life and how we feel while dying defines literally what happens afterwards, without a reference to a higher being or some judgement. This couldn’t have been shown if the wife had lived on :-p Yes they are all dead but that doesn’t change the fact that love conquers death.
ahhh. See? I just needed a little explanation as to why the movie wasn’t ruined by the ending. The “love conquers death” thing was lost on me, so you’re right – I probably DID miss the entire point of the movie. Maybe I should go back and rewatch.
Thanks for the comments!
Read the book for “What Dreams May Come.” You thought the movie was good. Just read the book.
I plan on it! I went to download it yesterday, but my nook battery was dead!
Just because the ending made you angry, that doesn’t neccessarily mean that it ruined the movie. The fact you were angry means it provoked an emotional response, thus you are still talking about it!
Very true. And an excellent point on both counts – all the films made me crazy enough to talk about them!
Great list Kelly! For me one of the endings that ruined the movie for me was Gone Baby Gone. Not that it seemed rushed or anything, but it made no freaking sense, and while I loved the movie up to that point, that ending totally ruined it for me.
But now let’s talk about your pics:
IT – Well IT was so scary to me that I never really thought about whether the ending made sense or not. But now that I think about it, it was a pretty weird ending. Giant spider, really? We’ve seen those in Harry Potter… how scary can they be? 😉
What Dreams May Come – To be honest I don’t really remember the movie, but what I do remember is that I read the book first and loved it so much that I watched the movie when it came out, but didn’t like the movie. And funny enough, one of the reasons I loved the book so much was because of the ending, but they totally changed that in the movie. So my advice to you, if you like the premise, read the book, it’s fantastic.
The Mist – Haven’t seen that one. But after reading the ending, I would probably be one of those people who loved the ending! I love that it’s not the typical cliche ending where they all get saved or all die. No it’s tragic! I almost want to see it now 🙂
The Village – The first time I saw it, I was so disappointed by the ending and thought it was the stupidest thing, mostly because I was expecting an actual creature. That said, I have since rewatched the movie and fell in love with it. Now I love it! It’s so good, but I think I ended up loving it, because the second (and third and fourth) time around I didn’t have any expectations.
Citizen Kane – Yeah, I’m with you on that one. Didn’t really like the ending, then again I wasn’t too in love with the movie itself anyway (yes, I said it!). Haha!
Anyway, that was a fun read 🙂
I will have to grab the book to “What Dreams May Come”! I’ve never read it, but I’ve heard REALLY good things about it.
As far as “IT” goes – the spider thing has been done and it made NO SENSE in the context of the story!
“The Mist” – normally I’m all for endings that aren’t cliche and leave everyone happily ever after. And when I saw the movie, I loved it… but the more I thought about it the angrier I became…which is what made me put it on this list…lol. Maybe it wasn’t necessarily that it RUINED the movie, it was just so OUT there and INFURIATING because help was, LITERALLY, right around the corner!
“The Village” – When I told my roommate that I put this on my list she immediately said to me “You didn’t understand the movie, that’s why you hated the ending.” I understood the movie perfectly, I was just DISGUSTED that I wasted the time I did watching that story when it was JUST PEOPLE. That said, and based on your comments, maybe I will give it another watch.
I’m THRILLED that someone else didn’t enjoy “Citizen Kane” and will admit it! 🙂
Count me in as someone who didn’t like “Citizen Kane.” In fact I think it took me three tries watching the movie to even get to the end.
I haven’t seen “IT” and plan to keep it that way. 🙂 I do love “The Village,” ending and all, but I completely agree about the ending of “What Dreams May Come.” Sandie’s right that the book is amazing, by the way. The movie as a whole is such a disappointment compared to the book, but it still makes me cry like a baby. The end of “The Mist” was appalling to me. I so wanted my hour and forty-five minutes back after that.
I never liked the end of “Pretty in Pink.” I know that it was changed because the original ending didn’t test well, and it definitely feels tacked on and rushed, but mostly I just didn’t think it made sense with the rest of the film. I also hated the end of “Boxing Helena,” but then I’m rarely a fan of the “it was all just a dream” shtick.
Pretty in Pink is a GREAT addition. Who didn’t want Ducky to get the girl? Aside from test audiences apparently.
Since you’re the second person in a few hours to say the loved “The Village” I feel the need to watch it again.
I’m going home and downloading “What Dreams May Come” to my nook so I can start reading it right away.
Well count me as part of the test audiences because I LOVE the ending of Pretty in Pink, I think it’s the only reason I love the movie so much. Not sure I would have liked it as much if she ended with Ducky. Or maybe it’s just that I had a crush on Andrew McCarthy 😉
Awwww, and I loved Ducky. So much!
In the novel “It,” the clown is just the manifestation of the spider-being, which we are led to understand is about the same age as the Universe. Trust me, in the context of the novel, it makes absolute sense and the ending is way more cosmic and kickass than the truncated, watered-down film ending. Being a TV movie, they had to make some sacrifices, but without all the cosmic stuff, they shouldn’t have used the spider ending.
And I read the novel when I was literally about 11 or 12 so I’m POSITIVE a lot of it was lost on me; it is one that I want to read again eventually.
Yeah, clowns always make me think of IT. I think I had issues as a kid, because although that movie totally scared me, I watched it I don’t know how many times. However, nowadays I would totally change the channel 🙂
In The Village, they knew about the village, the park rangers I mean.
Did they?! It’s been so long since I’ve seen it – and I think I blocked out most of it.
I don’t remember the park rangers knowing about the village. Actually I thought they were surprised to see her there dressed the way she was. However if I remember correctly the reson why nobody had found the village yet, was because that part of the woods was protected and nobody was allowed to go in. But I could be wrong.
I don’t think they quite knew what went on inside, but they knew not to go in and not to let anyone in. Planes weren’t allowed to fly overhead. They don’t get too deep into it, but it’s made clear that when they set up the village, they did their work to protect it.
Ah ok that explains it. All I remembered was that no one was allowed to go inside.
Do they ever go into how much money or resources that the founders had? Probably not, and I’m probably REALLY overthinking this, but wouldn’t going through all the hoops to make the area a “no fly zone” or whatever be REALLY expensive?
I believe it was a large private reserve that William Hurt inherited from his mega-rich daddy. I tend to go easy on this movie as a huge William Hurt fan, but yeah it gets a little improbable once they subtract the fantasy element in the third act.
Ah! Well that makes even more sense. Thanks Brian!
Oh!! Okay, that makes A LOT more sense then. I’m going to have to give this one another watch with all these points in mind.
No Country For Old Men.
Yes. That ending was awful.
I don’t like the criteria here for “ruined a movie”. An ending that upsets you doesn’t necessarily ruin the movie. In my opinion, ruin means ruin. As in destroys the rest of the movie. An abrupt ending like in No Country doesn’t ruin the first two hours. Same with The Mist.
Something like Sunshine, where the third act actually does devalue the first two acts should be on the list. Not just endings you didn’t like.
Great point. My point is that he whole movie was set up as a build up to what could have been a climatic ending but instead we had something unfinished.
I hate those kind of “Soprano” like endings. I committed to this movie with the understanding that there would be an ending. I felt robbed.
An excellent point, but when the ending of a movie is horrible I personally (and it’s just my opinion) feel that it DOES ruin the movie. But I do see what you mean about the ending changing the other acts of the film; and maybe that’s another topic to cover!
That was one that I was going to add to the list as well!
Ever thought that the crazy religious woman in the grocery store was just right about The Mist? Kill the kid and it will all be over. We just have to sacrifice the child.
She was the best part of that movie! Gave me the wiggins like no other.
Hi Kelly!
Really great list and I completely agree on all but one. I thought the ending to The Mist was perfect. Yes, it’s a downer and it makes you angry and it was a miscalculation and etc etc etc. But that’s what made it so powerful (imho). Doing the best you can to survive, making an impossible choice… and moments later finding out it was the wrong one. Brilliant.
Yeah it makes you angry, but I think that it’s supposed to. 😉
Which I agree with. It is supposed to make you angry, but I was FURIOUS. So I guess it achieved the purpose!
I agree with Liam, Kelly! As I mentioned before I haven’t seen The Mist but that ending to me would probably have redeemed the movie. Sure I would have been shocked, but it’s so unexpected I think I would have thought it was brilliant too.
But like you said, with The Mist, people probably either loved it or hated it. Maybe you should watch it again, now that you’re prepared for the ending you might like it more 🙂
Knowing – The ending made me want to murder myself. Aliens!? Oh come on! OH COME ON! How can you do that!? And what? They all DIE!? Oh this is…ugh.
Buried – I just watched an 80 minute film, with a guy in a box, just to die there. I was like “You…gotta…be…kidding me”.
The Mist, however, I will stand my ground – I loved it. 🙂 I loved the ending. I thought it was awesome.
I actually liked the end of Buried. It was a realistic way to end the movie.
I’ve never seen Knowing! But I might have to pick it up because your comments made me LAUGH.
Knowing is ok, but yeah that ending I agree with Ripleyy, you really were like “Oh come on!”
Not that I’m saying that Knowing was a great movie or anything, but the ending made perfect sense to me the and I saw it coming from a long ways off. The idea that the bible is a primitive understanding of humans encountering ufo’s in the ancient past is a fairly well trodden path for conspiracy theories. The multiple references to “Ezekiels chariot” were kind of a huge give away.
Okay now I REALLY want to see this movie regardless of the ending. It sounds REALLY interesting.
This is a well conceived but poorly argued list.
Hi Spiral! Thank you for the comment, and if you want to discuss the films more, I’d be happy to!
Great list. Stephen King owns this. I threw the book “The Stand” when I got to that ending!
I haven’t read that one yet – but I think a lot of his books give you that “WHAT THE HELL” feeling at the end.
Holy shit, you are a completely demented retard. At first i almost got angry at your stupidity, but then reminded myself that you regard What fucking Dreams may fucking Come as “an overall great film” and found solace in the fact that you have obviously been braindead for years.
Got “angry” at the mist for not ending like any other hollywood movie. What a fucking idiot.
“that’s 119 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.”
How DARE you call yourself a writer and use that unimaginative hack phrase. That’s writing on the level of an AICN talkback.
Oh my goodness! I’m really sorry if I you didn’t like the article or if my writing wasn’t what you expected. Honestly, that statement is EXACTLY how I felt after I watched “Citizen Kane”!
Even though I disagree with your view of Citizen Kane, I thought that phrase was a clear and simple way to communicate your opinion of it. Whining about that phrase being over used is one step away from saying “that sucked” shouldn’t be used to describe something because it’s “too mainstream”. There’s a reason that cliches become cliches in the first place and it’s that they usually work.
I appreciate your statement. I really didn’t have a better way of explaining how I felt about “Citizen Kane”!
Whoever wrote this article is a fucking idiot! go back to watching Jersey Shore reruns please.
I was also angry with the ending for The Mist, but upon further reflection I think it works better on screen than the original ending from the novella would have.
SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK
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The entire story is in first person narrated by the main character, who turns out to be writing on a typewriter he found when he and his companions hole up for the night after refueling. In the morning they’re going to go to Hartford to see if anyone has survived there, and he’s leaving the manuscript for anyone that might come along. A haunting end to be sure, but I think that would have been a bigger let down for movie goers than the savage ending the director concocted. For the record, King agreed that Darabont’s ending worked better for the film.
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Also I think you missed an important part about the ending for what dreams may come. At the end Robin Williams and his wife discuss the idea of “trying again”. The final scene shows a little boy and a little girl smiling at each other when they meet at a lake. It mirrors the opening scene where he and his wife are in their twenties and meet at a lake even going so far as to repeat the opening line “When I was young, I met this beautiful girl by a lake.”
What this indicates is that after all their struggles and trials in the afterlife, the lover are reincarnated in the realm of the living and meet again at a much younger age than the last go around. That was a pretty uplifting way to close the story, love conquers all and if things don’t work out in one life there’s all of eternity to try again.
Hi there! I appreciate your explanation of What Dreams May Come and if I do take the time to watch it again after reading the book, I will watch it with these points in mind!
The Mist is another one that I didn’t read, so I wasn’t aware of the ending in the book – and I do think that an audience probably would’ve seen the original ending as really anti-climatic; so for the sake of the film the ending that was shot is a better choice.
Clearly you weren’t paying enough attention if you think the kids created IT (he’s always existed but only kids can see him and he prefers the form of clown), if no one noticed or cared about the people in the woods of The Village (the ranger’s made sure no one went near it; William Hurt’s character was the land owner), or that Rosebud was “just a sled” (it was a symbol of Kane’s poor childhood, the sole possession that brought him happiness). I’m inclined to believe you just don’t think enough or aren’t very observant when going to the cinema.
Hi Cbake. I think I’m pretty observant when I watch movies…but I will grant you that it has been a while since I saw IT.
However, if you read my point about Citizen Kane, you’ll see that I actually did mention that I knew what the sled symbolized.
The Village is one that other comments stated the point that you mentioned, which I did reply to, but thank you very much for your comments!
Clearly you weren’t paying enough attention if you think the kids created IT (he’s always existed but only kids can see him and he prefers the form of clown), if no one noticed or cared about the people in the woods of The Village (the ranger’s made sure no one went near it; William Hurt’s character was the land owner), or that Rosebud was “just a sled” (it was a symbol of Kane’s poor childhood, the sole possession that brought him happiness). I’m inclined to believe you just don’t think enough or aren’t very observant when going to the cinema.
An ending that made me really upset was “Mystic River” (No spoilers). All the cathartic release we could have felt was absolutely ruined and thrown out the window by Laura Linney’s character, leaving me angry that by the end no one really changed.
This article is shit.
Remember Me was made for this list
Ok so I think you could of picked a diff pack of filmes. It is a good pick and the ending does fall short of how scary the rest of the films is.
However I think your points with What Dreams May Come and The Village ae a little silly. The Village lets you know that the Monsters aren’t real way before she goes on her mission and for me that is why the film totally drops the ball. The ending is super silly, but as you said yourself its hard for a movie to be ruined by the ending when its already on a slope. The Wife dies in the middle of What Dreams May Come and that movie is built around a take it or leave it premise they were not coming back to life, the important thing is she doesn’t rot in hell.
The Mist is a sweet ending. I think the film was pretty silly but that is a super good twist. What you are infuriated about is part of what makes it so good.
Citizen Kane. Well Im not touching that.
For me the worst ending of all time has to be Pay it Foward. For me a movie really has to jump shark at the end for it to become ruined: Like it turns out it was Aliens! (The Forgotten, A.I.) http://www.cracked.com/article_15621_the-10-most-asinine-movie-twist-endings.html
But Pay it Forward super jumps the shark. Kids homework is change the world. His Idea every person helps 3 more people. Cheesy but Ok. We see his story unfold as pay it forward spreds throughout California. Problem in the last ten minutes of the movie he dies paying it forward! Why would I choose to particpate in a movement where the creator died in the process. Its not like he died so others could pay it forward, all i realize is that you would have to be a moron to attempt to pay it foward because paying it forward is dangerous!