General Discussion : Let-down endings

[Stewball]

Cool Hand Luke not only had an excellent ending, but the only possible ending it could have had given the events of the film.

If it had been produced in a vacuum, I'd agree somewhat (but I'd use the Stranger Than Fiction argument to modify the ending. It wasn't the only possible ending.) Hollywood was coming out of a decades long period of having most movies being upbeat and having happy endings, into a paroxysm of overreaction into downer movies coinciding with the political upheaval happening in 1968.

Some examples besides CHL, mostly late 68-72:
Straw Dogs
Vanishing Point
Harold & Maude
Bonnie & Clyde
The Andromeda Strain
The Omega Man
Planet of the Apes
They Shoot Horses Don't They (the archetype)
Love Story
Five Easy Pieces
Easy Rider
Catch-22
Midnight Cowboy
If...
Charly
Silent Running

Uplifting movies can have sad endings, and vice versa, but both of those usually have some positive point or message. The above are just pointless examples of saying the world sucks, so suck it up and get used to it. I spent years trying to figure out if..., and when I finally did, a lot of other movies fell into that same nihilistic hellhole from around that same time. What was Cool Hand Luke about after all? Cutting off some parking meters. Freedom? Hardly. Best I can figure it's 'don't be stupid', the profundity of which is underwhelming.

[ShogunRua]

Cool Hand Luke not only had an excellent ending, but the only possible ending it could have had given the events of the film.

If it had been produced in a vacuum, I'd agree somewhat (but I'd use the Stranger Than Fiction argument to modify the ending. It wasn't the only possible ending.) Hollywood was coming out of a decades long period of having most movies being upbeat and having happy endings, into a paroxysm of overreaction into downer movies coinciding with the political upheaval happening in 1968.

Except Cool Hand Luke was released in 1967 and came before virtually every example you listed.

Some examples besides CHL, mostly late 68-72:

What is this laundry list supposed to show? That certain interesting, quality movies don't have happy endings? So?

The above are just pointless examples of saying the world sucks, so suck it up and get used to it.

If that's the only interpretation you have for the endings to all those films, I feel sorry for you.

[by Devol]

Hollywood was coming out of a decades long period of having most movies being upbeat and having happy endings, into a paroxysm of overreaction into downer movies coinciding with the political upheaval happening in 1968.

Some examples besides CHL, mostly late 68-72:
Straw Dogs
Vanishing Point
Harold & Maude
Bonnie & Clyde
The Andromeda Strain
The Omega Man
Planet of the Apes
They Shoot Horses Don't They (the archetype)
Love Story
Five Easy Pieces
Easy Rider
Catch-22
Midnight Cowboy
If...
Charly
Silent Running

Uplifting movies can have sad endings, and vice versa, but both of those usually have some positive point or message. The above are just pointless examples of saying the world sucks, so suck it up and get used to it. I spent years trying to figure out if..., and when I finally did, a lot of other movies fell into that same nihilistic hellhole from around that same time. What was Cool Hand Luke about after all? Cutting off some parking meters. Freedom? Hardly. Best I can figure it's 'don't be stupid', the profundity of which is underwhelming.

I'll bet I'm not the only one when I say that compared to the majority of upbeat, happy-ending films of years previous to '68, I'll go for the list instead. Doubtful if there were less films like that after the 68-72 period.

I'm huge on music in movies, which combined so well with the images in ER*.

Definitely, especially ER - one of my favourite Hendrix tunes - "If Six was Nine" - was excellent when that was played, the bikes truckin down the highway.

[Stewball]

Except Cool Hand Luke was released in 1967 and came before virtually every example you listed.

Cut me some slack here. '68 wasn't a light switch, off then on, and it was late '67 anyway. It fits.

What is this laundry list supposed to show? That certain interesting, quality movies don't have happy endings? So?

To re-quote myself, "The above are just pointless examples of saying the world sucks, so suck it up and get used to it."

If that's the only interpretation you have for the endings to all those films, I feel sorry for you.

Except for CHL, almost all of them were downers from beginning to end, but more importantly, pointless, and in cases like Planet of the Apes, stupid as well. What am I missing....specifically? For that matter, besides the humor, what am I missing about CHL? Why does it make me the subject of your cheap pity?

I'll bet I'm not the only one when I say that compared to the majority of upbeat, happy-ending films of years previous to '68, I'll go for the list instead. Doubtful if there were less films like that after the 68-72 period.

Oh they exist for sure, but their number declined rapidly, and again, it isn't just unhappy endings, it's pointless endings to nihilistic movies. An excellent example that illustrates this transition to nihilism is Dr. Strangelove in '64, with it's humor and it's ironic yet pointed ending. A Clockwork Orange moved in the same direction as the herd, but Kubrick, if he ever considered it, just couldn't bring himself to make a movie to nowhere--even though he came even closer with Barry Lyndon in '75. There are numerous examples of excellent movies prior to that time, they just aren't nearly as plentiful as from the '80s on. I don't think you could find such a grouping after this short downburst.

[ShogunRua]

Except Cool Hand Luke was released in 1967 and came before virtually every example you listed.

Cut me some slack here. '68 wasn't a light switch, off then on, and it was late '67 anyway. It fits.

No it doesn't. If it was the very first one, then it was possibly an innovating or pioneering work, which makes the film even greater.

To re-quote myself, "The above are just pointless examples of saying the world sucks, so suck it up and get used to it."

Except that laundry list does not in fact show this. I could easily throw out 100 movies in those five years which did have happy, joyful endings. Also, if you thought all those pictures were "pointless", then again, I feel sorry for your movie watching experience.

For that matter, besides the humor, what am I missing about CHL? Why does it make me the subject of your cheap pity?

Because the central conflict and ending to the film is the epitome of the struggle every human goes through. You hate something about life or society, and don't want to go along with it. But if you do, there's a price to pay. How far do you keep going? How much do you fight? Is there a point at which you just give up? Is there a point where you accept it, and play along? Where you even become happy by following something you know is bullshit?

The ending was appropriate to this; Luke tried to give up, but ultimately, couldn't. For his ultimate act of defiance, he gave up his life. The movie is a terrific example of genuine art, and stays very consistent in its style and nature throughout. If you dismissed it as "pointless nihlism", then again, that's simply unfortunate for you.

[stuie299]

Taxi Driver. It was only 110 minutes long. They could have added 5 or 10 minutes to the ending and it would have been a much better film. Seriously that film brings up so many questions, and neglects so many details at the end its ridiculous. Part of the problem is that it randomly opens up the Betsy storyline again.

[htiman]

I can't really call the ending to 2001 a "let-down" because the entire film was a lousy, boring mess. If anything, it was a "bring-up" because it meant the misery of sitting through the picture was finally, blessedly over.

I don't quite feel that strongly, but I do have to agree in general. 2001 was a pretty boring movie, and I didn't understand a good chunk of it.

As for other movies with bad endings, to me No Country for Old Men had a very lackluster ending. I didn;t really like the film anyway, but the ending just wasn't very good in my opinion.

[stuie299]

As for other movies with bad endings, to me No Country for Old Men had a very lackluster ending. I didn;t really like the film anyway, but the ending just wasn't very good in my opinion.

I agree. Some how the film still managed to make it into my favorites but the ending was a total let down.

Spoiler: show

I mean it was great right up until Tommy Lee Jones' character starts talking about his dream. Then it just ends unexpectedly.

It just ended so abruptly and without the same energy and atmosphere the rest of the movie had.