Once in a while, there comes along a film that captures your imagination and wraps you up in its world all cozy and tight. Everything’s going well and it’s better than you ever expected, only for the ending to ruin the whole movie, and leave a sour taste in your mouth.
Endings are hard, the climactic moment the entire film has been leading up to – that’s a lot to live up to. But some films not only fail to stick the landing but botch it so badly that the entire film becomes tainted retrospectively by its poison. With this in mind here are 10 great films with terrible endings.
War Of The Worlds (6.5)
War of the Worlds breathed new life into the classic science-fiction tale. With the combined talent of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise, the film has a lot to like and offers a unique glimpse into a world ravaged by beings from another world.
Featuring tense action scenes and excellent performances, War of the Worlds was shaping up to be one of both Spielberg’s and Cruises’ best movies. That was until the infamously anti-climatic end, which saw the alien invaders simply die because of the bacteria we have all become accustomed to.
Signs (6.7)
M. Night Shyamalan was hot stuff in the ’90s and early 2000s and continued his winning streak with 2002’s Signs. The film starts strong, but in classic Shyamalan fashion delivers a twist ending that fails to impress.
As the aliens invade, the Hess family are barricaded in their house and terrified. The aliens then break-in and we then learn that their weakness is humble water. This makes no sense for many reasons, most of all because the Earth is 71% water. But hey, this ending worked for the Wizard of Oz, but here it feels out of place.
The Worlds End (7.0)
The World’s End delivers some of the biggest laughs and best characters of the Cornetto trilogy but has an ending that seems out of place when compared to the rest of the film.
With the robot uprising underway, Gary and Andy prove themselves to be too stubborn and too much hassle for the aliens to deal with causing them to leave Earth, along with all the technological advancements they brought with them. The end sees civilization plunged back to the dark ages and seems at odds with each character’s journey and happy endings they were already given.
10 Cloverfield Lane (7.2)
10 Cloverfield Lane is very nearly a perfect movie with 95% of the film delivering some of the tensest and most atmospheric scenes of any science-fiction film. However, the film jumps the shark in the closing moments and morphs into something else that flies in the fact of the events preceding it.
After escaping from the bunker Michelle then discovers that aliens have invaded, this would have made for a fine ending as it throws into question whether escaping was the right decision. But from there we see her fashion a Molotov cocktail and take down an entire spaceship single-handedly. The sequence lacks the tense atmospheric thrills that made the rest of the film so memorable and ends the story on the film’s lowest point.
A.I: Artificial Intelligence (7.2)
A.I: Artificial Intelligence features one of the most bizarre endings of any movie. Jumping ahead 2000 years into the future we see the Earth has now become inhospitable, and all life has been long gone. But the robots still remain and have now become incredibly advanced, soaring around the frozen Earth in square spacecraft made of panels. From there, David is defrosted and given the happy ending he longed for.
We can’t help thinking that leaving him in the ice and having him fail his mission would have proven that he was as flawed as any Human, thereby retrospectively making the entire film stronger.
I am Legend (7.2)
I Am Legend was set to be one of Will Smith’s best movies, and the film offers a lot to enjoy. But the movie’s ending has become notorious as lazy and anti-climatic. With a singular goal of finding a cure for the virus that has swept the globe, Robert’s final moments see him sacrifice himself to save others.
The films’ alternate ending proves to be far more emotional and thought-provoking and, in a twist, humanizes the monsters.
Now You See Me (7.3)
Now You See Me pulls the rug out from under the audience in a cheap ending that feels completely unearned. Revealing that the very detective investigating the four housemen is, in reality, the mysterious benefactor who assembled them in the first place and has been pulling the strings the entire time.
A good twist should be set up properly and allows an eagle-eyed viewer to pick up on the clues left. But in this case, the twist comes out of nowhere and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Wonder Woman (7.4)
Wonder Woman marks one of DC’s best recent films. The long-overdue big-screen adaptation of the classic character does so much right and delivers terrific action as well as addressing real issues.
However, much of that goes out of the window in the film’s final moments when Wonder Woman faces off against Aries in a boring battle set against a lackluster backdrop of smoke and fire. The fight is at odds with the rest of the movie, from a visual standpoint but also contradictory to the film’s message.
Source Code (7.5)
In Source Code, Captain Colter Stevens is tasked with reliving the same eight minutes over again and again in an attempt to stop the bomber who is set to strike again. This makes for a tense and engaging film and leads to the terrorist being caught, but then Source Code turns into something altogether different.
The film is forced to make another character the new antagonist at the last minute which fails to satisfy. Top that all off with a bucket full of sentimentality that makes Source Code’s final moments it’s least engaging.
The Machinist (7.7)
The Machinist without a doubt features one of Christian Bales’ greatest performances, transforming himself into a skinny malnourished figure that posed a genuine risk to his health.
The film is filled with strange and surreal events and imagery, leading the audience to question what is real and what the meaning of it all is. All is revealed at the film’s climax, which shows that these strange phenomena are manifestations of the guilt Trevor feels for committing a hit and run. The ending proved to be divisive and many found it to be underwhelming.
