Top 50 Movie Endings of All-Time

[Trevelyan]

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I was quite pleased to see the following on there:

This is the one I personally feel should be number one.

"15. The Godfather (1972) - Derelicts will argue the second one is better, but the ending of the Godfather is everything it should be, foreshadowing all the dark, murky secrets that would be dragged from the depths in Part 2. Kay finally asks about Michael's business and he lies, outright, as the door closes on a good kid who turned into the ultimate family man, and a brooding, calculating monster. -CC

Notice what I bolded. This is not only true of the endings, but of the films themselves as well.

"49. A History of Violence (2005) - David Cronenberg’s sly, brilliant merger of a revenge fantasy and an essay on the American Dream has an appropriately messy, provocative ending. Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) has exposed a terrible truth about himself that’s left his wife, Edie (Maria Bello), in despair. They gaze at each other in silence across the dinner table, and the looks in their eyes lets you know it’s impossible, yet painfully necessary, to pretend nothing has changed. –MA"

"31. Magnolia (1999) - Everyone remembers a certain cataclysmic plot turn in the final act, and while I love P.T. Anderson's audacious willingness to simply let frogs fall from the sky, the real ending to Magnolia is much simpler. In an extended close-up, we see troubled Claudia (Melora Walters) listen to sweet cop Jim (John C. Reilly) talk. His words are barely audible; instead, we focus on Claudia's face, which finally breaks into a slight smile, a split second before the movie cuts to black. Desperation turns to hope in an instant, and Aimee Mann's "Save Me" ices the cake perfectly. –JH"

[Eagle1]

night of the living dead, the birds, and planet of the apes
good to them in the top 20

though i would have to disagree with a few of the ones on there

[Bluemoon_Rising]

Of the ones he listed and listed here in no particular order, these would be my favorites.

43. Shane (1953) - When the kid yells, "Shane, come back!" at the departing hero, it's one of the rare tear-jerker scenes that just feels right. -DB


21. The Usual Suspects (1995) - For two hours, Kevin Spacey's spineless Verbal plays helpless lamb being lured to Chazz Palminteri's slaughter. But with the drop of a coffee cup, and the shaking off of a limp, the true identity of a criminal mastermind is revealed. -SO

15. The Godfather (1972) - Derelicts will argue the second one is better, but the ending of the Godfather is everything it should be, foreshadowing all the dark, murky secrets that would be dragged from the depths in Part 2. Kay finally asks about Michael's business and he lies, outright, as the door closes on a good kid who turned into the ultimate family man, and a brooding, calculating monster. -CC

9. Don't Look Now (1973) - Donald Sutherland chases the little child in the raincoat he's seen for the whole film and then Roeg's nightmare springs one last terror on you. That face under the red raincoat is no child, and it will stay in your nightmares for months... or else you'll put it as your computer's desktop picture like my roommate. -CC

1. Dr. Strangelove (1964) - You may remember otherwise, but the climactic scene where Slim Pickens rides the bomb down is not actually the ending of Strangelove (though even if it were, it would still be #1 on our list). Rather, there is a strange scene afterwards in which the leaders of the free world wait for the end of the world while having a demented argument about how to survive the impending nuclear winter ("We must not have a mine shaft gap!"). Then, signaling apocalypse, Peter Sellers' titular mad scientist, wheelchair-bound for the entire movie, stands up and begins to walk, before the War Room (and the rest of the world) explodes to the tune of "We'll Meet Again." It's all weird but absurdly logical, like everything about Kubrick's masterpiece. -DB

Other movies with great endings:
Rear Window
Vertigo
Forest Gump
Elephant Man
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington