The Top 50 Movie Endings of All Time

I love this but there's some spoilers here so beware. Blogger won't let me upload photos(again). What a pain.

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The Top 50 Movie Endings of All Time

We spent literally months brainstorming and corralling the 50 films with the absolute best endings we've ever seen. We're not talking about the last half hour. We mean the last minute of movie. You know, the ending.Needless to say you can consider this entire article one monster SPOILER ALERT. Most of the films here are classics that you've probably seen several times over. But if not, skip past the ones you haven't seen and put 'em in your rental queue, otherwise you're going to ruin a whole lot of good films. Check out the flicks and we promise you won't be disappointed when the credits roll. As always, apologies in advance for the ones we stupidly forgot (and we know you'll be writing to let us know -- yes, Jaws, The Sixth Sense, Seven, Carrie, we're sorry!).- Christopher Null, Editor-in-Chief

50. The Blair Witch Project (1999) - The movie isn't particularly scary... at least until the last two minutes, which take the tension level from 10 to 100 at an exponential pace. The final seconds -- wherein a member of the cast is spotted, back turned and facing a corner, as an unseen spirit does away with the remaining member of the crew, who's been filming all of this in a panic-stricken run through an abandoned house -- rank as some of the most terrifying moments ever put to film. It gives me chills just to write about it. -CN

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

48. Batman Begins (2005) - As the title suggests, the Dark Knight's mission to cleanse Gotham has just begin. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) hands Batman (Christian Bale) a playing card left at the scene of a recent crime. He flips it over, and fanboy hearts race in unison as we contemplate director Christopher Nolan's next move. -SO

47. All That Jazz (1979) - A film especially priceless in its rendering of death in big, Broadway musical number style. Extremely well collaged as the self-defeating choreographer ties up all his loose ends in fantastical choreographic zeal, Roy Scheider's Joe Gideon simply walks into a flirtatious angel's embrace. -RG

46. Dead Again (1991) - The second film Kenneth Branagh directed before his ego became too inflated from his Shakespeare renown, is also still the best helming he has managed to date. Beautifully combining intelligent romanticism with reincarnation between he and his then wife/co-star Emma Thompson, the film gracefully culminates with a death scene, love re-established, and the past resolving itself, without losing an emotional beat. Even those who don’t believe
in filmic romance melt as the modern day Branagh holds his partner and
exhaustedly says “The door is closed.” -RG

45. Pulp Fiction (1994) - It's hard to pick this over Reservoir Dogs, since Quentin Tarantino plagiarized himself here, but Pulp is more refined and more funny in its treatment of a Mexican standoff, this time with a "happy" ending to it. Of course, we know the buffoonish Vincent Vega's going to get shot coming out of the toilet on another job, but he and his Bible-spewing pal get to walk away this time, even if they do look like idiots. -CN

44. Fargo (1996) - Cinema, especially recent cinema, isn't known for its portrayals of happy marriages -- especially not in crime movies. But the last scene in this Coen brothers masterpiece doesn't involve any blood, bullets, or double-crosses. It just shows the Gundersons, Marge (Frances McDormand) and Norm (John Carroll Lynch), sitting in bed. He tells her that his painting is going to put on a three-cent stamp, she tells him how great that is, and the emotional core that has been developing throughout the film is suddenly sitting right in front of us. No wood chipper needed. -JH

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

42. The Terminator (1984) - One of the first major science fiction trilogies to be a true inspiration to an entire new generation of filmmaking, the initial installment is brutal, bright, and brilliantly executed. From Ah-nold’s one-liners to Sarah Connor learning to want to be great female hero, it was also one of the first films to create a spellbinding circle in its narrative, to have the end reflect where it all began. He'll be back. -RG

41. Say Anything... (1989) - Lots of romantic comedies end with the boy getting the girl; Say Anything makes him, her, and us all earn it. We leave Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) and Diane Court (Ione Skye) not in passionate embrace, but sitting on an airplane, holding hands, looking upward, waiting for the "ding" that will tell them everything is okay. This final shot is everything that's great about Say Anything: sweet, a little bit funny, and completely believable. -JH

40. The Thing (1982) - Easily the most chilling ending in horror, Carpenter purposefully never lets the audience in on exactly how the contagion is spread and allows us to stew in absolute terror as to which man will split apart and become the alien host. The last thumps of the moody score are enough to make anyone shiver with fear. -CC

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