Worst Endings
by variable0 | created - 24 Jun 2011 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicEndings that ruin otherwise good movies. They just leave a bad taste in the mouth. Terrible twists, anticlimactic scenes, and the cliche "Just a Dream" gimmicks are all represented here. Rankings are loose, except for #1.
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1. The Game (1997)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn
Votes: 429,782 | Gross: $48.32M
Worst twist ever. Absolutely implausible and incongruent to the rest of the story. Completely ruined what was a classic film up to that point.
2. The Mist (2007)
R | 126 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher
Votes: 340,731 | Gross: $25.59M
From the director of Shawshank. I could not believe it when I first saw it. Completely disheartening ending that was also incongruent with the rest of the story.
3. Audition (1999)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike | Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, Jun Kunimura
Votes: 89,310
90 minutes of finely crafted mystery and suspense lead to a long excruciating scene of deviant gore that quickly becomes anti-climactic.
4. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
R | 120 min | Documentary, Crime, Drama
Filmmaker Michael Moore explores the roots of America's predilection for gun violence.
Director: Michael Moore | Stars: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Salvador Allende
Votes: 148,777 | Gross: $21.58M
If Moore had ended it with overturning the store policy, it would've been uplifting. Instead the smug filmmaker had to add on the scene tricking and picking on a senile unaware old man. It takes a certain kind of tool to make an NRA spokesperson seem sympathetic.
5. War of the Worlds (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Miranda Otto
Votes: 475,518 | Gross: $234.28M
Yeah, so those aliens that spent the whole movie destroying the world and killing tons of people. . . .well they won't be a problem anymore. you know, cause of bacteria and stuff. . . .Hey it's not stupid, and we don't have to explain anymore. Morgan Freeman is doing the voice over, so that alone makes it credible. ;(
6. The Happening (2008)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A science teacher, his wife, and a young girl struggle to survive a plague that causes those infected to commit suicide.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez
Votes: 216,581 | Gross: $64.51M
Yeah, so those plants that spent the whole movie destroying the world and killing tons of people. . . . .well they won't be a problem anymore, you know, cause they stopped.. . . .Hey it's not stupid, and we don't have to explain anymore. M Night did 'The Sixth Sense', so that still makes it credible. ;(
7. Unbreakable (2000)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Spencer Treat Clark
Votes: 442,159 | Gross: $95.01M
Lame anti-climactic twist apparently designed to please comic fanbois? M Night we're on to you!
8. Signs (2002)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 385,966 | Gross: $227.97M
M Night does it again. Dire situation involving ominous world-threatening aliens solved by a baseball bat and squirt guns.
9. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,972 | Gross: $26.12M
Never Really Happened. Just A Dream/Delusion
10. Identity (2003)
R | 90 min | Mystery, Thriller
Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes
Votes: 267,405 | Gross: $52.16M
NRHJAD
11. Vanilla Sky (2001)
R | 136 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Romance
A self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell
Votes: 285,849 | Gross: $100.61M
NRHJAD
12. Stay (I) (2005)
R | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A psychiatrist attempts to prevent one of his patients from committing suicide while trying to maintain his own grip on reality.
Director: Marc Forster | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Ryan Gosling, Kate Burton
Votes: 86,085 | Gross: $3.63M
NRHJAD
13. Mulholland Drive (2001)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 384,128 | Gross: $7.22M
NRHJAD
14. Lost Highway (1997)
R | 134 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Anonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito
Votes: 153,304 | Gross: $3.80M
NRHJAD
15. Next (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann
Votes: 166,485 | Gross: $18.21M
NRHJA Premonition
16. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
PG-13 | 132 min | Drama, Sport
Frankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel
Votes: 722,189 | Gross: $100.49M
Because those small stools are the most dangerous things about boxing. To think, if 'Rocky' had this ending, we never would've seen him fight Mr. T. ;(
17. Saw III (2006)
R | 108 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Jigsaw abducts a doctor in order to keep himself alive while he watches his new apprentice put an unlucky citizen named Jeff through a brutal test.
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman | Stars: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfadyen, Bahar Soomekh
Votes: 212,542 | Gross: $80.24M
The first 'Saw' had a great twist, the second so-so. And apparently, they've made 47 more cashgrabs/sequels. But the final twist here was completely lame and exposed the franchise as nothing more than a venue to exhibit gimmicky torture devices.
18. Adaptation. (2002)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton
Votes: 203,167 | Gross: $22.25M
Because the names Meryl Streep and Charlie Kaufman are synonymous with car chases and gunpoint action. ;(
19. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
PG-13 | 146 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards
Votes: 323,193 | Gross: $78.62M
There were three acts to the movie. It would've been a classic if it had ended after the second act. The third act was anti-climactic, contrived Spielberg-ian rubbish.
20. Spartacus (1960)
PG-13 | 197 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Mann | Stars: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton
Votes: 143,293 | Gross: $30.00M
After a 3+ hour epic, the final image is anti-climactic and leaves a lack of closure. The whole film set the Hero up to end either as a triumphant victor, or a tragic martyr. But we never quite get to that point.
21. The Wages of Fear (1953)
Not Rated | 131 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli
Votes: 66,632
The final sequence to this gripping thriller was completely incongruent, illogical and anti-climactic. It'd be a better film if those final minutes were left on the cutting room floor.
22. Remember Me (I) (2010)
PG-13 | 113 min | Drama, Romance
A romantic drama centred on two new lovers: Tyler, whose parents have split in the wake of his brother's suicide, and Ally, who lives each day to the fullest since witnessing her mother's murder.
Director: Allen Coulter | Stars: Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Caitlyn Rund, Moisés Acevedo
Votes: 155,825 | Gross: $19.07M
Romance with a 9/11 twist.
23. The Vanishing (1988)
Not Rated | 107 min | Mystery, Thriller
Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.
Director: George Sluizer | Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus
Votes: 44,311
Implausible decision-making by the protoganist leads to a disheartening conclusion.
24. Take Shelter (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Director: Jeff Nichols | Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart
Votes: 108,213 | Gross: $1.73M
Perhaps the greatest job of illustrating someone's descent into madness. Up until the final scene, that leaves everything up to interpretation, forcing the audience to question the validity of everything they've seen.
25. The Sword of Doom (1966)
Not Rated | 120 min | Action, Drama
Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
Director: Kihachi Okamoto | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Yûzô Kayama, Yôko Naitô
Votes: 12,081
The reverse of an anticlimactic ending. The story slowly builds up toward an intense confrontation fueled by revenge. But the movie just stops in the middle of an action sequence before it gets there.
26. Django Unchained (2012)
R | 165 min | Comedy, Drama, Western
With the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington
Votes: 1,696,826 | Gross: $162.81M
What had been a fine story was ruined by a senseless plot twist. The last half hour was anticlimactic, filled with needless killings. But, hey thats Tarantino.
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