There’s an old saying: Well begun is only half done. If that’s the case, then many a film ends before it really finishes. The movies below fall into that category, third acts that squandered their opening two.
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10.) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — Mega-starships have saved many a day (see #3), but no amount of gravity rays can lift this climax above mediocre. When nothing else works, throw a bunch of special effects at it.
9.) The Mist — I won’t spoil this for you, but this is one way to put folks out of their misery. Talk about needless sadism.
8.) A.I. Artificial Intelligence — Three acts of gloom-and-doom only to have a fairy godmother rescue this mechanized Pinocchio from his existential pining.
7.) Return of the King — I hate to do this, and I definitely don’t think it ruined the trilogy, but Jackson’s multiple sappy endings was like suicide by perfume.
6.) War of the Worlds (2005) — Okay, so germs got them. I can stomach that. But when Tom Cruise arrives in Boston to find his ex-wife’s neighborhood in perfect condition after the near genocide of humanity, and his entire family there happy and healthy, I was looking for a cliff to drive off (see #2).
5.) King Kong (2005) — Kill him, already! Sheesh! The movie was long enough as it is. We didn’t need a half hour of swooning simian to stretch it out.
4.) The Village — You either bought this, or you didn’t. But the thicket of questions (like how could they have NEVER seen a plane?) strangled any suspension of disbelief.
3.) The Abyss — The textbook definition of deus ex machina.
2.) Thelma and Louise — After enduring this feminist drivel, I was 
actually kinda thankful they went airborne.
1.) The Notebook — It’s bad enough I sat through this mush. But the couple dying in each other’s arms was the ultimate in sappy endings. Any guy who cried watching this should have their man-card revoked for life.
OK. So there’s my nominations. Any you’d add?
Wow! I couldn’t agree more! Well, actually I couldn’t even make it to the end of #8 and 9. And I never saw #3. So if I had, I guess I COULD agree more… But as for the rest of your list, YOU NAILED IT.
I agree on all of these–or rather, the ones I’ve seen and I pretty well trust your judgement on the other. But “The Village” will always hold a special place in my heart…as the one scene where (whoever) was in that fort with the trapdoor and the red-cloaked creature whisked by underneath scared the living daylights out of my son. He was, oh, about eight years old and he jumped straight up in the air like a cat. My husband and I could not stop laughing. Fortunately, my son is a good sport and laughed along with us, and still laughs two years later when he tells the story to his friends. But yeah, the ending…even my son thought it was hokey. (oh, and for those of you wondering, yes, my husband and I watched the movie BEFORE letting him see it)
The Village is one of my favorite movies and isn’t it obvious? it was a no fly zone! 😛
1) Atonement. Oh my goodness. That movie haunted me for DAYS.
2) Cold Mountain. Watched it once, never will again. Great movie EXCEPT for the ending!
3) Agree with you on The Notebook. Still love the movie, though, and have watched it more than once. I just have a box of Kleenex by my side now.
Yeah, the LOTR endings could have been done a little less “sappier” for my taste. But I still liked them. I remember from the actor’s comments, they had a hard time filming the closing scene when Frodo is taking off on the ship.
But, I also think it fit with what was going on. They wanted to get the rest of the resolutions in for Frodo and the hobbits, and didn’t have much time for it. So it worked for me. It seemed natural, even if a little sappy.
If I were to add one on, it wouldn’t be a spec. fic. movie. It would be “Vanishing Point” which was more of a nihilistic film, ending with the main character running into bulldozers, making the previous hours of cop chases and escapes seem totally meaningless. Which I guess was the point, but totally unsatisfying. But I guess the fact the movie has stuck in my mind since seeing it in the 70s says something about it.
10 8 and 7 are endings I liked. The ending for AI might have seemed weird because of the director switcheroo…but really I don’t think it’s far-fetched given the story’s universe.
I’ve only seen half of these. Of those…I hated Thelma and Louise from start to finish. Didn’t hate LoTR but didn’t love the endings, either. I do remember thinking the airplane deal was pretty hard to believe in the Village. I can’t remember Crystal Skull or AI. Oh, I saw King Kong, too and can’t remember it at all.
The movie I hate, hate, hate the ending of is Perfect Storm. I know it was based on a true story, but, going in, I didn’t know that they all died. So my expectation as I watched was that someone lived to tell the story. I mean, how else did the writer know all about what the crew did and why they did it? But, no, they all died and I realized that the writer just made the whole thing up. I felt a little cheated, there.
Avatar was sappy and predictable the whole way through. That was an odd one because I walked out of the theater saying, “I really liked that,” because I really, really loved the animation on that movie and because I enjoyed the action. But the more I thought about the movie the more I disliked it because it was so shallow and there wasn’t anything deep in there when I went looking for it.
Planet of the Apes remake – This movie fell apart early, but reached immortality by taking on an unwittingly disastrous ending: “Surprise! The civilized monkeys once were even more civilized!”
I thought of one more, but I can’t remember the name of it… I think it was Kevin Spacey, but I might be thinking of another movie. It was about the innocent guy on death row. Boring movie, but it was saved by the laughably gargantuan plot hole for an ending. Google’s failing me, so maybe it wasn’t Kevin Spacey.
Just thought of it “The Life of David Gale.”
Holy smoke, was that ending a spectacular failure.
The Mist is the #1 worst movie ending ever. I have nothing but disdain for the director’s horrible decision to end it the way he did. It was completely inconsistent with the protagonist’s character to cause his son to die after doing all he could to keep him alive, especially when the danger was not at all imminent [more of a condition of hopeless dread]. Yes, I just spoiled the ending, but trust me it’s spoiled already. Stephen King’s original ending was a tongue-in-cheek scene in an abandoned diner in which he leaves a note regarding the events of the tale and how he hates tales that end this way but they will keep searching for an end to the mist and go on as best they can. I would have prefered King’s ending or [heaven forbid] a happier ending with some closure.
I can agree with all of these, except for The Village. Yes; it is very unlikely that a plane would never have flown over. But all movies (minus documentaries, based on truth) are meant to be unlikely. So I vote for Law Abiding Citizen to be inserted instead. I mean really? You set up this elaborate scheme only to be taken down by a clearly idiotic attorney? Oh; and the all informative, although never shown, Chester? Apparently F. Gary Gray forgot that the satisfaction of the crimes committed comes from the vigilante justice factor. When the vigilante loses, the satisfaction gets lost as well.
You picked some real howlers there. “Thelma and Louise” – I only bemoaned the loss of the car so what does that say about the characters? And “AI” had to be one of the most turgid, depressing, horrific films I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. Seriously, I get the shudders just thinking about it. ” ROTK” I loved although I take your point. I must admit, I was in the frame of mind where I would have watching that film for another few hours so I didn’t really care how long it went on. I would also add “Buried” to the list, for sheer depression and pointlessness.
I know this is an old entry. But i accidentally clicked on it in the sidebar and got into reading it.
The Village is a movie i thought was okay. However it is one of my husband’s favourites. That means ive seen it nine times, by my last count.
That is how i know they say at the very ending that the land they used for their Village was set up as a nature preserve and had a law passed that rerouted planes from the area to preserve the ecosystem.
Message in a Bottle (not coincidentally by the same author as The Notebook!).
Where is Message in a Bottle ? My goodness I wanted to through something at the end of this movie. I told my wife, why the heck did you put me through this? ahhhhhh. The guy finally figures out he wants to move on with his life and mary the woman that CPRs his emotions and brings him back into the world of the living, then he Drowns!!! I felt cheated.