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Best closing scenes in a movie?

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Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance's ending ties up the film plot-wise and thematic wise brilliantly, almost-perfectly if not for the voice-over but it's easy to look past.
 
Stalker
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In movie threads like this I always like looking for movies I haven't seen yet. I figure someone posting a movie and someone else agreeing is enough to put it on my backlog.
 
I think all the ones I would mention are on here already.

The Empire Strikes Back
No Country for Old Men (haunting, in my opinion, though many hate it)
The Godfather Parts 1 and 2
There Will Be Blood
Enemy
 
Most of the ones I can think of have already been said.

Empire Strikes Back
Drive
Casino Royale
Iron Man
No Country For Old Men
Inception
The Dark Knight
 
always had a soft spot for the ending of Men in Black
where the giant beeing plays with the universe like we do with marbles.
 
I love the closing shot of the original Batman. It pans up from the street to a great height, showing Batman standing on the edge of a rooftop, silhouetted against the dark sky with the bat-signal in the background. Just that shot combined with the music has always sent a little shiver up my spine.
 
Inception, TDK(R), Interstellar
Drive
The Departed
Whiplash
Lars and the Real Girl
Blue Valentine
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows P2
Celda 211
 
The Straight Story!
Final+Scene.jpg

Beautiful end to a beautiful movie!
Now excuse me I appear to have something in my eye.

Honorable mention goes to The Man From Earth!
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Recently, The Guest (which is an incredibly fun film). The final line and cut to black is great.

TDK made me want to punch the air.
TDKR was a flawed film, but pulled off a similar feeling at the end.

Nolan has a talent for endings.

Ersatzkopf said:
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It wouldn't wobble like that in a dream.
 
For me...the one that springs to mind is Inception for how it can make you re evaluate what you have seen without invalidating the movie with a late game twist.
 
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The song makes it beyond perfect, also I found it was really clever how they added 1 frame of a dick like Tyler did in the movies.
 
Fight club ending.

"You met me at a very strange time in my life."

/Pixies.

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Also the ending for Jake Gyllenhall's Enemy is fantastic. But I wont spoil it with a screenshot.

Beaten by a GIF. Damnit!
 
Dancer in the Dark
The whole film just gets bleaker and bleaker, closing with what has to be the most depressing closing scene in all of cinema. I'm being intentionally vague because you owe it to yourself to watch this one.

Oslo, August 31
Another film with a pretty bleak undercurrent. Yet, despite its subject matter, this closing scene almost has a peace or tranquility to it...like everything that you felt during the movie towards the protagonist was washed away in a sort of cleansing acceptance. Sad, but in a way relieving.

Harold and Maude
The whiplash-inducing "twist" that catalyzes the closing sequence, followed by that sequence itself (with the perfect musical accompaniment of Cat Stevens' "Trouble") is just devastating. I watched this movie 7-10 times in one week after I saw it for the first time. So, so good and an incredible ending.

The Red Shoes
Probably the weakest of this list, but still sticks with you.

Ex Machina
I never put it together, but heard someone mention that the ending is basically Plato's Cave, which makes total sense and adds an incredible amount of depth to that final scene. Plus, I like an ending where things don't go as planned.

Children of Men
Chilling ending to a tense, disparate film.

Frances Ha (shut up)
It adds a perfect little whimsy to what is just a fun flick about your 20s. Finally settles into her own spot after the transitory nature of her character throughout the film. (NYC to Paris to Sacramento to upstate...) Always puts a smile on my face.

Spirited Away
It's just pretty.

Probably more but that's all I can think of on short notice.

[EDIT] Edited in explanations as to why.
 
Whiplash comes to mind. It ends precisely at the moment the narrative arc ends for the protagonist, going out on an incredible high instead of trailing off in a bunch of flabby postscripts.

So yeah, watch Whiplash.
 
Triggerhappytel said:
I love the closing shot of the original Batman. It pans up from the street to a great height, showing Batman standing on the edge of a rooftop, silhouetted against the dark sky with the bat-signal in the background. Just that shot combined with the music has always sent a little shiver up my spine.
Click to expand...

This many posts to get to this makes me sad.
It's a fantastic closer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feR_YQ75Maw

And then Returns basically does something similar, but it also nailed it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9QBntYz9o


... and then unfortunately that was the last of the Burton Batman films.
 
Blackthorn said:
Whiplash comes to mind. It ends precisely at the moment the narrative arc ends for the protagonist, going out on an incredible high instead of trailing off in a bunch of flabby postscripts.

So yeah, watch Whiplash.
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Totally forgot about that one. I remember audibly saying, "fuck yeah!" when the credits began to roll. Birdman also had a pretty good ending that same year.
 
Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan
The Shining
The Descent (not the American theatrical ending)
Dancer in the Dark - :'(
Psycho
Planet of the Apes
End of Evangelion
Spoorloos - Creepy as hell when you realize it's just a guy sitting there
on top of the main character who's buried alive.
Bonnie and Clyde
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - The suitcase
 
Hundreds. But personal favorites are:

  • Mulholland Drive
  • 2001
  • Planet of the Apes (the original)
  • Godfather Part 2
  • The Searchers
  • The Third Man
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • Fight Club
  • The Straight Story
  • Field of Dreams
  • Some Like It Hot

I didn't even add to the opening thread as there's so many and really for endings there's so many too. Cinema has delivered some amazing moments over the years and continues to do so.
 
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