I've said before that as much as we enjoy a happy ending, it's the movies with the not-so-happy endings that we remember the most. Not all the 20 movies in The End: the best movie endings ever, from E.T. to Casablanca from the Times Online have happy endings (some do), but they are all memorable. I skipped over the movies I haven't yet seen, but the movies on this list that I have seen indeed have perfect endings. I shouldn't have to warn you that this list contains spoilers. What other movies would you add? Link -via Digg
I love the ending to "Forrest Gump". After all he has experienced and been through in his quest - his Jenny dies and it is he and his son at the end waiting for the bus to take little Forrest to school. His son gets on the bus and introduces himself to the bus driver...who I love!
It was so sweet....!
What are the Greatest Movie BEGINNINGS?
Gladiator
Terminator 3 (all the terminator movies end nicely, but this one really wowed.)
Dances With Wolves
Apocalypse Now
Amelie
"Much Ado About Nothing" (1992). I know, it was a play long before it was a movie. But the director decided to end it in a very cinematic way, in a single moving camera shot that takes us through rings of dancers, showers of rose petals, and up over the Tuscan villa. When this film played at the cinema where I worked at the time, the audience applauded at the end!
"Time Bandits" (1980). "Mom! Dad! It's Evil! Don't touch it!" BOOM!
"Excalibur" (1981). The last five minutes of the film alone are worth the price of admission, especially with the sword hurtling through the air into the hand of the Lady in the Lake, and the vision of Arthur's body borne away to Avalon, accompanied by three faery women... very much a cinematic ode to Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelites. The use of Wagner's music was also very inspired.
"The Thief of Bagdad" (1926 and 1940). Both the original silent version and the remake with Sabu have wonderful, mythic endings, with the hero riding off on the flying carpet. If you can find it, be sure to watch the silent version in which music by Rimsky-Korsakov was used for the soundtrack; the music is used most effectively during the final shots. And of course Miklos Rosza's score for the 1940s remake brings a tear to the eye as well. "You got what you wanted. Now I'm getting what I want --- an adventure, at last!"
Quite a few Hitchcock films when he was in his prime: "Rear Window," "North by Northwest," "Vertigo," even his remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much." --- "Sorry we're late; we just had to pick up our son."
Also Monty Pythons Holy Grail should be on there. no credits, no continuity, no explanation. Just King Arthur being arrested and the police confiscating the camera
Such an outpouring of love. I cry every time I see it and I'm a grumpy old guy.
But there are some movies with an ending I remember immediately:
Easy Rider (!!!) (not mentioned once on the Times-site)
Don't Look Now
The Bodysnatchers (with D.Sutherland)
Offcourse Citizen Kane should be nr 1 in the list.
Rosemary's Baby (with that music)
L'Empire des Sense (In the Realm of the Senses)
"Gee, they sure are good at playing dead, aren't they?"