Top 10 Movie Endings That Defined Cinema
#10: “The Graduate” (1967)
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Mirroring young Americans’ disillusionment in the midst of the Vietnam War and the countercultural movement, this 1967 classic parodies the traditional Hollywood ending. In the final scene, college graduate Benjamin Braddock rescues Elaine Robinson from her own wedding. The two run off together and board a bus for parts unknown. But as the camera lingers on them, the adrenaline drains away and they’re left only with each other. They don’t fall into a lustful embrace. The reality of their situation seeps in, and the uncertainty of their future clearly shows in their faces as that haunting Simon and Garfunkel song plays over the soundtrack once again.
#9: “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994)
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Although this one disappointed at the box office, time has been kind to its great performances, emotional heft, and uplifting message. “The Shawshank Redemption” follows Andy Dufresne and Red Redding, two inmates who forge a friendship over their twenty years at Shawshank State Prison. After Andy’s escape and Red’s eventual release, the two are reunited on a Mexican beach. For the first time, Red is hopeful for his future. Director Frank Darabont was not a fan of the ending, and originally wanted the movie to end with Red on a bus to Mexico. Luckily for us, the overwhelming response of test audiences convinced him to keep it.
#8: “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)
Stanley Kubrick’s genre-defying science fiction epic was a landmark achievement in visual effects and cinematic mythmaking. Its final sequence sees pilot and scientist Dave Bowman pulled into a dimensional wormhole by a floating monolith. The hallucinatory sequence ends with Bowman being reborn as a star child, hovering over the planet earth like its guardian. Summary doesn’t do it justice. Defying narrative tradition, “2001: A Space Odyssey” is a deeply metaphorical and philosophical masterwork. Nothing in its mostly wordless finale is spelled out with any certainty. For some, it may be a frustrating and challenging watch. For many, it’s the pinnacle of cinema.
#7: “Psycho” (1960)
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After treating terrified audiences to some of the most horrific murders ever captured on film, Alfred Hitchcock hit the audience with a twist that no viewer in 1960 could have predicted. Unless they’d read the book, at least. The climactic revelation that mild-mannered motel proprietor Norman Bates was a dissociative personality who donned his mother’s clothes, and personality, to murder people was a huge twist. The ending pushed the boundaries of acceptable themes in Hollywood movies. Its closing narration, played onscreen by Anthony Perkins and in voiceover by actress Virginia Gregg, is one of the most chilling endings of all time. Many movies have tried to outdo “Psycho” in chills and shocks. Few have come close.
#6: “The Godfather” (1972)
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Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece is shockingly old-fashioned for such a violent movie. Its themes of immigrants rising from nothing to achieve the American dream through crime, and the moral rot that results, have been a favorite subject of Hollywood since the 1930s at least. “The Godfather’s” last few minutes perfectly encapsulate how far Michael Corleone has fallen. From wanting no part in his family’s business to becoming the head of it, Michael’s transformation into a hardened crime boss is complete. He shows no guilt or shame for having his enemies murdered, including his devastated sister’s husband. The film ends as the door closes between Michael and his horrified wife, Kay, who no longer recognizes the man she fell in love with.
#5: “Planet of the Apes” (1968)
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Charlton Heston plays Taylor, an astronaut stranded on a mysterious planet run by sadistic apes who treat humans as slaves and test subjects. Escaping from his captors, he and a young woman, Nova, ride off on a horse. Following the coastline, he comes upon the ruins of the Statue of Liberty. The whole time, Taylor’s thought he’s been on some desolate and distant planet when he’s been on a post-apocalyptic earth. His melodramatic reaction is iconic enough, but there is something incredibly eerie and depressing about the final reveal. It stayed with audiences, and has been referenced and parodied more times than we can count.
#4: “Sunset Boulevard” (1950)
You’re probably wondering how he ended up in this situation. Told in flashback, Billy Wilder’s dark and twisty film noir chronicles the delusions of silent film star Norma Desmond, and the struggling screenwriter pulled into her orbit. Norma’s final descent into madness is the saddest and most glamorous thing you’ve ever seen. After murdering her screenwriter, she fully surrenders to her delusions. She descends her grand staircase, believing the amassed cops and reporters have gathered to film her comeback project. Saddened by the sight, they play along. Actress Gloria Swanson utters Desmond’s immortal line before she appears to evaporate into the camera lens forever.
#3: “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)
Audiences at first weren’t sure what to make of “Bonnie and Clyde.” Inspired by the real-life bank robbers, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s rowdy 1930s gunslingers came to represent very modern ideas. Their glee at robbing and killing was embraced as a response to the growing counterculture and anti-establishment feeling among America’s youth. However, Bonnie and Clyde’s deaths at the hands of G-men hiding in the bushes with tommy guns put a sobering and vicious end to their crime spree. The movie doesn't shy away from its brutality. Even decades later, it can haunt a first-time viewer.
#2: “Citizen Kane” (1941)
Orson Welles’ controversial and innovative drama portrayed the life of Charles Foster Kane, a wealthy newspaper magnate driven to disillusionment and loneliness by his own greed. A reporter intent on discovering the meaning of his last word, “rosebud,” comes up empty by the film’s end. But we are treated to the answer as Kane’s discarded belongings are thrown on a fire. The name is printed on his childhood sled, a memento from his last happy days as a child, before he had wealth, fame, or power. Not only has Kane’s wealth alienated him from others, but instead he’s completely surrounded by things that have value but no meaning. Even in death, he is impenetrable.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
“Gone with the Wind” (1939)
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“Rocky” (1976)
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“Seven” (1995)
A Vengeful Detective Succumbs to a Diabolical Killer’s Manipulations
“Thelma & Louise” (1991)
Two Best Friends End Their Cross-Country Crime Spree on Their Own Terms
“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
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#1: “Casablanca” (1942)
The Hollywood love story that defined all future Hollywood love stories. “Casablanca” was never meant to be a lasting masterpiece, but it ended up just the right mix of star power, studio era ingenuity, and timing. America had only just entered World War II. Without hammering the point too hard, “Casablanca” humanized the dilemma that American couples faced in those early days. Even without this context, the image of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman saying their final, agonizing goodbye at the airport is an indelible screen image. Aided by endlessly quotable dialogue and sweeping music, Rick and Ilsa realize and accept that the fate of humanity is more important than the small problems of two people.
What movie do you think has the most iconic ending? Let us know in the comments.
