Top 10 Anti Climactic Movie Endings

There’s a poignant sense of danger throughout this erotic, but disturbing, drama. Tom Cruise finds himself pursued by members of an unknown society after he witnesses a quasi-religious orgy and is subsequently exposed. Audiences were left wondering who this group was, who was behind the masks, and just how much power they really had. But, the disappointing denouement goes a little something like this: the mystery is never unravelled, and Tom Cruise is left free to continue his marriage without consequence. While there is still a sense of eeriness to the finale, we would have liked to see director Stanley Kubrick hold nothing back in what was tragically his last outing.
  

Unlike a lot of recent films starring the King of Internet Memes, the premise and build-up of this action flick is fairly solid. Able to see branching futures, Nicolas Cage finds himself roped into a government task force in order to stop a nuclear bomb from going off - while also pursuing the woman of his dreams. Precognition and the altering of time can be tricky subjects to handle in films, because they can either come off as clever or really, really lazy. Unfortunately, the filmmakers decided to take the easy route by having the second half just be another possible future that Cage witnesses in a vision after his character spends the night with Jessica Biel in a motel.
 

Now before you throw us into the fiery pits of Mount Doom, hear us out. “The Return of the King” is an exceptional film in every sense. But everyone at one point or another has been in agreement that the film’s multitude of endings sort of dampen the sheer thrill of finally seeing the One Ring destroyed. We have the Fellowship reunited, we have Aragorn’s coronation, we have the return to the Shire, we have the tearful goodbyes at the Harbour, and finally we have Sam and his family. We understand that all loose ends need to be tied up, but it’s not so much an ending as it is a marathon!
 

Many moviegoers argue over when exactly M. Night Shyamalan suffered his fall from grace. One such view is that it began with the out-of-nowhere ending to this not-so supernatural mystery. While there had been a mild sense of suspense as to what was haunting the residents of a supposed 19th century village, the actual reveal left audiences scratching their heads in disappointment. Turns out the only thing this village had to fear was stepping into modern day society. We know how much Shyamalan likes his twists, but this one certainly lacked impact.
  

Everybody was enthralled by The Bride’s blood-soaked revenge rampage and we were all on the edge of our seats to see her finally clash with the man who stole her life. While we were treated to a tense build up featuring typical Tarantino dialogue between these two scorned lovers, the actual final fight is over in less than thirty seconds. While we’re more than happy to see the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique finish Bill off, couldn’t we have gotten a little more swordplay beforehand? The ultimate revenge should have at least had a few more sword swings! After all, the movie’s called “Kill Bill”!
 

While the original “Matrix” was a household name with its amazing choreography and philosophy, the sequels just couldn’t live up to it. If anything, they got a little too far up their own backside with how smart they were trying to be. Still, all fans were eager to see Neo take on an entire city filled with Agent Smiths in what looked like an epic finale to the third installment. The disappointment already rears its head when he has to fight only one of the Smiths. And it continues when Neo manages to save humanity by essentially sacrificing himself to turn the Matrix off and on again, and as a result achieves peace. It may be symbolic, but in some ways it was also unwarranted, and doesn’t give the closure that most fans of the first film desired.

Ever since Katniss Everdeen took her sister’s place in the Hunger Games, we’ve been waiting for the day she finally gets even with President Snow and puts an end to the people’s suffering. And we certainly got a resolution – of sorts. When it’s revealed that Coin is only a stone’s throw away from Snow in terms of villainy, Katniss shoots her down as opposed to Snow, who is finally killed - but by an angry mob instead of the Girl on Fire. The series ends on something of a melancholy note as we see Katniss and Peeta with their children. We’re all for Katniss getting a happy ending, but oddly enough, it felt so nonchalant for a series that had such grit.
  

The last man on earth may not be alone, and neither are we in thinking that the finale of this blockbuster was certainly lacklustre. There are actually two endings to “I Am Legend,” one of which is the standard hero’s sacrifice…which is rendered pointless by the fact that Will Smith could have just tossed the grenade as opposed to kamikaze-ing a Darkseeker. The other ending takes on a far different tone, as it’s revealed that the Darkseekers are actually intelligent beings that are just looking out for their own. Knowing that an alternative conclusion exists makes it all the more disappointing that the filmmakers went with the standard Hollywood treatment…
  

The Coen Brothers are legendary for their unique approach to narrative and filmmaking in general. One of their most successful outings is this Academy Award-winning tale of greed, conscience and old age. After failing to capture the fearsome hitman Anton Chigurh, Tommy Lee Jones’ aged lawman finally decides to retire, and recounts two dreams he had about his father to his wife. While it does provide food for thought, and as always Tommy Lee Jones manages to steal the scene, we’re still left wondering about Chigurh’s fate and who is left to carry on the fight.


  
Before we reveal our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- “The Ninth Gate” (1999)
- “The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
- “They” (2002)
 

While certain aspects of this Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie were enjoyable, like seeing the alien death machines cause havoc, no one can deny that its ending is the very definition of an anti-climax. Even if you get the voice of God himself, Morgan Freeman, to narrate how microbes defeated the alien insurgence…it still doesn’t change the fact that bacteria defeated the alien insurgence. We’re glad that Tom Cruise could reconnect with his son and all, but we’d rather have seen humankind’s valiant and desperate efforts to fight them off as opposed to them waiting for the invaders to die from… the sniffles.
 
Do you agree with our list? Which film do you think has the biggest anti-climax of all time? For more entertaining top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com!