only i know the balance and the weight
of this particular loaded die
that way when you look at your totem you
know beyond the doubt that you're not in
someone else's dream welcome to
watchmojo and today we're counting down
our picks for the top 20 movie endings
that don't mean what you think with most
films i tend to always say it's what the
audience thinks it is
my personal opinion is no it was not a
dream for this list we'll be looking at
movie endings that often get
misinterpreted or misunderstood by some
portion of the movie going public
we're not saying everyone got these
wrong but merely exploring those endings
that have caused people to occasionally
miss the point which misinterpreted
movie ending is your favorite let us
know in the comments
number 20 scarface
people still celebrate tony montana as
some sort of folk hero to them tony
represents the american dream and he
went out in a respectable and badass
blaze of glory but the ending isn't to
commend tony's path in life it's to
criticize it tony had this elaborate
mansion yet he mainly stayed in one room
utterly paranoid and high off his rocker
it makes me sleep good at night that's
what comes his best friend was dead his
mother hated him and his sister went mad
and tried to kill him he sacrificed his
sanity and hurt those closest to him to
obtain power and material success the
twisted embodiment of the american dream
it's telling that the final shot is
tony's corpse floating underneath and
ironic the world is yours globe
number 19 eternal sunshine of the
spotless mind
this film ends with joel and clementine
skeptically getting back together
despite knowing that it will likely end
in pain the final shot sees the two
playing on the beach as the screen fades
to white but we see it three times this
doesn't really affect the overall theme
of the movie but it's interesting to
note that joel and clem have repeated
this process on numerous occasions the
movie is suggesting that the fleeting
moments of happiness in life and love
are worth the endless suffering but it
could also be suggesting that clem and
joel are stuck in an incompatible
relationship they simply aren't meant to
be
number 18. birdman the ending of birdman
is divisive and ambiguous it sees riggan
saying goodbye to birdman opening a
window and climbing onto the ledge a
distraught sam then looks at the
pavement below before glancing skyward
and smiling some have suggested that
riggan actually killed himself on stage
others suggest that sam skyward glance
represents her mental break she's chosen
to ignore reality and embrace the
virtues of ignorance by pretending that
her father has flown but perhaps the
simplest explanation is the most
rewarding sam is happy that her father
is now free and unburdened and she looks
skyward to recognize his metaphorical
ascension either way dude is dead
number 17 no country for old men how'd
you sleep i don't know
had dreams
audiences were expecting a wild west
showdown they got a monologue about
dreams the second dream likely
represents belle's frustration he was
entrusted with a job and he failed he
was overmatched by the cold dark world
that is represented in the second dream
this dream saw his father holding fire
in the darkness a symbol for safety and
comfort when he rode past i seen he was
carrying fire
and horn the way people used to do and i
i could see the horn from the light
inside of it about the color of the moon
but it's telling that belle wakes up
only to be back in the real world then i
woke up
a world of clearly defined boundaries
between coldness and warmth doesn't
exist as ellis states what bell's got
ain't nothing new meaning his feelings
of being overmatched and living in an
unjust world have always been universal
what you got ain't nothing new
this country's hard on people number 16
the shining the shining certainly has an
ambiguous ending
[Music]
after we're treated to the indelible
image of jack's frozen face the camera
slowly zooms into a picture of
partygoers from 1921 standing front and
center is jack so he's like a time
traveler or something was his spirit
absorbed by the overlook nope as grady
said jack has always been the caretaker
both jack and grady seem to have been
reincarnated and brought back to the
hotel to fulfill some sort of evil
purpose this is backed up by both
stanley kubrick and diane johnson each
of whom have said that the photo
represents jack's reincarnation now why
he and grady were reincarnated is a
different question altogether
number fifteen the thing are you the
only one who made it
it's not the only one alright let's put
this to bed once and for all child's is
not the thing oh child's breath isn't
visible no child's breath is visible and
on numerous occasions yes it is very
subtle when compared to mccready's but
it is there child's drinks gasoline
absolutely not there's nothing at all to
suggest this and why would mccready go
for a drink before childs even shows up
and if childs was the thing why does he
toy with mccready this theory was also
put to rest by kurt russell himself who
said that he worked on the ending's
conception with john carpenter nope it's
just two guys making the ultimate
sacrifice and sharing a bottle of scotch
before they freeze to death why don't we
just
[Applause]
wait here for a little while
number 14 the dark knight rises the dark
knight rises was certainly more
ambiguous than what audiences were
expecting from a batman film batman
flies the neutron bomb over the bay and
is presumed dead after it detonates it's
on over the bay it's clear of the city
but alfred later sees bruce and selena
at a cafe in florence so what gives was
this some sort of wish fulfillment by a
grief stricken alfred maybe but probably
not nothing really suggests that it's a
hallucination and christian bale has
stated his belief that it was in fact
real and he was
just delighted that finally he had freed
himself from
the the the privilege but ultimately the
burden of being bruce wayne according to
him alfred was delighted that bruce had
freed himself from the burden of being
bruce wayne but as for how bruce escaped
the nuclear blast we can't help you
there
number 13 first blood
where is everybody unfortunately the
sequels made rambo into a blockbuster
action hero but first blood and the
novel it was based on portrayed him in a
much harsher light yes he was severely
mistreated but that doesn't give him the
right to spark a manhunt and destroy an
entire town like troutman says you did
everything to make this private war
happen he was even more problematic in
the original script as he directly
killed 16 people in fact rambo was only
made more sympathetic due to sylvester
stallone's reputation as the
kind-hearted rocky the ending doesn't
represent the capture of a defensive man
it's the quelling of a troubled and
ultimately dangerous threat rambo is a
sympathetic and tragic figure but he's
not a hero
number 12 2001 a space odyssey
bowman is pulled into the trippy
stargate gets old sees an enigmatic
monolith and transforms into the star
child if we're looking at it objectively
we would say that bowman traversed the
jupiter monolith ascended human
knowledge was kept under observation by
the firstborns and took the next step in
human evolution via the final monolith
the star child is not a physical entity
but a representation of bowman's
ascended consciousness as he observes
mankind as a firstborn but therein lies
the problem the movie isn't meant to
have an objective meaning as kubrick
states the film becomes anything the
viewer sees in it number 11. rocky
what's the problem
you don't like me
like the turtles what's the problem
i don't think i belong here rocky is a
boxing movie that's not about boxing
while the famous training montage and
climactic fight are a lot of fun the
movie was always more interested in
telling a wholesome story about an
underachiever discovering his potential
it's telling that the result of the
fight is so inconsequential while many
bemoan rockies lost to apollo or
criticized the movie's lack of focus
regarding the outcome this lack of focus
is entirely the point rocky and adrian
don't care about the outcome and neither
should you ragi went the distance and
found love along the way proving his own
self-worth
and when you accomplish that who cares
what the judges have to say
number 10 whiplash there are no two
words in the english language more
harmful
than good job whiplash tells the story
of an ambitious jazz student and his
violent instructor and it serves as a
great fable about the quest for
perfection and while the ending seems
relatively happy we must take a closer
look at andrew and his relationship with
fletcher you're done by the end of the
film andrew is completely ruined and has
sacrificed his entire life for drumming
on top of that the ending seems to hint
that andrew wants fletcher's approval
more than he wants to be a successful
drummer this unhealthy quest for
perfection and approval will only lead
to more loneliness and tension who knows
andrew could even wind up like sean
casey before long i'd rather die drunk
broke at 34 and have people at a dinner
table talk about me than live to be rich
and sober at 90 and nobody remember who
i was number nine shutter island so for
the past two years you you've had
somebody slipping me drugs in boston is
that it not boston
here
you've been here
for two years near the end of shutter
island we discovered that teddy daniels
is actually andrew leytus a mental
hospital patient who murdered his wife
while latest initially shows signs of
understanding his true identity the
doctors also declared that this has
happened before and that latest had
unfortunately regressed my name is
andrew latest
and i murdered my wife in the spring
of 52.
this is seemingly proven when he refers
to sheehan as chuck it's understandable
that some people interpret the ending as
late as simply regressing back into his
role as teddy however latest is only
pretending to be teddy in order to get a
lobotomy and end his suffering as
evident by his question to sheehan has
refusing to answer to teddy and shian's
bewildered response
which would be worse
to live as a monster
but a dad is a good man number eight get
out by the way i i would have voted for
obama for a third term if i could best
president my lifetime handstand get out
seems to have a pretty happy ending rod
arrives and rescues chris and the
armitage family are dead however things
aren't as happy as they seem as evident
by chris's dejected stare for one thing
chris is clearly aware that there are
far more members of the armitage family
still out there and who knows how many
kidnapped black people are still
wandering around as hosts the ending
could also be an ironic statement on our
modern culture the current racist state
of things is still most certainly not
handled contrary to what rod thinks and
it looks as if chris knows it the
armitages are still out there both
literally and figuratively
[Music]
number seven the graduate
the graduate has one of the most famous
endings in movie history
[Music]
benjamin and elaine happily reunite and
run out on all the arrogant old people
before boarding a bus and contemplating
the unknown future and we're left to
contemplate as well it's arguable that
ben pined after elaine not out of love
but defiance he wanted her because it
was a rebellious thing to do but when he
got her he got her there was no more
excitement to it they were just another
couple on a bus perhaps the changing
faces don't represent anxious
deliberation but the distressing
realization that they're destined for a
life of boring conformity even the
counterculture kids grew up and had
families of their own number six taxi
driver you're talking to me
[Music]
who the hell else are you talking
talking to me the ending of taxi driver
has been discussed and debated for
decades some people believe that travis
died in the brothel and that the final
scene with betsy is some kind of death
dream while others believe that the
betsy scene actually happened which it
totally did i read about you in the
papers
how are you but then there's even
further debate as some interpret the
ending as travis being cured and
returning to normality however that
couldn't be further from the truth by
having travis do a double take into the
rear view mirror the movie is subtly
showing us that travis has found
something else to cure hinting that he's
still dangerous and that he will
indefinitely continue his cycle of
violence
[Music]
number five a clockwork orange i don't
care about the dangers father
i just want to be good the ending of a
clockwork orange remains controversial
and misunderstood to this day perhaps
because people don't like the idea of
inherent evil the ending sees alex
shedding his tendencies towards violence
and sex being offered a job by the
minister and declaring that he's cured
leading many viewers to assume that he
will continue his law-abiding nature you
see
we are looking after your interests
we are interested in you and when you
leave here you will have no worries we
shall see to everything a good job on a
good salary
what job and how much however this final
declaration from alex is laden with
sarcasm he's most certainly not cured
and will revert back to his violent ways
[Music]
while alex eventually matures in the
novel this is not the case for the film
which seems to be suggesting that evil
cannot be controlled my mind is a blank
and i'll smash your face
for you your blockos
number four in bruges me mate tries to
kill me my gun gets nicked i'm just
standing
leaving a character's fate unanswered is
often a cheap storytelling tactic used
for unearned discussion or sequel date
and while in bruges does employ the
often frustrating ambiguous death trope
it uses it to complex and thematic
effect throughout the film colin
farrell's rey contemplates taking his
own life after accidentally killing a
child during the climax rey is shot by
his employer harry and taken into an
ambulance while narrating his wish to
stay alive and while we never learn the
outcome the actual catharsis comes from
rey wishing for life i really really
hoped i wouldn't die
as ken suggested rey has earned his
redemption and atoned for his sins and
that's good enough for us that's you
hurry
the boy has the capacity to change the
boy has the capacity to do something
decent with his life number three total
recall why go to mars as a tourist when
you can go as a playboy or a famous jock
or a secret agent
how much is that the ambiguity of total
recall's ending has made it one of the
most debated endings in science fiction
cinema the ending sees the reactor
releasing air into the martian
atmosphere and turning the sky blue
everything seems well unhappy but
there's a reason why quaid thinks about
the possibility of it being a dream
earlier in the movie a lab tech mentions
a blue sky on mars and there are various
other hints littered throughout pointing
to the ending being a fabrication so did
the ending actually happen or was it all
a programmed dream there's certainly
enough evidence to support the latter
even if many people believe it to be the
former what if this is a dream
well then kiss me quick before you wake
up
number two inception i need to get home
that's all i care about right now
why can't you go home
because they think i killed her
inception like in bruges utilizes the
otherwise frustrating lack of closure
for thematic importance the ending sees
cobb returning home to his children and
ignoring the totem the camera lingers on
the spinning top leading many viewers to
debate whether cobb was dreaming or not
and even ignoring the famous wedding
ring theory the idea of cobb being in a
dreamer reality is not the point the
point is that cobb chooses his own
reality by ignoring the totem it doesn't
matter if the children are real or not
what matters is that cobb has finally
found peace and acceptance
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number one fight club the first rule of
fight club is
you do not talk about fight club fight
club is arguably one of the most
misunderstood movies of all time posters
of tyler jordan have littered many a
college dorm and durden's philosophies
are often hailed as some sort of cure
for the modern commercial age only we're
not supposed to root for durden the
ending in which the buildings explode is
not meant to be cheered or viewed as
some sort of moral victory against the
powerful elite but an ominous sign of
misaimed frustration we're not supposed
to cheer for the explosions because they
serve as a critique against the
narrator's unhinged mental state as the
narrator explains this violence is a
result of a very strange time in his
life he met me at a very strange time in
my life
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[Music]
you