10 More Movies That Have Different Endings In Different Countries
Fight Club's censored Chinese ending has to be seen to be believed.
After several decades of Zack Snyder, we humble viewers understand the sheer number of different cuts there can be of pretty much any movie that hits our eyeholes. Most films pass by an editor, director, several producers, lord only knows how many studio officials and a battery of censors while being whittled down to the ideal 90-120 minutes.
Now, most of the time when a film is being prepared for presentation outside its original country of release it's subject to scrutiny by that country's censors, but sometimes it also gets into the hands of another editor, and sometimes there are some pretty significant changes. Among the myriad differences that can be implemented, however, none are so controversial as the decision to alter a film's ending.
A whole host of major movie endings have been changed in different countries around the world, designed to either align with a given nation's social values, spice things up with more Hollywood pizazz, or shift narratives so they match up with what distributors think their target audience wants. Some use alternative footage, some trim and snip to achieve a new effect, and some just whack a title card on there that creates a whole new narrative trajectory.
Prepare for Fight Club, Pride & Prejudice and, well, Minions, as you've never seen them before.
10. The Notebook
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling made romantic movie history with The Notebook, creating a modern classic that has since become a permanent part of the genre canon.
The time-honoured story sees Noah (Gosling) fall for uptown girl Allie (McAdams) and details the people, continents and years that separate them. The narrative alternates between past and present to craft a rough ride towards an ultimately satisfying love story. And of course, we all know (and love) the ending, where this star-crossed couple die in each other’s arms.
Strange, then, that Netflix published a different cut of the US hit in the UK and Ireland. The ending of this edition features a far less literal and more thematic shot of birds soaring over the lake where the pair fell in love, leaving it ambiguous whether Noah and Allie pass on or not, versus the original ending, which was more clear-cut.
Netflix has offered no concrete answer for why they use this ending for the UK, but needless to say, long-time fans of the movie remain far from impressed. Just another reason why it's better to stick with physical media.