15 Potentially Awesome Films Undermined By Their Terrible Endings
So close yet so far.
Often, a film is only as good as its ending. Concluding the narrative in a satisfying and fulfilling way is vital to a film being a successful, cohesive product. Looking back at some of cinema's most beloved movies, such as The Godfather, The Dark Knight or Seven Samurai, their outstanding endings play a big part in the overall film being so great.
Endings are also capable of breaking an entire film, since if a movie builds up to a highly unsatisfying ending, then it's hard to look back on the entire film very positively.
These following 15 films are a reminder that potentially awesome films from all over the world continue to be undermined by their dire endings, making them all infuriating cases of wasted potential.
This will contain spoilers, but don't worry too much. If you watch these movies and know what's coming, the stupidity of these endings might be a little less painful...
15. Darkest Hour
Darkest Hour makes one question whether the term Oscar Bait should be used as an insult since, despite being blatant Oscar Bait, it's actually pretty good, but it makes a very poorly-judged narrative left turn at the very end.
Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) is unsure of whether or not to seek peace with Germany and he impulsively goes on the London Underground, where members of the public tell him they all want to continue the fight. Inspired by these words, he then delivers his legendary "We shall never surrender" speech in the House of Commons.
While the speech is well-acted by Oldman, the tube scene was a near-fatal blunder. To suggest that such a momentous and important political decision as the one to continue the fight with Germany would be influenced by a few random civilians on the Tube is ludicrous, as is the implication that Churchill's speech was largely taken from the words of the members of the public.
It's not a particularly well-written scene and, since the rest of the film takes a reasonably factual and straight-forward approach to events, this blatantly fictional moment is very jarring.
Since this scene is so badly done, the film rather undermines its climax and Churchill's famous speech feels far less powerful than it should've done.