10 Ambiguous Movie Endings That Had Ridiculously Simple Solutions

10. 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001

The Ambiguous Ending: Wait, what the hell just happened?

Less an ambiguous ending, more an ambiguous film, Stanley Kubrick€™s pondering sci-fi still shows off some of the most revered special effects ever put to film, despite most of it going over the general audience€™s head. Even those who can understand the linkage of the monkeys and the purpose of the monoliths tend to lose it come the film's final act. Dave Bowman has successfully shut down the psychopathic/dutiful computer HAL and makes his approach to Jupiter and the newly discovered monolith. When he gets out, however, things start getting freaky. Through a desert of colour to an emotionless hotel, Bowman ages. Then there€™s a baby. What?

The Simple Solution: Follow the recurring theme. Or just read the book.

The real problem here lies in the scene so often being taken out of context of the film or viewers not grasping the overall themes presented in the previous two hours. Each section of the film thus far has shown some leap forward, be it the creation of tools, discovery of alien life or evolution of technology, so it€™s not hard to take this final scene as such. With Bowman slowly changing it€™s clear the implication is that he€™s slowly being transformed into the next level of humanity, just like the apes were at the beginning. This is greater expanded in Arthur C. Clarke€™s novelisation produced in conjunction with Kubrick during production. A cracking read in it€™s own right, it provides greater knowledge of the purpose of the monoliths and more importantly verifies Bowman€™s forced evolution.

Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.