10 Great Movies Almost Ruined By Their Alternate Endings

4. Clerks

The Ending You Know: Twenty years on from its release, Clerks stands as a time capsule of popular culture attitudes (can you believe a debate over whether Empire or Jedi is better was once legitimate?) rather than the down-to-Earth representation of everyday life of average Joes. After a day of strange antics and pop culture dissection, Dante and best bud Randal are both seeming ready to try and do something better with their life. It's slight, but effective. The Ending We Almost Got: As a first-time director Kevin Smith didn't know how to end his film, so originally was going to slap on something a little more explosive; as Dante tries to close up he's shot dead by a robber for the petty cash in the till. Well, that was incredibly unexpected. Why It Would Ruin The Film: After the film's debut screening, it was suggested to Smith he cut the ending. And it's easy to see why. It's logically flawed (why does the robber shoot Dante when all he's after is the money?) and once you strip away the shock adds nothing thematically to the film. You could argue it provides some purpose behind showing this particular day at the Quick Stop, but even that misunderstands the film's intended banality.