10 Movies That Totally Surprised You When They Ended

1. The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

Pulp Fiction Ending
New Line Cinema

But is there any better choice for our #1 slot than the film that obliterated bladders the world over 20 years ago? The concluding entry into Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is famous for having a basically parodic number of endings.

Even the 201-minute original theatrical release felt like it was done four or five times before the end credits actually rolled, enough that if you saw the film in cinemas back in 2003, you probably recall the hilarious sight of large swaths of the audience getting up and sitting back down several times in a row, desperate for this behemoth to end so they could go to the toilet.

After a while it feels like Jackson can do this all day, so when the film finally actually ends on the shot of Sam's (Sean Astin) hobbit house, it's a genuine surprise to see the words "The End" flash up.

And given that J.R.R. Tolkien's novel somehow has even more endings, even fans of the source material weren't quite sure where Jackson would decide to cut things off.

The epic tale is absolutely worthy of such an elongated series of endings, even if it perhaps didn't feel like it with a bladder-full of Coke at the time of its original release.

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Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.