10 Sci-Fi Movies That Pissed Audiences Off In The Final Scene
8. Planet Of The Apes (2001)
Tim Burton admittedly had an incredibly tough task when remaking The Planet of the Apes, given how iconic and unforgettable the original's ending is, where George Taylor (Charlton Heston) learns that the titular planet was actually a post-apocalyptic Earth all along.
Rather than simply repeat that ending to an audience who largely knew it was coming, Burton came up with something different - something totally silly and outrageous which proved far more of a damp squib than just re-doing the beloved ending we all know.
In the final scene, Captain Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) attempts to travel home by passing back through the electromagnetic storm, and arrives in Washington D.C.
He approaches the Lincoln Memorial, which is now revealed to have the likeness of General Thade (Tim Roth), before Leo is swarmed by cops, firefighters, and news reporters, all of whom resemble apes, and the film abruptly ends without further explanation.
It's an ending that totally baffled just about everybody, and not in a good way. It's made worse by the utter lack of context and Burton's later admission that it was written purely as sequel-bait without any logical explanation in mind.