10 So-Called Sad Movie Endings That Are Happier Than You Think

This arguably overrated 1980s thriller, hampered by its low stakes and insufferable characters, does have a memorable and undeniably powerful ending which represents a classic example of clever cinematic manipulation. The acting, visuals and haunting music make this ending seem much sadder than it actually was, though.

Runaway Train sees two convicts, Manny (Jon Voight) and Buck (Eric Roberts), trapped on a runaway train alongside an assistant locomotive driver named Sara (Rebecca De Mornay). The train is speeding through the Alaskan wilderness and has been redirected into an empty siding. If the trio don't stop the train, they'll all die.

Eventually, Manny manages to get onto the front engine shut the rest of the train down. However, choosing to die instead of being recaptured, he stays on the train and takes a prison warden, who'd boarded the train via helicopter, with him to his doom. 

In the moment, it's easy to get swept up in the emotion and yet, on further reflection, this ending really isn't that downbeat after all.

On balance, this dangerous runaway train situation actually ended pretty well. Only three people lost their lives. They were Manny, a terrible person who would've gone back to prison anyhow, and two idiotic law-enforcement officers who were stupid enough to board a speeding train that had already been redirected into an empty siding in order to derail. Really, what's there to be depressed about?