12 Incredible Endings To Otherwise Terrible Movies

10. Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)

Given how many times Terminator fans have been horribly let down, you'd think Hollywood might have given up on the franchise by now. But thanks to comparative commercial success and a perceived strength of brand, they kept on churning them out long after the first big failure came with Terminator 3.

Twelve years in the making, Rise Of The Machines came with a huge weight of expectation and lots of very hot hype, and it pretty much completely failed to hit any of its marks. It wasn't big enough, it wasn't entertaining enough and it turned one of the most bad-ass characters in movie history (by reputation at least) into a bit of a sap.

But then the ending is about as brave as they come. Rather than tying things up nicely, Terminator 3 basically stomps all over Connors' dreams of a peaceful life by dropping a nuclear holocaust on the Earth and forcing him down the path to leading the resistance. It's a kick in the teeth, but it definitely leaves a lasting mark.