There is arguably no worse a plot twist than that of "it was all a dream." Not only does this type of ending cement a film as entirely pointless, it almost never, ever enhances the story. Legend, the 1985 fantasy flick starring Tom Cruise and directed by Ridley Scott, originally toyed around with the idea of going for an ending of this variety, though, for no other reason than: "How else should we end it, then?" Legend - which was Scott's follow-up to Blade Runner, by the way - features Tom Cruise in one of his earliest roles, a fantasy film that was intended to start a new wave of similarly-minded magical blockbusters but failed spectacularly in the process. In recent years, the film has received something of a re-appraisal and has amassed a cult following amongst Scott fans and people who like Labyrinth. It's good, not great... but it might've been worse. Cruise plays a boy of the forest named Jack, then (a sort of Link from The Legend of Zelda character), who is tasked with saving his home, a princess (Mia Sara) and stopping the bad guy (Tom Curry) from covering the land in darkness. It's not a particularly original plot, and for the most part the movie relies on scenes featuring Tim Curry and its splendid visuals to keep you invested (but those Tim Curry scenes are really, really worthwhile). The normal version of Legend culminates with Cruise's woodland lad recovering a ring and using it to revive the princess after she's knocked out by darkness, and the two go off into the sunset and it's happily ever after. An unused ending (one which was filmed), however, throws in the most arbitrary plot twist imaginable: it was all a dream. Scott shot this ending, which has the lovers going their separate ways, complete with implied "wake up" sequence for Jack. What, really, would have been the point in that?
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
