Movies: that last shot

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

A wise man once said that a true measure of how good a filmmaker is, maybe how gutsy the filmmaker is, by how good the last shot is, and how exactly the he ends the story. I'll try to find the quote.

Please tell us your favorite last shots in fi,ms are - or maybe which ones are most memorable. And why.

Here are a few:

Inception: I haven't seen a final shot more discussed in recent years than this one, and it really was meant to keep people talking, to discuss what they think they saw here or didn't see.


Men in Black: Kind of the comic version of the opening of Contact. Shows that the universe may not be what we think it is. Kind of brilliant.


I, Robot: I've always thought that this film was one of the most criminally underrated blockbusters ever, and this last shot is pure gold. It really has you thinking, and yet the movie earns the moment, in my opinion. It might not be a favorite last shot for a lot of people, but it is one of mine, for sure.

Star Trek First Contact: A lot of Trek films actually do pan up from a skyline of trees to the sky while playing the familiar themes, but what this film has before the pan-up, its first union between the Vulcans and humans, is brilliant, and makes you want to just take those first steps into a new frontier with everyone there.

The Dark Knight: Batman as a fugitive in order to protect a greater good? Awesome idea. This last shot was spoiled when Nolan fumbled the ball in the next film.

The Shawshank Redemption: I kind of don't like this last shot. I might have been more powerful if we don't actually see Andy and Red meet, if we cut away just before we see Andy here. Yet it is reassuring and heartwarming after a film that, through its lengths challenged our sensibilities and and taught us a thing or two about the real meaning of friendship.


Who Framed Roger Rabbit: I don't think any other film ends with so many of my favorite characters all gathered together like this one.

The Abyss: It's memorable, in that I don't like the shot, despite loving this film. It just doesn't seem like an alien ship anymore.

Titanic: I'm not going to ramble on this film, but I think the final shot is beautiful, and brilliant. my favorite detail is the fact that the captain is the last to clap.


Terminator 3: This whole ending had balls, and I can't not mention it here.

[sojourner]

Raiders of the Lost Ark - the crate being wheeled away among hundreds of other crates.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

sojourner wrote:

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Raiders of the Lost Ark - the crate being wheeled away among hundreds of other crates.

Yes, I like that one a lot. I remember it from when I was kid!

[Wereghost]

The Fellowship Of The. Ring - Frodo and Sam beginning their lonely trek into Mordor.

The Omega Man - Maybe not the final shot exactly (It's been a while), but

Neville dying in a fountain

has always been a memorable shot for me.

The Incredible Shrinking Man - Scott resigning himself to his fate. Another Richard Matheson adaptation, as it happens.

[RoJoHen]

I'm a huge fan of the last scene of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, where he and Ramona walk through the door to the sound of a video game countdown.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

That reminds me: the last shot of Tron Legacy is fantastic

[trekkiedane]

Starchild - The unforgettable ending to Kubriks interpretation of 2010; The human returning to Earth as the 'starchild'.

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" - do I need to say more?

"Soylent Green is people"


"Precisely senator: What do we do?"
...
"601"
^Scary, gritty even, ending to the picture-perfect 'The Andromeda Strain.' -giving us nothing but fear for the future.

[Tosk]

Planet of the Apes, Star Trek VI, and They Live.

[Starkers]

Wereghost wrote:

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The Fellowship Of The. Ring - Frodo and Sam beginning their lonely trek into Mordor.

The Omega Man - Maybe not the final shot exactly (It's been a while), but

Neville dying in a fountain

has always been a memorable shot for me.

The Incredible Shrinking Man - Scott resigning himself to his fate. Another Richard Matheson adaptation, as it happens.

That is pretty much the final shot of The Omega man, very biblical!

I love the ending of the Haunting (1963 version) but then I love every moment of it.

And the end of On Her Majesty's Secret Service is pretty darn powerful as well.

[Spot's Meow]

Billy Elliot. I didn't care much about the film, it was rather boring, but the last scene was just beautiful and riveting. Love it! The look on the father's face is perfect, it tells a more meaningful ending to the story than words ever could.

[lurok]

Obvious classic ones: The Searchers, Citizen Kane, Carrie.

Love the endings to Vertigo, Psycho, North By Northwest, Obsession, Un Homme Et Une Femme, Empire Strikes Back.

[pigletsgiblets]

The ending of Titanic.I cry everytime I see it.

[C_Miller]

I loved the end of Wrath of Khan. My Dad made an effort to show the films to me in order when I was younger because of the storyline, so I didn't know Spock would be back after he died. So that last shot of the torpedo tube was a great moment. Plus that whole final scene kind of showing rebirth in the midst of death was very nice, about as poetic as the Star Trek films ever got.

For a more recent movie, I really dug the ending of Les Miserables. It was based on the curtain call for the stage production, but I loved the fact that they made the setting the French Revolution of 1848, showing how all the revolutionaries from the Student Rebellion of 1832 were watching over the new revolutionaries. Very well thought out.

[DalekJim]

Vertigo -

Any other film would have ruined it with some shitty resolution epilogue that ends the movie on a more "complete" note. Vertigo gives the audience no such comfort. Abrupt death, complete despair, end of the movie.

Masterful.

Psycho -

Norman Bates wouldn't hurt a fly. But he'll destroy your soul just by looking at you. Then the image of a skull is subliminally imposed on to his face, just to get under your skin even further.

Masterful.

Guess who my favourite director is?

[lurok]

Was a smart move to drop the alternate ending.