Bad Movies with Cool Endings

[DeadmeatDiggory]

I was just watching Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (don't ask me why) and it got me to thinking about how some movies are really good up until the end, and then just seem to fall apart. And then it occured to me, what about those bad movies that somehow manage to pull off a really good ending at the end of a horrible 90 minutes.

Lets face it, T3 is not a good film. Hell, let's be honest, it's a real stinker. From Arnold's bad puns ("Talk to the Hand!"), to the series of dumb verichle choices (the Crane, the Herse, the f**kin' Winnabengo), and to top it off some of the worst action scenes conceived in the whole series (the rehash of the car chase -- the Crane chases them through the city, now their in the suburbs, now their in the middle of nowhere --, the Terminator toilet smash-a-thon). Not to mention some of the worst CGI ever, and just a complete disregard for continuity (Connor says the T-1000 came for him when he was 13, however the film clearly states he is 10 years old).

But the scene at the very end of the world being nuked and judgement day beginning, while John Connor resigns himself to his fate, just seems to make the movie for me, and while it doesn't completly redeem T3, it does make me want to sit through it again...

...sometime in the future...

...way in the future.

So, what are some other bad films that have cool/almost redeeming endings?

 

[DonIago]

Doctor Strangelove?
(ducks!)

The end of Attack of the Clones made up for the worst romance story ever, IMO.

 

[DeadmeatDiggory]

^ True. But I can never quite get the image of the leering look little Darth gives Nat Portman at the end of Episode One when it comes to the prequels. It's (and I use the term loosely) fine when used by a 25 year old, but when a 10 year old gives that look... urgh!

 

[Too Much Fun]

The first two that jump to mind are "The Third Man" and "There Will Be Blood". I thought "The Third Man" was excruciatingly boring. I didn't care about any characters or the mystery. Then towards the end, Orson Welles shows up and the way the camera frames him, his body language, his dialog, and his over performance are all awesome, and then there is one of the most brilliantly and excitingly shot chase scenes (on foot) that I've ever seen in a movie, taking place in an amazingly designed tunnel. Orson swooped in and saved that film. I was so disappointed after knowing its reputation as a classic, until those closing scenes finally justified it.

As for "There Will Be Blood", the cinematography is gorgeous from start to finish, but the movie was a slog to get through because the main character was so detestable that I couldn't get into the story since it was centered around him. There was nothing to empathize with or admire about him, and while there was a certain fascination to be had with his lack of soul and extreme selfishness, it didn't last long. Thankfully, the twisted humour of the final scene in the bowling alley made the over two hours worth sitting through. Watching it, I felt like Stanley Kubrick had come back to life just to direct this one scene. The use of the set and the direction in the scene was fantastic and the milkshake line lived up to the hype. The scene was a real exclamation point leaving me very satisfied after a movie that had been quite a letdown prior to it.

 

[Kibbin]

Dang, the first thing that came to mind was T3, guess I'll have to go do some thinking

 

[FreezeC77]

Well these aren't movies, but there's actually two TV shows that come to mind when I think of pretty entertaining ends to bad series and that's Cleopatra 2525 and then Birds of Prey. Neither show was very good, but the final episode of both shows I found pretty cool.

As for movies since that's what the topic was (sorry), after T3 I think I'd put Arlington Road on the list. I know people will disagree with the movie being 'bad', but for me I wasn't very interested in the movie so when it got to the ending and what happened I was just "OMGWTF, that's worth the 2 hours of my life I just spent watching this thing."

 

[Admiral Shran]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

It was good to finally see the two of them get married.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

*Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
*Star Trek: Generations

 

[Mr Light]

Rosemary's Baby! Really slow and do-nothing but great ending.

 

[23skidoo]

It's considered a classic, but I've never really cared for A Boy and His Dog. But its closing line (taken in context of the rest of the film) is a killer.

Alex

 

[Sykonee]

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. Charlton Heston blows up the world. 'Nuff said!

 

[Mistral]

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes. Charlton Heston blows up the world. 'Nuff said!

Beat me to it....

Maybe The Mechanic w/Charles Bronson. A weak movie-but what a finish!

 

[Too Much Fun]

Sticking to sci-fi, I think "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" is mostly bad, with a few great moments sprinkled throughout, and a lovely ending when Spock FINALLY shows up, and does his fun eyebrow raise and says his endearing words. The same goes for "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", which mostly bores me, aside from Christopher Plummer's deliciously over-the-top villainy and the closing monologue which is spiffy and made me tear up a little the first time I heard it.

 

[Greg Cox]

DRACULA 2000 is a pretty mediocre vampire movie, but the final twist is kind of clever. Shame it was wasted on a so-so movie.

Spoilers . . . . .








Dracula is actually Judas, which explains why he's afraid of crosses, silver, etc.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Resident Evil and Resident Evil Apocalypse.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

Resident Evil and Resident Evil Apocalypse.

The funny thing is that I like the first ten minutes of both of those films and hate the rest.

So to me those are Bad Movies with Cool Openings.

 

[Harvey]

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day had a pretty cool ending, but the movie was pretty bad.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

OK, that reminds me of a bad movie with a cool opening AND a cool ending: Silent Hill.

So close to being a good movie, but so far.

 

[Starbreaker]

Pandorum

 

[JacksonArcher]

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day had a pretty cool ending, but the movie was pretty bad.

Totally. I thought the movie was pretty mediocre, almost a retread of the first movie in terms of plot structure, but that ending was very cool. I almost shouted in the theater when you-know-who appeared.