The Saddest Ending

Nominations thus far:

• NineteenEightyFour
• GrapesOfWrath
• AnimalFarm
• Jude The Obscure
• Flowers For Algernon
• When The Wind Blows
• On The Beach
• Old Yeller
• The Perfect Storm
• Life, a User's Manual
• Braveheart
• The Roman Empire
• Out Of Africa
• _I_Have_a_Tiger_, a short story by <mumble>
• The Professional
• The Big Blue
• PiTheMovie
• Intersection
• Soylent Green
• The Plague Dogs
• Planet of the Apes (original)
• Beneath the Planet of the Apes (the sequel)
• The Remains of the Day
• God Sees the Truth, But Waits
• Cancer Ward
• Ben Elton's "Stark"
• Boys Don't Cry
• AiTheMovie
• FinalFantasyTheMovie?
• ClerksMovie, alternate ending
• ClockworkOrange
• Breaking the waves
• The Green Mile
• The Legend of 1900
• The Mission
• BrazilTheMovie
• Terms Of Endearment (Debra Winger dies of cancer)
• Shadowlands (Debra dies of cancer, again)
• The Elephant Man
• SixthSenseTheMovie?
• SlaughterhouseFive (the book--the movie has an upbeat ending)
• Dr. Strangelove
• Grave of the Fireflies
• The Last Butterfly

        * SredniVashtar?

If we are suggesting recent movies (as above) , I would posit that either of the following are much more likely.

• Requiem for a Dream
• The Colour of Paradise

        * Cold Mountain

Quite a few qualities of sadness on your list, as well. Some tear-jerkers, some O Henry-esque surprises.

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When I saw AiTheMovie on this list, my first thought was that it should be on a page called TheBaddestEnding, with bad meaning not good, and baddest chosen because it rhymed with saddest. But now that page has been transmogrified into one where bad means good, so I think AiTheMovie is an example of TheWorstEnding a movie can have.

I thought that AI is probably the best current example of why films should not be shown to Focus Groups before the final editing phase. It seemes pretty clear (to me at least) that the intended ending was about 10 minutes before the actual ending (I'm trying to avoid spoiliers here, but if you have seen the film I'm sure you know which point I mean here). -- IanPhillips

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CategoryMovie