That ending - fair or unfair? Spoiler warning

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Neil W

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2008
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2,592
Isle of Wight UK
Frank Darabont's third outing with a Stephen King story again proves to be a strong and faithful adaptation.

But it comes with a controversial ending which goes a step beyond the story. I believe King was perfectly happy with Darabont doing this: I am also aware that not every reader-then-viewer was.

I thought it was OK, I didn't have a problem with it.

I'm saying nothing else at this point but, if we're going to discuss it, those who haven't seen the movie need to understand that anything else in this thread may contain spoilers.
 

Lisey Landon

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2009
754
3,966
Germany
I read the story, saw the movie or most of it...have forgotten both somewhat...and therefore it is no longer a burden to me. Yellow snow! :)
I have the same issue. I can't really remember the ending of either the story or the movie.
What I do know, is that I liked both. And I loved how they used the
Dark Tower artwork in the movie.
 

Autumn Gust

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2012
3,360
15,346
Yeah, I agree with Giant-- the ending was lame. It reminded me of the ending of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. (Except that ending made a lot more sense.) Too easy of a way out, too psycologically cliche. For some reason, the creative juices just petered out at the end of that production. The ending of The Mist left me saying, "Really? Seriously, really??"
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
...honestly, I thought the movie end-while visually engrossing...was lame...

Same sentiment. Liked the movie a lot, didn't like the ending. Book ending was awesome.

I'm with the above two, and those who liked the book ending, not the movie one. I know Steve says he likes the movie ending fine, but I have two problems with it...
the first being that I felt the books ending was perfect for what the story was really saying to me, which is the idea of the horror of which mankind, in our greed and lack of recognition of certain boundaries, is capable. The movie ending didn't task advantage of this horror, but made man the victor after all, as in virtually all of the 50s fear-of-nukes scifi thrillers.To me the book suggests the possibility that mankind screwed up and ushered in a subsequent evolutionary change, resulting in mankind losing dominion over the Earth; imho, a brilliant horror concept.

The second problem I have with the ending is the failure of the suspension of disbelief for me when after they stop the SUV within a relatively short period of time they decide to commit murder and suicide. I don't believe any group of people, especially who've fought so hard to save their lives, would simply give up. They would at least argue about it, probably wait for a very long period of time after driving hopelessly 'til they ran out of gas. Or one of them would take the risk of trying to find shelter for the sake of the others.
 

guido tkp

Well-Known Member
Oct 1, 2009
2,632
480
outside the dome
the book/story ended on just the right note...we knew there was the possibility of an ending such as the one portrayed in the movie...but we also knew it was a last resort measure, if all else failed, if everything went horribly wrong...

we also knew that the ragtag group was willing to try...willing to fight...

the ending of that movie sucked beyond words because, in one moment, we had a heroic team...and suddenly, THAT solution became the first and only resort...

after all these folks had been thru ??

what a total lame putz frank turned our...coughcough... hero into...

the book ended with possibilities...

the movie ended with cold blooded murder for no real reason...
 

Bryan James

Well-Known Member
Apr 3, 2009
5,150
7,644
South Cackalacky
The ending of the movie is one of the most terrifying things I've seen in a while. Movie-scary doesn't happen to me any more...maybe startled rarely but that's it.

The realization that he made the right choice for the right reason but just barely at the wrong time would devastate that character.

In his shoes, I'd want another bullet.
 

Rrty

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,394
4,588
I loved the movie's ending, but I always thought it could have been even better.

If memory serves, the protagonist shoots everyone in the car, but he lives because there is no bullet for him. One of the people he shoots is a child.

Here's how I would have ended it:

The protagonist shoots himself and the others but leaves the child alive. This deepens the ending on two levels. First, it shows that, in the end, selfish instinct takes over, which is a very dark part of humanity under pressure, and it harkens back to "1984" and Room 101 (I'm also thinking of George Carlin's thoughts on humans confronted by such circumstances). Second, it actually presents a happy ending: the serendipity of the soldiers' arrival allows the child to live. Shooting a child is pretty dark, so the movie could have prevented one dark ending while introducing another one (not that it was obligated to do so).
 

guido tkp

Well-Known Member
Oct 1, 2009
2,632
480
outside the dome
ooooooo-ugh.....sorry....but, ummmm....no

that pretty much abrogates what King insinuated with the original story altogether, if i remember correctly...

the reason he does it (thinks about it/discusses it in the book) in that order is for a specific reason...not arbitrary...

and leaving the kid ?? after making him watch the horror of his father murder two innocent people...and then blow his own head off ?!!??

nothing happy there...even if the mist lifts and the good guys arrive...

sorry, with all due respect...lost me on that one...

on the bright side...i love the fact that you're thinking that there might've been a better answer...cheers