What's the most downer movie ending you've ever seen?

I'd say The Mist. I'm still not sure if that ending is meaningful, or just cruel for no reason (which life itself can be, so maybe that's gives the ending its meaning, and on goes the internal debate).

I agree with Ladder 49 and City of Angels.

CoA was a stonking great deus-ex-machina which made me want to put my foot through the telly.

Ladder 49 had the advantage of Joaquin Phoenix, in uniform, and in his pre-batshit hairy hobo days.

SP, suggesting a spoiler warning for the thread title or individual posts, perhaps?

What's the name of that movie with aliens that is made up entirely of news broadcasts?

I kinda think the thread title is sort of its own spoiler warning, but I suppose adding one couldn't hurt.

Without Warning. Found it on Google finally. That movie is fully depressing. It made me cranky with my boyfriend for showing it to me.

Jcomp said:

I kinda think the thread title is sort of its own spoiler warning, but I suppose adding one couldn't hurt.

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Yeah, bit difficult to work these things out.

I'm one of those people who's sucked in my a spoiler warning, sometimes. Someone could post "I'm about to discuss [insert film title here] so scroll past this post if you haven't seen it," and I'll swither about reading the post to save on the cost of the DVD.

scarletpeaches said:

Yeah, bit difficult to work these things out.

I'm one of those people who's sucked in my a spoiler warning, sometimes. Someone could post "I'm about to discuss [insert film title here] so scroll past this post if you haven't seen it," and I'll swither about reading the post to save on the cost of the DVD.

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Oh I know the feeling... hell, I'm a recovering spoiler junkie.

The Whole Wide World will wring a manly tear from me. Vincent D'Onofrio as Robert E. Howard & Renee Zellwegger as Novalyne Price. It's a kind of life-goes-on moment, which was Novalyne's answer to Bob's suicide. The only answer you can really give I suppose.

*SPOILER*
Closely Watched Trains doesn't have exactly the same ride-into-the-sunset-with-a-tear feel, but Milos's death while sabotaging a German ammo train, while it's not exactly pointless, is such a waste of life at the moment it blooms.

Maryn said:

Oh, an easy question for me: Testament, with William Devane and Jane Alexander as the parents of a family in northern California. He's just left a message he's on his way home from the city when a nuclear device hits. Communications fail, and he never arrives and is presumed dead. There are apparently retaliatory strikes, and fallout slowly reaches the town. The mom watches her kids die one by one because radiation poisoning is quicker on smaller bodies, and there is no hope for any of the good and decent people who try to help one another.

Oddly, it was an excellent movie, but the most depressing one I've ever seen.

Maryn, who remembers it far too vividly

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I agree with this one... saw it years ago and cried for days. Celebrating one of the neighborhood boy's birthdays with crackers... and knowing he's going to die... sheesh!!!

Ladder 49 runs a close second, though.

Oh, hey Ol' Bag...nice signature! Guess who's pootling around Amazon looking to spend some £££?

Okay people, nothing to see here...back on topic, please.

I have two. Grifters with Annette Bening, John Cusack, Angelica Huston. No one in that movie is likable, they are all cons and make no bones about, and then

<SPOILER>







John Cusak dies at the end, Bening's character is already dead. And the mother cries an awful cry before getting away with Cusack's stash of cash. I needed a shower after watching that movie, even though I thought it an excellent movie. Well made, ugly movie.

Going farther back, Silent Running, Sci Fi flick in the 70's. Old enough that I won't alert on the spoiler. Bruce Dern on one of three ships harboring the last existing forests in the solar system when the earth government closes the project. Bruce fights, basically loses, and launches one of the forest pods before blowing up. One little knee-high robot to caretake a couple of acres of forest drifting out beyond Saturn (yes, there were artificial lights). I was 10 when I saw it, and bawled the night away.

Definitely agree with both Ladder 49 and City of Angels.

And I'll add another Joaquin Phoenix movie to the mix: Return to Paradise.

Now, I love this movie for a lot of reasons: great actors, well written, well-acted, and I didn't want to punch Anne Heche in the face even once.

The basic story is about three American men who met and partied in Malaysia. Two went back to the States, but the third man was arrested and charged with being a drug dealer because he was found with a huge amount of hash on him. Because of very strict laws, the sentence was death. The only way to avoid a death sentence was for the other two men to return to Malaysia, take responsibility for their share of the drugs, and serve three years in a Malaysian prison. The bulk of the story is Vince Vaughn's character trying to decide if he's willing to give up three years of his life for a man (Joaquin Phoenix) he doesn't really know.



SPOILERS

VV and the other guy decide to go back, only the other guy changes his mind at the last minute. So VV bravely steps up and will serve six years to save Joaquin's life. Only at the sentencing, the judge hears about a news article printed by a mouthy, obnoxious reporter who trashes the Malaysian judicial system. It pisses off the judge, who decides to make an example out of Joaquin and has him executed anyway. So VV is stuck in a crappy third world prison for the next six years for nothing*, and he watches as Joaquin is led to the gallows.

I was bawling by the end of this movie. Such a downer.

*Although technically not for nothing, because dude did buy a crapload of illegal drugs....

Heh. Just exchanging emails with a friend about the same thing.

The last ten minutes of Gallipoli kills me every time.

The end of Miracle Mile is a total downer.

Leaving Las Vegas.

I hate that movie.

The Departed

*Spoiler*

Everyone (well most everyone) died. It was like.. what was the point?

Surprised it took to post 18 to get "Leaving Las Vegas."

I don't know. While "Leaving Las Vegas" was definitely a sad film, did anyone really expect otherwise?




SPOILERS

I mean, you know from the outset that Nic Cage is going to Vegas to drink himself to death. Did anyone watching that movie actually expect the whole "hooker with the heart of gold" to change his mind and save him?




I guess for me, a true downer ending has to come with some element of surprise to it.

Requiem For a Dream - Very well done, but perhaps not unduly burdened with good cheer.

Back in the '60s (wa-y-y before I was born and I know this by osmosis or something ), there was a station that had old movies on boring Sunday afternoons and it was called the Million Dollar Movies. My father was watching an old '40s movie where at the end of this particular movie, the wife had died and the father (w/ a little girl maybe?) stood near the ocean's edge on a moonlit night, picturing his wife. There was a song, either "Til We Meet Again" or "Beautiful Dreamer." (My father loved those songs.) Anyway, I remember my father's eyes were misty, which wasn't like him, and I felt very sad. Don't know what movie it was, but it stuck with me for it's downer ending.

ChaosTitan said:

I don't know. While "Leaving Las Vegas" was definitely a sad film, did anyone really expect otherwise?

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I guess I was hopeful, as I generally am when I start watching a movie (or reading a book). No matter how bad things seem, I hope that the characters can overcome their obstacles and hurts, and show that they're effective and worth having their stories told.

Leaving Las Vegas, to me, was just one giant spiral o' doom and gloom. And to be fair, I hated it from the get-go. I wanted both characters to die so I could leave the movie theater and go home and never see them again.