A sad ending-is it really a bad ending?

[tempestwheel]

After reading the imdb board for the movie The Mist, I read a LOT of posts by people saying they hated the ending, finding the character's actions unrealistic and just thought it was too sad.

I started to wonder, is an ending really a bad ending just because it's unhappy?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6uZs60SbAg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjE_N49_6Lw  (The ending to the movie, for reference.)  In the director's commentary for the Mist, the director pointed out that at least one person begged him to change the ending after a test screening.

It really surprises me that some people (children excluded of course) can't handle an unhappy ending to something, and this, especially in the cases of movies, often results in the ending being changed.

A notable example of an alteration is the movie version of the Little Shop of Horrors musical:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYeq6QsaAIM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QmD0UBFoeo&feature=related This is the happy ending that exists only in the movie version.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaBJDRIgJRY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUiz4WgTB7c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddIK3CIMzFs&feature=related (The dark ending that is more faithful to the play's ending. It was changed after unfavorable reactions by test audiences. However, in the movie's case, there has been a reason some fans felt that, even if they prefer the unhappy ending, that the happy theatrical ending works: The movie makes changes to Seymour's character, where in the play he is more unsympathetic while the movie makes it seems like he regrets his actions earlier on, so in the movie version his character doesn't deserve his fate. And pretty much everyone hated to see Audrey die.

Oddly, I've seen cases where the inverse has happened. The original Final Destination, for example, ends with an equivalent of the "villain's still alive" ending, with the design going into a loop and ending right before Carter is seen dying. However, the original ending was different, and much more conclusive:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdJXktPhRJE  This ending didn't do well with audiences because they hated seeing Alex dying and Carter living, even though Carter's clearly changed and stopped being a jerk in the original ending. Hilariously, letting Alex live through till the end was rendered completely pointless by Final Destination 2, which states he died off-screen between the movies.  The original ending is arguably one of the more happier endings I've seen for a horror film, though it is bittersweet. Nevertheless, it is far more conclusive and had it been used, there may not have been a sequel.

What do you guys think? Goes an unhappy ending=a bad ending? What do you think of the examples I've listed?

[Adder]

It is hard to watch.


SPOILERS!!!!!!!



At the end the main character shoots the other five with a .357 (.45) revolver. He goes to pull the trigger on himself, but it is empty. He gets out to let the monsters get him. He hears a roaring, then he finds out its tanks of army. The movie ends with the soldiers burning the nests of the monsters, which appearantly sleep during the day? :unsure:


He breaks down crying as two soldiers watching him confused, and the movie ends. There's no plans of sequel.


To keep it simple:


I [censored]ing hate the ending.


EDIT:



Look at the end of season 2 of Animals of Farthing Wood for another example. I can't watch it with out crying.


See if anyone else can.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn7xMe9Xcfk


The fox that you see laying down, his mate is carrying his cubs, and you'll see why I cry at the end. I HATE the ending.

[Belmont2500]

The ending to Terminator II is pretty sad,but that dosen't make it a bad ending.

(Warning:contains spoilers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEMICfWLOig

[Cancerian Tiger]

I have to admit, I found the end of "The Mist" to be quite depressing and not an ending I'd like to watch over and over again.  However, I would not deem it a bad ending.

To me, there are two kinds of bad endings and two kinds only.  The first is the kind that can be predicted well in advance.  Many horror films are guilty of this.  Seriously, the villian surviving after all and coming back for the survivor(s) is an ending we're all too familiar with .  The second bad ending is the one that is done in a cheesy manner (ending of "Jeepers Creepers", anyone?).  

Ambiguous endings tend to be annoying, but they at least leave a lot of room for fanfiction .  

BTW, in his story "The Mist", Stephen King had left the ending ambiguous.  He just had the survivors drive off into the mist and end the story that way.  It was the director who wanted an alternate ending in the film version.  Though the ambiguous ending would've probably been nicer to viewers, the way the film ultimately ended brought a lot of emotion and intensity to the ending that would've probably otherwise been bland and too predictable.

[Mirumoto_Kenjiro]

I've seen quite a few movies ending with the deaths of heroes, and I believe they were really good.  Examples include Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower, and The Banquet, known as Legend of the Black Scorpion in the US.  If they have the endings on Youtube, you could watch them and see if they're any better this way.

[Adder]

Another is Grizzly Rage.


One of the teenagers is killed by the bear instantly. Then close to the end another dies, and is dragged off.


Then right when the movie ends, the bear busts out of the building the last two trapped it in, and kills them (you hear screaming from both and blood splats on the camera). Then it just goes black was everything is silent.

[Belmont2500]

What about the ending to "The Boy In Striped Pyjamas", next to the death of Littlefoot's mother, its a moment that brought me close to crying,out of all the films about the holocaust this one has the most depressing ending :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-bR1WBOttU

[WeirdRaptor]

I just want to pipe in and say this: it depends on how well the sad ending is conveyed. If the ending is needlessly sad and was shoe-horned in for the sake of trying to escape a standard happier ending, then yes, it is a bad ending. If the ending however sad, happy, or bittersweet flowed naturally with the themes and tone of the movie that it closes, then its acceptable whatever the outcome.

[Spartanguy88]

Oh yeah, if that guy from the Mist simply waited several more minutes before pulling the darn trigger, they all would have been resuced. Seriously, did he REALLY have to shoot his own son?

I bet that was what the character was thinking.

Another sad but good ending to me is the ending to the 2010 game Medal of Honor.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxgQOzFx2uU

CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE

[Saft]

Something that struck me...do sad endings always have to convey some sort of death scene for a character for the ending to be sad?  

[WeirdRaptor]

Well, the death of an innocent is a good way to make an ending sad.

[Petrie.]

What about the ending to "The Boy In Striped Pyjamas", next to the death of Littlefoot's mother, its a moment that brought me close to crying,out of all the films about the holocaust this one has the most depressing ending :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-bR1WBOttU

You won't find a holocaust film with a happy ending...there isn't one.  Sad indeed...I'll give you that because you hoped the mother would get to the kids in time.

[tempestwheel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFAxGg4fYg&has_verified=1

One of my favorite sad endings, and IMO one of the best slasher film endings ever. The original 1980 Prom Night has an interesting variation on what most consider a sad ending: The main character, Kim, kills the killer with a blow from an axe to the head and saves her boyfriend. Should be a happy ending, right?

Wrong.

Right after she delivers the fatal blow, she realizes who the killer is: her own brother. Flashbacks show that the reason he tried to kill Nick (Kim's boyfriend) and successfully killed some other girls earlier was because they caused the death of his and Kim's little sister 6 years ago. Only Kim's reaction is shown to her brother being unmasked, and it's not made clear if his final words "They killed her..." were understood by him. Kim starts to cry after her brother dies in her arms.

I always loved the song that plays during the credits, very fitting for the mood.

[f-22 "raptor" ace]

Das Boot has a pretty sad ending but it's still a good movie.

[Adder]

Not sure if anyone's seen it, but The Descent has a slightly sad ending, but the second one isn't sad, just a stupid ending.