# What is the best "bad" ending you've seen/read? [Spoilers abound]



## Starman (Nov 26, 2004)

I don't know why I started thinking about it, but I was thinking about endings tonight, specifically "bad" endings. You know, the ones where the main hero dies or victory is pyrric or for all their hard work, the heroes just plain lose. I couldn't think of any of the top of my head, but I was wondering what you guys thought were some of the best "bad" endings in books or movies?

Starman


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## WayneLigon (Nov 26, 2004)

You might as well label this thread 'All Spoilers All The Time', so I'm not going to put in the tag. 

*The Dark Glory War* by Mike Stackpole was like that. The heroes are the Heroes of their time; they're the PC's, the main adventuring party by way of comparison. It looks like they are going to triumph right up until the end, but they fail. The evil queen takes most of them and turns them into monsterous undead creatures, leaving only the viewpoint character to live and report what has happened so the human lands will despair at their massive, massive failure. Dark, upsetting, but still good.

Now, the sequel, the *DragonCrown War* series... good, up until near the end of the second book, where the main hero sacrifices himself to stop something bad from happening. I was... pretty shocked, but it was in character for him, and I could even see a way he could be brought back. So I eagerly start the third book... and it looks like that ain't happening. Not good, since I don't really like any of the other characters, period. I even did something I never do, and skimmed ahead at some points to see mention of his name. Nope, nothing. The book languishs on my shelf until I can get up the floon to start in on it again, and the series so far goes unrecommended to friends because of that. So, there are bad-bad parts to this idea as well.


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## Starman (Nov 26, 2004)

Good idea on the spoilers, WL. I'll throw that in the title.

Starman


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## Frostmarrow (Nov 26, 2004)

Night of the Living Dead: As dawn breaks the sole survivor of the zombie-attack climbs out of his hiding place. He can hear voices. It's a posse of humans who are shooting off zombies left and right. The hero tries to make contact with the posse.

A policeman sees a zombie in a building and orders one of his men to shoot it. Which he promptly does.


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## Cthulhudrew (Nov 26, 2004)

Starman said:
			
		

> I couldn't think of any of the top of my head, but I was wondering what you guys thought were some of the best "bad" endings in books or movies?




All-time, hands down favorite? The ending to Night of the Living Dead. Classic. What I love most about Romero's work, is that there is a social message there. Plus it's just plain evil.

(Edit: D'OH! Frostmarrow beat me to it!!)

Another one, off the top of my head- the ending to To Live and Die in L.A. Not the entire ending, per se, just what happens to the main character. Really out of left field.


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## dagger (Nov 26, 2004)

Fallen with Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Donald Sutherland had a really good bad ending.


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## Starman (Nov 26, 2004)

dagger said:
			
		

> Fallen with Denzel Washington, John Goodman, and Donald Sutherland had a really good bad ending.




Good call. I, too, thought it was well done.

Starman


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Nov 26, 2004)

I'll put in a third vote for the classic Night of the Living Dead. Even after seeing it once, its still great every time.


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## RichCsigs (Nov 26, 2004)

Fail-Safe.  I don't know about anybody else, but I didn't see it coming.

Also, The Usual Suspects.


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## Berandor (Nov 26, 2004)

The ending for "Don't Look Now". 

So the hero has been chasing what seems to be the ghost of his dead daughter throughout Venice, folowing the small red-hooded figure up to a deserted hideout. He approaches the little girl, who turns around and is a homocidal disfigured woman. She draws a knife and stabs the hero to death. I had nightmares after that like you wouldn't believe.

And there are a lot of endings that profess to be good or happy but I consider bad because I actually believe the protagonists are worse off. Many romantic comedies, for example.


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## Klaus (Nov 26, 2004)

Blair Witch Project

The Others

The Empire Strikes Back

I'll probably think of more later...


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## Captain Tagon (Nov 26, 2004)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> Now, the sequel, the *DragonCrown War* series... good, up until near the end of the second book, where the main hero sacrifices himself to stop something bad from happening. I was... pretty shocked, but it was in character for him, and I could even see a way he could be brought back. So I eagerly start the third book... and it looks like that ain't happening. Not good, since I don't really like any of the other characters, period. I even did something I never do, and skimmed ahead at some points to see mention of his name. Nope, nothing. The book languishs on my shelf until I can get up the floon to start in on it again, and the series so far goes unrecommended to friends because of that. So, there are bad-bad parts to this idea as well.





I actually enjoyed the third book, and the whole series quite a bit. Try to get the third one finished if possible, it wraps things up nicely.

As far as bad endings...American History X. Any film that you walk away from not wanting to talk to people any more is a sad thing.


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## Thanee (Nov 26, 2004)

Army of Darkness. 

Bye
Thanee


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## mojo1701 (Nov 26, 2004)

RichCsigs said:
			
		

> Also, The Usual Suspects.




How could I forget? I'm even thinking of using the line-up scene in a photoshop! The greatest trick is that, I guess.


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## Aesmael (Nov 26, 2004)

Hmm, top of the head, no particular order and with minimal spoilers (except that the names will be spoilers themselves, to a point):
Hobb's Farseer Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings
Redemption Ark. Not the end of the whole story but once I was done I spent the next year wondering if that was humanity's last hurrah before the curtain comes down. It just did not seem possible to win. Actually, come to think of it, the ending of Absolution Gap (sequel) is even more downbeat, and bitterly ironic to boot. And Diamond Dogs felt like getting kicked in the gut... (I would love to base a D&D campaign around that concept though [Well, at least to have it as an option in a campaign for players to punish themselves like that].)


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## Pants (Nov 26, 2004)

Seven
Empire Strikes Back
Hobb's _Farseer Trilogy_ of books
Stephen King's _Salem's Lot_ (the book)
Chinatown


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## Cthulhudrew (Nov 26, 2004)

Thanee said:
			
		

> Army of Darkness.




Which ending? (There are two...)


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## Villano (Nov 26, 2004)

To add some that I haven't seen mentioned:

Carnival Of Souls - The 1962 original.

Friday The 13th - The boat on the lake...   

Terminator 3 - The ending is perfectly logical, but still surprising.

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark - One of the scariest movies of all time.  

Tourist Trap - Killer mannequins.  I don't think I have to go much farther than that.  

Psycho 2. 

The Omen.

From TV, I'll add Mortal Kombat: Konquest.  Evil wins, completely and utterly.  I'm not sure how they would have handled this if it got picked up for another season.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Nov 26, 2004)

I'd agree with Empire Strikes Back, but it doesn't really count as much as an 'end' as many others. With more coming after, it just wasn't an end as much as a middle part with a ending to set up part three.

Of course, the whole 'Is Darth Vader Luke's Dad? Luke's lost his hand. Han's gone. Boba Fett got away. Rebels lost at Hoth' really is the best in sequels hands down.


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## Dakkareth (Nov 26, 2004)

I just watched *The Boondock Saints* and damn, is it scary. Well, technically the protagonists win, but that's a bad thing, because *they* are the mass-murdering fundamentalistic-twisted-religious nutcases . (As a side-note, I now understand, why it's illegal to sell where I live )

And I second *Terminator 3* - I was starting to become annoyed, when everything pointed to a typical blow-up-the-bad-thing-at-the-last-possible-second ending and was *very* pleasantly surprised, when the twist came.


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## Fiery James (Nov 26, 2004)

Bad News Bears.

Rocky.



- James


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## Klaus (Nov 26, 2004)

Fiery James said:
			
		

> Bad News Bears.
> 
> Rocky.
> 
> ...



 Dude, you're alive!


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## Dagger75 (Nov 26, 2004)

Matrix 3 that ending was horrible.  It sucked.  Very bad.

 Ohhh thats not what you meant, whoops.


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## Berandor (Nov 26, 2004)

Klaus said:
			
		

> Dude, you're alive!



 Heee's aaaallliiiiiiiiive! Aaaliiiiiive! Rise now, my servant, and do my biddings!

Get me some tea, will you?


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## argo (Nov 26, 2004)

Way of the Gun: the two main characters say frell it and decide to make their final play for the loot, knowing its a trap, and wind up bleeding out on the desert sand for their trouble.  The final shot shows them completly unrepentant for their crimes and with no regrets about their deaths, they played their hand to the fullest and walked their own road, even if it lead to their own slaughter.

Really good movie.


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## Abraxas (Nov 27, 2004)

This is a great topic.  Particularly wrt movies. When I talk about movies with my friends I always bring up the fact that there just aren't many movies with good "bad" endings.  Although I wouldn't call them bad - I would like to see more movies where the hero just flat out loses at the end.

I don't agree that some of the movies listed here count (Fallen for example since they give away the ending at the beginning and there really was no way for D.W. to win, plus any horror movie where the unkillable villain just keeps going)

The one that does come to mind for me is Spellbinder - The hero spends the entire movie saving the girl only to end up as the sacrifice.

I'll have to check out a couple of the other ones listed here.


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## Tarrasque Wrangler (Nov 27, 2004)

Dagger75 said:
			
		

> Matrix 3 that ending was horrible.  It sucked.  Very bad.
> 
> Ohhh thats not what you meant, whoops.



 That's what I thought the thread was about too.  Coincidentally, that also would have been my answer.  The Wachowskis had me in the palm of their hand for three movies until the last 10 minutes of that film.


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## Captain Tagon (Nov 27, 2004)

Dakkareth said:
			
		

> I just watched *The Boondock Saints* and damn, is it scary. Well, technically the protagonists win, but that's a bad thing, because *they* are the mass-murdering fundamentalistic-twisted-religious nutcases . (As a side-note, I now understand, why it's illegal to sell where I live )





Some of us think that is a good ending. The antagonists, well some of them, are cold blooded mafia killers.


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## Thanee (Nov 27, 2004)

Dagger75 said:
			
		

> Matrix 3 that ending was horrible.  It sucked.  Very bad.




Wait, Matrix 3? You mean there was a sequel, two even, to the Matrix?

Bye
Thanee


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## Thanee (Nov 27, 2004)

Cthulhudrew said:
			
		

> Which ending? (There are two...)




The bad one.... Doh! 

Bye
Thanee


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## Thanee (Nov 27, 2004)

Ankh-Morpork Guard said:
			
		

> I'd agree with Empire Strikes Back, but it doesn't really count as much as an 'end' as many others.




I think this is called a 'cliffhanger' not an 'end'. 

Bye
Thanee


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Nov 27, 2004)

Thanee said:
			
		

> Wait, Matrix 3? You mean there was a sequel, two even, to the Matrix?
> 
> Bye
> Thanee



 That's some rumour. Almost as common as that horrid rumor about a second Highlander.


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## Villano (Nov 27, 2004)

I forgot to add The Ring.  Everyone is expecting the movie to be over and then you get hit with the whole "You weren't supposed to help her!" thing.  That was good.


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## shilsen (Nov 27, 2004)

Villano said:
			
		

> I forgot to add The Ring.  Everyone is expecting the movie to be over and then you get hit with the whole "You weren't supposed to help her!" thing.  That was good.



 For me personally, that was a bad ending that was actually bad in the qualitative sense. That last "crawl out of TV screen" scene was laugh-out-bad for me. It's a personal preference - as long as the bogeyman is behind the scrren I can use my imagination, but once I see it, it's completely non-frightening for me.


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## Wormwood (Nov 27, 2004)

*Se7en

  Twelve Monkeys*

*Brazil*

  and my personal favorite:

*1984*


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## Zuoken (Nov 27, 2004)

The Watchmen.

Hands down.



Spoiler



The whole graphic novel/comic series was brilliant. Especially Ozymandias's doomsday speech.

Nightowl: "I mean, when was this hopeless black fantasy supposed to happen? When were you planning to do it?"

Ozymandias: "Do it? Dan, I'm not a Republic Serial Villan. Do you seriously think that I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting it's outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago."


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## Qlippoth (Nov 27, 2004)

*I'm guessing...*



			
				Cthulhudrew said:
			
		

> Which ending? (There are two...)



"Lady, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the store."


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## Starman (Nov 27, 2004)

Zuoken said:
			
		

> The Watchmen.
> 
> Hands down.




An excellent choice, especially since the ending made the whole story. If it had ended any differently, it still would have been good. It was that stunning ending, though, that made the series so brilliant.

Starman


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## John Crichton (Nov 27, 2004)

Wormwood said:
			
		

> *Twelve Monkeys*



*12 Monkeys* & *Dark City* are two of the best mind-screw endings ever.  12 Monkeys actually shut down my brain for a few seconds after seeing it the first time.  It rendered one of my buds speechless for nearly an entire evening.  He just sat there.  "Dude, so what did you think?"  "Not now, I'm not ready yet."

I'll also add *Donnie Darko* to the mix as well as *Fight Club*, *Sixth Sense* and *Unbreakable*.

And not in the same vein because of the very end but *Braveheart* requires mentioning.


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## Krieg (Nov 27, 2004)

*John Carpenter's The Thing* - You are stranded at the South Pole, unprotected from the weather, your camp is destroyed, no hope of survival...and you arent 100% sure that the one other guy who made is human or if he is the monster that destroyed and killed everyone in the camp and that could potentially wipe out the human race....

*Planet of The Apes* - 







> Oh my God, I'm back... I'm home! All the time... They finally, really did it....You Maniacs! You Blew It Up! Damn You, OH GOD-DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!


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## rurbonas (Nov 27, 2004)

Ever so slightly OT:

The multiple endings for Planescape: Torment and Deus Ex, two of my favorite games. Both have several endings that all make sense based on the characters and stories involved, but none of them are really "happy endings."


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## Starman (Nov 27, 2004)

rurbonas said:
			
		

> Ever so slightly OT:
> 
> The multiple endings for Planescape: Torment and Deus Ex, two of my favorite games. Both have several endings that all make sense based on the characters and stories involved, but none of them are really "happy endings."




Not OT, at all. Endings of all sorts apply. I haven't played Deus Ex, but I definitely agree on Torment. I would like to see more games that could potentially end badly, but I think most players would throw their controller/keyboard through their TV/moniter.

Starman


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## John Crichton (Nov 27, 2004)

OOoo.  If we are doing videogames as well, *Phantasy Star II* is way up there.  After being the final 2 bosses we find out about the Earthlings and their plans.  Final cut to all the characters giving a rah rah then fade to credits.  Classic.


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## Maxwell's Demon (Nov 27, 2004)

S.M. Stirling's Draka series of books.  The good guys end up booted off the Earth and the slavers have taken over the entire world.


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## RichCsigs (Nov 27, 2004)

Hannibal, the book.  I thought the ending in the book was much better than the movie.


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## Ferret (Nov 27, 2004)

*I come bearing aweful news.*

Mummy. Now, don't be fooled. This isn't The Mummy, no. The ending has them chase down the Mummy, but it charms the professer and he kills them all. The film ends with the mummy in close up disguised as a person. Aweful. I was fooled into thinking it was The Mummy (a much better film) and was very disappointed.

The Wendigo ends oddly. The hero and the villian fight (both having fed on human flesh, and powered up) but the hero wrestles the bad guy into a bear trap and films ends with the eternal last words "That was sneaky". :\ 

The Thing is great bad ending, so has quite a few that have been mentioned.


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## Jedidiah (Nov 27, 2004)

Glad to see someone finally mentioned Planet of the Apes (the original, not the horrid, wimpy remake - and while we're on that, how can a movie made now have worse special effects than a movie made in the 70's?)

For great 'bad' endings I would have to go with "The Mission." No movie has ever made me want to go out and kick someones butt like that - fortunately no Portuguese exploreres were handy.

And for something more recent how about "Mystic River" with Sean Penn. Great movie, great character, great ending.


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## Tetsubo (Nov 27, 2004)

Maxwell's Demon said:
			
		

> S.M. Stirling's Draka series of books.  The good guys end up booted off the Earth and the slavers have taken over the entire world.




This gets my vote. I loved that series. The Draka rocked.


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## Pants (Nov 27, 2004)

rurbonas said:
			
		

> Ever so slightly OT:
> 
> The multiple endings for Planescape: Torment and Deus Ex, two of my favorite games. Both have several endings that all make sense based on the characters and stories involved, but none of them are really "happy endings."



Mentioning games...
StarCraft: Brood War and WarCraft: Frozen Throne (to a lesser extent...)

I'd also like to nominate 12 Monkeys as well.  That movie f**ked my brain


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Nov 27, 2004)

Pants said:
			
		

> I'd also like to nominate 12 Monkeys as well.  That movie f**ked my brain




You sure aren't the only one. But man, I never knew that kind of a brain screw could feel good. I suddenly want to watch it again...


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## Someone (Nov 28, 2004)

Now you´re starting to scare me, because I found the whole film rather logical.

Also, the ending of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid" is a classic (though it´s not fantasy)


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## Rackhir (Nov 28, 2004)

Blakes 7 - Complete and utter disaster. Their leader is dead, their ship is destroyed all the characters are killed. Not to mention that it was the only series where not only did the good guys win all the time, but in fact they lost most of the time. 

The end of the original Hawkmoon books - It's the big fight scene at the end of the series and what you get is "This is how ________ Died" and he goes on to explain over about a page how all of his friends and comrades die. 

The Elric Series - His world has literally been destroyed. He's had pretty much all of his friends die, usually at the point of his evil soul sucking sword. It's just him and his one friend, his longest companion and once again the sword kills his friend and he has to experience Moonglum's death. Leaving him alone and he completes his last task to end the war between Law and Chaos. No sooner than he has done so, then the sword finally kills him.

Resident Evil - After managing to survive the T-Virus created horrors of the Hive and a murderous sentient computer, she and the one other survivor are captured by Umbrella and dragged away for medical experiments. She awakes in an abandoned hospital and drags her self out of the building to discover the T-Virus has been unleashed on the city and she's standing in the middle of an apocalyps as the camera pulls out to reveal a devestated city burning and littered with wrecked vehicles.


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## devilish (Nov 28, 2004)

Pants said:
			
		

> Hobb's _Farseer Trilogy_ of books




Double thumbs up on this one....this was one of the few
books where you personally just felt lost after reading it.  
Excellent ending ... and most like life.


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## The Forsaken One (Nov 28, 2004)

Yup Warcraft and Starcraft have like the greatest endings ever imho  Allthough the Warcraft plot is kinda a mirror from the SCBW one....

In the games line I'd like to mension the First Person Shooter of First Person Shooters:

Half Life

Which ends badly anyway, or you die from being thrown into dozens of ultra 1337 demons or you forsake all your principals and morals and agree to work with the person who doomed the world to alien invasion with no regard to the consequences.

As for movies, the usual suspects has the best good bad ending imho, that movie is the best movie I've ever seen, hands down.


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## Krieg (Nov 28, 2004)

Since CRPG have entered the fray I'm going to have to mention Diablo. You battle your way to the depths of hell, finally defeat the demon....only to watch the ending movie show your character tear the horn from Diablo's head & shove it onto his own, transforming into the demon & heading off to renew his evil reign. 

I was just a tad peeved after watching that to say the least.


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## Kesh (Nov 28, 2004)

See, the problem is, most of these "twist-endings" to movies are ones that I figured out half an hour before the twist.  Still...

*12 Monkeys* - Oh yeah. This one fits the bill nicely. 

*Se7en* - This one had be wondering until the last minute. I figured it out about a minute before Brad Pitt's character did... but I was shocked and _satisfied_ with his response. It just made sense, and went against the grain for a normal protagonist in most movies.

*Event Horizon* - Yeah, the movie itself was mediocre. However, having the captain willingly sacrifice himself so the others could escape was the saving grace for the film. And the actual closing scenes were creepy as hell, emphasizing the trauma that a event like that can cause a person.

*Blair Witch Project* - ... okay, I saw this as a rental. And couldn't sleep for hours afterwards. I didn't see that ending coming _at all_, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was the _perfect_ way to end that film.

*Night of the Living Dead* - The ending was just a kick in the gut. After all that struggling to survive, only to die by a mistake... excellent "bad" ending.

Finally, one I've not seen listed yet:

*An American Werewolf in London* - We all knew what had to happen. _He_ knew what had to happen. That didn't make it any less tragic.


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## KenM (Nov 29, 2004)

I have not finished it yet, but I heard that 



Spoiler



Halo 2 has a big cliffhanger ending


 I thought the last 10 seconds of the Alien vs. Predator movie ruined it.


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## Particle_Man (Nov 29, 2004)

The hero dies betrayed in "They Live", but he does expose the bad guys.  Does that count?

Oh, and Deadlands games and Call of Cthulhu games don't seem destined for happy endings.  But the games are sooooo gooooood.


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## Particle_Man (Nov 29, 2004)

Oh, and for classics: Amazing Stories and Twillight Zone (old and new) TV shows frequently had ironic "Bad endings" for the protagonists (sometimes nice guys, sometimes not), and sometimes were very, very good.


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## Wolf72 (Nov 29, 2004)

it took me a page and a half of posts to realize you meant 'bad' endings ... as those that the good guys got b-slapped!

I was reading and reading and just thinking ... are they crazy? those were awesome endings!

I'm with ya guys!

MOO2 had some good 'bad' endings ... I was the cat race, kicking but all over the galaxy ... refuted some galactic vote 2 or 3 times ... then the brainy guys (psilons) arrived at my homeworld with 99 of those big 'ol deathstars.  I was threatened with submit or die ... I submitted.


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## Rackhir (Nov 29, 2004)

Kesh said:
			
		

> *Event Horizon* - Yeah, the movie itself was mediocre. However, having the captain willingly sacrifice himself so the others could escape was the saving grace for the film. And the actual closing scenes were creepy as hell, emphasizing the trauma that a event like that can cause a person.




I was furious at the waste of this movie. It seems like it should have been so much better. It had such terrific atmosphere, promising plot, fantastic set design. Personally I'm also convinced that the script at one point was for one of the Hellraiser movies. I mean tell me that the Black Hole Drive wasn't straight out of Hellraiser. It looks like there may be a Special Edition released with an extensive amount of extra footage, so perhaps there is a good version lurking in there someplace. 

I always interpreted the ending as a "Oh! The monster isn't dead yet!" scene that they seem to be obligated to put into every horror flick. But I suppose your take is plausible.


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## dogoftheunderworld (Nov 29, 2004)

No Way Out - with Kevin Costner (yeah, I know -- but I liked this movie)

spoiler for those that have seen or will never see the movie:



Spoiler



And I wife still doesn't get that he _is_ the Russian spy.


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## JoeGKushner (Nov 29, 2004)

Lots of interesting takes here.

Haloween: Well, you're still alive, but the bad guy has gotten away and you're pretty messed up.

Exorcist: She's cured but the two priests are dead.

Event Horizion: Heck, I like this type of movie.

Mouth of Madness: Heroe's alive, but insane and the world is overrun with Cthulhu and his brothers.

Man on Fire: Yeah, the girl is safe but...

Night of the Living Dead: Bang!

Dawn of the Dead (remake): If you watch past the credits... it's bad news on the island skipper!

The Thing: Yeah, another one where the ending just isn't too happy here.

12 Monkeys: Good stuff there.

Sin City: The first comic. Ah Marv, we hardly knew ye.

300: Another Frank Miller masterpiece with a weird format.

Screemer: A comic in the future after the fall and rise of man.

Hawkmoon: As someone else mentioned, it's got it's tragic moments.

Elric: Very tragic. Farewell old friend, I was a thousand times more evil than thee.

Corum, 2nd series: I'd say he yanked a little too much from Elric in terms of mood here but it's his series.

Berserk (manga/anime): The anime has one of the most brutal endings ever, but it's just the first part of the manga.

Lone Wolf and Cub (manga): Man, 28 volumes and you blew it at the end... tragic really...

Cowboy Bebop (anime): You've won Spike... it's all over... you can rest now...


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## Elemental (Nov 29, 2004)

Nobody mentioned Cowboy Bebop yet?

"Bang."


Also, the ending of Season 5 of Buffy, with the final shot of the tombstone and the best epitath ever.


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## The Grumpy Celt (Nov 29, 2004)

The original _Evil Dead._ Like Rami says in the commentary, everyone and everything dies at the end of the movie.


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## The Grumpy Celt (Nov 29, 2004)

So how does _WarCraft: Frozen Throne_ end?


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## GSHamster (Nov 29, 2004)

Neil Gaiman's _Sandman_

Any of Shakespeare's tragedies.  My personal favourite is _Othello_.


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## Sarigar (Nov 29, 2004)

Seconding (or Thirding?!  ):
The Thing
Boondock Saints
Usual Suspects
Se7en
12 Monkeys
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Way of the Gun

How about:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Fight Club
Memento
Identity


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## The Forsaken One (Nov 30, 2004)

> So how does WarCraft: Frozen Throne end?



It ends with the blood elves having traced Arthas all the way to the peak of Icecrown Glacier where they prepare to destroy the Lichking in his "frozen throne" where his essence is stored in. Arthas destroyed everything that wanted to prevent him from reaching icecrown glacier and there before the base of the glacier waits Illidan the demonhunter, the corrupted nightelf who still has a place for love in his heart as the storyline shows and for compassion, but his hunger for magic and his F*cked up deal with Kiljaeden force him to this path allthough he doesn't want to in his heart.

Before the base of the glacier he and Arthas duel and Arthas cuts Illidan down, as he leaves him bleeding in the snow to a cold death, Arthas climbs Icecrown glacier in a AWSOME cinematic (like we expect less from blizzard these days). There he breaks the frozen throne with his sword Frostmourne, everything starts to collaps arround him and then he picks up the helmet that was stored in the icy throne and that comes rolling out after he destroyed it to free his master.

He puts on the helmet, his eyes go all awsome blue and stuff and then *they* go "AND NOW WE ARE ONE!"

And it ends with Arthas sitting lonely on the frozen throne in northrend plotting his vengeance on the world, because for now, unopposed he will devise his machineries to turn the whole world into his mindless spawn!

Well.. but who or what he or they is/are now... noone knows... I guess we'll have to wait for the expansion set of World of Warcraft to figure that out


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## Felix (Nov 30, 2004)

*Unforgiven*
The good guys can't win when there arn't any good guys.

*Shane*

*Old Yeller*

*One Flew Over the Cokoo's Nest*

*The Shining* 
(ok, the kid and mom got away, but the old man gets an axe to the back)

*All Quiet on the Western Front

Green Mile

Sands of Iwo Jima

The Shootist

The Godfather* 
(a patriot and a morally speaking innocent turning into a crime boss, who will soon become an evil crime boss, is a "bad" ending)

*Akira* 
(And I say that only because that one girl who likes Tetsuo, who I think is Kaori, gets smushed into pulp when Tetsuo gains the Pseudonatural template.)

*Othello*
Iago is the best villan ever.

*8mm*
Nothing in that movie is remotely anywhere near "Good". Greusome film though.


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## driver8 (Nov 30, 2004)

Ok I didnt read the whole thread but I always liked the end to the original _*Get Carter*_ with Michael Caine. The ending isnt too much of a surprise I guess, but its quite different from the later Sly Stallone remake.

On a related note the end of the Steve McQueen movie _*The Sand Pebbles * _ always chokes me up. That was a surprise to me.


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## Piratecat (Dec 1, 2004)

I was fairly put out by the ending of _Perdido Street Station._ Nothing works out for _any_ of the people in this story... the only person in the whole damn book who gets a happy ending is one incidental character who buggers off and leaves the city before the big climax. Add to this a couple cases of poor storytelling that blunt the impact of the ending, and an ending that could have resonated with me came a lot closer than I liked to thudding.


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## Mercule (Dec 1, 2004)

Jacob's Ladder.


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## RichCsigs (Dec 1, 2004)

Having just watched it, I would add the Director's Cut ending of The Butterfly Effect to this list.


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## Carnifex (Dec 1, 2004)

Perdido Street Station - harsh ending. From what I remember, The Scar is more upbeat (but that's not saying much). But the latest Bas-Lag book, Iron Council, has an equally sad ending. Good, but sad... once more, things don't really end well for the 'good guys' of the story.


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## hafrogman (Dec 1, 2004)

How about The Great Escape?

Okay, it's bad because it's how it happened in real life, but it still made a powerful ending.


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## Pielorinho (Dec 1, 2004)

Hmm...I loved the ending of _Perdido Street Station_, but then, it was one of those rare books that just worked perfectly for me.

I feel like a moron for not thinking of Shakespeare.  He kinda had a reputation for tragedy, y'know?

(On a tangent, if you ever have a chance to see _The Complete Works of Wiliam Shakespeare, Abridged_, hie ye to the theater.  It's been a long time since I've laughed till I cried.   "Call you Butt-love?  Hee--_Butt Love!_"  They make the tragedies much funnier than the comedies)

A few that haven't been mentioned:

For a book, _Pet Sematery_ really got to me, as did the novella _The Long Walk_, both by Stephen King.

The movie ending that has stood out for me most was _The Vanishing_.  I hear the American remake had a happy ending, which is the kind of blasphemy that makes me want to put the director in place of the protagonist.

And what geek could forget _Life of Brian_?

Daniel


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## Ferret (Dec 1, 2004)

I must seconded the Fight club ending. Man, that hit me.

Also another for the "Aw, but could they just....? That sucks." Kinda ending was for "His Dark Materials" Series by Phillip pullman. That was not a happy ending.


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## The Grumpy Celt (Dec 1, 2004)

Spoilers aside, none of use have seen it yet. But I am going to be preemptive here and add "Star Wars Ep. III" to this list.

And the ending of Grapes of Wrath - both movie and book versions.


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## Carnifex (Dec 2, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> Hmm...I loved the ending of _Perdido Street Station_, but then, it was one of those rare books that just worked perfectly for me.




I enjoyed it too... which is why I consider it as one of the best 'bad' endings I've read. It's depressing and harsh, but that doesn't stop it being an enjoyable read


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## Acid_crash (Dec 3, 2004)

RichCsigs said:
			
		

> Having just watched it, I would add the Director's Cut ending of The Butterfly Effect to this list.




That ending really pissed me off.  I felt like I wasted 3 bucks on the rental.  I know I would have been really pissed if I had went to the theater and saw that ending instead of the original.  That wasn't a good "bad" ending...just a horrible ending altogether.


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## RichCsigs (Dec 3, 2004)

Acid_crash said:
			
		

> That ending really pissed me off.  I felt like I wasted 3 bucks on the rental.  I know I would have been really pissed if I had went to the theater and saw that ending instead of the original.  That wasn't a good "bad" ending...just a horrible ending altogether.






Spoiler



I liked the fact that he was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of everyone else.  He realized that no matter what he changed he was always the cause of the pain in someone's life.  That combined with what the palm reader said made him realize he wasn't suppose to be alive.
It also leads to the implication that his mothers other still births were also intentially done by her kids.  That her other kids were actually born and had the same power and went through the same thing.  I thought it was an excellent ending.


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## Frostmarrow (Dec 3, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> A few that haven't been mentioned:
> 
> For a book, _Pet Sematery_ really got to me, as did the novella _The Long Walk_, both by Stephen King.




I never did quite figure out the ending of The Long Walk. One of my favorite books but I can't decide if the hero hallucinates, gets shot or whatever.


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## Pielorinho (Dec 3, 2004)

From what i remember, *Frostmarrow, *the protagonist wins the race, but is driven insane, and, impossibly, just starts running.

It's kind of a Kafkaesque metaphor for life, to get all pretentious.  Which reminds me:  _Metamorphosis_ has a pretty great bad ending, too.

Daniel


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## Wolf72 (Dec 3, 2004)

an oldie but goodie .... Hamlet by Billy Shakespeare!

I loved the ending ... it was like (for the main characters) "EVERYONE DIES" muwhahahahaha!


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## Aesmael (Dec 4, 2004)

JoeGKushner said:
			
		

> Berserk (manga/anime): The anime has one of the most brutal endings ever, but it's just the first part of the manga.



I want to second this, very much so. I have heard of people throwing it around the room from the emotions conjured up (disbelief? - how can it end like that? HOW THE [intensifier of your choice] CAN IT END LIKE THAT?)

For me, the sense of dread and... inevitability that looms over the entire series rises up to the point that watching it entails a certain... reluctance. I could weep.

For my sister, by the third last episode (this is before the 'bad' bit - or at its beginning, before it reaches climax) she declared that she would rather slit her own throat than continue in that situation.

The reaction seems to be either of devotion, or viewers' hatred is directed at the story itself rather than where it belongs.


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## Frostmarrow (Dec 6, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> From what i remember, *Frostmarrow, *the protagonist wins the race, but is driven insane, and, impossibly, just starts running.
> 
> It's kind of a Kafkaesque metaphor for life, to get all pretentious.  Which reminds me:  _Metamorphosis_ has a pretty great bad ending, too.
> 
> Daniel




Yes, I remember it that way too. However, I think that there might be more to it than that. None of the previous winners were ever heard from again so maybe the fate of the protagonist is the same as for those who came before him. In any event it's not much of a happy ending...


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## Shadeus (Dec 6, 2004)

Dean Koontz' The Servants of Twilight

The movie was fairly good; the book was better.  For those interested....



Spoiler



A group of fanatics follow this family around telling them their son is the anti-christ.  You find out at the end of the story that he IS the anti-christ.


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## ssampier (Dec 8, 2004)

I'll second the Ring. I loved the movie until the end, which I felt was tacked on. The movie dropped from a B+ to C-, in my mind.




			
				Acid_crash said:
			
		

> That ending really pissed me off.  I felt like I wasted 3 bucks on the rental.  I know I would have been really pissed if I had went to the theater and saw that ending instead of the original.  That wasn't a good "bad" ending...just a horrible ending altogether.




I rented it. I saw the ending where Evan learns 



Spoiler



his influence was purely negative. Kayleigh was better off not knowing him.


 Is this the original or director's cut?


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## Krieg (Dec 8, 2004)

ssampier said:
			
		

> I rented it. I saw the ending where Evan learns
> 
> 
> 
> ...




That is the original.

In the director's cut ending 



Spoiler



He goes back to when his mother is still pregnant and commits suicide while in the womb!


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## nimisgod (Dec 8, 2004)

It's been mentioned, but I'll second the ending of Cowboy Bebop. For me, that's the best. ending. evar.


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## Sugarmouse (Dec 8, 2004)

There are actually three endings  to the Butterfly effect. Each session at a cinema would screen a different ending. The Director's Cut lets you look at all three screened endings - the feel-good ending, the ehhh ending, and the 'cripes it all makes sense' ending.


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## Arnwyn (Dec 8, 2004)

Starman said:
			
		

> I would like to see more games that could potentially end badly, but I think most players would throw their controller/keyboard through their TV/moniter.



Halo 2 had that effect.


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## ssampier (Dec 13, 2004)

I forgot to mention

Arlington Road

I know lots of people hate this movie, but I enjoyed it--



Spoiler



the fact the terrorism professor was wrongly accused of terrorism is just icing on the cake


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## mhacdebhandia (Dec 15, 2004)

_L.A. Confidential_. Not the film, but the novel. The film ends with a shootout that leaves Bud White (Russell Crowe) partially paralysed and Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) grudgingly promoted as a hero by the police department after shooting the crooked cop, Dudley Smith.

The novel ends with 



Spoiler



Bud paralysed, okay. Ed a hero, okay. But Dudley Smith is still alive and untouchable. Ed's strict moral and ethical code is almost completely compromised - he's driven by a thirst for revenge against Smith, not by his sense of justice. His father, Preston Exley, and Ed's lover - the rape victim, Inez Soto - commit suicide. Jack Vincennes dies senselessly, attempting to prevent a breakout from a prison transport train, and is a ruined, broken alcoholic. _Et cetera_.



It may disturb some to know that Ellroy is my favourite modern author, exactly because his books are so unrelenting.


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## Falkus (Dec 15, 2004)

I liked the ending of Ground Control 2



Spoiler



Where the last shuttle off the planet was destroyed, and Captain Angelus forced his girlfriend to take a dropship up to the battleship to activate the singularity drive and evacuate the population of the North Star Alliance out of galaxy, while staying behind with rest of the NSA military to fight a hopeless battle against the Terran Empire.


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## Ferret (Dec 15, 2004)

Just wanted to add: Sphere, that ending sucked.


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