Inspired by my recent purchase of two of my films with two of my favorite endings made me think up this little thread.

The two movies in questions are:

Paths of Glory - A horrid tale of war ends in a tavern with a German gitl with tear stained cheeks moving a bunch of rowdy, degenreate soldiers and moves them to tears with her singing....

and Children of a Lesser God - no matter how many times I have seen this film, the ending always tears me up.

if we are going top ten, I'll see what I can do...

Casablanca - do I need to explain this one. Perhaps the greatest final line ever...

American Beauty - Kevin Spacey's voice over does it for me...

my favorite ending of all time is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest..."Let's Go."

some others...

Taxi Driver - is he okay? Probably not.

On The Waterfront - showdown on the docks. Score Terry Milloy, one. Johnny Friendly, zero

The English Patient - closing on Juliette Binoche is not a bad way to go..

The Shawshank Redemption - On the beach, simply awesome and moving

and if you want an action packed ending then I offer The Bridge on The River Kwai

...now you can throw in Reservoir Dogs, Thelma and Louise, Fight Club, Million Dollar Baby, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly ir Mulholland Drive well I just threw those together just now, but they're all fine choices...               

'night mother - sissy spacek & Ann Bancroft

The Miracle Worker - just very tearful to me & joyful in the end

The Straight Story

Lilliies Of The Field - Amen! Amen!

good thread smokedchezpig!!!

Oh oh oh... The end of the 3 Colours series.  The end of Red.  The shot of Valentine gives me shivers every time. That funny feeling that in all the chaos there's a principle of connection and order between us all.

Some Like It Hot - now that's the best line to end a movie...

My theory by A. Elk, brackets, Miss, brackets. This theory goes as follows and begins now. All brontosauruses are thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and it belongs to me, and I own it, and what it is, too.

Ange's Odyssey

Schrek 2?

if I went David Lynch (although I peripherally mentioned MD) I think The Elephant Man has a beautiful ending.

Barton Fink- "Are you in pictures?" "Don't be silly." Cue (unscripted) bird dive-bombing into the ocean. Cut to black.

Brazil- Chaotic effects extravaganza ending abruptly with: "He's got away from us, Jack." Leave Lowry sitting alone, lost in his fantasies forever.

Dr. Strangelove- "Mein fuher! I can walk!" Cue end of the world, set to "We'll Meet Again".

FWWM- The kind of ending that's liable to make the most cynical Peaks fan choke up. I'm no exception.

The Truman Show- Truman takes a final bow, and exits into the uncharted territory of the real world.

Runners-up:
Donnie Darko- Mad World montage, followed by "Did you know him?" "No."
The previously mentioned Cuckoo's Nest

all great choices, PF, I was thinking of Dr. Strangelove too actually, it is a fabulous ending and it's cool that you mentioned Barton Fink, Donnie Darko and The Truman Show, I love all those endings.

Barry Lyndon: "It was in the reign of George III that the aforesaid personages lived and quarreled; good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they are all equal now."

Definately One flew over the cuckoo's nest.

A good ending is so rare that I allow an extra point on my rating system should one occur. Beginnings are usually promising. Ending are often let-downs.

A few off the cuff favorites:

Smoke with the Tom Waits song accompanying the finale. WONDERFUL! Perfect! Loved the movie but the ending really topped it off.

Psycho, of course. Hitchcockian end, don't you think?

Gone With the Wind. I gave a damn.

The Player. Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis and the electric chair! Hilarious! Think there was a little more after that with Tim Robbins but that was good too.

The Rapture. Another penned by Michael Tolkin (like The Player) but this one was directed by Tolkin too. I won't tell you the ending because if you haven't seen this film, it would ruin it for you. If you haven't seen it, why not? I'm not saying it is one of the greatest films ever but there is plenty to recommend it including a young nude David Duchovny.

Susan

Vertigo.  There may be others, but none I'd mention alongside it.

Clue

Happiness

Sleepaway Camp

The Doom Generation

Carrie

Lair of the White Worm

Clue

you know, there are a few more endings I forgot about and one I should have put in my top ten is The Ice Storm...the last five minutes are heartbreaking and the ending in the car is about as pefect as you can get.

21 Grams - Sean Penn's voiceover, Watts and Del Toro standing in the waiting room in the ER giving each other a look as they both find redemption after the horrors their lives and become Del Toro returning to his family.

Network - this almost made it too. I love this movie and the matter of fact way what happens to Peter Finch's is described is hilarious.

Rushmore - this ending just makes you feel good and probably the best ending of a Wes Anderson film (although I did really like the ending of The Life Aquatic)

and in the Descent Into Madness category...the endings for both A Streetcar Named Desire and Sunset Boulevard can't be beat...    

Yeah, I just realized how rare a good ending is... here are some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet:

Suddenly Last Summer (underrated movie with a mindblowing final sequence)

Jackie Brown (love this movie and the ending's terrific)

Edward Scissorhands (this could be my #1 ending of all time, though I know a lot of people don't like it... I've never seen a more touching film)

Pulp Fiction (no explanation needed)

Donnie Darko and Gone With the Wind are also two great endings that people already mentioned... oh yeah, also The Others, and Oldboy. The endings of those latter two just put the entire movie higher in your esteem.

leningrad cowboys go america, amadeus, animal house

Clue

"I'm gonna go home...

                              and sleep with my wife"
 

I inexplicably forgot two of the all time great film endings:

Citizen Kane (I'm still wondering how I neglected this in my first post)

Sunset Boulevard (amazing, could be the best scene in the great film... everyone's seen this one, even if they haven't seen the movie).

Monty P. & The Holy G.  (but only when the screen goes black, the theater stays dark & the endless happy organ music plays. Nothin' like it...)

The ending of The Doors, with the credits starting up over a scrolling single take of "the band" recording L.A. Woman live in their studio. It wraps things up with just the right tone for me.

Death in Venice is one of the great ones, but that would take a little more discussion than The Doors did.

The ending of The Doors, with the credits starting up over a scrolling single take of "the band" recording L.A. Woman live in their studio. It wraps things up with just the right tone for me.

That's interesting. This place I worked at when I first moved to Kentucky had a jukebox and L.A. Woman was my "official closing" song when we were trying to get 'er done and get out of there...Luckily, I found a job at a better place with better money, but the jukebox had a decent selection even if it was a little heavy on the country side

I've just seen today one I love: QUADROPHENIA.

The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me", the scooter driving over the cliffs, Jimmy shouting "ME!!" in coordination with the song and of course, the scooter flying and the connection with the opening shot of the film...

Stand By Me

Planes, Trains and Automobiles 

Blue Velvet

Christine

Legend

FWWM

Micheal

The Crow