Blogger Rob Barnes of Edge of the Fringe, is our first contributor of the week for this round of the Reader Top Ten.
Rob's choices for ten greatest SF Film Endings are as follows:
- Planet of the Apes (1968). The most iconic and best ending!
- Escape from New York (1981). Snake, after a brief and enlightening talk
with the President decides the world can go to hell.
- The Thing (1981) “How will we make it?” “Maybe we shouldn’t.”
- The Terminator (1984). “He said there's a storm coming in.” “I know.”
- Sunshine (2007). “So if you wake up one morning and it's a
particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it.”
- Blade Runner (1982). Deckard looks at the foil unicorn and nods.
Elevator door closes. Glorious Vangelis music begins.
- Cube (1997). The last surviving member of imprisonment in
the cube escapes into blinding white light streaming in from the outside
world. What’s outside the cube? Why was it built and by whom? Thankfully
we never find out. Ignore the sequels.
- Alien³ (1992). Great visuals, a noble and honest end to a
great character, and great music. End of story. Ignore the sequel.
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(1982). “Space: The final
frontier…”
- Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior (1981).”...and the road warrior?”
I think Rob’s list is an
excellent one, and would note additionally how time changes perception. I remember reading in the genre press at the
time, for instance, how “bad” the ambiguous ending of Carpenter’s The
Thing was compared to the Hawks original. Today, it doesn’t play as bad because of that
ambiguity. Indeed, that ambiguity plays
as a crucial aspect of the film’s social critique, about man and the world he
has made.
The Road Warrior also features a great ending, one that
mythologizes Max -- a figure from the past at this point in the narrative -- but
also leaves room for another sequel. His
final chapter is, as yet, unwritten.
Also, I must admit, I
always liked the idea of Mr. Spock uttering the famous Star Trek introduction at
the end of Wrath of Khan. It was if
he was speaking from a different final frontier…from beyond the grave, and
letting us all know that his explorations had not yet ended.
Great selections!
Don’t forget to send me
your lists at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com.
Hi :D How are you? The movie listed from the past are my still favorite "Aliens" WOW The only movie I did not see is "Cube" I will look for it. Hollywood I fine cannot match the classics of yester years. They show to much skin not enough acting. The remake of "Children of the Damned" Stephen King wrote is good.I like the orignials movies list above "Planet of The Apes" scared me as a kid 8| :D How about you? This isn't good-bye
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Kula May