The great Gordon Roberts, of the must-read blog Musings of a Sci-Fi Fanatic, starts off our Reader's Top Ten for Thursday.
In regards to his top movie endings, the SFF writes:
"Runner Up: The Truman Show (1998). 1998 was a good year for science fiction. Peter Weir's provocative film made an impression and I loved that ending.
10. Miracle Mile (1988). I don't think I could find an ending that was more beautiful and tragic as the one for this apocalyptic romance. The ending has remained with me to this day. It took some real balls to make this ending.
9. Sunshine (2007). Danny Boyle delivers a science fiction gem in the form of visually acute poetry including images that burn the memory through the final minutes.
8. Alien (1979). A rousing Ridley Scott finale mimicked by so many films through the years.
7. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982). After all those years of exposure to my favorite science fiction series ever made, the Kirk and Spock moment was positively brutal.
6. The Mist (2007). Frank Darabont just continues to amaze in film and television, but that undeniably controversial ending took significant guts and we were literally blown away.
5. District 9 (2009). A great transformative film by Neill Blomkamp that touched me until the final frame.
4. Planet Of The Apes (1968). The final minutes are wonderful and the lady liberty moment is spectacular science fiction.
3. The Thing (1982). Two men in isolation waiting to die and too tired to distrust. John Carpenter at his best.
2. Dark City (1998). Again, another wonderful ending to the perfect science fiction film by Alex Proyas.
1. Blade Runner (1982). Ridley Scott delivers minutes of existential reflection about what it means to be human. It is simply a beautiful finale including the tagged on Stanley Kubrick footage. With or without it I'm good with it.
I would add that many of these endings can be isolated to a single image, but when I think of endings to films sometimes they encompass the final 15-20 minutes and not just a single powerful moment. Many of these films have both for me."
The Sci-Fi Fanatic never fails to impress, and so this list is filled with great choices. Blade Runner makes its first number-one appearance here, and The Thing gets another mention...which means it will place strongly, I suspect, in the final tally. I also love that The Mist and Dark City got tagged.
Alot of fun. Thanks for the open forum on this John. It's another great thread! Enjoying all of the contributions.
ReplyDeleteapplause, I say. Love for Dark City!
ReplyDeleteYes! Shell Beach! : )
DeleteThe Truman Show, a fantastic movie with an excellent ending. I considered it for my list but wasn't sure how 'sci-fi' it really is, despite so much of the technology used to make the show obviously being beyond our current capabilities.
ReplyDeleteJez. You said it. That's exactly why it's science fiction. It may not be in the traditional sense that immediately comes to mind, but its approach toward a potential reality certainly falls within the definition.
DeleteI'm with you. What a film. It really is something special. I almost had it at number ten as a tie with Miracle Mile and no matter how you look at it - it deserves a spot on any list.