Bad Endings vs Good Endings (Writing Advice)

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Making these videos require a ton of time and effort, so please remember to like, share, and subscribe. Thanks! Also, please consider supporting the channel on Patreon: www.patreon.com/WriterBrandonMcNulty

[@TheBinger033]

“Until Karen and her great boobs are tragically gunned down.” This is why you are the sensei-Perfection that made me laugh out loud.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Hahaha thanks!

[@mauriciovillegas7285]

But her boobs are alright, right?

[@danielalvarez0]

i was about to say the same thing!

[@duskyWuskie]

I was watching this on the subway and then burst out loud into laughter as well

[@NorseGraphic]

She just wanted to complain to the manager….

[@zsuzsuspetals]

One of the best cliffhanger endings is John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982. The music, the two men happy to be surivors but still wondering if one or the other had been taken over by the alien. It was one of those cliffhanger endings that just didn't need a sequel.

[@251TheMechanizedSingfantry]

Right up there with the 'proper' Bladerunner ending (ie when the elevator doors close)

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

The Thing has an amazing ending. Great call.

[@jacindaellison3363]

That is a cool ending! Especially where one of them says maybe it's best they don't survive because they don't know if one of them or both were infected by the thing.

[@lettylunasical4766]

Oh yeah, The Thing has a fantastic ending! Still discussed to this day.

[@scottwallbank4794]

Exactly. You still see people conjecturing over it decades later, which is a mark of a good ending that perfectly fits the tone and theme of the film itself.

[@roippi3985]

My favorite ending is from The Shawshank Redemption. After all the satisfying twists and resolutions during the film’s climax, the happy ending is dead simple but hits like a ton of bricks. Those guys _earned_ that ending.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Absolutely

[@reubenmanzo2054]

Nice, but that wasn't the question. The question was what was the WORST ending you've seen.

[@dr.zoidburger7515]

​@@reubenmanzo2054 yet in the video he gives examples of good endings in contrast to each bad ending so

[@trevorclive]

Fun fact: that scene where they reunite on the beach was not in the film originally. The studio told the director that the movie was so harsh that the audience needed something happy at the end. The director disagreed. The studio said, "just shoot the scene. If you don't like it, you don't have to use it."

[@joeodonnell921]

If you haven't seen it check out the bogart and bacall film 'dark passage' there's so many little bits similar to Shawshank it can't just be a coincidence

[@maximus4765]

Finally, a channel with Good, quick, and straightforward advice from someone who understands what it's like starting out. No jokes, no diciphering, just advice like a claymore: front facing toward enemy. Going to be listening to every one of these.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks!

[@HasekuraIsuna]

"no jokes" Karen's great boobs disagree : p

[@ponponpatapon9670]

this is an unusually beautifully written comment

[@bellatorpoeta]

Another type of bad ending is the "Tragedy out of Nowhere" when something bad happens at the very end that wasn't foreshadowed. I watched an indie martial arts flick that did this. The hero defeats a street gang, they get sent to jail, and then in the very last scene days later when he is calling his friend, an unseen gunman shoots and kills him. It felt like a cheap shock tactic.

[@jacindaellison3363]

Oh my gosh, I freaking hate that, too! Why would they end it like that?

[@KeysofIDproductions]

Reminds me of Godfather, Part III.

[@kid-ava]

I'd be so pissed if I watched that

[@jacindaellison3363]

@retrotuna who's idea was to think that was a great idea to end a movie like that?

[@therussianwanderer4851]

​@@KeysofIDproductions And Choujin Sentai Jetman.

[@Goatie17]

One thing I really appreciate about your videos is that you don't fall into the trap of only taking the scenes/movies everyone loves to hate on. It is great and refreshing to see bad examples taken from otherwise good movies as well as good examples taken from otherwise bad movies. Keep making great videos.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you!

[@machonacho91]

And the fact he takes both good and bad examples from the same movie - because few movies do everything perfectly, if any

[@slanner1894]

One of my favourite it was all a dream endings was the ending to Inception. It’s not necessarily it was all a dream, but it leaves it ambiguous over whether Dom is still in the dream by showing the spinning top but then not showing the result, leaving the audience speculating over whether he actually escaped the dream. At the same time it’s a good resolution because it showed that Dom finally decided that what he really cares about is being with his kids and he no longer cares if it’s a dream.

[@joshualavender]

The ending to Inception works at a fundamental level because the whole story is about dreams and the risk of becoming trapped inside them. And it's a reversal of the climax, when Cobb rescues Saito from just such a trap.

[@walternolasco9052]

This is the exact ending I was thinking of that just works for the reasons both of you stated and also it fits all the things this video said! Inception is a movie I feel is underrated!

[@charlesgbertrand]

My thought for “It was a dream” is . . . . . . the very last “Twilight” movie. I do not know if that part should be considered a good ending or a bad one (the actual ending, I felt, was saccarine awful) Regarding the dream, though, They establish the context, early on, by describing the two characters whose powers that resulted in the “dream” (prediction power and mind reading) and I felt it was a a meaningful change up. However, all the deaths (both good and bad) simply got erased.

[@TheBalisongBear]

Excuse me, but if a top wobbles, it falls. I know, you can still hear the top at the end of the credits... BUT IF A TOP WOBBLES, IT FALLS 😡

[@JRec-ql5fc]

@@charlesgbertrand i thought of this one too! i feel like the movie did it better than the book by giving us our cake and letting us eat it. here's my take. Stephanie Meyer gave us a good intense fight scene in the third book and the set up for the same in the last book but the tension builds and builds and then everyone goes home. really? ok, i guess. everyone's alive. yay. not terrible, but it left me amped up and then empty because all that tension peaked and then went no where. The movies on the other hand gave us a great battle scene in Eclipse and we all went in to the last movie like, "how are they going to end it? fight? no fight?" etc etc. well boom, they fight. awesome! we got another battle scene! and then wait, what? they just killed, but they aren't supposed to die, how the hell, etc. it was just a premonition. "oh thank the lord, everyone go home." by doing it that way we got to see exactly how the battle would've ended up, got that gut wrenching feeling of some of our favorites dying and the satisfaction of all the bad guys dying even if it was vision. guess what? you're gonna die, jack, no matter how you spin this. you lose, lick your wounds and go home. sorry, a little long winded but i think it was the only way to give the audience what the wanted and do the source material justice. maybe even make it better.

[@GoddessOfWhim2003]

i'm a sucker for "They all lived happily ever after." i don't think we see that enough anymore, everything's gotta set up a sequel. no room for stand alone stories anymore

[@cooliostarstache5474]

Same

[@velocitor3792]

It got overused over the last few decades, to the point that some people actively avoid it. The pendulum will swing back

[@rithrius5384]

It's mainly because of Marvel Studios. Everything has to be a universe now.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

A film can have a downer ending and not be in any way a sequel set-up. Seven comes to mind.

[@GoddessOfWhim2003]

@Corn_Pone_Flicks no not everything needs a happy ending as you pointed out, but movies nowadays don't seem designed to be stand alone, like Seven. i miss stand alone movies

[@SirToaster9330]

I feel like an ending to a story should be like a conclusion to an essay, it restates the main idea and point and it pays off all the development and hardship the characters go through and it stays consistent. Like in the ending of Harry Potter where Harry is an adult with his own kids

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Before/after snapshots are a great way of thinking of the beginning/ending

[@Kal_Kestis]

Good stories are essays in essence: you need proof to back your argument as to why something or someone in an established story changes, typically you have a beginning a middle and an end, and the audience should be moved/convinced once the conclusion is wrapped

[@jalin8039]

i personally felt that the harry potter ending was quite unsatisfying. in my opinion they should have stopped before the time jump. it just felt very unnecessary

[@bird1729]

​@@jalin8039there were so many unresolved issues too

[@LoudWaffle]

@@jalin8039 Same, although I agree with the main point of stories working like essays.

[@frozenepsilon5295]

The "it was all a dream" ending that hit me the hardest was that one episode of scrubs. The last 30 seconds crash into you like a train full of bricks and recontectualises the entire episode and it's happy tone into a much sadder one before fading to credits with no music.

[@SurfClimbRob]

Are you talking about "Where do you think we are?" That's a beautiful scene!

[@patrickrusso9919]

​@@SurfClimbRobif so, then you also need to credit the show for giving subtle clues to tell you that something is amiss and not as it appears.

[@turnerjazz7872]

Such a fantastic and heartbreaking episode!

[@christianZaal]

That episode... Wow. Years later it still hits me. Shear genius in concept and execution.

[@Slampigreloaded]

Are you talking about the episode where the doctors brother died of cancer? Cause I still think about that episode to this day

[@katagraphe]

While so many authors feel they have to put out bland videos for their brand, I appreciate your quality videos filled with thoughtfulness. I am not even a fiction writer, but I appreciate your analysis and how to think through stories. Anyway, thank you for contributing insightful videos of your profession and not merely generic "content"

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you so much. This video took a lot longer to make than expected, so comments like this are very much appreciated

[@treasonouspigeonpeckers957]

I don't even write and I love this content. Gives me a great appreciation when a movie writes a good story

[@mandyzabohne7059]

Worst ending: a romcom called "He's Just Not That Into You," which is based on a relationship advice book by the same name. The message: don't make excuses for guys who aren't responding, breadcrumbing, etc. Basically, "if he wanted to, he would," book-length. So in the movie, there are several plotlines about single women learning to see through lame excuses, plus a woman whose partner doesn't want marriage like she does. They all get stronger and more realistic. BUT THEN, for the ending, for no damn reason, all the guys pull a 180 and become exactly what the women have been wishing they would be- the player becomes obsessed with the woman who's been following him around, the partner miraculously decides he wants to be a husband (even though he was already committed and solid, but had solid reasons for not wanting to be legally married.) It's a totally contradictory, stupid, pandering ending that isn't brave enough to see the premise through.

[@sheriffwoody6233]

At least Bradley Cooper’s story wasn’t a happily ever after. He cheats, gets neither girl and gets a divorce.

[@PhoenixCrown]

Agreed. Real shit movie.

[@marchingham]

YES. Especially the whole "I'm the exception" part. I haaaaaated it. Although I love Justin Long and Ginnifer Goodwin, I still couldn't excuse it.

[@Isthisjoebiden]

Ugh, youre so right 😂

[@deckardcanine]

Worst ending: the 2001 "Planet of the Apes." It was trying for a twist every bit as mind-blowing as the original. The trouble is that it made no sense. Few people wanted a sequel to explain it, because we already made up our minds that no explanation would suffice.

[@taragnor]

A good twist ending needs to be something the audience could potentially see coming. There needs to be subtle clues placed along the way. That's what made the original ending so mind-blowing. The remake ending was just dumb.

[@TheZetaKai]

LOL, the funny thing is that the twist ending of the 2001 remake is far closer to the ending of the original French novel than the ending of any other movie in the Apes franchise, for good or ill.

[@Alpha1918]

oh boy I forgot how bad that was. I got the movie for like 5 cents too XD

[@DaPhunkPhenomena]

The actual ending of Tim Burtons's Planet Of The Apes was a reshoot due to spoilers of the original ending spread through the internet. Still love that movie though (and I don't like Burton movies, so that says a lot).

[@Tommykey07]

​@@taragnoryou would think that the apes could read and speak English would make Taylor realize he is on Earth! 😂

[@SurvivorBri]

I really liked the ending of the first Pirates movie. We were pretty certain that we would have a sequel given all the hints about Will's father and what Jack's next adventure might be. But the movie tied up everything nicely.

[@alexp6712]

The third pirates, while not that great overall, has a really good ending too.

[@ltb1345]

@@alexp6712 That movie and its ending were awesome.

[@edwingonzalez4558]

*spoilers* Dead Man’s Chest was also pretty good if you follow the “tragedy matching tone” ending. Overall, nothing but bad things happened and we are left to wonder what will be the fate of the Pearl’s crew. Everyone is noticeably sad and the only person who is happy is Beckett, who was just handed the key to destroying all pirates. The surprise return of Barbossa even gave us a cliff hanger that draws the audience into watching the next movie, but it wasn’t too cheesy because the conflict in this movie was resolved.

[@jyrlan2596]

​@edwingonzalez4558 underrated movie tbh

[@charlesgbertrand]

Heh, I thought you meant the movie that is actually just called “Pirates” . . . . . . which circularly ends on almost the exact same scene as the start, wherein the two characters are stuck alone on a raft, carrying a wealth of treasure, in the middle of the sea.

[@feartrain1282]

The most legendary twist ending imo is M. NIGHT’s “THE SIXTH SENSE”, the twist reveal gave me the chills, which matched the tone of the story perfectly. Everything just came together full circle so well, it was so good it made my family and I return to the theater for the first time to rewatch a movie. Then on the other end of bad twist endings, by the same director ironically, M NIGHT’s “THE VILLAGE”. Where they reveal the identity of the monster, right before the final confrontation. With so much intense buildup the finale should of been terrifying, instead they deflated the climax…really strange execution.

[@feartrain1282]

Also the plot for your book “ENTRY WOUNDS” is intriguing! Might have to check that one out!

[@johnnygraz4712]

Was gonna say this. It's almost like an "it was all a dream ending" but done exceptionally well.

[@StayFractalesque]

Honestly, The Village is probably his most under-rated film.. ..not sure why everyone hates that one so much, its really the only film of his i would prefer to rewatch out of any of them.. the reason they reveal what the monsters are, supposedly not a threat, then the audience is still left wondering then wtf is stalking her in a monster costume.. it leaves the question up in the air a bit longer if the monsters arent real, then why is a monster actually chasing her.. besides, the important reveal is nothing to do with the monsters at all..

[@TheDaleSwitzer]

I came to this page specifically to say this, but you already did.

[@jamesonweaver4224]

"Leia says they have everything they need, and that's quite a 180, especially considering that just before Luke arrived, she was saying the Resistance was doomed and the spark had gone out." Behold, the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

[@s.henrlllpoklookout5069]

"Keep them brief" Return of the King has entered the chat

[@ramahawk13]

Terrible ending, from the anticlimactic battle once the green ghosts appeared to the many, many resolutions...yes, there were a lot of characters and plots to resolve, but it was just bad and ultimately unsatisfying. (Unlike The Two Towers, which was solid from top to bottom)

[@fredsmith1970]

Each one of the ten endings for RoTK were fairly brief 🙂

[@Isthisjoebiden]

​@fredsmith1970 😂😂😂 You're not even lying, I remember watching as a kid and every time I thought it was over, it wasn't!

[@DavidLewis-v4m]

SPOILERS: The books have even more denouements. Peter Jackson actually spared you. Saruman somehow makes it to the Shire way faster than them, seemingly on foot, and corrupts and twists the whole town to his bidding like a mob boss. That plot with "Sharkey" ran for like 3 chapters, and even featured some musings on the etymology of "Sharkey" likely not having anything to do with fish that have lots of teeth.

[@williamstormo2922]

Ngl I feel like it was earned since the trilogy was so long

[@voon7820]

That is why Spiderman 2002 will forever be the Spiderman movie buried in my heart even after 20 years. The impact just outshine the other

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

In order to tighten up this video's pacing, I cut 7+ minutes of content, including a 5th example. I have enough material for a "Bad Endings vs Good Endings ROUND 2" so let me know if there's anything you'd like to see in a sequel video. Thanks for watching and for all your support!

[@Cholata123]

What do you think about "temporary endings" (for example the endings of the first two books of a trilogy), should they have a significant change or should they follow the same principles as these endings?

[@gamewriteeye769]

Some more examples: - the *rushed* ending(surprised it wasn't included) - the *no danger ending* after a high stakes precedent was set by the main conflict - the twist/surprise ending - the woke ending(I'm sure you can figure this with a lot of portrayals of strong female characters being mouthpieces instead of characters)

[@jacindaellison3363]

A couple of bad ending examples that come to mind: -the undeserved sad ending -the ending where a character has to face consequences but the movie goes overboard with it-like yeah, they have to face punishment but they didn't deserve THAT! -endings that leave a lot of questions unanswered or rarely answer them

[@KeysofIDproductions]

Return of the King had what I'd call "non-ending endings" where you think the story ends, but it doesn't.

[@bellatorpoeta]

The Tragedy Out of Nowhere or Sudden Downer Ending I mentioned in a comment elsewhere.

[@phiggins5207]

The best example of tying up loose ends: The last scene of The Terminator. I was 15 and for the first time in my life I was consciously blown away by great writing. The action and the effects, as incredible as they were, took a back seat to the writing.

[@domhuckle]

And T2 - "there's one more chip" and "I know now why you cry" talk about impact

[@gtf5392]

I agree, the first Terminator had such a great ending. Resolved the current problem, but then driving down the highway with the ‘there’s a storm coming’ scene also reminded the audience of what’s to come.

[@ShawnRavenfire]

Best "was it all a dream?" ending: Total Recall (90s version) Best cliffhanger ending: Star Trek Next Generation "Best of Both Worlds Part 1"

[@je-nas]

Just wanna register that, for me, best cliffhanger ending ever was the ending of Back to the Future II.

[@meganc1539]

What works about the original Total Recall is that MAYBE it is all a dream.. you don't get to know either way. Also, that completely works with the entire premise of the movie... it was set up from the beginning and so maintains the circularity.

[@GradKat]

I HATE “was it all a dream”! That is THE worst kind of ending ever, in my book.

[@BrianWelch-vc7xy]

Best "was it all a dream?" ending is Jacob's Ladder.

[@arzabael]

Oh my gosh dude. You killed it with Robby from War of the Worlds. So so so true! I dont Spielberg would let it end like that if he made it today. I think we all grow out of the nativity together collectively but dang, it took me seeing this to notice that about Robby’s non-arc. Great great video dude.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks! And yeah, Spielberg’s stories usually have warmth to them, but this was much too much

[@TheZetaKai]

Spielberg should have known better; it's not like he was some sweet summer child in 2005.

[@menckenwolf]

And the whole area they arrived at was untouched where the rest of the world shown was devastated. I mumbled something about the aliens being real estate agents leaving the good properties intact.

[@Isthisjoebiden]

​@@TheZetaKai😂😂😂

[@alexanderlukas3231]

I really liked the ending of "Edge of Tomorrow". Spoiler: A "good" ending for everyone except the main character because no one knows that he is the hero and how much he suffers. But a glimmer of hope at the very end that he may get his love.

[@flengord]

I love that film (I've watched it an embarrassing number of times), but I felt cheated by that ending. It's the they-died-for-the-war-but--nah-not-for-real consequences-free trope. You make a really good point about the main character carrying the truth around alone, but it felt weak to me. (Hasn't stopped me loving the movie though, obvs.)

[@wcjerky]

If you want the source material for that one, it's a manga called _All You Need is Kill._

[@PhoenixCrown]

I agree, and to one of Brandon's recurring points: Be willing to have the MC be silent. I should know the director of that movie... cuz he cut Tom Cruise's smile perfectly. The whole movie is a romance in one light, and it takes Cruise FOREVER to finally win over Blunt. The ending suggests he has just as big of an uphill battle ahead of him as dying repeatedly fighting aliens... and he's happy to face it. Love this ending.

[@BasicShapes]

I just watched that a few days ago for the first time. It was great, but I was really, REALLY itching for Cage to finally say to Rita "Your middle name...is Rose."

[@Tommykey07]

One difference at the end is that he is an officer when he enters the building to meet Rita and the other soldiers stand aside for him out of respect for his rank.

[@thethan302]

In Rocky, the end is a great example of subverting expectations as well. You expect Rocky to win since it's set up to be a rags to riches story where after all his training you expect him to win and become champ. Instead he loses, which causes the audience to ask what happens next and from that we get both rocky II and III.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

The fact that he loses in 1 also makes the sequels more suspenseful. Every time he fights, you can’t call it a guarantee (same with the Creed movies)

[@jeremyvettech5562]

But he didn't lose in terms of his goal - to go the distance and prove he wasn't a bum. He was absolutely a winner.

[@Harhaiah]

I always struggle with this one. I tend to write 3 endings. A good ending, a bad ending, and an alternate ending. Then I just see which one fits the story better.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Endings are always tough because you tend to have many possibilities for outcomes. Easy to overthink things, too.

[@QuanticDreamer]

Pretty good advice!

[@Harhaiah]

@@QuanticDreamer From Brandon or my comment?

[@QuanticDreamer]

@@Harhaiah Both!

[@Harhaiah]

@@QuanticDreamer Glad you think so. Write on!

[@MistahJay7]

The whole Arthur being an unreliable narrator and us not knowing exactly what happened plays so damn perfectly into the character of the Joker

[@thebiologist8662]

The ending of the rise of Skywalker pissed me off to no end. The whole movie is about accepting yourself, accepting your legacy and rising above it, being better than your predecessors; than your family name. It mimics the exact same journey Luke followed, rising above the cursed Skywalker name and accepting it, vowing to undo all the damage his father caused, proving he's not destined for evil. Rei accepting her family name at the end of the movie rather than claiming an unearned one would have made for an ending 10 times better, and all it'd have taken is changing a single word in the script.

[@some1namedno1]

I cannot impart how much I agree with this.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yep, I’ll be discussing RoS’s ending when I do round 2

[@grizzly_manbanimation8436]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I can’t wait to see it

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

That ending was so weird. They managed to get one really good line from Carrie Fisher, "Never be afraid of who you are," a line which really felt like a theme, only to then contradict that theme with the final line. I personally felt her earlier line "I'm just Rey," would've been just fine getting a reprise for that scene.

[@joshuahogan-gsuarchivist758]

Absolutely correct. I really just wish that whole trilogy hadn't been made because of the final movie. The second movie wasn't very good, but that last one was a stinker, and the whole Rey Skywalker thing was my single biggest beef.

[@Ouvii]

Personally, I really like the alternate "it was all a dream" ending for breaking bad where it turns out it was just an episode of Malcom in the Middle. Freaking brilliant.

[@DCshandle]

Reminds me of my 3rd grade story I had to write for Halloween. It’s lazy and so cliche

[@rmessenger23]

They took that from the end of Newhart.. referencing The Bob Newhart show

[@Ouvii]

@@rmessenger23 yeah not the first time a TV show has parodied Newhart, and Newhart wasn't the first to do it anyway. I personally don't have any context for any other of the numerous times this has happened, but I did think it was executed in a surprisingly satisfying way with Breaking Bad/Malcolm in the Middle.

[@sumeragicrow]

It worked because it wasn't the actual ending of Breaking Bad. That would've been very underwhelming.

[@dionmcgee5610]

Wow! How did I miss that? A Malcolm in the Middle dream. Y'know, it all makes so much more sense now. Of course it was. What was Better Call Saul a dream of? Mr. Show?

[@d4bz]

please keep doing this good bad series.

[@OreoSmithOfficial]

One example I can think of for a long, drawn-out ending that still serves a purpose is The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (the book) After the Ring is destroyed and the army of Mordor is defeated (the climax) there is still a good 150 pages left before the book ends. Although it is very long (and sometimes very boring) it serves a purpose. Since there are SO many characters in The Lord of the Rings, there are a lot of loose ends to tie up, and the book does very well at it.

[@BrianWelch-vc7xy]

The Scouring of the Shire chapters cleverly subvert the "happily ever after" aspect of the post-war denoument (even though there was quite a bit of mourning and the whole occasion is rather bittersweet). After everything the hobbits have been through, to be denied their own happy ending is quite a reflection of the true cost of war.

[@RoyalFusilier]

I would love to see more adventure stories with their own Scouring of the Shire sort of sequences, returning home after the adventure with the boon and changing things. They don't have to go on so long or be specifically like that, but trouble on the homefront can bring things full circle emotionally very well.

[@kid-ava]

brandon, your channel is an absolute gem 🙏🏼🙏🏼 I think another horrible type of ending is when something ridiculously horrible happens to a character[s] at the end of the story, right when they were just about to succeed!! I think this is done to have an emotionally impactful, deep and memorable ending, when that same effect could be achieved with a happier, more realistic and EARNED one

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I actually was going to include a Forced Twist ending as example #5!! I’m hoping to do Bad/Good Endings #2 sometime in the future, so I’ll get to it then

[@xaviermm5506]

Except if it's foreshadowed and makes sense, kinda like the red wedding. SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES!!! What do you think about the red wedding? It's an "ending" for the characters of Rob and Cat. It's so tragic but it makes sense.

[@kid-ava]

@xaviermm5506 I've never watched game of thrones, so I have no opinions lol. but I guess if the ending foreshadowed, it can make more sense, but it really depends

[@ElJefe3126]

Subverted in Sorcerer. After that horrible slog through the jungle, it's heavily implied that the only survivor gets tracked down and bumped off at the end. But it works, because we see him become a marked man at the beginning and the whole thing is so brutal and relentless about killing off everyone else.

[@nerdock4747]

This was 100% done in Layer Cake. What was an average movie took a turn for the worse and became terrible right at the end.

[@JoshSJoshingWithYa]

In the same vein as the wacky 80’s action films, I think Total Recall did really good with the “It’s All Just a Dream” Ending. If I remember right, I’m pretty sure it was left ambiguous.

[@ashwin_ramakrishnan]

Love this channel and the effort you put into your videos. I'm picking an easy one: Game of Thrones had a terrible ending, being rushed and not paying off many of its prior setups.

[@domhuckle]

Game of Thrones will be giving people "what no to do's" in every aspect of story-telling forever and ever

[@stormdog9169]

"You are poor." Was a legitimately great line. Then it all went to hell.

[@OuterEastLLC]

Really enjoy the forensic breakdown of scenes both good and bad. We can learn from all of them. Thanks for sharing.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for watching!

[@GABA-Gool]

Rocky was inspired by a real fight between Chuck Wepner and Muhammad Ali. Chuck almost went the distance and even knocked Ali down (trip, but it counted) then he was TKO’d round 15. Pretty interesting fight and story for anyone interested.

[@demonizer133]

One of my favorite "It was all a dream" movies is Jacob's Ladder with Tim Robbins: PERFECTLY-executed use of that trope. The text at the end of the movie arguably ruins some of the interpretations of the plot, but it is still an excellent, highly-underrated film

[@charlesguillergan8759]

One of the best endings in my opinion is guardians of the Galaxy 3, the song choice everybody dancing the catharsis, everything is just perfect

[@rickdesper]

In terms of "Bad Ending," back in the '80s there was a popular show called 30something. And they spent an entire season covering the breast cancer of one of the main characters, Nancy, played by Patricia Wettig. And going into the season finale, the network hyped the episode by saying a main character would die. And so everybody tunes in, thinking that Nancy will succumb to breast cancer. But she gets treated, the surgery is successful, and her prognosis is good. And then off camera, Gary dies in a bike accident. WTF? The writers are just playing games with the audience. I felt the same way at the end of Lost, season 2. Guy who had been a moral, good character for the better part of two seasons just commits some murders. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of my interest in Lost. Not a coincidence that JJ Abrams was involved both there and in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He seems to have fun including plot twists that have not been earned.

[@sntreulfravn2321]

Are you talking about Michael? It's extremely obvious why he committed those murders and what led to him doing such a thing, earlier in the season he was shown to want to do absolutely anything to get Walt back and is always shown to act very impulsively and based on emotions, it's very reasonable that his character would make the decision to kill Ana Lucia in the moment out of desperation(remember he didn't go there to kill her, she just got in his way and he acted impulsively to get his son back) I just don't know where you got the impression that it was somehow unearned considering that moment had been built up for at least half the season prior.

[@catothecensor]

One of my favorite “it was a dream” ending is the final of T. Gillian’s “Brazil” where the escape from the torture room is just a pre-mortem delusion.

[@snakey934Snakeybakey]

This actually makes me want to see the movie Wisdom. That bit of dialogue makes it look really fun

[@Kurotekken]

Thank you for putting time stamps under each movie for spoilers. That was super considerate!

[@TheKINGandJOKER]

Man, what a content. You are a breath of fresh air speaking about how clear you write down all these scenario movie-pshycologial features. Got so much from your videos. And the length is ideal, I think. Not so long and not so short. Very comfortable to watch

[@AlyeahTheBoos]

Man, I really think that "It was all a dream" endings can work, although they need to be carefully crafted. One example I can remember was the movie "Click" from Adam Sandler, where he had a dream-like vision of his future and saw where his stupid ass decisions and attitudes would lead him. We, as an audience, get profoundly miserable with the character at the disappointing end of his life, but are pulled back at the very last second by him waking up from the dream in that matress store, and feel revigorated and rewarded because the wake up was the second chance the character was granted to make things different with his life. I understand that not many stories would benefit from that kind of ending, but I just wanted to point out that it can be done and be a good and satisfying ending. And also, great video!

[@mashafalkov]

That movie is so incredibly underrated.

[@--Sama-]

I've read hundreds of books, but the worst ending for me, it was from a game, not a movie or a book. It is an old one from the 90s called "Realms of the Haunting". I love the game, the idea and tone is so cool, the lore is very interesting and special and it touches many spiritual themes. There are a lot of dialogues and it's quite difficult so you have to give it all in order to complete it. -(Spoilers)- After months playing it every day I reached the ending and the reveal was... that everything was false. The entire game events were made up by the main character who never was a hero who saved the world and his father's soul in a beautiful way but a crazy weirdo in an asylum. I was so invested in the story and at the end the entire experience was just about a crazy criminal telling lies to his doctor. During that scene I was angry but laughing at the same time, it was so unsatisfactory. It felt like all this "travel" was for nothing.

[@justacat869]

That's similar to the "it was all a dream" trope, which annoys many people, myself included. You get so invested in the story only to realise that it was all made up in the protagonist's head.

[@jacindaellison3363]

@@justacat869 to an extent, I never understood why writers think it's a good idea to have "it was all a dream" plot twist. Because it's realistic?

[@justacat869]

Lazy writers use it often as a Deus Ex Machina when things get too bad and the protagonist is in an inescapable situation. The dream plot twist can be done well, but the writers have to give subtle hints and foreshadowing throughout the story that the events are happening in a dream.

[@jacindaellison3363]

@Bloomy interesting. I've seen a movie where that "it was a dream" plot twist, and, looking back, it absolutely MADE NO SENSE. And the characters had won. So, there was no reason to the majority of the plot all made into a dream.

[@justacat869]

Yeah that one is also annoying because it pretty much means the journey the characters have been through was not real. It also removes all the stakes that were built throughout the story.

[@Kay_Markus]

I have been watching your videos for the past hour. The way you address the viewers on what makes a good ending as well as informing us on how an ending could become unnecessary and just straight up terrible, while giving examples of good and bad endings. This particular video actually helped me with how I can end my book, I already have an ending for some of the stories in my book, but thanks to this video, I can have some idea on how I could bring closure to all of the stories in my book, while making sure it has a good affect on the reader. And for that, I thank you. 😊

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thrilled you found this helpful. Best of luck with your story!

[@duckbert3314]

I think Total Recall is another good example of a movie that was all just a dream. When Douglas is put into the situation and wakes up in the van, it's left ambiguous if he is still in the simulation or if this is an actual reality. There are also several points later on in the film that challenge the idea of if the events are real or not.

[@billyfarmerii1669]

Dang, I thought you were talking about the original. The remake SUCKS!!

[@duckbert3314]

@@billyfarmerii1669 I thought there was just the one? With Arnold Schwarzenegger?

[@billyfarmerii1669]

@@duckbert3314 yeah the original has Arnold. I thought you were talking about the remake when you said he woke up in a van. But i see now you were talking about the cab lol

[@davemorris5377]

If Source Code had ended with the joke told on the train it would have been the perfect statement of finding meaning in life despite the inevitability of death. But it continues for another ten minutes in which new plot developments about alternate timelines are abruptly introduced to try to patch what's gone before.

[@RobinClower]

God source code had a terrible ending. He just took over this random dude's life because he liked a girl.... Like what are the guy's friends and family going to think when he rocks up with a completely different personality and doesn't know who they are!?

[@spenser9908]

Total Recall and Brazil kind of have the "it was all a dream" ending, but it's done really well. I still refuse to believe Quaid was dreaming though, I can't handle that.

[@MumRah]

Your Walking Dead example is exactly when I checked out of that show. I came back to see what happened, but the quality degraded so badly I just didn't care anymore and left shortly afterwards.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I did the exact same thing. Watched the first episode of S7 to see who died and dropped the show from there

[@TheZetaKai]

The worst ending that I can recall is The Langoliers TV miniseries from 1995 by Stephen King. Spoilers for those who haven't seen it: The entire story revolves around a small group of random people trapped in an airport in Maine that has been frozen in time, and they have to unravel the mystery of why, get back to the flowing time of the present, and escape the titular Langoliers, which are a mysterious looming threat. In the end, many of the group die, and only four of them survive. Despite the tragedy and horror that they barely escape, the four survivors are upbeat, happy, and seemingly untraumatized as they lock arms and leap through the airport, ending on a freezeframe. The tone is a bizarre 180 shift, the lock-arms jump is pure cheese, and the freeze frame is grossly inappropriate for a story involving the horror of people trying to escape frozen moments in time. Even more than all of that, the ending is so abrupt that the audience is left stunned in disbelief, with the whole post-climax taking no more than two minutes, with no resolution of any storylines other than the main plot. The Lovecraftian flying monsters that were the Langoliers were really cool, even if the mid-90's CGI was more than a bit dodgy, and the reveal that they exist to devour all of reality after every moment has passed as the garbage collection system of the universe is profound and horrifying in its implications. But the story doesn't give that concept its due time to sink in, and the characters silly actions in the ending undermine the horror, making the sudden end laughably bad.

[@insensitive919]

I distinctly remember as a teen staying up late to see the ending, just to go to bed pissed off at how lame it was. 😅

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

"Look, Mommy! The NEW people!!!" ... ugh... NOT one of King's more stellar moments, even if it had to be adapted to the screen... ;o)

[@missmeaghanj2482]

The movie ends with them laughing and holding hands meanwhile Dinah's corpse is still on the plane.

[@251TheMechanizedSingfantry]

It had such a fantastic atmosphere the whole way through.....and then the monsters turned up and undermined everything that had come before

[@hey_mickey1981]

Classic Stephen King, he writes amazing stories with great details, complex characters, disturbingly evil villains, but he rarely pulls off a satisfying ending. The Mist has one of the most memorable gut punch movie endings, but it was Frank Durabont that came up with it, the book ended frustratingly ambiguous.

[@riyuhizamura8995]

The ending of the Last Jedi was perfect. It represented exactly what Disney wanted to portray. Men aren't needed in the universe, and girlbosses are the only people who matter. Hits the mark perfectly.

[@JDub-TV]

I've been complaining about the bad cliffhanger ending for years. It was nice to see it well articulated by someone else. Even worse is the bad cliffhanger that is resolved within the first 5 minutes of the next installment of the story. So not only was it manipulative, but it had no actual stakes to begin with. It's just swept under the rug because the writers got their undeserved emotional hook.

[@JR-sx3gl]

Hobbit Desolation of Smaug, am I right? 🤦‍♀️

[@JDub-TV]

@@JR-sx3glIt's been a while since I've seen that, so I'm afraid I forget how it went.

[@JR-sx3gl]

@@JDub-TV At the end of the second part (DoS) Smaug leaves the mountain and flies towards the nearby town. End. In the opening of the third part Smaug burns the town and gets killed by a dragon killing arrow, which takes around ten minutes of run time. The rest of the film feels very separate to the beginning. No reason to divide a nice scene like that and lose the momentum.

[@JDub-TV]

@@JR-sx3gl The whole movie feels separate from the series. XD

[@JRec-ql5fc]

@@JR-sx3gl shit, i clicked to expand the replies to throw this in there and it's the first reply. hell yes you're right.

[@dawarrior95]

Glad you included that walking dead example. The moment you realize the writers and show runners don’t have an ounce of respect for their audience.

[@lucaskopke6886]

A good “it was all a dream ending” (even tho it really isn’t) is shutter island, one of my favorite movies ever.

[@Corn_Pone_Flicks]

It works because it's not actually the final scene. We learn what comes after that, and why it happened to begin with.

[@ElJefe3126]

Does The Shining also fit this? There's certainly ambiguity. Has Jack always been at the Overlook Hotel? Has the Overlook's reality now been cosmically retconned to include Jack? Is Jack doomed to cycled through incarnations, always bringing a family to the hotel and then attempting to murder them? Etc.

[@akmonra]

my theory is Inception is actually just in the head of the same character. psychotic dead wife, wanting to see his children again, suppressing horrible events of the past by inventing intricate conspiracies for himself.

[@artman2oo3]

I am really glad that you didn’t end this video saying all of this advice was just in a dream and didn’t really happen.

[@KeysofIDproductions]

Empire Strikes back is a stronger middle trilogy movie ending when considering example #3. Same for Back to the Future, Part II.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I love the ending image of ESB. Everyone staring out with wordless concern for Han and the future of the rebellion. It’s not a flashy ending but it does the job well

[@landonbohinc8146]

And Across the Spiderverse did it really well. Jesus loves you, God bless!✝✌

[@glentz716]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I always thought it could have used more work. It felt flat to me. It needed a little dialogue on the medical frigate.

[@fady02]

Lucky Number Slevin is a movie that I feel is quite underrated, and I love how its ending ties the whole story up

[@jasperrocks9967]

The best way I’ve heard good verses bad cliffhangers described is through a door analogy. End of your story, a character opens their door and looks looks at who’s there. We don’t see a reaction, or the person there, but are left wanting to know who it is. A good cliffhanger shows you the person at the door, and maybe the initial reaction of the character who opened the door.

[@jondoe170]

Thanks!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Just saw this--thank you so much for the tip!

[@petehealy9819]

Just. Absolutely. Brilliant. Your insights into not merely the "How" but the "Why" of good vs bad endings - and other important aspects of story-telling - blows me away time and again. So glad I discovered your channel recently, Brandon, and I'm about to start reading the copy of Entry Wounds I just bought. Thanks!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks so much! Glad you’re getting a lot out of these videos. And I hope you love Entry Wounds. Please leave a brief review when you’re done

[@tattoodude8946]

I would love to see you put together a similar video with opening scenes. I know you have touched on opening scenes/chapters/lines, but this good/bad setup really illustrates it well. And thank you for the warning about Wisdom - what you showed in the video was enough to p!ss me off - I can't imagine sitting through an hour and half and then getting robbed like that! 🤣

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I’ll add Good/Bad Opening Scenes to my request list, thanks. In the meantime, did you see my Bad Prologues vs Good Prologues video?

[@tattoodude8946]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I did, and it was both helpful and timely as I am editing/rewriting the second book in a trilogy (the dreaded middle book of the series). I am faced with the dilemma of recapping and building what happened between part one and two and a prologue may do the trick. Although I am now coming at it at a different angle that may work as well. It never hurts to write a couple options though. Your videos have been tremendously helpful.

[@brian.francisco]

I think the original Total Recall did the "It was all a dream" ending in a good way as well

[@jholmes45]

Best ending that I haven't seen anyone mention: The Usual Suspects GOT has the worst ending of any work of fiction in any medium, ever. They destroyed several character arcs, declined to pay off numerous story lines that had been building for years, and completely alienated an entire fanbase. The show went from nearly perfect to something that I actively discourage people from watching.

[@velocitor3792]

Vanilla Sky is how to do "it was just a dream" right... gives clues all along the way, and the main character is transformed by the characters and events of the dream, even though they didn't happen, because they tell him something about himself.

[@takeblame]

I searched this up hoping how to write a good bad ending, but still a great video!

[@thebiologist8662]

Proposal: Good evil protagonists vs Bad evil protagonists. (As in the protagonist is a villain, but good vs bad writing. i.e: The Joker, Walter White, Light Yagami, Tony Soprano)

[@NakAlienEd]

Can't forget Frank Underwood! Was a great villain protag that turned into a boring one.

[@BroZilla-vh3tu]

Eren is an interesting case. Up until now he's pretty great, but after the final episode drops I bet people are gonna sour on him

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I like this idea!! Just need to think of some bad ones

[@leolightfellow]

If it's just poorly written evil protagonists (not villain protagonists), I can think of two. Samuel L. Jackson's character in "The Man" (2005) and John C. Reilly's character in "Cyrus" (2010). I think Cyrus is the worst movie I've ever seen tbh, and I have no idea how it has a 74 on metacritic. I find that suspicious. The Man is also pretty bad. And neither are bad in a funny way.

[@thebiologist8662]

Evil protagonists are hard to pull off. You've gotta make the audience like and empathize with someone that's doing something evil and/or criminal. So, most of the time, they are well-written. I'm having a hard time thinking of badly written evil protagonists myself.

[@gasparsigma]

Nice video. Thanks for the attention on labeling the sections with spoilers 🙏

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

You're welcome!

[@carloseduardodiazjaramillo9848]

An awesome "it was all a dream" ending was the one from American Psyco. The story is told from the perspective of Bateman, and therefore, the audience is left as confused as the main character.

[@turnerjazz7872]

And that one's great because we don't really know if any of it happened or not. Maybe it was in his head or maybe he really did it all and the corporate guys are all so interchangeable that nobody realized his victims were gone. Could go either way.

[@ForOrAgainstUs]

For bad endings...virtually every Kids in the Hall sketch ever. I just remember them not knowing how to end a great sketch, so they just ended them all poorly and awkwardly.

[@MynameisS_A]

I used to think I was just being paranoid about realism in a story when all others I’ve watched growing up kept writing completely “normal” stories where heroes get the perfect ending.

[@martinry0427]

Just bought your book Entry Wounds. Love your material on KZbin and cannot wait to read the book!

[@Johannes_Sorvali]

Christopher Nolan's Inception has my favorite ending of all time. It's both a cliffhanger sorts of and "was it all a dream"? The way it's set up makes the viewer completely immerse themselves in the spinning top, is it going to fall or not, hoping that it falls so Leonardo gets back to his children. But it keeps it suspended all the way to the end, but gives a tiny glimmer of hope during the very Last fractions of second, when the top starts to tremble, signalling that it might be soon falling, right before the movie ends and the viewer snaps out of it, as if they themselves had been in a dream all along. It's heart-breakingly beautiful.

[@danielbrown9368]

Worst movie ending for me has to be Last Jedi not only for the reasons mentioned, but also because it was the ending of Star Wars itself as a viable narrative property of any quality.

[@joffles6516]

That war of the worlds movie seems like it had the potential to have one of the most tragic endings ever, if the rest of the family was already dead when they arrived

[@anthonysmith3926]

I love the fact that you included the Walking Dead season 6 ending here as it plays in the "adaptation" of a source for the telling in an alternate source. I agree with you on the "manipulative cliffhanger" in that it can be used to get you to watch the forthcoming installment, but how much of that plays into an adaptation, like the Walking Dead or the Witcher. That challenge of surprising not just the new audience, but the "source audience" if you will. I remember the talk around the time that this aired if being "will it be Glenn or will it be someone else" so while I agree with you on the "manipulative ending" I am not so sure this is the best example to use.

[@nosdregamon]

I think I see now, why "12 Monkeys" (despite being anything but a happy ending) always felt so satisfying to me.

[@bluegold1026]

As someone who's looking to write a story of my own, I thank you for your vids.

[@samhutchison9582]

That War of the Worlds ending is extra rough. The first 2/3 of that movie is excellent A perfect dark reflection of early 2000s anxieties. The third act, and es[ecially the ending, just feels like they had boxes to check off and gave up, completely undermining the pacing and feel of the first part of the movie.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yep, ties up everything way too neatly.

[@nateh6441]

​@WriterBrandonMcNulty War of the world's trashes a great movie with an awful Disneyland ending. The kid charges into an inferno of exploding tanks and makes it to Boston A-OK

[@daredevil6145]

14:40 lol, that was *Across the Spider-Verse*

[@atyrannosaurusrex]

As a writer, when I start writing a story, I've already got an idea of how it ends. I pick an ending state for a character and then write the story of the conditions that lead to the character being where they are. That seems to work a lot better for me than methods where I create the journey and then adapt the end and helps steer my vision when developing the plot and characters.

[@giovanniricci2869]

Very good ending: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone). Thanks for the great content 🙏

[@northernway4769]

I like ambiguous endings, but in subtle way, so you continue to think what happened afterwards. Not the "What?!?" open ending, that just make people frustrated. To me the worst kind is the nice wrap up ending to sort everything up in a positive and morally good way. It often feels like a studio decision, where the ending that got best response from a test audience was chosen.

[@rachelthompson9324]

good to know I nailed the ending in all of my novels and I left a few threads to spin sequels.

[@AllToastersToastToast]

The ‘it was all a dream’ ending that I thought of right away was the Futurama episode ‘The Sting.’ (Spoilers, of course. It’s a good example so I do recommend watching.) What I like about the ending is, the episode already sets up the idea that most of the episode is a bunch of hallucinations, so the relatively small twist that Leela dreamed Fry’s funeral is way more reasonable. Also, the ending strengthens the emotional impact instead of taking it away. Fry being by Leela’s bedside the whole time not only retroactively gives more meaning to parts of the episode, but it further cements the bond the two have.

[@jeffreiling5348]

One of my favorite movies “Wonder Boys” theme of deciding to act or not ie. take that chance and just keep cruising the easy way. I can watch this on a loop. Great cast.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What's the worst movie ending you've seen? Let us know, and be sure to give a SPOILER WARNING before giving any details

[@-441-]

I'm so glad you asked!! Black Widow!! Prob one of THE worst movie endings I've ever witnessed. Epsecially from a big budget movie studio like Marvel. Shocking!

[@kayeelling7151]

I hated the ending of Rogue One, mostly because it went so far against the log line of the movie. Star Wars stories at the time didn't **SPOILERS** end with nuclear explosions killing absolutely everybody as soon as the main objective had been achieved. I get why the filmmakers wanted to prove that the franchise is versatile and didn't want messy character arcs in the later timeline, but the SW universe is vast, and why not retire at least some them out of the conflict to maybe hook them back in later? I left the cinema feeling depressed and cheated.

[@Steelrat1994]

@@kayeelling7151 I felt that for once they had the guts to kill their main characters and keep the theme and the stakes of the movie serious instead of providing them cheap convenient escapes (as every other SW movie does). That was a good ending in my book.

[@lordmarcel902]

Spoiler Warning for Pirates of the Caribbean 5 I hated that ending, mostly because I loved the tragic ending with Will and Elitzabeth in the third movie. But then the fifth movie comes and reverses it. Will's curse is broken by a stupid McGuffin, that can destroy just every curse. Will didn't do anything to earn this. His son did all the work. And then Elizabeth is showing up and we hear the soundtrack from the third movie again, because the movie wants us to feel emotions like back then. It's unearned, cheap and too good to be true. Barbossa's death was the only thing in this movie that really had consequences, but this storyline with his daughter felt so forced and unfitting written in, that it just doesn't work for me.

[@Q_YWRM]

Not really a spoiler for Across the Spiderverse and Dune since it was announced, but SPOILER WARNING for Across the Spiderverse and Dune. This is because of #4, manipulative cliffhangers. It felt like the main beats setup during the movie were not resolved. Now it's far from the worse and there is a way of viewing the ending that makes it better, but I still felt lied to over the course of the movie once I got to the ending. I would really like at some point in the future to cover these Part 1 endings and how to do them correctly. So many movies are doing it now. Infinity War, Across the Spiderverse, Dune, Fast X, Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning. So far I think Infinity War does it the best as it felt complete.

[@hgman3920]

The original Total Recall was a great example of how to do the Just a Dream ending right, because either possibility (it was a dream, or it wasn't) is equally plausible. It leaves the audience wanting to dissect the film for clues to support their opinion on the matter. I love films which have ambiguous endings, as long as they are done right

[@Cinnder]

As you laid out your 5 points for a good ending, all I could think was that the Russos hit every one of those for the ending of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yep. Great movie. That was peak MCU IMO

[@andrew5098]

Your advises are simple and entertaining. Exactly what I need. Great videos.

[@jetnova3788]

Wisdom’s ending is probably the worst I’ve seen.

[@PatMcAnn]

At least it fits with the awfulness of the movie.

[@jetnova3788]

@@PatMcAnn I am truly shocked that I made it all the way through that turd

[@joshgulrud]

@5:30 Robbie could have said, "I ran away. I couldn't go through with it." Coward=survival

[@gowzahr]

I, for one, was thoroughly annoyed by the ending to Infinity War, because I knew that most, if not all, of the heroes that were snapped out of existence had already signed contracts for more movies. It completely undercut the apparent consequences to the situation.

[@YurtTheTurt]

There aint much the writers can do about that lol

[@gkoymnbxykfb]

Some of those movies could have been prequels or "what ifs"

[@LoudWaffle]

As someone who doesn't pay attention to behind the scenes stuff I was completely unaware of this and thoroughly loved Infinity War and its ending. Imagine my horror when my buddy tells me as we're leaving the theatre that people already know there's going to be a followup where everyone gets revived.

[@northernway4769]

Thanks for an interesting video! Endings are hard to get right some authors seem to really struggle with them. Neal Stephenson (Snow crash, Diamond age, Cryptonomicon, Seven Eves) comes to mind. He writes fantastic thought provoking stories, but the last chapters it always seem to fall apart in "meh. I often promise myself that the next book I stop before the final chapters, but I am always too curious to do it.

[@chuckchuk14]

The Mist's ending was conveniently infuriatingly sad. If it had just ended at the deaths it would have been sad, but the ANGER I feel when it's revealed that they were seconds away from salvation.... It's just too conveniently awful. I hate that ending so much.

[@hyzmarca2737]

That's why it's a good ending. The Mist is a horror movie, and that ending is real horror.

[@slimmccoy8863]

Yes, loved the ending. In horror, there are absolutely fates worse than death.

[@tgfitzgerald]

I personally loved the ending but I watched the movie with my kids recently and my middle son HATED IT!! I was surprised by how mad he got about it because he's usually pretty chill. Any ending that provokes such strong yet opposite responses has to have something going for it.

[@joeld8199]

Great video ... subscribed!!! 😊 I love unhappy endings!! Spider man movie when Emma stone dies in the clock tower at the end ... 10/10

[@KristianKumpula]

I'm not sure which movie ending I'd consider the worst, but when it comes to a series, the worst by far is the ending of Lost. I was blown away by how bad it was because of how good it was in the beginning.

[@alextsi1949]

Lost is actually a good ending. It had already answered all mysteries, while giving all of the characters a send-off.

[@ShowtimeDr]

Lost was awful because they didn't know what was in the underground. So there was never a good reveal. Copy paste Abrams did it again

[@cathal8618]

My favourite ending is from Rashomon. The woodsman taking in the child after he and the monk have their faith in humanity shaken to the core is such a cathartic moment

[@kostasl1808]

I don't have something in mind right now, but the type of ending that is delivered poorly most of the time is the open ending. The writers must be very causious when deciding to write an open ending because even if its purpose is to leave the audience/ reader speculating it must still be tuned in with the rest of the story and resolve at least the majority of plotlines. Otherwise, it feels like the writer couldn't come up with an ending and just wrote something just to conclude the story.

[@domhuckle]

Or endings that tease a sequal that will never come due to how badly the first was received?