8 Films That Ended Too Soon
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00:00 Over the last few years, it's become common for films to be so long we have to have the
00:04 debate on whether we need the return of the intermission at movie theatres.
00:08 Personally, I'd love to sit through three uninterrupted hours of The Batman, but me
00:12 and my addiction to buying the largest soda available makes this a literal tall order.
00:17 That being said, some films could dare to be a little bit longer.
00:21 With some movies, storylines come out of nowhere and really mess with the momentum, and worse
00:25 yet, engaging plot points can quite similarly wander off into nothing.
00:29 Things can be abrupt or unfinished, leaving you wondering if someone made a mistake in
00:33 the edit.
00:34 Whatever the case, some films could do with at least an extra 10 or 15 minutes to really
00:38 help themselves along.
00:40 I'm Sci for WhatCulture.com and these are 8 films that ended too soon.
00:44 8.
00:45 The Grey
00:46 2011's The Grey is a rugged, masculine tale of survival against the elements and a hungry
00:51 pack of wolves that perhaps promised more than it could truly deliver.
00:55 The power of the metaphor is great, and it's certainly made abundantly clear that Neeson's
00:59 John Ottoway facing down the alpha wolf is symbolism for him finally standing up to his
01:04 problems rather than running away.
01:06 After all, moments before the face-off, we find out that John's plans to commit suicide
01:10 in the film's opening spawned from his inability to confront his wife's terminal illnesses.
01:15 Now death stares him down, he chooses to fight, and… credits.
01:20 The bigger problem is that the film's post-credit scene actually tags on the revelation that
01:24 he won that fight, albeit at great cost.
01:27 So, you mean to say that I sat through the whole film, there was a face-off between Liam
01:31 Neeson and the wolf that wasn't meant to be ambiguous, but most audiences didn't
01:35 see it?
01:36 The abrupt ending of The Grey is more in line with its deeper, philosophical tones but is
01:40 undermined by that very final scene, also cheapened by the fact that sometimes you just
01:44 want to see a man and a wolf go toe to toe.
01:47 7.
01:48 World War Z
01:49 Even with several extra months to shoot alternate endings and a ballooning budget to prove it,
01:53 the final cut of Mark Forster's World War Z seems to have decided to do away with an
01:58 ending altogether.
01:59 Throughout the story, it becomes suspected that World War Z zombies have zero interest
02:03 in those with terminal illnesses, so whilst our heroes can't undo the undead infection,
02:08 they can make it easier to live with.
02:10 As the film closes out, Brad Pitt's character finds himself facing down a lone zombie and
02:14 is forced to test this theory by injecting himself with a deadly pathogen.
02:18 Lucky for him, it works, and the undead eyeing him up for elevensies loses interest and shuffles
02:23 away.
02:24 Then, the film just kind of ends.
02:26 Pitt narrates the standard epilogue voiceover, complete with the stereotypical "this is
02:30 not the end" line, even though you know it is.
02:34 Footage shows the next stages of the zombie infestation, similar camouflaged drugs produced
02:38 en masse, folks evacuated from major areas, and some awesome but very brief shots of zombies
02:43 herded into a football stadium and then destroyed.
02:46 The problem is that it would have been far more interesting to actually have these play
02:49 out as plot points, not a rushed, sappy montage.
02:52 6.
02:53 Contagion
02:54 Now, don't get me wrong, Contagion is certainly well directed, well cast, and tonally very
02:59 clever, never sensationalising anything and making every moment feel very real and believable.
03:05 However, because of its clinical nature, at times it's easy to forget that you're
03:08 watching a film, and not a collection of random scenes from different movies spliced together.
03:13 Contagion just sort of wanders from one scenario to the next without giving us time to engage
03:17 with its cast.
03:19 The film's vast array of characters have their struggles, but they don't really do
03:22 much except sit by whilst millions die until the CDC suddenly pops out a cure.
03:27 After that, the movie wraps up in a hurry with next to zero character resolutions.
03:31 Arantes discovers that Song Feng's village has been given a placebo and races off to
03:35 do something we never see.
03:37 Conspiracy theorist Alan's character is a shockingly real story strand, especially
03:41 in a post-COVID-19 world, that vanishes after he's thrown in jail since it has no actual
03:46 effect on any events that affect the rest of the story.
03:49 Whilst a conceptually interesting film, Contagion falls at the final hurdle by giving so few
03:54 of its characters meaningful resolutions that could have been achieved with just a slightly
03:58 longer runtime.
03:59 5.
04:00 Cloverfield
04:01 Cloverfield really turned up the scope of what a found footage film could be.
04:05 The movie does a fantastic job of not overexposing the monster raining hell down on Manhattan
04:10 by showing us too much, instead focusing on iconic New York locations in states of disarray
04:16 as a group of survivors try to make their escape.
04:19 In retrospect, Cloverfield could have done with a bit more meat on the bone, and it's
04:22 the third act that needed that extra substance the most.
04:26 At the film's jumping off point, protagonist Rob and ex-girlfriend Beth have an argument
04:30 that sees her leaving a house party before all hell breaks loose.
04:34 As the film hurtles towards its resolution, Rob is suddenly consumed by the need to run
04:38 back into Manhattan to save her.
04:40 It's around this time that Cloverfield loses its momentum, instead of building up to climactic
04:45 or memorable scenes of chaos and destruction, as any good disaster movie should, we instead
04:50 focus on a character who has been mostly seen in the film via bits of old videotape.
04:55 Nonetheless, Rob pulls Beth from the rubble of her apartment, reuniting with his old flame
04:59 so that they can die under a bridge together in Central Park sometime later.
05:03 That's very romantic, but can I see more destruction and mayhem, please?
05:08 4.
05:09 Warcraft
05:10 As engaging as the story of Durotan and his Orc tribe is, Warcraft can't get out of
05:14 its own way.
05:15 As the film tries to carry so many different story threads at once, its worldbuilding turns
05:19 the film into one big bloated mess.
05:23 Instead of concentrating on the Orc's pursuit of a new home, Warcraft tries its damndest
05:27 to also tell the story of the formation of the Alliance, the Guardian of Azeroth, and
05:32 the birth of Thrall.
05:33 It gets a bit dizzying at times and amounts to a big fat "Oh" when the film concludes
05:38 with nothing more than a big sword fight and then scurries along to show us baby Thrall
05:42 in the reeds as sequel bait.
05:44 With some extra time, Warcraft might have stood a chance to deliver at least some semblance
05:48 of satisfying resolution to its multiple story strand instead of basically asking us to come
05:53 back and find out next time.
05:55 It'd be easy to find that time if the film cut down on the number of winks and nods,
05:59 too.
06:00 The gall that Warcraft has to set itself up for sequels without making sure the first
06:03 entry could swim rather than sink is ultimately its undoing.
06:07 3.
06:08 Broken Flowers
06:09 Broken Flowers sees Bill Murray's Don Johnston receiving an anonymous letter declaring that
06:14 his time as a stud in his youth produced a son he's never met.
06:18 The pacing of the film is a little unusual, but all the better for it, as Don visits four
06:23 women he's previously been involved with to see where they ended up.
06:26 Unsuccessful in finding the truth, Don picks a random man off the street to talk to, clearly
06:31 now obsessed with finding the answer and looking for it anywhere.
06:35 When he spooks the kid, Don finds himself standing lonesome in the middle of a road.
06:39 A VW Beetle rolls past, with a man hanging out the passenger window, played by Bill's
06:44 real-life son Homer, before we cut to black.
06:47 And that's where it leaves us, quite literally with Don standing at a crossroads.
06:52 As a Murray comedy drama vehicle, it's almost certainly one of the most underrated, and
06:56 watching the former playboy Don become obsessed with his search for his son is very endearing.
07:01 That makes it all the sadder that it stops when things are feeling like they're just
07:04 getting towards the third act.
07:06 For some films, the cliffhanger ending is necessary and makes you excited about mulling
07:10 over the possibilities in your own mind.
07:12 For Broken Flowers, it's a damp squib that blemishes an otherwise wonderful piece.
07:17 2.
07:18 Get Out
07:19 Get Out was a bold, strange, oftentimes uncomfortable film that was beautifully shot and featured
07:24 a stellar cast.
07:25 What's not to love?
07:27 In the film's final scenes, Rose ends up bleeding from a gunshot wound, with Chris
07:31 Estride choking her.
07:33 His face falls as a police car pulls up, and he and the audience share a sombre moment
07:37 of knowing exactly what this looks like.
07:41 Except surprise, it's Chris's friend Rod who has commandeered a vehicle and found his
07:45 friend at his most vulnerable moment.
07:47 It's very odd to end Get Out paying off a joke from the film's side story, where
07:51 Rod's TSA training has caused him to become suspicious of Rose's family.
07:56 But what happens next?
07:58 Rose may have been left bleeding out on the road, but are we to believe all of that commotion
08:02 wouldn't have caught the attention of the Armitage family's neighbourhood?
08:05 What happens when she tells them her ex-boyfriend burnt down her home and shot her?
08:09 And if she does die, wouldn't anyone who finds her body also identify that her boyfriend
08:14 just up and left on the night her whole family died?
08:17 Chris surely hasn't escaped the reality of the situation, which would have been a
08:20 better note to end the film on, rather than what's essentially a throwaway gag.
08:25 1.
08:26 Jurassic Park 3
08:28 When Jurassic Park 3 started production, its script barely had a middle and it didn't
08:32 have an end.
08:33 The crew were on location, shooting without knowing what the climax of the film would
08:37 be, so with that in mind, it's not surprising that the film just peters out without any
08:41 real resolution.
08:43 Considering that Jurassic Park 3 is about 30 minutes shorter than its predecessors,
08:47 it physically feels shorter and more shallow, and literally unresolved, as one day, production
08:52 just had to wrap.
08:54 So hey, where's my final act?
08:57 The big bad Spinosaurus, which is seen early in the movie killing a T-Rex, is literally
09:02 scared away by a little bit of fire, never to be seen again.
09:06 Following this, the humans give some raptors back their stolen eggs and they bounce off
09:10 like everything as well.
09:11 All the threat of the Jurassic menace leaves the film, and franchise, like air from a particularly
09:16 squeaky balloon.
09:18 With a complete script, we could have actually had a memorable conclusion.
09:22 After all, the original films had iconic endings, the victorious Tyrannosaurus Rex roaring in
09:27 the destroyed visitor centre, and dinosaurs roaming through Seattle.
09:31 Jurassic Park 3, by comparison, fades out unceremoniously.
09:36 The point of Jurassic Park was wonderment and terror.
09:39 This film destroys the latter, which strips the former.
09:42 Put next to the previous films, Jurassic Park 3 feels far lesser.
09:46 Thanks for watching this video, and don't forget to head down to the comments to let
09:49 us know what films you thought ended just that little bit too soon.
09:53 I've been Sci for What Culture, and have a good week.