10 More Movies That Almost Had Much Better Endings
Black Widow could have given Natasha Romanoff and Scarlett Johansson a much better send off.
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00:00You could argue that the final moments of any movie are among its most critical.
00:04Does it matter how good the beginning and middle are if the final moments can't bring
00:09everything together and stick the landing?
00:11It's crucial that the conclusion is done right.
00:14You'd be forgiven for thinking that the ending that makes the final cut would in theory be
00:18the best of the bunch, and while this usually is the case, it's not always.
00:23Now we have previously done a video on this very subject, so make sure to check that out,
00:27but I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 10 more movies that almost had much better endings.
00:33Number 10.
00:34Peter meets his father, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
00:37The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014 fell particularly flat, with the ending teasing something further
00:43that never came to fruition.
00:45The final moments of the movie saw Harry Osborn begin to set up the Sinister Six, while Peter
00:50was dragged out of his downward spiral of depression following the death of Gwen Stacy
00:55to return to the superhero life.
00:57One of the heavier themes throughout Andrew Garfield's second Spider-Man film was how
01:01he was affected by the loss of his parents.
01:04Something that would have taken a new direction had the alternate ending in which he actually
01:08met his father face-to-face made the cut.
01:11It's a scene that would have raised questions, certainly, but it saw Andrew Garfield put
01:15in some of his finest and most emotional work as Peter Parker, as his first conversation
01:20with his dad since he was a small boy helped push him towards making his triumphant return
01:25as Spidey.
01:27Number 9.
01:28Evan erases himself, The Butterfly Effect.
01:31Time travel has been done so often in movies that it can be difficult to find a new and
01:35unique way of presenting it within a story.
01:38In 2004, The Butterfly Effect had an interesting premise in that Ashton Kutcher's Evan was
01:43able to project his conscience back in time to inhabit his younger self during blackouts,
01:49which he used to change the past in an attempt to make the present better for him and his
01:53friends.
01:55It's a dark story, portraying heavy themes of abuse and suicide, and every time Evan
01:59went back to the past to change something specific, a different aspect of his life would
02:04suffer for it.
02:05In the end, Evan accepted that there was nothing he could do in the past that could make life
02:09better for everyone, so he sacrificed his own happiness and removed himself from his
02:14friends' lives in order to make sure that they had better ones.
02:18It's an interesting conclusion, but the director's cut features something much darker and far
02:22more shocking.
02:23After coming to the harrowing realisation that the world was better off without him,
02:28Evan went back to being in the womb where he strangled himself with his own umbilical
02:32cord to prevent his curse from ever coming to life at all.
02:35It is bleak, certainly, and doesn't make for pleasant viewing, but it would have been
02:40a lot more powerful and memorable, even if a little traumatising.
02:44Number 8.
02:45Not just another cliche, Fatal Attraction.
02:48Fatal Attraction gained universal praise upon its release in 1987 and was nominated for
02:53no fewer than six Academy Awards.
02:56However, that doesn't mean the movie was perfect, as even the star of the show was
03:00completely dissatisfied with the ending that made it into cinemas.
03:05The story tells of the married Dan Gallagher, played by Michael Douglas, having a weekend-long
03:09affair with Glenn Close's Alex Forrest, who takes it badly when the former wants to cut
03:14things off.
03:15The ending that everyone knows shows Alex attempting to kill Dan's wife Beth in a fit
03:19of jealous rage before being ultimately killed by the married couple herself.
03:24Dan and Beth then go back to being happily married like nothing happened.
03:28The problem with this is that Dan doesn't really face much in the way of consequences
03:31for his adultery, while Alex is made to look like the only one in the wrong.
03:35Glenn Close herself reportedly hated this ending as it painted her character as just
03:40another female psycho rather than the nuanced and troubled character she had played.
03:45In the original script, Alex killed herself, framing Dan for the murder.
03:49He was ultimately acquitted thanks to a tape of Alex threatening to commit suicide, but
03:53there is a huge difference in the tone.
03:56Instead of Alex being portrayed as the cliched, irredeemable villain, she is seen as vulnerable,
04:01troubled, and sympathetic, with the point being driven home of how badly Dan treated
04:06her.
04:07Close initially refused to shoot the new scene, and it's easy to see why.
04:117.
04:12McClane Says, Die Hard with a Vengeance
04:15For the most part, whenever John McClane has been a spanner in the works of a terrorist
04:19organization, there was something personal at stake for him.
04:22In Die Hard with a Vengeance, however, he was personally sought out by Simon Gruber.
04:27Seeking vengeance for the death of his brother, Simon made it personal, evolving into a rivalry
04:32that ended with McClane shooting the villain's helicopter out of the sky.
04:37McClane won, because of course he did, but there was almost a different ending that,
04:41though only for a short time, saw him lose.
04:44After being sent all around New York City with riddles and infuriating games of Simon
04:49Says, the villain would have gotten away with all the gold in Fort Knox, with McClane taking
04:53the blame, losing both his job and his pension.
04:56For revenge, in something of a twist on the game Simon forced John and Zeus to play throughout
05:01the film, the hero had the villain play a deadly Russian roulette-esque game of McClane
05:06Says, with a Chinese rocket launcher modified to make it impossible to know which way it
05:11would fire.
05:12Answer a question wrong and pull the trigger.
05:15Of course Simon lost.
05:17This would have been the epitome of a broken-down hero with nothing left to lose, and would
05:21have made for a more nuanced ending than a helicopter explosion.
05:256.
05:26George Sacrifices Himself, Rampage
05:29Dwayne Johnson is without question one of the biggest stars working in the industry
05:33today and has earned his way to the top of the highest-paid actors list multiple times
05:38over the last few years.
05:39However, all that doesn't necessarily mean that every movie of his is a hit.
05:44In fact, plenty fail to strike a positive reception.
05:48The likes of San Andreas and Skyscraper are particularly poor entries in The Rock's back
05:53catalogue, as is 2018's Rampage.
05:56For all of the action and CGI involved, these titles in particular have come across as just
06:01a tad generic.
06:03The video game adaptation saw George, a silverback gorilla, grow to a ridiculous size and essentially
06:09fight off and save Chicago from an equally gargantuan crocodile.
06:14If the original ending had made the final cut, George would have sacrificed himself
06:18to save the day.
06:20Johnson liked sending audiences home happy and didn't like the idea of such a sad end
06:25to the story.
06:26Sad it may have been, but it could have at least gone some way to stopping the film from
06:31being so damn forgettable.
06:33Number 5.
06:34Judgment Day Never Came, Terminator 2 Judgment Day
06:38Like too many movie franchises, Terminator has steadily declined over the years and has
06:43ultimately outstayed its welcome.
06:46Terminator 3, Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys underwhelmed
06:50greatly, unable to come anywhere close to Terminator 2 Judgment Day and 1984's The Terminator.
06:58The ending to the first Terminator sequel, however, was ultimately undone by both Terminator
07:033 and Terminator Dark Fate, rendering the T-800's noble and emotional sacrifice redundant.
07:09James Cameron's original ending would have been very different and much more final, with
07:13a glimpse into the future confirming that Judgment Day definitely did not happen on
07:18the 29th of August 1997.
07:21After saving the future and ensuring the evil Skynet Corporation would not incite the nuclear
07:26holocaust as prophesied, Sarah Connor would have enjoyed what seemed to be a peaceful
07:31life with her son John and his daughter.
07:33Instead, the precedent created by Skynet always being able to send someone back in time gives
07:38the feeling that no matter what happens in each movie, the cycle will just keep repeating
07:43itself.
07:44Number 4.
07:45Mickey and Mallory Are Killed, Natural Born Killers
07:48The story of Natural Born Killers is a relatively simple one with a powerful message that hits
07:53hard.
07:54Mickey and Mallory Knox, played by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis respectively, go on a killing
07:59spree, taking the lives of more than 50 people, and are all but made stars thanks to the media's
08:05coverage.
08:06It's a movie that has not been without controversy over the years and has been accused of glamorising
08:10the crimes of Mickey and Mallory in the exact same way it was itself trying to satire.
08:16The final moment certainly didn't help in this regard.
08:19After being arrested and incarcerated for their crimes and having their faces plastered
08:23all over TV, the killers managed to escape and in doing so killed almost everybody else
08:28in the process.
08:30The final shot sees them living out an almost normal life as a happy family with laughing
08:34children and another one on the way.
08:37They killed without remorse and in the end suffered no consequences.
08:41This wouldn't have been the case in the alternate ending that was shot and left on the cutting
08:45room floor, as the two would have been murdered themselves by Owen, who helped them escape
08:50and is described as something of a guardian angel figure.
08:53There is something to be said about the irony of their deaths coming at the hands of another
08:57so-called natural-born killer rather than any authority like the police, as well as
09:02the fact that they weren't able to live out a happy ending after the atrocities they committed.
09:073.
09:08Chris Gets Arrested, Get Out
09:10Despite previously being best known as one half of the comedy duo Key and Peele, Jordan
09:15Peele took the entire horror genre by storm in 2017 with his directorial debut.
09:21Get Out was almost universally praised and became all but a classic overnight.
09:26The director was praised for his approach to and interpretation of society and its powerful
09:31message about inequality and discrimination.
09:34There was an alternate ending, however, that would have been far darker, but could have
09:38driven home the message of Peele's story even further.
09:41Rather than Chris being rescued, he would have been greeted by the police, who immediately
09:45arrested him for the murder of the Armitage family, with nobody believing his story.
09:51The distinct lack of justice brought on by Chris being sent to prison, depressing as
09:55it may have been, arguably would have been a more poignant and thought-provoking full
10:00stop on the message the movie portrayed throughout than his ultimate escape.
10:042.
10:05Freddy Didn't Survive, A Nightmare on Elm Street
10:08Up there with the likes of Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Leatherface as some of the
10:13biggest icons in the history of the horror genre is Freddy Krueger.
10:17The dream-stalking villain first appeared in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street
10:21back in 1984, and has since made eight further cinematic appearances.
10:27All of these sequels were made possible by the fact that the original movie ended with
10:31the reveal that Freddy was still alive, allowing him to haunt nightmares for many more years
10:36to come.
10:37But that's not how the director initially wanted things to go.
10:41Craven's initial ending focused more on Nancy's victory rather than the villain.
10:46She had won, and without the final twist of Freddy's survival, the movie ended on a
10:51quiet, peaceful note that saw her return to her normal life.
10:55Producer Bob Shea took issue with this, however, as there was no potential to build a franchise.
11:01Of course, the scene that made the final cut famously showed the return of Freddy, but
11:05this, in turn, signaled the departure of Wes Craven from the franchise.
11:10Number 1.
11:11Natasha as a role model, Black Widow
11:13Scarlett Johansson has been a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe longer than
11:18almost anyone, and there is no denying that Black Widow deserved her own solo outing.
11:23However, there is also no denying that Natasha's solo outing came too late.
11:29Acting as a prequel set between the events of Captain America Civil War and Avengers
11:33Infinity War, the movie ended on a tease for how Nat wound up back with the Avengers
11:39in time for Thanos' invasion.
11:41This fell flat because everyone already knew the story, and as such, the scene really didn't
11:45add anything substantial.
11:48What would have, however, is Black Widow's original closing moments.
11:52Instead of leading into a film that had already happened, both Natasha and Scarlett Johansson's
11:57MCU swan song could have concluded in a much more meaningful way by showing just how much
12:02impact the hero had on the world.
12:05Passing a group of children playing in the street, Natasha was recognized by one of the
12:09young girls, with whom she shared a quick moment.
12:12They only smiled and pointed imaginary blasters at each other, but it showed how much Black
12:17Widow meant to her as a superhero, and in a more real way, how much Scarlett Johansson's
12:22role meant to young girls watching her.
12:25She was a true role model, and this would have been a far more poignant and meaningful
12:30final scene for the character.