22 Awesome Movies Ruined By Their Awful Endings

    These otherwise excellent films couldn't stick the landing...

    Ken W. Hanley
    by Ken W. Hanley

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    Making a movie can be a miracle in and of itself, but making one with a universally lauded ending can be almost impossible at times.

    Focus Features

    From independent hits to summer blockbusters, there have been plenty of films throughout history whose third-act problems became our problems as well. With this in mind, I've assembled 22 exceptional movies whose legacy will always be hampered by their oh-so-rotten endings.

    1. High Tension

    A wounded young woman emerges from a capsized car
    LIONSGATE FILMS / Album / Alamy

    Cast: Cécile de France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon, and Franck Khalfoun
    Director: Alexandre Aja
    Runtime: 89 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    In the breakout directorial effort from Crawl's Alexandre Aja, two best friends on a weekend study getaway find themselves on the run from a sadistic serial killer who savagely murders anyone in his path. High Tension was a solid and brutal horror offering that hit at the perfect time for international success, but almost all can agree its climactic twist and gruesome finale leave the audience's eyes rolling all the way until the end credits.

    2. The Wolverine

    A man in a tank top with metal claws kneels near a giant machine
    20th Century Fox / Cinematic Collection / Alamy

    Cast: Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima, and Svetlana Khodchenkova
    Director: James Mangold
    Runtime: 126 Minutes
    Rating: PG-13
    Rotten Tomatoes

    The second solo outing for James Howlett (aka Logan, aka Wolverine) in the X-Men franchise, The Wolverine is a singular effort that was miles above X-Men Origins: Wolverine, thanks to some awesome action and fairly inspired set pieces. However, the film's legacy is nearly nonexistent thanks to a bloated, overproduced ending that tosses the cool, intimate combat sequences out the window in order to have the titular character battle it out with a giant mechanical ronin. Furthermore, The Wolverine's post-credits scene failed the film after the fact, as the promised continued story was ultimately shaken up and completely disregarded in favor of Days of Future Past.

    3. Sully

    An older man with a mustache in a suit stands near a river
    Warner Bros. / PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy

    Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Valerie Mahaffey, Delphi Harrington, and Anna Gunn
    Director: Clint Eastwood
    Runtime: 96 Minutes
    Rating: PG-13
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Following the true story of pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, Sully is Clint Eastwood's crowd-pleasing salute to the heroic story of an ordinary man in an extraordinary ordeal and features one of Tom Hanks's most impressive recent performances. But despite everything that the film has going for it, this critical and commercial darling bafflingly ends with a freeze frame on a corny joke, essentially wrapping up this biographical drama on the same note as a '70s sitcom.

    4. Prometheus

    Three astronauts explore an archaic and mysterious temple
    20th Century Fox / Maximum Film / Alamy

    Cast: Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green, and Guy Pearce
    Director: Ridley Scott
    Runtime: 123 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Ridley Scott’s imaginative and massive return to the Alien franchise has many high spots, most of which are bolstered by his ambition to explore themes you may not expect out of a creature feature. Yet while Jon Spaihts’s original script had a more logical and terrifying ending at hand, rewrites ultimately gave us the convoluted hot mess of a finale that the film now carries as an anchor to its eventual follow-up, Alien: Covenant.

    5. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    An older woman stands near a trio of imposing billboards
    Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy

    Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, and Peter Dinklage
    Director: Martin McDonagh
    Runtime: 115 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    This critically-acclaimed comedy-drama from The Banshees of Inisherin director Martin McDonagh follows a vindictive woman as she seeks justice for her murdered daughter by publicly pulling her local sheriff department into the spotlight for their inaction. The acerbic and provocative film often showcases McDonagh’s strength for subverting expectations, but the same can’t be said for the film’s lame duck, antithetical ending, which essentially conflicts with the principles of the main character in a wry yet inorganic (and, frankly, unearned) fashion.

    6. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

    A tyrannosaurus rex roars at someone in a warehouse
    Universal Pictures / ScreenProd / Photononstop / Alamy

    Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, and Vanessa Lee Chester
    Director: Steven Spielberg
    Runtime: 134 Minutes
    Rating: PG-13
    Rotten Tomatoes

    While the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise has a wide berth between its hits and misses, The Lost World is often considered to be the second-best entry in the series, with Steven Spielberg returning to the director's chair to expand upon the universe he established in the original. But even the most ardent Jurassic Park super-fans find it hard to defend The Lost World's superfluous third act, which brings a T-Rex that incredulously raises hell in San Diego of all places.

    7. Come True

    A young woman covered in blood stares into a mirror
    Copperheart Entertainment / Album / Alamy

    Cast: Julia Sarah Stone, Landon Liboiron, Caroline Buzanko, and Christopher Heatherington
    Director: Anthony Scott Burns
    Runtime: 105 Minutes
    Rating: Not Rated
    Rotten Tomatoes

    The latest visceral vision from up-and-coming horror filmmaker Anthony Scott Burns, Come True is one of the most bold and genuinely frightening genre gems in recent year whose cult fanbase has continued to grow since its quiet mid-pandemic release. Yet outside of its pulse-pounding scare sequences, the film has also gained notoriety for its controversial ending, which many cite as a confusing and underwhelming final beat that undersells the story as a whole.

    8. Broadcast News

    A trio of reporters are captivated by a televised news story
    20th Century Fox / Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy

    Cast: Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Albert Brooks, and Jack Nicholson
    Director: James L. Brooks
    Runtime: 132 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    There's no denying that James. L. Brooks's Broadcast News is one of the definitive dramas of the 1980s, with the complicated love triangle at its center driving it to critical acclaim and even a spot among the Criterion Collection. Nevertheless, even the film's stellar legacy can't shake the longstanding divisiveness of its ending, in which the ultimate choice of Holly Hunter's Jane Craig has left a hollow feeling among a majority of viewers for more than 35 years.

    9. The Entity

    A young woman is amazed by a spontaneous electrical formation above her bed
    20th Century Fox / PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy

    Cast: Barbara Hershey, Ron Silver, George Coe, and Alex Rocco
    Director: Sidney J. Furie
    Runtime: 125 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    An unforgettable adaptation of the Frank De Felitta novel about a woman defending herself and her family from a violent and sexually abusive poltergeist, The Entity has become a cult classic for its unnerving boldness and genuinely scary haunting sequences, even becoming noted by Martin Scorsese among the scariest horror films of all time. However, it ends on a bizarre and sour note that will leave most viewers scratching their heads, as a woman returns to her haunted home only for the ghost within her house to call her a vulgar slur out of nowhere, which plays way more absurdly than intended.

    10. Widows

    A pair of women look concerned in an empty warehouse
    Twentieth Century Fox / Entertainment Pictures / Alamy

    Cast: Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, and Colin Farrell
    Director: Steve McQueen
    Runtime: 128 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Widows was a spectacular sleeper hit in 2018, proving that filmmaker Steve McQueen can make compelling and tense studio fare while preserving his signature style and exhibiting stellar performances from the ensemble cast. But a really lackluster third-act twist leads to a finale that feels too complicated and convenient for an otherwise really tight and straightforward heist thriller, which may be why the film hasn't remained as culturally revered as it should.

    11. Contact

    A woman explores the hull of a futuristic spacecraft
    Warner Bros. / AJ Pics / Alamy

    Cast: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, David Morse, and Angela Bassett
    Director: Robert Zemeckis
    Runtime: 150 Minutes
    Rating: PG
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Based on the novel by Carl Sagan, Contact was a global hit and found high critical marks throughout its release in 1997, which helped reinvigorate the careers of stars Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. But if there’s anything that has hurt Contact’s reputation, it has been the maudlin and laughable conclusion, which somewhat subverts the intriguing themes and ideas presented in an otherwise gripping story.

    12. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

    An actor attempts to fight a nearly nude rival
    Fox Searchlight / Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy

    Cast: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts
    Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
    Runtime: 119 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    One of the biggest shocks of the Academy Awards in 2015 was Birdman being snubbed for Best Picture, as the film had long been the favorite for audiences and critics alike and properly heralded a comeback for star Michael Keaton. But one reason it may not have grabbed the biggest prize in cinema may be the film's polarizing ending, in which the darker and more humane ending features a somewhat fantastical post-script that feels like the "Hollywood" cherry on an art film sundae.

    13. Red State

    An intimidating elderly preacher readies his sermon
    NVSH PRODUCTIONS / Album / Alamy

    Cast: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, and Michael Angarano
    Director: Kevin Smith
    Runtime: 89 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Kevin Smith's first foray into horror filmmaking came in the form of Red State, one of his most disturbing and dramatically potent films elevated by an awesome ensemble cast. Yet the film will never quite reach the heights of Smith's other classics thanks to a wet fart of an ending, bringing the film to a screeching, anticlimactic halt that makes you wonder why you were invested in the suspenseful story in the first place.

    14. Spring Breakers

    Two bikini clad women stand near a man with guns and a sports car
    Muse Productions / PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy

    Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, James Franco, and Selena Gomez
    Director: Harmony Korine
    Runtime: 94 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Spring Breakers has always been a divisive film, as Harmony Korine's neon-soaked art film was an unexpected hit, though its experimental tone was simply too strange for some. But if there's anything both fans and haters of the epic party drama can agree on, it's that the film's hard right turn into a trigger-happy revenge fantasy was ill-fitting to close an otherwise singular cinematic experience.

    15. 8MM

    Two men are visibly shocked by watching a videotape
    Columbia Pictures / United Archives GmbH / Alamy

    Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, and Anthony Heald
    Director: Joel Schumacher
    Runtime: 123 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Joel Schumacher's envelope-pushing neo-noir thriller has evolved from sleeper hit to full-on cult classic, as 8MM has since become among Nicolas Cage's most slept-on films among contemporary audiences. This could very possibly be the result of the film's tonally conflicted ending, as the narrative feels dead set on a less melancholy and more hopeful ending despite the truly dark journey that its protagonist previously endured.

    16. Hancock

    A man in a wool hat and a tattered jacket poses near some wreckage
    Sony Pictures / Maximum Film / Alamy

    Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, and Eddie Marsan
    Director: Peter Berg
    Runtime: 92 Minutes
    Rating: PG-13
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Hancock is one of those films that rests so close to the edge of greatness that it's a damn shame that it never quite became the subversive flick that both comments on and works as a superhero movie. Most fans will tell you that's because the film takes a fairly steep nosedive during its third act, betraying the fun, comedic tone of the first half of the film for a self-serious, lore-heavy finale that few remember and even less enjoyed.

    17. War of the Worlds (2005)

    A frightened middle-aged man crouched near an abandoned car
    Paramount Pictures / Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy

    Cast: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins
    Director: Steven Spielberg
    Runtime: 116 Minutes
    Rating: PG-13
    Rotten Tomatoes

    It's strange that, out of all the filmmakers out there, Steven Spielberg somehow lands on this list twice. Alas, that's the case, as his second collaboration with Tom Cruise resulted in a gigantic sci-fi blockbuster that has you on the edge of your seat...until the film's closing minutes, as a ho-hum third act gives way to a climactic twist that is flat-out stupid, leaving the film to shuffle its story toward an ultimately inconsequential end point.

    18. Destroyer (2018)

    An older woman hides for cover with a machine gun
    ANNAPURNA PICTURES / MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD / Alamy

    Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan, and Tatiana Maslany
    Director: Karyn Kusama
    Runtime: 123 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    In her followup to her nail-biting thriller The Invitation, filmmaker Karyn Kusama enlisted Nicole Kidman to reinvent herself as a haggard and haunted former undercover cop who aims to solve a crime directly tied to her traumatic past. While Kidman is outstanding and the film is almost a home run, a really silly last-minute twist and a final scene that feels incredibly familiar to the genre keep Destroyer from reaching its full potential.

    19. Us

    A scared woman stands near the burning wreckage of a car
    Universal Pictures / Lifestyle pictures / Alamy

    Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Shahadi Wright Joseph
    Director: Jordan Peele
    Runtime: 116 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    Jordan Peele's sophomore film certainly maintained (or, arguably, raised) the level of ambition he highlighted in Get Out, and for the most part, the film is very effective, with a number of shocking and scary set pieces throughout providing a new generation with some fresh nightmare fuel. Alas, no one is going to lose any sleep over the film's third act, which provides a stage for a style-over-substance fight scene, a curiously front-and-center Hands Across America riff, and a final twist that comes off as one indulgence too many.

    20. Stripes

    A male and female soldier draw close with a shared flirtatious glare
    Columbia Pictures / Cinematic Collection / Alamy

    Cast: Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, P. J. Soles, and John Candy
    Director: Ivan Reitman
    Runtime: 105 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    A classic comedy that is not only renowned for its hilarity but the later projects it would inspire, Ghostbusters among them, Stripes doesn't necessarily have an ending problem as much as it has a third-act problem. With the film reaching its logical conclusion at the end of the second act, Stripes continues for another 20 minutes with an extraneous and nearly laugh-free war sequence that is frequently considered to be one of the big blunders in comedy film history.

    21. Smokin’ Aces

    A odd-looking man harassed an injured man in a yellow shirt in a rooftop parking lot
    Universal Pictures / Maximum Film / Alamy

    Cast: Common, Chris Pine, Alicia Keys, and Ryan Reynolds
    Director: Joe Carnahan
    Runtime: 109 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    For the majority of its runtime, Smokin' Aces is a kinetic action film with fun, chaotic energy and a gleefully broken moral compass. But the bonkers and badass hijinks of the film are nowhere to be seen in the unexpectedly heavy-handed ending with a frustrating twist and a lame final beat that relies on unearned emotional stakes.

    22. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

    A pierced young woman in a hoodie and a jacket looks off into the distance
    Columbia TriStar / Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

    Cast: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Robin Wright, and Stellan Skarsgård
    Director: David Fincher
    Runtime: 158 Minutes
    Rating: R
    Rotten Tomatoes

    David Fincher's English-language remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a seemingly impossible task, but he very nearly pulled it off, as the film matched the tone of the original adaptation with technical spectacle and an expansive scope for which the beloved filmmaker is known. That said, the film's ending feels sanitized and "Hollywood"-ified as opposed to the ending of the original adaptation and book, prioritizing a romantic angle over the nature of the characters themselves.

    Do you agree with my list? What endings did I forget to mention? Let me know in the comment section below!