You would think making a movie is a straightforward process. The writer creates a script. The director and the cast get the script and get to work turning the words into pictures. Everything is edited to splice in the best camera angles and takes. Music is added to enhance the mood of each scene. Then the finished product is ready… but not really. Sometimes, during the process of all of that, they figure out they need to change the ending.
Maybe it’s because the director or the writer sees something wrong during the process. Other times the finished product is shown to a test audience and they like the movie… but they absolutely hate the ending. Whatever the reason, they have to change the ending. Sometimes, this new ending is good. Other times, the new ending sucks. Well, I like to keep things a little positive for now. So here are five instances when it was the right move for a film to change their endings
Oh, by the way, since I am going to be talking about the endings of these movies, I have to put up the SPOILER WARNING.
Ready or Not is focuses on Grace, a newlywed. One of the family’s traditions is that, whenever someone new marries into the family, they have to play a game. She picks the Hide and Seek card. While she thinks nothing of it initially, it turns out, that because Grace picked this card, they will now have to hunt her down in order to appease the evil spirit who has granted them extreme wealth and power.
The official ending:
The official ending sees Grace surviving until dawn, meaning she actually won the demented game of Hide and Seek. As punishment for not sacrificing Grace within the time limit, each of the family members start cartoonishly exploding like ghoulish blood balloons. Finally free, Grace walks out of the mansion and has a cigarette as police and emergency personnel arrive at the scene.
The original ending:
The original ending to Ready or Not was much darker as Grace actually gets captured and the family succeeds in sacrificing her. However, the directors of the movie decided that the original script’s ending was too much of a downer. Timing also played a big part as to why they directors wanted a happier ending to the story as, when they got attached to the project, they simply weren’t fans of who became the President of the United States. As they felt it was going to be a depressing period, they rewrote the ending to, in a way, give people hope for the future.
#2 First Blood
First Blood is actually the first movie in the Rambo series. But this was almost not supposed to be the case originally because of First Blood’s original ending. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. First Blood sees John Rambo, a war veteran passing through a small town. He is then accosted by the local Sheriff’s department and is beaten up. This triggers John Rambo’s PTSD and he goes on a rampage through the town, taking out the police force using his superior training and guerilla tactics.
The official ending:
John Rambo is finally cornered and his commanding officer, Colonel Trautman, orders him to stand down and turn himself in. Rambo, however, goes on a tirade on how, after returning home, he’s only been mistreated and maligned by the general public. He finally breaks down crying as he recalls his dead squadmates as well as the atrocities he witnessed. Rambo does eventually turn himself over to the authorities peacefully afterwards.
The original ending:
Like in the book First Blood is based on, John Rambo was originally supposed to die. Well, the script did change the ending a little, with Colonel Trautman being the one to off a weakened Rambo. The original movie script had the Colonel refusing to shoot Rambo, leading to Rambo shooting himself instead, ending the carnage as well as his pain. This was actually filmed but, after they shot it, both Sylvester Stallone and the director allegedly felt the ending left a bad taste in their mouth and decided then and there to film a more hopeful ending with Rambo surrendering instead. This turned out to be the right choice as, if he died in First Blood, it would’ve been very difficult to make a sequel, let alone a movie franchise.
Legally Blonde has become the inspiration of some younger females to pursue law careers after watching the film. That’s understandable as the story of stereotypical “dumb blonde” Elle Woods, who initially goes to Harvard in order to win back her ex-boyfriend but eventually discovers she actually does have what it takes to become a good lawyer, would be inspiring.
The official ending:
Elle single-handedly exonerates her client by using her knowledge of beauty treatments. Her ex-boyfriend tries to win her back due to her newfound popularity from this win. But Elle rebuffs him instead as she realizes she doesn’t really need his approval. She continues her studies and is eventually picked as the class speaker during their graduation ceremony, proving she’s much more than the “dumb blonde” she was during the start of the film.
The original ending:
It turns out Legally Blonde went through several endings before landing on the one we got. However, the most prominent “original” ending to this movie had Elle’s love interest kissing her after she wins the case. We then flash forward several months later and see Elle and her “frenemy” (who had dyed her hair blonde like Elle) handing out pamphlets for the “Blonde Legal Defense Fund”, an organization they created to fight against the blonde stereotype Elle faced throughout the movie. This ending didn’t go very well for test audiences as the kiss made it come off more of a romantic-comedy. It would have went against the message of Elle proving herself as a competent lawyer and make it come off as Elle only looking for a man. Although the new ending does seem somewhat cobbled together and a little too saccharine, it works a whole lot better to show Elle has grown a lot.
#4 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Based on the comic series, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World follows the titular character who, despite still having a girlfriend named Knives Chau, falls in love and starts dating Ramona Flowers. Although the two do hit it off, things get complicated as, in order to continue dating her, Scott will have to face off against the League of Ramona’s Evil Exes. As the name suggests, the group is composed of Ramona’s old flames who have banded together to make her love life miserable.
The official ending:
Scott admits to cheating on both Knives and Ramona and the two help him defeat the last of Ramona’s Evil Exes. Feeling guilty for all the trouble she inadvertently caused, Ramona decides to walk away from Scott. But Knives, knowing what Scott went through from all the fights, encourages him to pursue Ramona. The two leave through one of Ramona’s magical doorways to continue their relationship.
The original ending:
The original movie’s ending still has Ramona walking away but Scott doesn’t follow her. Instead, he decides to stay with Knives instead. There are several reasons why this ending doesn’t work. For one, since Scott did go through a lot for Ramona, it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense for it to be all for naught. Also, if Scott does stay with Knives, it doesn’t allow Knives to grow as a character. Finally, and probably the biggest reason why the official ending is better, the comic has Scott stay with Ramona. As the movie was being made before the comic series concluded, the people behind the film created their own ending. But after the last issue was published, they quickly rewrote the ending of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World so it was more in line with how the comic series ended. So, they essentially did have to change the ending so it would be an accurate comic book adaption.
#5 Clerks
To me, Clerks was an indie movie before anyone knew what an indie movie was like. What I mean by that is, if you really think about it, Clerks doesn’t really have any story. It’s essentially about, Dante, a convenience store clerk (who was not supposed to be there, by the way) and, Randall, the clerk from the video rental store next to him talking about stuff. Sure, they do other things like play street hockey or go to a wake. But, in the general sense, Clerks just feels like a movie about a day between these two people.
The official ending:
The film ends with Dante and Randall getting into a brawl and they trash the convenience store. They do make up at the end and they clean it all up. Randall then leaves the store, removes the makeshift “We’re Open” sign they put up outside and tosses it to Dante, stating that the store is now officially closed.
The original ending:
The original ending continues on after the official ending with Dante hanging out inside the store. Another person enters the store, goes up to Dante and shoots him. The man then steps over Dante’s deceased body and raids the cash register before escaping. Kevin Smith, who wrote and directed Clerks, recalls this was how he ended it originally because it was actually “the biggest joke of the film” as it proves Dante right in the sense that he was “not supposed to be here” and that’s the only reason why he got shot. Also, as this was his first movie, he didn’t know how to end it. Closing the film out before the original ending worked as, if not, Clerks would have ended on a really sour but ironic note. In fact, if Kevin Smith proceeded with his original ending, we might not have the View Askewverse as we know it today.
BONUS: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is indeed a true underdog story. The story follows a man named Peter who runs a dilapidated gym. When he starts going behind his mortgage payments, the gym gets purchased by a rival gym. In order to try to save the gym, Peter and his employees join a national dodgeball competition in the hopes of winning the prize money, which would be enough to save his gym.
The official ending:
Peter faces off against the owner of the rival gym, Goodman, in a sudden death playoff and wins. Peter reveals he used the money to bet on his team winning, meaning they have more than enough to save their gym. He then renovates the gym and advertises for a youth dodgeball program. Goodman is then seen watching Peter’s commercial and he is now morbidly obese.
The original ending:
The supposed original ending of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story ends with the rival gym’s team beating Peter’s team handily. The rival gym team’s celebrate and the credits roll. According to the film’s DVD, this was their vision on how it should have ended. But test audiences allegedly hated this and the studio demanded they shoot a more classic happy ending. The after credits scene actually pokes fun at this Goodman commenting how formulaic is it for the good guys to win in the end.
So, why is this just a Bonus entry? Shouldn’t having such a big change make it on the official rankings? Well, I have to make it a Bonus entry because the “original ending” is possibly a hoax which everyone thought was real.
If you really think about it, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the entire ending of Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story to be done after filming was completed as they showed a whole lot of stuff! They would have to get everyone back together to essentially film an extended ending. They would also have to get Goodman in heavy prosthetic makeup and a fat suit as this would be the payoff of how he said that he used to be fat. It’s possible that’s how the original script for the movie ended but, when the studio saw how it was breaking the formula, they ordered a happier ending instead. But I don’t believe they actually showed the “original ending” to a test screening audience.
What other movie endings do you think were changed for the better? Let me know in the comments section below!
