Top 10 Closing Movie Shots of All Time
Last month we shared a Top 10 video with you listing the all-time best opening shots in movies. Now today, we have a new video from CineFix that gives us a Top 10 list of the best closing shots of all time.
The end of a movie ties the whole story together. It completes the journey of the characters we've spent our time watching. "The final moments of a movie can make things feel complete, leave you wanting more, and bring out deep emotions."
I love the feeling I get when there's a great ending to a film. Below the video I've included the entire list that you can go through in case you are in a place where you can't watch it. All of the choices that CineFix made here are fantastic.
Symbolic - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Kubrick set out to avoid “intellectual verbalization,” opting instead to try to speak directly to the subconscious.
Thematic - A Serious Man (2009)
A whirlwind of biblical proportions, a fate unknown, and the impending promise of more punishment.
Visually Stunning - The Piano (1993)
The main character, hanging lifeless, attached to her sunken piano in a fantasy of her aborted suicide that she claims “lulls her to sleep.”
Visually Inventive - Gangs of New York (2002)
From mid-19th century Manhattan to Brooklyn Bridge to Empire State to the World Trade, this multilayered shot perfectly visualizes the growth of New York and a city's relationship with the history upon which it is built.
Tied Up In a Bow w. a Cherry on Top - Fight Club (1999)
It's the kind of fairytale ending that every little boy and girl dreams about, hand in hand with the chain-smoking love of their life that they've finally won over from their other personality, brain dripping out through a bullethole in the back of their head watching the bastions of American Capitalism crumble to the ground in the sexiest domestic terror attack ever.
Cliffhanger/Twist - Inception (2010)
The spinning top, a single shot that inspires this much deep analysis of character plot and theme along with the underlying philosophies and mythologies of the film is automatically a massive success.
Perfectly Summarizes - The Searchers (1956)
After every major relationship is wrapped up happily, it ends on John Wayne as Ethan, without a place to come home to, a discarded tool of a more violent time, the door closing on him just like it did Kay.
Emotionally Haunting - Stalker (1979)
It defies an easily verbalized explanation. The psychokinesis might be a half-granted wish. The roar of the train is probably the future rushing towards us. But - again - does it really matter?
Freeze Frame - The 400 Blows (1959)
The definition of open-ended, Antoine's look is basically the cinematic version of the Mona Lisa Smile. Is he happy? Hopeful? Uncertain? Disillusioned? Is he paralyzed and trapped, or condemning the society that failed him? The look is anything and everything at once, meaning something new to everyone.
Iconic - Casablanca (1942)
From Medium Close to Extreme Wide, there's no better way to say goodbye to a well-loved character and story.