End It Well: Good Movies Ruined by Poor Endings
try not to kill your lead too easily if you must kill them at all.
Look at Pulp Fiction: John Travolta’s character gets killed ridiculously easily halfway through the film but thanks to some clever sequencing, is still alive when the credits role as the films money-rollers knew that’s what the audience wants to see. Nobody wants to spend the films duration relating to and liking a character only for them to get hit by a car at the end and die.
I’m not saying all films end badly, there are many, many great endings that make a film even greater.
My own personal favourite ending is Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. A great film with a great ending. The characters don’t suddenly change, they don’t die on screen. They may well die but we don’t see it. They remain true to their friendship and attitude, deciding they can shoot
