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 the middle are
00:07if the final moments can't bring everything 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
00:17would in theory be the best of the bunch,
00:19and while this usually is the case, it's not always.
00:22Now, we have previously done a video on this very subject,
00:25so 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. Peter meets his father, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
00:37The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014 fell particularly flat,
00:41with the ending teasing something further that never came to fruition.
00:45The final moments of the movie saw Harry Osborn begin to set up the Sinister Six,
00:50while Peter was dragged out of his downward spiral of depression
00:53following the death of Gwen Stacy to return to the superhero.
00:57One of the heavier themes throughout Andrew Garfield's second Spider-Man film
01:01was how he was affected by the loss of his parents.
01:04Something that would have taken a new direction had the alternate ending
01:07in which he actually met his father face-to-face made the cut.
01:11It's a scene that would have raised questions, certainly,
01:13but it saw Andrew Garfield put in some of his finest and most emotional work as Peter Parker,
01:19as his first conversation with his dad since he was a small boy
01:22helped push him towards making his triumphant return as Spidey.
01:27Number 9. Evan erases himself, The Butterfly Effect.
01:31Time travel has been done so often in movies that it can be difficult
01:34to find a new and unique way of presenting it within a story.
01:37In 2004, The Butterfly Effect had an interesting premise
01:41in that Ashton Kutcher's Evan was able to project his conscience back in time
01:46to inhabit his younger self during blackouts,
01:48which he used to change the past in an attempt to make the present better for him and his friends.
01:54It's a dark story, portraying heavy themes of abuse and suicide,
01:58and every time Evan went back to the past to change something specific,
02:02a different aspect of his life would suffer for it.
02:05In the end, Evan accepted that there was nothing he could do in the past
02:08that could make life better for everyone,
02:10so he sacrificed his own happiness and removed himself from his friends' lives
02:14in order to make sure that they had better ones.
02:17It's an interesting conclusion,
02:19but the director's cut features something much darker and far more 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 cord
02:32to prevent his curse from ever coming to life at all.
02:36It is bleak, certainly, and doesn't make for pleasant viewing,
02:39but it would have been a lot more powerful and memorable even if a little traumatising.
02:44Number 8. Not just another cliché, Fatal Attraction.
02:48Fatal Attraction gained universal praise upon its release in 1987
02:52and was nominated for no fewer than six Academy Awards.
02:56However, that doesn't mean the movie was perfect,
02:58as even the star of the show was completely dissatisfied with the ending that made it into cinemas.
03:04The story tells of the married Dan Gallagher, played by Michael Douglas,
03:08having a weekend-long affair with Glenn Close's Alex Forrest,
03:12who takes it badly when the former wants to cut things off.
03:15The ending that everyone knows shows Alex attempting to kill Dan's wife, Beth,
03:19in a fit of 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.
03:27The problem with this is that Dan doesn't really face much in the way of consequences for his adultery,
03:32while Alex is made to look like the only one in the wrong.
03:35Glenn Close herself reportedly hated this ending,
03:38as it painted her character as just another female psycho,
03:41rather 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,
03:53but there is a huge difference in the tone.
03:55Instead of Alex being portrayed as the cliched, irredeemable villain,
03:59she is seen as vulnerable, troubled and sympathetic,
04:03with the point being driven home of how badly Dan treated her.
04:07Close initially refused to shoot the new scene, and it's easy to see why.
04:117. McLean Says Die Hard With A Vengeance
04:14For the most part, whenever John McLean has been a spanner in the works of a terrorist organisation,
04:20there 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,
04:31evolving into a rivalry that ended with McLean shooting the villain's helicopter out of the sky.
04:37McLean won, because of course he did,
04:39but there was almost a different ending that, though only for a short time, saw him lose.
04:44After being sent all around New York City with riddles and infuriating games of Simon Says,
04:49the villain would have gotten away with all the gold in Fort Knox,
04:52with McLean taking the 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 the film,
05:02the hero had the villain play a deadly Russian roulette-esque game of McLean Says,
05:07with a Chinese rocket launcher modified to make it impossible to know which way it would fire.
05:12Answer a question wrong and pull the trigger.
05:15Of course Simon lost.
05:16This would have been the epitome of a broken-down hero with nothing left to lose,
05:21and would have made for a more nuanced ending than a helicopter explosion.
05:25Number 6. George sacrifices himself, Rampage.
05:29Dwayne Johnson is without question one of the biggest stars working in the industry today,
05:33and has earned his way to the top of the highest-paid actor's list multiple times over the last few years.
05:39However, all that doesn't necessarily mean that every movie of his is a hit.
05:44In fact, plenty failed to strike a positive reception.
05:48The likes of San Andreas and Skyscraper are particularly poor entries in The Rock's back catalogue,
05:54as is 2018's Rampage.
05:56For all of the action and CGI involved,
05:59these titles in particular have come across as just a tad generic.
06:03The video game adaptation saw George, a silverback gorilla,
06:07grow to a ridiculous size and essentially fight off and save Chicago
06:11from an equally gargantuan crocodile.
06:14If the original ending had made the final cut,
06:16George would have sacrificed himself to save the day.
06:20Johnson liked sending audiences home happy,
06:23and didn't like the idea of such a sad end to the story.
06:26Sad it may have been,
06:27but it could have at least gone some way to stopping the film from being so damn forgettable.
06:33Number 5, Judgment Day Never Came, Terminator 2, Judgment Day.
06:38Like too many movie franchises,
06:40Terminator has steadily declined over the years and has ultimately outstayed its welcome.
06:45Terminator 3, Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation,
06:48and Terminator Genisys underwhelmed greatly,
06:51unable to come anywhere close to Terminator 2, Judgment Day,
06:55and 1984's The Terminator.
06:57The ending to the first Terminator sequel, however,
07:00was ultimately undone by both Terminator 3 and Terminator Dark Fate,
07:05rendering the T-800's noble and emotional sacrifice redundant.
07:09James Cameron's original ending would have been very different and much more final,
07:13with a glimpse into the future confirming that Judgment Day
07:16definitely did not happen on the 29th of August 1997.
07:21After saving the future and ensuring the evil Skynet Corporation
07:24would not incite the nuclear holocaust as prophesied,
07:28Sarah Connor would have enjoyed what seemed to be a peaceful life
07:31with her son John and his daughter.
07:33Instead, the precedent created by Skynet always being able to send someone back in time
07:38gives the feeling that no matter what happens in each movie,
07:41the cycle will just keep repeating itself.
07:44Number 4. Mickey and Mallory Are Killed, Natural Born Killers
07:48The story of Natural Born Killers is a relatively simple one
07:51with a powerful message that hits hard.
07:54Mickey and Mallory Knox, played by Woody Harfson and Juliette Lewis, respectively,
07:59go on a killing spree taking the lives of more than 50 people
08:02and are all but made stars thanks to the media's coverage.
08:06It's a movie that has not been without controversy over the years
08:08and has been accused of glamorising the crimes of Mickey and Mallory
08:12in the exact same way it was itself trying to satire.
08:15The final moment certainly didn't help in this regard.
08:19After being arrested and incarcerated for their crimes
08:22and having their faces plastered all over TV,
08:24the killers managed to escape and in doing so
08:27killed almost everybody else in the process.
08:30The final shot sees them living out an almost normal life
08:33as a happy family with laughing children and another one on the way.
08:36They killed without remorse and in the end suffered no consequences.
08:41This wouldn't have been the case in the alternate ending
08:44that was shot and left on the cutting room floor
08:46as the two would have been murdered themselves by Owen
08:49who helped them escape and is described as something of a guardian angel figure.
08:54There is something to be said about the irony of their deaths
08:56coming at the hands of another so-called natural born killer
08:59rather than any authority like the police
09:01as well as the fact that they weren't able to live out a happy ending
09:05after the atrocities they committed.
09:07Number 3. Chris Gets Arrested, Get Out
09:10Despite previously being best known as one half of the comedy duo Key and Peel,
09:15Jordan Peel took the entire horror genre by storm in 2017
09:18with his directorial debut.
09:20Get Out was almost universally praised
09:23and became all but a classic overnight.
09:26The director was praised for his approach to
09:28and interpretation of society
09:30and its powerful message about inequality and discrimination.
09:34There was an alternate ending however
09:36that would have been far darker
09:37but could have driven home the message of Peel's story even further.
09:41Rather than Chris being rescued
09:43he would have been greeted by the police
09:44who immediately arrested him for the murder of the Armentage family
09:48with nobody believing his story.
09:50The distinct lack of justice brought on by Chris being sent to prison
09:54depressing as it may have been
09:56arguably would have been a more poignant
09:58and thought-provoking full stop
10:00on the message the movie portrayed throughout
10:02than his ultimate escape.
10:04Number 2. Freddy Didn't Survive, A Nightmare on Elm Street
10:08Up there with the likes of Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Leatherface
10:12as some of the biggest icons in the history of the horror genre
10:15is Freddy Krueger.
10:17The dream-stalking villain first appeared in Wes Craven's
10:20A Nightmare on Elm Street back in 1984
10:22and has since made eight further cinematic appearances.
10:27All of these sequels were made possible by the fact
10:29that the original movie ended
10:31with the reveal that Freddy was still alive
10:33allowing him to haunt nightmares for many more years to 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
10:45rather than the villain.
10:46She had won and without the final twist of Freddy's survival
10:49the movie ended on a quiet, peaceful note
10:52that saw her return to her normal life.
10:55Producer Bob Shea took issue with this however
10:57as there was no potential to build a franchise.
11:00Of course the scene that made the final cut famously
11:03showed the return of Freddy
11:04but this in turn signalled the departure of Wes Craven from the franchise.
11:10Number 1. Natasha as a Role Model, Black Widow
11:13Scarlett Johansson has been a major part
11:15of the Marvel Cinematic Universe longer than almost anyone
11:19and 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.
11:28Acting as a prequel set between the events of Captain America Civil War
11:32and Avengers Infinity War
11:34the movie ended on a tease for how Nat wound up back with the Avengers
11:38in time for Thanos' invasion.
11:41This fell flat because everyone already knew the story
11:44and as such the scene really didn't add anything substantial.
11:47What would have however is Black Widow's original closing moments.
11:52Instead of leading into a film that had already happened
11:55both Natasha and Scarlett Johansson's MCU swan song
11:58could have concluded in a much more meaningful way
12:01by showing just how much impact the hero had on the world.
12:05Passing a group of children playing in the street
12:07Natasha was recognised by one of the young girls
12:10with whom she shared a quick moment.
12:12They only smiled and pointed imaginary blasters at each other
12:15but it showed how much Black Widow meant to her as a superhero
12:18and in a more real way
12:20how much Scarlett Johansson's role meant to young girls watching her.
12:25She was a true role model
12:26and this would have been a far more poignant
12:29and meaningful final scene for the character.