I loved this movie, and the closing scene of Ryan chasing the train, only to get shot, has got to be one of the best endings to a film, ever. The camera shaking, the train whistling, and his freinds cheering him on, all leading up to him falling just short. The good guys win, but they lose their "captain" as a result. what do you think? What is the best ending to a film?
-zach
I wouldn't say that this is tbe best ending to a film, but it's a gut-wrenching ending to a thrilling film.
NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR!
its brilliant. i like how there's no dramatic music or anything, he just runs, the officer shoots and the train disappears into the tunnel leaving him alone on the tracks. the loneliness of Ryan's position, despite everyone watching events unfold.
shareIt is a great ending and probably leaves you slightly speechless the first time you see it.Other unforgettable endings in war films :Play Dirty,Too Late The Hero-both with Michael Caine.Best ending or probably most unforgettable ending in a film personally has to be "Planet Of The Apes" with Charlton Heston.
sharethe ending of this movie is probably the best and most unforgettable i have ever seen, and i have seen lots of movies.
shareI hate to be the only dissenter, but why is killing off the hero in the final frames tantamount to a great ending? A depressing ending, yes. A great ending? Doubtful. I felt it spoiled the movie.
Why did Sinatra, along with almost every other questionable actor in the 50s and 60s, feel he had to play Jesus?
What's it like living way out there in left field, hurstlincoln?
shareYes it's a good movie and something a little different for a WW2 movie too. I like the fact that Sinatra wasn't scared to have his character killed off at the end. Perhaps he engineered his own demise by not running for the train earlier, hoping to be killed / captured to atone for shooting the girl down?
Aha! I was thinking I'd be the first to link his death to Gabriella's! I was going to write, "Has anyone else noticed how his death mirrors that of Gabriella's?" Sure she's on a stairway and he's on the tracks, but for the most part, after being shot in the back while fleeing, they shared basicly the same position in their respective death throes. I felt more for her though, than him, because of the chivalry in me. For I feel that if it had been me, I'd have tackled her before shooting her. But that's perhaps just my preference. (Leftover from an issue I have with Commander William Riker in a certain episode of "STTNG".) One of Colonel Ryan's last thoughts may have been, "Ah, so this is how it feels. My sincere regrets, Gabriella. Can you forgive me?" Or it could have been, "Would you believe I missed it by just this much? Sigh."
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It was good, but a tad cliched, I thought. Somehow I just knew he wasn't gonna make it.
What really vexed me was why they didn't unhitch the last couple of wagons before they repaired the track, and send them careering back downhill. That would surely have stopped the German train for good and left them more than enough time to fix things and be gone.
I didn't find the ending cliched -- quite the contrary.
NOW TARZAN MAKE WAR!
screenman - I thought that too, while watching a Christmas re-run recently. However, the POWs were already packed in tight and clinging to the roofs of the wagons following the fires from the bombing the night before; losing a couple more wagons would have made it difficult to get everyone on board the train to continue their journey. And of course, it would have ruined the ending that everyone is admiring so much...
shareIt only ended as it did because the train couldnt go any more slowly and from where Sinatra begins his run to the train he couldn't catch up with the train. So they went with him getting shot...
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Apparently in the novel Ryan did make it but Sinatra insisted the ending was changed for the reason suggested earlier in this thread-he felt Ryan had to die to atone for killing Mariella. Possibly he also felt it would be more powerful. I have a book on Sinatra's film career and the producers were supposedly not happy because they felt the film was likely to be a hit and were thinking of making a sequel but Sinatra wouldn't change his mind.
For me Sinatra was right, it is a great ending.
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