Worst ending in the history of movies - Hell in the Pacific (1968) Discussion

[–] brainofj72 16 years ago

I don't see how else it could have ended. Nothing else would have conveyed the idea behind the film.

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She's gone to warn the wizard! Come on, get my tin hat!

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] brainofj72 15 years ago

You hit the nail on the head.

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It's a wonderful life
If you can find it

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[–] nigel-moran 10 years ago

The ending was a let down, they could have ended it by Lee looking in the Life mag and seeing that then war was over then they have a drink and ends.

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[–] adradosfd 16 years ago

i agree, WORST ENDING IN HISTORY!!!!!

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[–] ranmel 16 years ago

The studio didn't like the original ending, so they stole a scene of an explosion from the Peter Seller's film "The Party" (same year) and slapped it together. I agree with you that it's awful.

You can see the original and satisfying ending on the dvd or old laserdisc.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] ranmel 16 years ago

SPOILERS

When Mifune turns toward Marvin, Lee acts like he's getting ready to fight. Mifune walks toward him but just reaches for his tie and starts to get dressed up. (There are no explosions heard at all)

Then Lee Marvin gets his backpack on and starts to walk away. He looks back and he and Toshiro look at each other without acknowledgement. Mifune is now in a full Japanese dress uniform including coat, tie, hat and white gloves. Marvin turns and walks off into the sunrise and Mifune walks away from the camera and down some steps.

(My take on the ending is that Mifune is going to commit seppuku, hence the dress uniform, but this is not specified.)

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[–] Suzume-san 16 years ago

That's really interesting - thanks, ranmel. One might ask, where are they going, on this uninhabited island? Does it actually make any better sense than the explosion?

As I've said before, I think the film is an allegory and we don't need to take it too literally. The situation, the relationship, is set up, develops, and ends, I don't think the mechanics of the ending matter.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] BarneyRubble 15 years ago

I have to agree that the ending was a bit of a let down, totally out of the blue explosion and then pfft... good film though, right up until the last 30 seconds.

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[–] glover877 15 years ago

Why would someone drop a bombshell on an uninhabited island that had clearly been bombed already and left behind? And knocking over a fire wouldn't have caused an explosion like that. That made no sense and was so sudden. The scene with them walking away from each other was the better, though still not great. Neither end did justice to the movie. I think the only other alternative was to have them rescued by one or the other's side, and then the other would have been screwed. I kept expecting that. I also expected more bonding... they never bothered to learn each other's languages and could barely communicate.

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[–] Suzume-san 15 years ago

Glover, contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, learning a language takes a lot of time and effort. I know that the foreigner/alien or whatever in your average fantasy movie learns to speak picturesque broken English in a couple of days, but in real life this is not going to happen.

As for the bonding - surely the whole film is about the bonding of the two men, who begin as enemies whose duty it is each to kill the other. Starting from the moment when Mifune has Marvin at his mercy, takes the knife but can't bring himself to use it, their relationship gradually develops. They have reached a peaceful co-existence on the island before they start building the raft; on the raft they work together and show concern for each other - Mifune handing Marvin the field-glasses unasked is a nice touch. Then you have 'Don't shoot! He's my friend!', of course.

I think we can see all this is doomed as soon as the two men get cleaned up and find uniforms to wear; they sit down, look at each other and suddenly there's the enemy. This is even before they look at the magazine.

I haven't seen the alternative ending, only the explosion one.

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[–] MorgieSteph 15 years ago

Ir'a too bad that some creative person couldn't have come up with a better ending. The volcano was completely hokey. Just getting back on the raft and sailing away would be better.

Bathia Mapes: "Go to the house of the curse".

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[–] wolfbynyt 15 years ago

There was no volcano. The explosion was supposed to be from nearby fighting and a shell or whatever striking their location. Thus the sounds of explosions that led up to their place getting hit.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] TheEighthHorsie 16 years ago

I think the point they were making was: in war nobody wins.

Buslady
Faithful fan and friend of the red one, Raphael.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Woodyanders 16 years ago

The original ending with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune parting ways is much better and more satisfying than the annoyingly abrupt and jarring bomb ending. Fortunately, said original ending is featured as a much appreciated extra on the Region 1 MGM DVD for this picture.

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[–] rixrex 16 years ago

It actually seems not to be an uninhabited island, but seems to be a peninsula. In one shot, or perhaps a couple, it can be seen that there is a mainland somewhat in the distance with many hills and mountains and quite large and with a long coastline. Even if you miss that, you see that there a multiple locations where they can go separately from each other. A small island would not have had the type of buildings and machinery that was left in that area.

The non-studio ending, the one which was actually in the script is so much better than the stupid bomb ending that it's incredible nobody in the studio in 1968 could see this. But then that was a time of nihilistic endings where nobody survived and they probably thought it fit in their minds. It was so obvious that this was added because Mifune walks toward Marvin slowly and actually nearly stops before the bomb blast. That meant he was not seeking to harm Marvin but was calming himself.

Thankfully the correct ending is available to see.

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The Eyes of the City are Mine! Mother Pressman / Anguish (1987)

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[–] andyrew-2 15 years ago

The whole point of the end is to show that they cannot survive without cooperation. The second they start to oppose each other again they die. In other words its somewhat of an anti-war movie which conveys the message through a somewhat un-satisfying ending to some.

I do agree with you, however, but when I saw the clear message immideately after the "the end" appeared I thought it was a suitable ending.

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[–] Arca1943 15 years ago

Only in the United States they had that false ending made of a stock-shot explosion from another film. In Europe and anywhere else, they had the real film with the real ending as intended by director John Boorman. Someone has been really stupid.

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