The last couple of minutes - cut from all theatrical and video releases - has been recovered ...
[url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/saul-bass-phase-iv-original-ending-cinefamily-paramount-341449]Read the story at Hollywood Reporter...[/url]
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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/saul-bass-phase-iv-origin al-ending-cinefamily-paramount-341449
shareI realize this is an old thread, but since it's relevant to this topic, here's a youtube link of the lost ending:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beLpsWaUDNk
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Thanks for posting that - had no idea the ending was available to view. The montage brought the movie full-circle and I cannot imagine why they cut it when it bookended the beginning perfectly.
shareEvidently the current version shown on TV and Netflix shows the original ending. Have it on my DVR and it has the "lost" ending.
shareI just rented it on amazon prime, and it had the theatrical ending I remembered. Should have checked netflix where it was free.
shareReally? I don't see this title streaming on Netflix at all. Can anyone tell me when and where the reinstated ending has played on television?
shareJace I have a few streaming sources so it might have been Amazon too. The alternate ending loses the realism and becomes almost an animated sequence. Truthfully the theatrical ending is better and conveys the same intent, namely that the ants are in control of the two survivors and soon the rest of humanity.
shareThat lost ending is absolutely terrific!. I love the film and the lost ending actually makes me love it even more. It is insane.
shareMuch prefer this ending! Completely far out!
What we got here is... failure to communicate
Hello andrew5-2,
what's happening in the lost and now found again original ending?
I always was in doubt whether the lone survivor of the group could really make it through the desert and reach a human settlement, under these extreme conditions of heat...
Kind regards
If you look at my comment below, you'll see a narration of the ending I saw today. I don't know which one it is, but from what you say, I think it includes the complete fate of all concerned... except the rest of Earth's population!
shareS-P-O-I-L-E-R
December 2021
Since both the Hollywood Reporter article and the YouTube link no longer work, here's a verbal description of the ending I saw today. I don't know which ending it is:
Jim, the math whiz decodes the dot in the circle to mean the ants want Dr. Hubbs. Meanwhile, Kendra believes they want her so she wanders out into the night, singing a hymn as ants begin to gather on her bare feet.
Hubbs' arm is swelling and more painful. He goes outside the dome to attack the Queen, his formula for defeating the wily insects.
Jim sees Kendra's note that to free him and the doctor, she'll sacrificing herself. He goes outside, sees and tries to stop the doctor from doing the same. The doctor breaks away from Jim and falls into a pit where the ants swarm and devour him.
Next we see Jim in a hard suit, spraying the "blue," a smoke poison. Narrating about the ants' probable next move, he falls and breaks his goggles through which an ant protrudes. He throws off the helmet, goggles, boots and suit and finds the Queen's lair. He slides down an entrance-way deep into the bowels of the nest. It's empty!
Puzzled, he walks further and sees smoothed-over sand. Gradually fingers, then two hands emerge from beneath, revealing... Kendra! As she stands and welcomes Jim, he narrates the realization that the ants wanted them. In a symbolic montage, they appear to mate - or something. (Saul Bass was a bit too creative for me there.)
We then see the couple walking toward the sunrise, as Jim narrates his knowledge they were on a mission, but would be told its purpose later. My inference is they are going to spawn some new ant-human creature that will take over the Earth.
Pretty appropriate ending for these days of gene-altering "vaccines" pushed on us by people who want to create Trans-Humans and drastically reduce human population... and their choices.
RIP Lynne Frederick.
Update on Dec 2021:
The YouTube links and some articles linked above are now "unavailable," probably due to a copyright strike.
This is the ending the Hollywood Reporter article refers to. It's also the ending I saw today: https://youtu.be/oHWSAZ3fZsQ
Later, I found this longer-montage ending that includes the "reverse-mermaid," some nudity, interacting with animals and other scenes others have described. It appears to add about 5 min to the version I saw:
https://youtu.be/0rMqT4GD944
Though there are some great "Saul Bassy" scenes in the longer one, I personally prefer the one linked at the top. It has more punch.