The ending is a classic. Higgins lays out the justification for a possible future invasion of the Middle East. This was the era of OPEC and the Energy Crisis. What if the oil runs out? What then?
Turner is disgusted at the thinking of the men in the agency that he once worked for. They regarded his colleagues as expendable. The look of doubt on his face in the final shot as he walks away. His whistle blowing to the press may not work. " How do you know they'll print it?"
Very seventies movie. Possibly NOT a happy ending. Possible that Redford does NOT survive.
But at least he stopped the conspiracy.
PS. Its decades later. Was Higgins right?
i agree, likely not a happy ending. i imagine he didn't survive.
but i wonder. i love the open-endedness of it. i love movies that make you think 'what happens after the credits?'
i love this movie so much. i feel so bad for the character of turner. that look on his face in the final shot.
decades later, was higgins right---- well, i think higgins very much could've been right on the money, had the govt not intervened with endless deficit spending and a worldwide boom in production stemming from fractional banking abuses by the globalist banksters. we know now a lot of what went on is coming home to roost (#btc) but yes, chaos is always just around the corner; they just keep kicking the can down the road via the fiat dollar reserve currency status.
so, yes, you can say higgins was right, just maybe not in the time-frame people were expecting. ie, right on the WHAT but wrong on the WHEN (but it's coming, trust me)
(also, i don't believe that fourth turning stuff for one second lol)
great ending. one of my faves.
my comment from another thread:
gotta say, i DO wonder strongly what happens to turner after the credits. that chilling freeze-frame of him turning and looking back as he walks beside the carolers.... that is an awesome shot and a great bookend for the whole movie. (of course, blended so perfectly with that epic smooth jazz score. just wow!)
i do. i wonder what happened to turner after. ....and it's THIS kind of thing that (imo) makes for a really great movie vibe leaving the theater. i think the viewer should get a strong desire to see how the movie CONTINUES on after the credits. and that's t he vibe i catch every time i see that final shot in 3 days of the condor.
i believe Grady wrote a sequel. actually, i thin it was a short series, 3 or 4 novels altogether. but for me, i don't want to know anything about those other books. i can't take a chance on them diminishing the awesomeness of the first story. (originally set in DC but moved to NYC by redford)
additionally, i catch a similar vibe at the end of the bourne identity (which ironically is also about a former spy running from the cia). and the same sentiment about the sequels applies to the bourne movies, too; i think they messed up the vibe from the first film. (not solely because of but ALSO LARGELY DUE TO paul greengrass and his lousy/lazy ass use of shakicam)
so, yeah, i wonder where turner went. what doe she do now? how long will he last? does the times publish the story? WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!! great ending.