MovieChat Forums > Man on Fire (1987) Discussion > someone explain the ending please?

someone explain the ending please?

posted 17 years ago by Diss
4 replies | jump to latest

I'm usually good at getting endings, but I'm kind of lost here. this original isn't bad (though I didn't care for the acting), has a good premise, just needs work.

What I'm really confused about who was the guy on the ground who shot creasy? What happened after this point? How was the girl rescued? What was the scene after creasy got shot? looked like cops coming in and arresting some guys or something. Did they find the girl? What about the scene at the end? Is sam really there? She doesn't get up or anything when he walks out. I guess I was expecting some happy reunion scene. I'm not the type of guy who always wants a happy ending, but in a film such as this, I do.

P.S. this film was shown on Cinemax thriller channel on american cable. They may rerun it if anyone wants to check it out.

[–] Alfabeta 11 years ago

Better late answer than never. :)

SPOILERS:

The person who shot at Creasy (we never see if he actually got shot in that scene) was that kid who brings the girl her food now and then (Aiello's character, the ring leader who's driving Creasy to the hideout and gets shot in the process, mentions the kid but Glenn forgets about it).

Creasy survived the final shootout and called the cops who got the girl out of the truck's tank.

The US embassy and the Italian police (or just the obviously very powerful ginger inspector with high voice) faked his death. The cops were powerless against the kidnapping crew (who was possible tied to the mob), and saw Creasy as their deus ex machina "quick fix". The faking was their way of thanking him. Otherwise they would've had to arrest him for vigilantism and even if they had somehow decided to simply let him go, the rest of the kidnapping crew (we never get to know how many people was involved) would've been on his tail to get revenge as long as they thought he was alive.

The girl was not shown in the final scene up close because the director wanted to leave the audience with their own impressions about the (physical and psychological) state that she was in after this horrendous ordeal. You hear and see bits and peaces of information on how she's being treated at the hands of the kidnappers (the gay guy says he tried to convince one of the guys not to touch her; also we see her with her left hand in bandages at one point as if her hand was cut or possible missing a finger) and it's up to you to decide what they actually had (or hadn't) done to her during the time she was their hostage.

[–] millsey72 (9557) 2 years ago

I never saw this movie but it sure sounds like this was a plot hole

[–] huwdj (4562) 2 years ago

Don't think so. As I remember it ended with a shot of the girl and Creasy sitting on a patio, wounded but recovering together. We know she'd had a terrible time but the bottom line is Creasy got her back.

[–] jlam888 (574) 9 months ago

It was pretty weird, the silent (mostly unseen) girl at the end got me thinking that the ending had been reshot for some reason and the main actress was unable to return so they had to put somebody else there (kinda like in Poltergeist 3) but Alfabeta gives a pretty good alternate explanation too.