Denver was flying his Rutan canard in his last blissful moments b/4 his fatal crash just after the movie concludes. There was a very similar effect in the movie about the Challenger where all the astronauts were in their final moments of joy just b/4 the Challenger disintegrated in mid air-again after the movie ended. Is there a term 4 such a false happy ending-or is that what it's called?
If you find yourself, it's probably a doppleganger
I think I read the Buddy Hollie Story ended the same way.
If you find yourself, it's probably a doppleganger
Wow, sorry I don't have an answer to your question but before I even read it I immediately thought of that Challenger movie with Karen Allen! It was similar to the John Denver movie ending.
shareI guess it's to make it not COMPLETELY depressing, and I guess the moviemakers figure that people know what's going to happen anyway.
A different approach I can think of when it comes to biopics is starting with the "end" then ending on a "happy" note (though we'd all know what happens later). It's sort of similar, in a way. "The Karen Carpenter Story" TV movie is like this- it starts out with Karen being rushed to the hospital, then flashes back to her as a teenager. She grows up, doesn't feel loved by her mother, becomes famous, develops anorexia, thinks she beats it, appears to reconcile with her mother, who finally tells her "I love you" (which didn't happen in real life, sadly). This is the "happy" note the movie ends on (which the screenwriter admitted to putting in there to make it not completely depressing). Then Karen's silhouette fades out and words come on the screen saying what happened the next morning (heart failure).
But on a brighter note, Karen's and John's voices sounded GREAT together: https://youtu.be/WQNonbZKsBU?t=3m55s