MovieChat Forums > The Veteran (2011) Discussion > Typical British ending (spoilers + for l...

Typical British ending (spoilers + for london Boulevard too)

posted 13 years ago by gareth423
27 replies | jump to latest

Every British movie since Get Carter has ended this way.

I was recently annoyed by London Boulevard, but this takes the biscuit.

It was savvy, intelligent and well written right up until the usual British ending.

Why the heck does British movie after movie opt to do this? It's as cliche as the proverbial Hollywood ending.

This one was so good I implore the makers to refilm the last few minutes.

Ironically the twist for a British movie would be for the little sh*t to get it and the hero get the girl.

[–] jeffscsr 13 years ago

it's hardly cliche. i'd say it was one of the main reasons this didn't get a better release.
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[–] bkz2457 13 years ago

Agreed, rubbish ending and not unpredictable. :(

[–] fallenknight308 13 years ago

Yup, agreed!
Me and family member watched London Boulevard recently, and he was so upset at the ending, it pissed him off for a week...
I am aware that real life isn't all roses, but that's why we watch films, to get away from the mundane and have fun. Bring back the happy ending!
"I want the ocean view"

[–] pedro14 13 years ago

I agree the ending was so predictable and ruined the film. Another one that gets deleted..

[–] exclusive-clarke 13 years ago

i dont get why you muppets get upset its not a life is not a fairy tale...this stuff goes on day in day out but the news doesnt report a thing on it for obvious reasons that people in 'this life' know where their getting into. you should applaud the realism folks.

[–] mnozarova 10 years ago

Actually I think the news do report on it, or rather on stories that come to such an end, but we do not realize it. Whenever there is a report about a gas station robbery and the perpetrator getting killed while escaping, we just take it as it is, justice and all and it doesn`t cost tax payers extra money, so everything is just peachy.

However in every such event there is a whole story of the person, what happened to him to reduce him to commit crime, what had he hoped to achieve. We are conditioned not to see criminals as people and that`s good I guess, as it keeps us more in line. But they are people and they woke up one day and walked into a situation not knowing that in just a few moments they will end up flat on the pavement and going cold rapidly.

There`s plenty of tragedy in everyday life worthy of artistic expression.

[–] ChefC 13 years ago

Well thanks for ruining London Boulevard for me, a film I am yet to see.

I expect spoilers for a film on it's board, not for another film! As for 'The Veteran' I was left wholly uninspired by the ending.

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cancelled too soon:
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-New Amsterdam
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-Life
-terriers

[–] Razzzor 13 years ago

Agree with the OP in both cases of London Boulevard and The Veteran, both really good films until the last 5 minutes. The Veteran in particular just felt like a rush job to finish, and the director decided he didn't want to go down the traditional route so changed course entirely, and in so doing screwed up a good film.

In a case where the main character is killed off in such a way as in London Boulevard and The Veteran, it's not clever or unique it is extremely *beep* aggravating. The time people have invested in getting to like the main character is basically thrown away since they die such a meaningless and pointless death.

If they'ed have died in hail of gun fire or taking a bullet for someone, that is a death that has meaning as it shows self sacrifice. But getting killed by some little pr**k who's only in the film for about 3 minutes total (in both films!) just serves to P*** off anyone watching the film.

[–] p-kaplish 13 years ago

It wasn't signposted or high lighted too well, but Turner had just told him the woman was dead.
She had been handed over to Jones, who turned her into a 'battery'.

Following the afghan incident, that was the second time he had let a woman die.

After that the big showdown was actually more of a suicide.

[–] captaintass 12 years ago

"It wasn't signposted or high lighted too well, but Turner had just told him the woman was dead. She had been handed over to Jones, who turned her into a 'battery'."

What does that mean? She was supplying power to the housing estate? What are you on about?

[–] Panpl 11 years ago

"What does that mean? She was supplying power to the housing estate? What are you on about?"

I nearly pissed myself when I read this. Genius. Can't get the image of her being hooked up to the electric mains out of my head.

[–] Holy-Fire 13 years ago

I would disagree with you all.
It's a direct rip-off from the Taxi Driver ending. Not London Boulevard.
Because the sense of reality goes completely out the window just like in Taxi Driver .

The film was actually a bit of a bore up until the non-realistic ending (what can i say i like seeing nobheads being shot). You want happy endings? GO WATCH A DISNEY FILM. And I'm really not sure how some guy thinks this kind of army style massacre happens DAY IN, DAY OUT. What third world do you live in, pal?

And finally to the OP - stop exaggerating you little muppet EVERY, ALWAYS.
If you're after ant-climax go watch Jarhead on repeat. I'm sure you will enjoy the dullness.

[–] scareylarry 13 years ago

Dude i totally agree that it was like Taxi Driver that's what i thought when i was watching the ending. Except at least he prevails in the end.

But I enjoyed the story and build up very much and was let to such an anti climactic ending i felt like the entire beginning was a complete waste of time they might as well just had black screen saying "this veteran wants to kill the gang members in his estate" then showed the ending, it would have been better.

[–] nickydimes 13 years ago

I didnt feel like the ending of London Blvd "fit" the movie at all. Colin's character was too smart for that to happen to him, at least that was the impression I got from the preceding 2 hours!

But The Veteran actually led up to the the "Taxi Driver" type ending. I think that was what Hope planned to do the whole time, right down to the neck wound. Many people actually believe that Deniro died at the end and all the hero stuff was made up in head as his last thoughts. I really liked The Veteran and think it "stuck" the landing perfectly. I agree its a little cliche'd that the rugrat killed him and I would have preffered that both of them got theirs in the end but minor gripe for a great movie!

[–] jacta 13 years ago

As much as i agree that too many British films end with the hero getting snuffed, London Blvd is hardly the go to example as that film is basically Carlito's Way set in London.

The ending was reminiscent of Taxi Driver but i wouldn't call it a rip-off, perhaps a homage to it. The ending of The Veteran also reminded me of the end of a film called Death Sentence with Kevin Bacon in it, notably the holding the neck part.

[–] StealthCougar81 13 years ago

I just watched it. I'm unfamiliar with how British films end, but knowing how this would have turned out as an American I can't say that I would have been all that satisfied.

During the last sequence I forgot that this film wasn't a Hollywood production especially when he got shot in the neck. In regular American movies, the hero would have succeeded even in such a situation. Here the hero was stunned enough by the shot to be relatively stuck. Another thing that was different was when he killed the woman behind the door. Normally that would be another unsuspecting bad guy, who just got word that his group's turf was being infiltrated, coming out to defend his area. That the hero inadvertently kills an innocent is actually refreshing to me. I don't like-like it, but I do appreciate it because it's usually the bad guy that kills an innocent while the hero is ducking causing the hero to be spurred on to take the bad guy out. It's never the hero himself that does it.

I do feel the movie started off well enough, but coherency was lost when he began spying which is not all that different from being a soldier which he apparently quit.

[–] paul-3257 12 years ago

I really liked the film very much, the shooting sequences had a gritty reality to them.

The ending...I'd let him release a grenade (taken from the arms shipment, but no need to see it happen) and take the three of them out in the room.

I accept his death (the attack was more of a suicide-by-baddy run IMHO), but would have liked a touch of Hollywood in that he'd take the kingpin and *beep* with him.

[–] wonderboy923 12 years ago

The thing about Death Sentence was that Kevin Bacon actually killed all the dudes he was after before he got shot.

[–] wonderboy923 12 years ago

The thing about Death Sentence was that Kevin Bacon actually killed all the dudes he was after before he got shot.

[–] Strazdamonas 13 years ago

Maybe brittish are tired of hollywood ending?

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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good men to do nothing.

[–] kyzasoze2003 13 years ago

I guess you guys also didn't like the end of Layer Caker. Well at least Harry Brown had a great ending.