11 movie endings you never understood - until now

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• Do you know this too? You watch a movie in the cinema - and after the screening you walk out and just think: "Huh?"
• While some movies delight with surprising twists and complex stories, they can also be quite confusing.
• In this listicle, we take a closer look at 11 movies that left audiences with one or two question marks.

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Warning, risk of spoilers! If you haven't yet seen the last James Bond film "No Time to Die", you should probably stop reading now.

If you have, you will probably already know why the last 007 adventure starring Daniel Craig made it onto the list of the most controversial film endings ...

Director Sam Peckinpah made film history in 1969: In his western, two bloody shootouts form the conclusion.

The final showdown between the titular outlaws, led by Pike Bishop (William Holden), and a gang of Mexican soldiers was possibly the most violent scene ever to come out of mainstream Hollywood at the time.

Peckinpah took no chances: he showed fountains of blood and pieces of flesh flying through the air as well as women and children being shot.

Even at the first test screenings, viewers commented: "I would suggest you rename the movie 'Bloodbath'." Today, the film is considered a masterpiece - despite or because of its brutal scenes.

Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (1976) also has a hotly debated finale. It all begins when Travis Bickle(Robert De Niro) quits his job as a cab driver to become a full-time assassin.

His plan is to shoot a high-ranking politician. When that doesn't go to plan, he heads to a local brothel to kill the pimp of a young prostitute named Iris. In the process, he catches a few bullets himself.

Always hotly debated among movie fans: The ending of Martin Scorsese's masterpiece "Taxi Driver" starring Robert de Niro.

Picture: Columbia Pictures Industries

When the police show up, the anti-hero is lying on the ground covered in blood. However, Travis survives the shootout and is declared a hero: newspapers celebrate him as the savior of prostitute Iris.

A deliberate clou: screenwriter Paul Schrader was shocked by how easy it was for criminals to get into the limelight based on a real case. Schrader decided to criticize modern society by creating an ending in which Travis actually becomes a hero.

The ending of Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) is not controversial because it is bad. On the contrary: the final scene provides the perfect punchline for the religious satire.

After being mistaken for Jesus his whole life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finally takes the place of Jesus on the cross.

Brian joins the other prisoners being crucified in singing "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life". And of course, the entire film sparked controversy in Christian circles because it allegedly mocked the Christian faith.

But the final scene, which was seen as a trivialization of the crucifixion, proved to be particularly polarizing.

The only salvation for the Enterprise is his death: to save the ship, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) exposes himself to deadly radiation in "Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan" and dies a tragic death, separated from Kirk (William Shatner) by a pane of glass. It's a heartbreaking final scene that infuriated fans at the time.

News of Spock's death in "Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan" leaked during filming and led to an outcry from fans.

Image: Paramount

The news of Spock's death leaked during filming and led to a huge outcry from fans.

According to Harve Bennett, the executive producer, the filmmakers received "a hundred thousand letters" asking for Spock's life. However, this wish was only granted in the third "Star Trek" film, in which the Vulcan is brought back to life.

"For many,'Titanic' is one of the most romantic films of all time - with a disturbing ending: after the boat that gives the film its title sinks, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) are stranded in the freezing Atlantic.

While Rose floats on a free-standing door, Jack is partially submerged and eventually freezes to death. The death scene sparked outrage: Wasn't there room for both of them on that piece of wood?

The death scene in "Titanic" caused outrage: Wasn't there room for both of them on that piece of wood?

Image: Fox

The debate over the ending was so fierce that "Mythbusters" devoted an entire episode to the controversy in 2012. With the help of director James Cameron, the TV show found that Jack or Rose would have had enough buoyancy with a life jacket on the bottom of the door to hold them both.

Cameron was still not convinced: "The script says Jack dies, he has to die. Maybe we messed it up. The board should have been a little bit smaller. But the guy goes down."

On the whole, M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" is a thoroughly original thriller in which a farmer (Mel Gibson) discovers mysterious crop circles and tries to protect his family from extraterrestrial visitors.

There are many great moments, such as the spooky sighting of aliens at a children's birthday party. But the confusing ending causes the logic of the whole movie to collapse.

Because in the end, the family finds out that the aliens' weakness is water. This convenient twist makes no sense, as it begs the question of why the aliens come to a planet that is 71 percent covered by their greatest weakness.

After the suspense and horror that precedes this reveal, the water clou is just frighteningly unimaginative.

Frank Darabont's film adaptation of Stephen King's novella 'The Mist' (2007) is known for one of the darkest and most harrowing final scenes in movie history.

As David Drayton, his son and several survivors try to escape the monster-infested fog, they lose all hope and decide to take their own lives.

Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella "The Fog" is known for one of the darkest and most harrowing final scenes in film history.

Image: Universum Film

David (Thomas Jane) kills all the other survivors in the car, including his own son. But just before David can take his own life, the military arrives to destroy the monsters.

If only he had held out a little longer, David wouldn't be a killer and his son would still be alive. Understandably, many viewers were disturbed by this cruel, cold-hearted ending.

Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel "Watchmen" (2009) was praised for its visuals, but the director was criticized for not recognizing the satirical point of the source material.

In Snyder's film, the superheroes actually look like heroes, while their actions in the comic are repeatedly questioned. The movie was also controversial because it changed the ending of the original story.

While the comic culminates in an attack by a giant alien octopus, this scene does not appear in the movie.

Instead, villain Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) makes the blue superhero Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) the scapegoat who brings the opposing forces of the Cold War together.

Dark, darker, 'The Dark Knight': many viewers were surprised by the happy ending to Christopher Nolan's trilogy, mainly because of its predecessor.

Because after Batman (Christian Bale) saves Gotham from a nuclear bomb, he simply gives up his "job" in "The Dark Knight Rises" to travel the world with Catwoman/Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). Many fans then wondered whether this was some kind of dream sequence in the style of "Inception".

Many fans would have liked a more depressing ending to "The Dark Knight Rises" due to the dark mood of the previous films.

Image: Warner Bros. Entertainment

Ultimately, the scene plays out exactly like a fantasy that Alfred (Michael Caine) described earlier in the film. The actors, on the other hand, insisted that the happy ending was real.

Either way, many fans would have preferred a more depressing ending to the bat due to the dark mood of the previous films.

Director Quentin Tarantino's films have repeatedly caused controversy - but the most controversial was certainly the 'denouement' in 'The Hateful Eight'.

In this bloody western, eight desperados are trapped in a cabin during a snowstorm and are just waiting to kill each other. Among them is a female crook who is already on her way to the gallows.

At the end of the movie, two of the men put aside their differences and actually hang Daisy Domerque (Jennifer Jason Leigh). As she dances in the air, the two laugh and rejoice in their new role as executioners. Not only did many find this ending misogynistic, but Domergue's ongoing abuse was also criticized.

Long before the repeatedly postponed cinema release of "No Time to Die" (2021), Daniel Craig had already made it clear that his fifth adventure as secret agent 007 would be his last. How final his farewell turned out to be, however, caused discussion among James Bond fans.

The end of "No Time to Die" caused an uproar among fans: Is it okay to simply kill off a character like James Bond?

Image: sda

James Bond had often put his life in danger while saving the world, but in "No Time to Die" he actually died despite the title: the secret agent does not manage to leave the villain Safin's island in time before it is destroyed with missiles.

Naturally, this ending caused an uproar among fans: is it okay to simply kill off a character like James Bond? One thing is certain: he will return, but it will be interesting to see how.

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