Movies where the last 20 minutes just cook

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coolhandgopher

coolhandgopher

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After watching the Woman in Cabin 10 (not bad!-low bar of expectations and it cleared it) on Saturday night, I wasn't ready to go to bed but also didn't want to start even an hour long TV episode, so as I was flipping through the Netflix options and The Last of the Mohicans popped up, I fast forwarded to the last 20 minutes or so and enjoyed the epic finish of a great movie. It got me to thinking, which movies, from fair to middling to all-time classics, finish things with a flurry of greatness? Here's a few that come to mind, in addition to LotM:
The Godfathers I & II
Dazed & Confused
Die Hard

I know I'm missing a lot. What do you got?
 






The Matrix
The Silence of the Lambs
Sicario
I haven't seen this in many years, but I remember Michael Clayton having a great ending.
And one that had me on the edge of my seat was Nightcrawler:
 


Back to the Future
Mad Max: Thunder Road (TBH, that whole movie zips by in what feels like 20 minutes)
Terminator 2
 

Good question! I'll have to go through my library, but the two that come to mind immediately are Star Wars and Toy Story.
 




My Top 10

1.The Usual Suspects ('Verbal Kint...the man with a plan.")

2. Se7en ("What's in the box?!?!?")

3. The Shawshank Redemption ("Get busy living, or get busy dying.")

4. Stir of Echoes (Great ending...and who doesn't love Bacon?)

5. The Sixth Sense ("I see dead people" but never saw the twist coming.)

6. Planet of the Apes (1968) ("You maniacs! You blew it up. Damn you. Goddamn you all to hell!")

7. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (Cliff Booth takes down the Manson Family.)

8. The Departed ("Colin...laying low is not what I do.")

9. The Lost Boys ("One thing about living in Santa Clara I never could stomach...all the damn vampires.")

10. Saw (Jigsaw was in that room the whole time???)
 

A bunch mentioned already that I'll echo: The Departed, Fight Club, Sicario, Nightcrawler

I'll also offer: Heat, Man on Fire, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Casino
 

Maybe a bit different from everyone else's lists, but I'll add 2001 Space Odyssey. It wraps the entire movie into the future.
 








Almost anytime you are talking about something great in a movie, you can reference The Princess Bride. This is no exception. From the time they light Andre the Giant on fire to Inigo chasing the six-fingered man to Westley besting Humperdinck, the end cooks all the way through.
 





Slim Tubby said:
My Top 10

1.The Usual Suspects ('Verbal Kint...the man with a plan.")

2. Se7en ("What's in the box?!?!?")

3. The Shawshank Redemption ("Get busy living, or get busy dying.")

4. Stir of Echoes (Great ending...and who doesn't love Bacon?)

5. The Sixth Sense ("I see dead people" but never saw the twist coming.)

6. Planet of the Apes (1968) ("You maniacs! You blew it up. Damn you. Goddamn you all to hell!")

7. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (Cliff Booth takes down the Manson Family.)

8. The Departed ("Colin...laying low is not what I do.")

9. The Lost Boys ("One thing about living in Santa Clara I never could stomach...all the damn vampires.")

10. Saw (Jigsaw was in that room the whole time???)
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I like the move, but the ending fell apart for me.

The entire point of the movie was people dying for their sins. The ending switched it from dying for your sins to killing because of your sins. Brad Pitt's wife was MURDERED because of Doe's envy and then Doe was killed for Brad Pitt's wrath.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I like the move, but the ending fell apart for me.

The entire point of the movie was people dying for their sins. The ending switched it from dying for your sins to killing because of your sins. Brad Pitt's wife was MURDERED because of Doe's envy and then Doe was killed for Brad Pitt's wrath.
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It's been a while since I've watched the movie but didn't Pitt's character succumbing to wrath complete Doe's list of realizing the Seven Deadly Sins?

I could be wrong...but I'm also a sucker for the occasional movie where the bad guy wins.
 

Slim Tubby said:
It's been a while since I've watched the movie but didn't Pitt's character succumbing to wrath complete Doe's list of realizing the Seven Deadly Sins?

I could be wrong...but I'm also a sucker for the occasional movie where the bad guy wins.
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Yeah, that was the theory at the end - Brad Pitt "became wrath". However, the murders throughout the movie, the person doesn't give into their deadly sins and KILL (Brad killing for wrath), they give into their deadly sins and are killed. The fat guy doesn't become gluttony by killing someone to eat. He eats himself to death. The trollop is killed because of lust. Brad Pitt isn't killed for his wrath. He murders because of his wrath.

So unlike the other sins, no one dies because of their own wrath.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, that was the theory at the end - Brad Pitt "became wrath". However, the murders throughout the movie, the person doesn't give into their deadly sins and KILL (Brad killing for wrath), they give into their deadly sins and are killed. The fat guy doesn't become gluttony by killing someone to eat. He eats himself to death. The trollop is killed because of lust. Brad Pitt isn't killed for his wrath. He murders because of his wrath.

So unlike the other sins, no one dies because of their own wrath.
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I'll see you in court, Counselor.
 

Saving Private Ryan is unique, because not only are the first 20 minutes epic, it's bookended by an amazing finale. The remaining squad defending the bridge is just riveting, after being emotionally invested for 2+ hours in the characters.

This has to go down as the most head scratching Oscar Best Picture upset ever.
 

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