50 Most Illogical Movie Endings

Colour Of Night (1994)

The Ending: Richie and Rose are revealed to be the same person, a fact that comes as a surprise to Bruce Willis, despite how close he is to “both of them”.

If It Had Made Sense: We could possibly have stretched credulity far enough if Willis hadn’t been sleeping with the person in question!

The Hangover (2009)

The Ending: After all his friends’ frantic searching, it turns out that Justin Bartha has been sat on the roof of the hotel for two days. Two whole days…

If It Had Made Sense:
He’d probably have managed to attract some attention in that time, even if he wrote half of it off on his roofie comedown.

The Forgotten (2004)

The Ending: Julianne Moore’s mysteriously missing child turns out to have been snatched by aliens. Okay then.

If It Had Made Sense: The solution would have been found at any one of the dead ends Moore chased up on before the big reveal. Aliens… nope, not for us.

Back To The Future (1985)

The Ending: Marty returns from the past to find his parents marriage in better shape than ever. So why don’t they remember him as an exact lookalike of “Calvin Klein” their mysterious matchmaker from high school?

If It Had Made Sense: We’d have seen a previous scene in which the Doc drops by to fill Marty’s parents in on what happened, and to warn them not to tell their son what’s going to happen in the future. Or should that be past?

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2005)

The Ending: The Crystal Skulls belonged to some angry aliens, who suddenly wake up, explode some brains with their “condensed knowledge-ray” and then jet off to the “space between spaces”. As you do.

If It Had Made Sense: The Nazis would have been revealed to be behind it all. That’s the kind of suspension of disbelief we can handle…

Independence Day (1996)

The Ending: Jeff Goldblum stymies the alien ship by connecting it to a Mac and infecting it with a virus.

If It Had Made Sense: The spacecraft would have come with a big old Apple logo slapped on the side of it. How else would Jeff have known it was compatible?

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Ending: We’re splitting hairs here, but seriously, how does Andy manage to reattach the poster of Racquel Welch from the other side of the tunnel?

If It Had Made Sense: He’d have left the hole in full view, just to add insult to injury.

Oceans Eleven (2001)

The Ending: At the payoff of the big heist, Terry Benedict bursts into his vault to find his bags of cash replaced by bags of hooker flyers. But how did the gang get those flyers in there in the first place?

If It Had Made Sense: They would have swapped the cash for empty bags. Not as much of an FU to Benedict, but less logically problematic.

Grease (1978)

The Ending: Danny and Sandy jump into Greased Lightning (which belongs to Kenickie, lest we forget) and promptly take off into the sky. The car can fly, apparently.

If It Had Made Sense:
Hmm, a radical notion it may be, but couldn’t they simply have driven away? Preferably in a car one of them owns?

Planet Of The Apes (2001)

The Ending: Mark Wahlberg’s character returns to Earth, only to find that General Thade has somehow beaten him to it, as witnessed by the new-look statue of Abraham Lincoln. But wait, wasn’t Thade defeated?

If It Had Made Sense: We’d have had a retread of the original ending, which made a hell of a lot more sense.

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.