I was going to make this a list, but I don't think we need to number them. Just post one example at a time. Here we go.
How many movies do we know that had their surprises spoiled for us long before we even thought about seeing them? These are the classics, heavily discussed and frequently referenced and generally assumed to have been seen by everybody (usually without considering younger people). They're movies with famous twists you might even have been familiar with before you even knew what they were from.
I'm going to start with Citizen Kane. For the whole movie, we're supposed to ponder the mystery of Kane's last word (which nobody was present to hear, but we won't dwell on that). But I've known for years that Rosebud was his sled, due to any number of references. The one that stands out for me was an episode of Columbo in which a film buff has the sled in his collection, and takes a moment to share the story with the detective. Citizen Kane is still a good movie, but the big mystery was kaput long before I ever saw it.
Empire Strikes Back...probably the biggest one in the past 30 years. Just about everyone knows that Vader is Luke's father.
Planet Of The Apes...I just wish I could have seen it without the spoilers beacuse my jaw would have probably dropped.
I'm with you on Planet of the Apes. I can't imagine not knowing the end of that movie. I just watched it again on Encore the other day. That is such a fun movie. Heston is hilarious.
Psycho would've been nice to watch without knowing about the shower scene.
Mad Max was one. I and most of my friends saw Road Warrior before we even knew of Mad Max, so we knew that he survived, and that his family didn't. This was greatly a product of HBO and/or Cinemax playing Road Warrior constantly in the early-mid 80's.
Soylent Green is people.
The Village.
I knew before seeing it that they were in modern times.
Actually, knowing that made it better for me because I was able to look at it from the village elder's point of view.
Rather than being slapped in the face like much of the moviegoing public, I was in on it the whole time. :wink: :thumbup:
Quarantine - the trailer is the last scene of the movie. Brilliant.
Quote from: Jack on May 21, 2009, 06:31:20 AM
Quarantine - the trailer is the last scene of the movie. Brilliant.
Trailers that spoil the movie. That adds a whole lot of territory to explore.
Wild Wild West springs to mind. "Why is Loveless abducting these scientists? What's he building?" Uh, maybe it's the giant mechanical spider we saw in the trailer. That's a good example of Hollywood priorities right there. They have to show us the coolest thing in the movie, because it puts more bums in seats in the short term. Doesn't matter if we can't see the movie as it was meant to be seen. I didn't think Wild Wild West was a great movie, but I might have enjoyed it more if the spider had just appeared without warning, as opposed to sitting through all the other scenes wishing they'd hurry up and get to the spider.
Any comedy film where they put the best jokes in the trailer !
Quote from: darthchicken on May 20, 2009, 09:50:39 PM
Psycho would've been nice to watch without knowing about the shower scene.
Or knowing...
SPOILER!...Norman is also "Mother".
Then there was this infamous VHS cover for PLANET OF THE APES:
(http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr154/Raffine/512998ZRQ3L__SL500_AA280_.jpg)
:lookingup:
Quote from: Raffine on May 21, 2009, 02:08:42 PM
Then there was this infamous VHS cover for PLANET OF THE APES:
(http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr154/Raffine/512998ZRQ3L__SL500_AA280_.jpg)
:lookingup:
:buggedout: I've had that tape for years and never noticed that it gives away the ending. Just goes to show how much it's taken for granted that everybody knows.
Quote from: AndyC on May 21, 2009, 03:16:09 PM
Quote from: Raffine on May 21, 2009, 02:08:42 PM
Then there was this infamous VHS cover for PLANET OF THE APES:
(http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr154/Raffine/512998ZRQ3L__SL500_AA280_.jpg)
:lookingup:
:buggedout: I've had that tape for years and never noticed that it gives away the ending. Just goes to show how much it's taken for granted that everybody knows.
I remember one of the first VHS editions of CITIZEN KANE had a photo on the back of the sled with 'ROSEBUD' clearly visible. :smile:
The TV ads for "Neighbors" with Belushi and Ackroyd gave away (and I'm not exaggerating) every joke in the movie. It probably wouldn't have been a very funny movie in any case, but knowing how every joke was going to end made sure it wasn't.
Quote from: AndyC on May 20, 2009, 07:26:46 PMI'm going to start with Citizen Kane. For the whole movie, we're supposed to ponder the mystery of Kane's last word (which nobody was present to hear, but we won't dwell on that). But I've known for years that Rosebud was his sled, due to any number of references. The one that stands out for me was an episode of Columbo in which a film buff has the sled in his collection, and takes a moment to share the story with the detective. Citizen Kane is still a good movie, but the big mystery was kaput long before I ever saw it.
I was lucky enough to see it before the knowledge of what Rosebud was became common.
Psycho: I remember reading or seeing where in one of the European countries, there wasn't a word equivalent to 'Psycho', so they retitled it 'The Boy Who Was His Mother'. Yup, they gave away the major plot point in the title.
It just occurred to me that I've never gotten around to seeing Sleepaway Camp, and yet I've known all about the ending for over 20 years. I think it's pretty much taken for granted among slasher fans that the ending is common knowledge.
Come to think of it, I never got around to seeing The Crying Game, and I know the twist in that too. That one has gotten referenced in a few comedies over the last decade and a half.
Quote from: AndyC on May 30, 2009, 10:19:10 PM
It just occurred to me that I've never gotten around to seeing Sleepaway Camp, and yet I've known all about the ending for over 20 years. I think it's pretty much taken for granted among slasher fans that the ending is common knowledge.
I was fortunate enough to see that movie completely cold. Talk about a shocker.
I was also lucky enough to see Sleepaway Camp before it was ruined.
The one that someone ruined for me was The Sixth Sense. It's pretty common knowledge now, though.
Quote from: AndyC on May 30, 2009, 10:19:10 PM
Come to think of it, I never got around to seeing The Crying Game, and I know the twist in that too. That one has gotten referenced in a few comedies over the last decade and a half.
Don't feel bad. I also know the twist in "The Crying Game" and have never seen it. :bluesad:
(I always think of the end of the first Ace Ventura movie whenever I think of The Crying Game...Tone Loc scratching his tongue!)
:bouncegiggle:
Suddenly Last Summer - The blurb on the back of the dvd case gives away the whole ending. Who needs suspense, right?
Around 6 or 7 years ago a coworker and I were discussing films, and I mentioned " yeah I cried in the theater as a kid when E.T. died," and he looked at me in shock.
"What E.T. dies?!? Thanks a lot man I haven't seen that yet and now you've ruined it for me." All mad like I had spoiled some ultra-top secret.
Okay this guy was in his late 30's when we had the conversation, so I assumed somewhere in the intervening 20 years he would have either seen the movie, or spoken to someone who had seen it.
Quote from: Monster Jungle X-Ray on March 23, 2010, 10:24:22 AM
Around 6 or 7 years ago a coworker and I were discussing films, and I mentioned " yeah I cried in the theater as a kid when E.T. died," and he looked at me in shock.
"What E.T. dies?!? Thanks a lot man I haven't seen that yet and now you've ruined it for me." All mad like I had spoiled some ultra-top secret.
Okay this guy was in his late 30's when we had the conversation, so I assumed somewhere in the intervening 20 years he would have either seen the movie, or spoken to someone who had seen it.
As long as you didn't tell him ET comes back to life. That would really have spoiled the ending. So, after almost 30 years of not seeing it, he was suddenly going to rush right out and rent it?
Psycho was the big one that was spoiled...well the shower scene portion of it anyways. It still startled me with its twist ending and the falling backwards down the stairs scene.
Not sure how but I somehow managed to see Planet of the Apes without it being spoiled which completely blew me away with its ending. Soylent Green I managed to guess before the end.
Sixth Sense, Fight Club, and a few others are the big ones.
Donnie Darko
If Anyone Wants To Know The Ending To Hundreds Of Different Movies
Go To : http://www.moviepooper.com
I Have Been There Many Times And It Has Saved Me Countless Times From Wasting Time And Money On Some Really Awful(and not in a good way) Movies
I have a nasty habit of accidentally finding out movie endings before I want to.
I usually like to look up movies before watching and I will often read too much by accident and spoil the movie for myself. The worst part is I know it's totally my fault. I always feel stupidly/angrily ashamed with myself.
Quote from: Sleepyskull on April 01, 2010, 04:17:50 PM
I have a nasty habit of accidentally finding out movie endings before I want to.
I usually like to look up movies before watching and I will often read too much by accident and spoil the movie for myself. The worst part is I know it's totally my fault. I always feel stupidly/angrily ashamed with myself.
I know the feeling. Any time I'm really looking forward to a movie, especially one promising twists, I try to shun all reviews, discussions and anything else that might reveal too much or otherwise colour my moviegoing experience. Mind you, the effort has been wasted on a lot of the disappointing flicks to come out in recent years.
Quote from: AndyC on April 01, 2010, 06:16:02 PM
Quote from: Sleepyskull on April 01, 2010, 04:17:50 PM
I have a nasty habit of accidentally finding out movie endings before I want to.
I usually like to look up movies before watching and I will often read too much by accident and spoil the movie for myself. The worst part is I know it's totally my fault. I always feel stupidly/angrily ashamed with myself.
I know the feeling. Any time I'm really looking forward to a movie, especially one promising twists, I try to shun all reviews, discussions and anything else that might reveal too much or otherwise colour my moviegoing experience. Mind you, the effort has been wasted on a lot of the disappointing flicks to come out in recent years.
That's why I don't give away endings, or major plot developments, in reviews. Duh. Wish my fellow reviewers would consider that novel idea.
Quote from: Rev. Powell on April 01, 2010, 09:25:18 PM
That's why I don't give away endings, or major plot developments, in reviews. Duh. Wish my fellow reviewers would consider that novel idea.
Heck, the people promoting the movies don't even worry about that. It's sad when you have to avoid the trailer in case there are spoilers.
I remember when we went to see THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS in the theaters. My college age nephew was with us, and as we were walking out, everybody still in fairly silent, sensory overload mode from the movie, one of the guys waiting in line asked "How was it?"
My nephew looked at him and said in a shocked voice: "Man, I can't believe Darth Vader is Luke's father!!!"
Everybody cracked up.
I pretty much knew the whole Godfather story before I ever saw it