Let me get this straight
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jq-141-648063 — 10 years ago(August 01, 2015 09:11 AM)
At the end of the movie, he got in the spaceship, the spaceship took off, and the movie ended. That's it.
We can assume he's never coming back, but the movie doesn't say that at all.
It's science fiction. We have to use our imagination to make whatever we want out of it. We don't have to assume the worst. We can assume something good.
Maybe he takes a quick ride around the universe and comes right back. He's now a hero on the planet and contributes unimaginable knowledge and insight not just to his wife and 3 kids, who no longer think he's crazy, but to every human being on earth. There are no problems paying the bills. Nobody is left alone. He's the honored speaker at his kids' high school and college graduations. Their friends all think he's the coolest dad ever. Nobody feels abandoned and nobody has any psychological problems.
They all live happily ever after.
Best father ever, best ending ever.
That's just one way to see it, but we can't blame Spielberg if we don't see it that way. -
flaiky — 10 years ago(August 16, 2015 04:21 AM)
Maybe he takes a quick ride around the universe and comes right back. He's now a hero on the planet and contributes unimaginable knowledge and insight not just to his wife and 3 kids, who no longer think he's crazy, but to every human being on earth. There are no problems paying the bills. Nobody is left alone. He's the honored speaker at his kids' high school and college graduations. Their friends all think he's the coolest dad ever. Nobody feels abandoned and nobody has any psychological problems.
They all live happily ever after.
Best father ever, best ending ever.
Love this!
That is a masterpiece of understatement. -
sliat_1981 — 9 years ago(February 04, 2017 01:33 AM)
Maybe he takes a quick ride around the universe and comes right back. He's now a hero on the planet and contributes unimaginable knowledge and insight not just to his wife and 3 kids, who no longer think he's crazy, but to every human being on earth. There are no problems paying the bills. Nobody is left alone. He's the honored speaker at his kids' high school and college graduations. Their friends all think he's the coolest dad ever. Nobody feels abandoned and nobody has any psychological problems.
They all live happily ever after.
Best father ever, best ending ever.
But he still cheated on his wife.. -
sage2112 — 10 years ago(October 10, 2015 09:20 AM)
The thing about him simply taking a "quick trip" and coming right back is always what I assumed was going to happen. For some reason, people have always assumed he's leaving for good - kinda like they're confusing it with the old people leaving in Cocoon.
But I think even Spielberg intended that he's leaving for good, because he now says he would not write that ending today. So it's strange to me that all these years of being a huge fan of this film (since I saw it in theaters in '77), I saw the ending so differently than most everyone else. -
a_l_i_e_n — 10 years ago(October 10, 2015 03:43 PM)
When I saw it, I didn't necessarily think Roy would be leaving forever. However, taking into consideration how long the Flight 19 crew had been gone, I took that as an indication that Roy's excursion could also be a lengthy one. But they never come out and say that this is the last time Roy's gonna be seen in these parts so, yeah, maybe he will be back in just a bit like Barry.
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!!!deleted!!! (9347176) — 9 years ago(April 19, 2016 07:00 AM)
Maybe he takes a quick ride around the universe and comes right back.
This is, technically, exactly what the other "abductees" experienced. Thirty years pass on Earth but for the travelers, a much shorter time has elapsed. "Right back" is for Neary only, however. Everyone else on Earth would have aged at "normal" speed. This is why all the folks leaving the mothership are virtually the same age as when they left, just like the planes and the boat from earlier in the film.
-Rod -
a_l_i_e_n — 9 years ago(April 19, 2016 09:29 AM)
This is, technically, exactly what the other "abductees" experienced. Thirty years pass on Earth but for the travelers, a much shorter time has elapsed. "Right back" is for Neary only, however. Everyone else on Earth would have aged at "normal" speed. This is why all the folks leaving the mothership are virtually the same age as when they left, just like the planes and the boat from earlier in the film.
Very true. However, as we saw in the case of Barry, it is possible to take a trip with the aliens that doesn't last decades. Having said that, at the end it does look like they're heading out for a much longer journey. -
SteveResin — 10 years ago(August 13, 2015 04:33 PM)
He's got a choice. Take a mind blowing trip across the universe and see sights people cannot even comprehend while learning a culture that's even more unusual than the Japanese or go home to his nagging wife who thinks he's a fruitloop anyway, and spend the rest of the year driving that truck for 8 hours a day so his ball and chain and brats can get fat on mashed potato. No brainer really.
Duty Now For The Future -
neoyemi — 10 years ago(March 27, 2016 12:29 AM)
and spend the rest of the year driving that truck for 8 hours a day
And remember he got fired too, so it would be down to the jobcenter first thing the next morning after declining the aliens offer to join them. Definitely a no brainer there. -
dlancer — 10 years ago(September 25, 2015 07:49 AM)
I don't think you can blame the guy, honestly. It's not his fault that the close encounter caused an idea to infest his subconscious mind. He was brought to near insanity by it. At that point, he was neither fit to be their father nor was he capable.
If you can read this then you are trying too hard. -
largo2032 — 10 years ago(September 30, 2015 08:49 PM)
I've always wondered if the Government sent them money after Roy 'left'. Maybe he wanted his family to be taken care of when he was gone. If not, they did get a cool Devil's Tower sculpture in the living room!