the ending *spoiler
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gothichippy — 20 years ago(June 30, 2005 06:12 PM)
i like the ending too!it makes people go like 'oh beep when we saw Birdy jump and then make people go like 'thank God'(with a little smile) It is a strange ending so i think it's cool!There a lot of movies with a bad ending but there are not a lot of movies with a unpredictable ending like this!I think it is better than a dark ending!
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Zyad — 20 years ago(July 05, 2005 04:56 AM)
I remember hearing that the original ending in the novel was that Birdy jumps off the roof and die to the astonished eyes of Al. Parker changed the ending to make it less darker. I think both endings are good and shocking.
"Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash" . Garland (The Marietta Mangler) Greene -
AmandaLeeMuse — 20 years ago(July 13, 2005 09:21 PM)
I agree. I just watched this film for the first time and it does a great job at reflecting both the absurdity and horror of things. (I can't help but think of Terrence Malick a bit with the poetic photography and violence going on at the same time. Maybe I'm too excited about "The New World".) But the ending felt "right". A darker ending would have made the film too dark (and forced, perhaps), a totally different kind of animal. As it stands, you come away from the film feeling a little more familiar with the darker side of "man", but also closer to a cosmic sense of humor about it all.
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smfree2003 — 20 years ago(November 15, 2005 06:48 PM)
I haven't seen this movie in a few years, but have always held it in high regard. I think I've maybe seen this movie 15 or 20 times. I've always considered it as having the best ending of any movie ever (Well, tied with The Killing, anyway). There's really no reason for the ending to be dark, a couple of kids getting thrown into the horrors of Vietnam is dark enough, not to mention Birdys mental collapse and Als facial disfigurement. Not only is the ending funny and fitting, but its still open-ended. How are the two of them going to escape the Army Hospital? Won't they be in really big trouble once they're caught? But in our hearts we want to believe that those two wacky boys from Phillie are going to come out of it okay. If you think there is a better movie ending out there, I'd love to hear your opinions.
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mcaswaco — 19 years ago(April 08, 2006 03:27 AM)
I like the ending, too. i saw the film for the first time on german tv.
The ending was just unexpected. I really thought that the guy is going to smash down on the ground after jumping from the roof
but then as i see that he was only kidding and landed on the lower roof-part i relaxed. The ending changed the hole situation.
It seemed like he was playing the "psycho" all time and that he just waited for his buddy to arrive to take him away from this sick hospital, like he was just joking around all the time. -
PuddleMonkey — 19 years ago(June 27, 2006 08:51 AM)
yeah, it didn't need to be any darker, although Birdy dying would have been a clean ending for the character.
the bit with Birdy's pet and a window had me in pieces though. If I ever see the movie again I'll have to flick past that bit! -
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sc_hitch — 19 years ago(July 24, 2006 01:49 AM)
well
i'm sixteen (that doesn't matter) and i whatched the movie today (in a brazilian tv movie show) and i thought that the ending was the best i've ever seenit was like:
me: OMFG!! T__T HE CAN'T DIE!!
me: T___T thank god he is safe!!! \o/
i.i am shoked i can't believe my eyes!! but i like to think that they went home and lived together untill death!!
thank you alan parker for this great movie!! -
jon-warren-1 — 19 years ago(December 02, 2006 07:57 AM)
i have not seen the movie in a little while but i agree and think the ending is appropriate and think being more violent would be pointless.
it did somehow seem that Birdy finally snapped out of his mental state once he landed safely from the rooftop, which makes you think, and Cage is all shocked that Birdy landed safe and did'nt die, but i'm sure Cage was happy his friend survived the jump and that he is out of that loony bin.
the next stage is questionable, but its good for a movie to make you think, cause you will never know if they get out of the loony bin free or not? but the bottom line is i felt good in how it ended and i did'nt have to keep thinking too much, i felt like they were in a good spot after all they went through, and that they were both still alive, so its a good ending overall, and its not a predictable happy ending either which is a good thing, instead its slightly eccentric but still positive. i'm happy with how it went. -
dionblackler — 19 years ago(March 23, 2007 04:28 PM)
I haven't seen this film for years, but I remember thinking exactly that- what a cop out. Totally jarring compared to the tone of the rest of the film and completely unnecessary. It made me pretty angry at the time.
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TheConsigliere — 18 years ago(June 27, 2007 01:47 AM)
I completely agree with dionblackler and reverandfunk - the ending was a complete cop out based on the tone of the rest of the film. It is one of the biggest let-downs I have experienced in film. Only tonight have I witnessed an ending that rivals it for having such a jarring and disappointing effect - Kiarostami's The Taste of Cherry. With both films, I was deeply moved and loving the film up until the ending, which felt like a slap in the face for the emotions I had experienced during the film.
I disagree with pennyliss, I believe a film's ending is incredibly important, in my view it is the one part of a film that has the power to make or break the film. As the final thing that the viewer experiences, a film's ending has the final say (literally) on what the film is trying to communicate.
You're nothing to me now, you're not a brother, you're not a friend, I don't want to know you or what you do -
penny_liss — 18 years ago(May 26, 2007 07:26 AM)
Don't be silly, how can one screen shot diffuse an entire film of its power? Throughout the film we're constantly being made aware of the horrors that can result from war, there is no question even if at the end Birdy had come out of his conscious coma singing and dancing we would still know it could have been much worse as we were constantly being reminded by the Psychiatrist and Al "you know what happens to people like your friend" and "you don't come out of this they're gonna lock you up forever." (I'm paraphrasing but this is the general gist). The end here was a touch of humour that signified the irony and hilarity that is present in even the worst situations in life, it added to the gravity of Birdy's breakdown in the sense that the war had removed all desire to exist in the real world so much so, that he effectively chose to remove himself from it. It also exemplified the depth and strength of the bond between the two protagonists that finally Birdy had found something to hold onto in the form of his friend Al, they were two lost souls and they were the only two people who knew who the other was and in the end this was what brought Birdy back; he knew what it felt like to not know who you are and Al was dangerously close to losing his identity. The ending was more a testament to the power and dire need of solace than some generic desire to have a happy ending. Its pretentious to think that profoundness can only be conveyed through severity; humour can achieve just as much if used deftly and this is one case where it was so.
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Lu_Xun — 18 years ago(June 30, 2007 11:21 PM)
i think that most of you look too deeply into the events of this film. sure they went through some tough times as well as some good times together, but what the ending says to me is, there wasn't anything wrong with birdy he just didn't know what to say.
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FDeBernardo — 18 years ago(June 28, 2007 01:07 PM)
I did not like the ending, but not because it wasn't dark enough. I didn't like it because it felt like a cheap and easy way to end it. It was like the writer or director couldn't make up his mind what to do. It didn't feel "open-ended." It just felt not thought out. As a viewer, I expected more of a resolution to the problem that he is stuck in this hospital.
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harlen_maguire — 18 years ago(August 14, 2007 01:12 AM)
I think he should jumped, then they have the below shot of Cage looking down and cuts to black and the credits run.
Woulda been ambiguous, and real powerful. Could have made one of my favourite endings out of one of my least favourite, just by getting rid of that last 'What?' shot. -
cjgalwey — 16 years ago(September 08, 2009 06:41 AM)
The novel ended, still in the cell at the hospital, with Birdy finally talking to Al and suggesting a number of wild fantasy scenarios of what might happen to them next. 'And what then?' asks Al. 'Nothing, Al, just the rest of our lives,' replies Birdy. The implication is that the two of them are starting to heal and move on from their troubles, but obliquely rather than head-on. I read in an interview with Alan Parker at the time the movie came out that he had no idea how to end the film while he was shooting it: 'the logic of the story suggested Birdy ought to die, but I wanted something more optimistic'. Almost as a joke, he suggested the existing ending to some of his crew and they were so enthusiastic he went with it. To me, it seems true to the spirit of the book, but in a more concise and cinematic form. Do read the book if you can get hold of it, it's good. Unfortunately I gave away my copy.