British film goers have voted It’s A Wonderful Life as their favourite happy ending. I can live with that. It’s one of those all time classics and regularly screened at Xmas time in the UK and most other English speaking nations. I was rather disappointed at the second placing though. Pretty Woman, that hideous example of Hollywood tripe that has no more substance than a Mills & Boon novel. I mean really. We all know that in real life the Julia Roberts character would have ended up scabrous and crack-addicted, a shell of her former humanity. Although, in some ways I think that would be better than ending up with Richard Gere, but each to their own.
It’s A Wonderful Life. It really is, you know.
For those of us the grew up during the eighties, it’s good to see Dirty Dancing take out third place and for the oldies, The Sound of Music came in fourth. I think it’s quite bizarre that fifth place went to Shrek. It’s a great movie, original and funny, but is it really the fifth happiest ending of all time? According to the Brits it is.
It certainly looks like a Happy Ending is on the horizon.
The second half of the top ten was made up of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Shawshank Redemption, Grease, Love Actually and Ghost. Two Patrick Swayze movies in the top ten. He must be very proud. I was greatly relieved to note that nothing with Hugh Grant, that stuttering sop, made it anywhere close to the top ten.
Not just a happy ending, Grease is THE WORD!
I do think some things were overlooked, however. What about the end of Fight Club when Edward Norton frees himself of Brad Pitt? Or the end of The Lost Boys when Grandpa hoons through the wall in his pickup and takes out the Daddy Vamp? Or Waterworld? The end of that was one of the happiest moments of my life, so glad was I that the thing was finally over. I don’t think those Brits were really thinking outside the box.
Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.
What about Return of the Jedi? Not only was it the end of The Empire, it was the last time we’d see those bloody Ewoks.
Good point. That’s the kind of thinking that’s needed.
None of you have obviously seen Alex Ryder : Stormbreaker on an airline flight, (sitting next to a fat guy stuffing his face with bombay mix and shouting at his mate three isles in front). The end was magical. Well, the fact that it had an ending was magical. Eventually. And no, there were no other channels.
I quite like the end of Monsters Inc, but have to concede that ‘a wonderful life’ probably deserves first place!
hugh was in love actually, wasn’t he?
i’d vote for the princess bride myself.
Ah, nuts! You’re right. I haven’t seen it, so when I wrote the post I checked on the imdb site as it sounded like the sort of thing that he might have infected. He wasn’t listed on the main page, so I breathed a sigh of relief. However, after your post, I pulled up the entire cast list and there he is, like an unexplained growth on the genitals. Apparently he played the Prime Minister. I bet he stuttered and was a complete sop.
Hugh fell in love with a pretty maid girl (Martin McClutchin or whateever), and played a stuttering sop of a prime minister. Fantastic stuff.
I’ve just put it up for sale on trademe if you are interested. It’s brilliant.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=112189933
The only reason that I’m going to let this blatant piece of advertising go through on the comments is because anyone that buys this deserves everything they get. And if they’re interested, I’ve got a nice line in gold money from Nigeria that needs laundering.
hehe, it sold! Actually, it’s a pile of rubbish.
Pursuit of happyness and 127 hours are the most overly happy endings I’ve ever seen in my life.