What Film Has a Final Moment That Feels Like a Joke
Movies often build to big emotional climaxes, but some end with a punchline that catches you off guard. One classic example is Jaws from 1975, where the terror of a man-eating shark wraps up in a way that feels more like a comedy bit than a horror payoff. After Chief Brody shoots an air tank in the shark’s mouth, blowing it to bits, he and Hooper paddle away on wreckage. They just watched their friend Quint get devoured alive, yet Brody cracks, “I used to hate the water,” and they both laugh. It is this sudden shift from gruesome death to goofy relief that makes the final moment land like a joke, clashing with the film’s tense buildup of fear and chum-filled seas. For more on this ending, check out the analysis at https://entertainment.ie/movies/movie-news/the-final-scene-jaws-392355/.
Another film with a finale that plays like a sly gag is The Princess Bride from 1987. After epic sword fights and revenge quests, Westley, barely able to stand after being mostly dead all day, faces off with the cowardly Prince Humperdinck. Instead of a grand duel, Westley describes a gruesome torture called “to the pain” in vivid detail, scaring the prince into surrender without lifting a finger much. Buttercup ties up the sniveling Humperdinck, and Westley collapses in exhaustion, turning what could have been a heroic showdown into a hilarious bluff. This witty subversion pokes fun at fairy tale tropes, leaving you grinning at the absurdity. Details on this fantasy gem’s ending appear here: https://www.cbr.com/the-princess-bride-greatest-final-scene-fantasy-movie/.
These endings stick because they defy expectations, using humor to deflate the drama right when you least expect it.
Sources
https://entertainment.ie/movies/movie-news/the-final-scene-jaws-392355/
https://www.cbr.com/the-princess-bride-greatest-final-scene-fantasy-movie/
