MovieChat Forums > Local Hero (1983) Discussion > Possibly Best Ending Ever (spoiler!!!)

Possibly Best Ending Ever (spoiler!!!)


I wonder if I am alone in seeing the end of Local Hero possibly the best ending of a motion picture....ever.

Mac wandering through his apartment.....Mark Knophler's music....Mac checking the fridge...removing rocks and shells from his pockets....posting pictures....moving to his balcony, the city sounds welling up...fade out and up on Furness..... the red phone box... music picking up...two rings.. and a cut (not fade) to black and credits...music to full (the music title? Coming Home).

I get emotional just thinking about it. I think its because we feel for Mac- at once both an incredible sense of loss and an indescribable sense of hope as the phone rings... and even then a sense of introspection in the cut to black- perhaps an examination of ourselves.

Unbelievable. Local Hero is one film I use to answer the question- if you'd like to know what I'm all about- what truly moves me or what I aspire to- watch it, and then get back to me.

Unfortunate so many will never have the privedge to see this film (for whatever reason).

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This powerful ending was not even intended!

In the Special Features interview (remastered DVD), Bill Forsyth reveals that the 'telephone box' ending wasn't part of the original cut of the film.

The film had been shown to focus groups in the US and the ending (Mac arriving home to his empty US life) was considered too big a downer. The studio bosses requested a more uplifting conclusion. Their suggestion was that Mac should get off the helicopter at the last moment and decide to stay in Scotland! Forsyth hated this horribly cheesy idea and eventually came up with using an existing wide shot along with the ringing telephone.


Truly one of the best endings in a film, ever. Just a reminder of what is important to all of us; that we each have our own thing we are fond of and love so much.

I could watch this film on a continuous loop and love it each time.





"Please let me keep this memory, just this one." ~ Joel, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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Raising a glass to this site for preserving threads like this 🍺

Just finished watching again and looked this up here specifically to see if there were any threads like this about the ending. Truly is one of the all time great endings. Makes me need to bite down hard on my lip every time that ringing phone is coming otherwise I'd be in floods of tears in front of whomever I'm watching it with!

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