I just saw this movie for the first time on Encore the other night and I was blown away and super shocked how it ended.
I do have a question though. At the very end after Vukovich says "You're working for me now" there's a truck that pulls up and then the end credits start. What is the significance of that truck or who's in it?
It's Chance's truck. Vukovich tells her, "You're working for me now", and the way he's dressed is kinda like the way Chance dressed. So he's sorta become Chance, and seeing the truck again means Chance lives on (through Vukovich). That's my take on it.
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Hey, guys. Whoa, Big Gulps, huh? All right! Well, see you later.
Cool thanks. I noticed an older thread about this subject after I posted mine and that seems to be the general consensus.
I read somewhere that the studio insisted fried kin shoot an alternative ending where Chance survived maybe a remnant from that. Why in this cut?? The idea put forth makes sense but idk
shareWhat blew me away was that director William Friedkin did a very similar thing with the ending of another of his movies "Cruising"
******SPOILERS*****
Early in the movie Cruising, there's a shot of a boat in the water, which finds a floating body of one of the killer's victims. At the end of the movie, the killer has been caught (presumably--it's left ambiguous), but the camera does an eerie close-up of Al Pacino's face, then cuts to that same shot of the boat in the water, implying Pacino has now become the killer, picking up where the killer left off?
Absolutely what the ending meant to me.
Not only lived on, but now had his soul corrupted like Chance’s.
Recall that Vukovich had been trying to be the one good guy.
One of the greatest endings in film history, and one that would not have happened had Friedkin not had final cut. The studio hated it.
Brave ending. Good old 70's ending in an explicitly 80's film
shareBrave ending. Good old 70's ending in an explicitly 80's film
shareI think it was like a flashback maybe in her memory to Chance pulling up in his identical pickup truck. It is not really happening, just a movie trick reinforcing the idea that Vucovich has picked up where Chance left off and even become like him through shared experiences.
shareI think it was like a flashback maybe in her memory to Chance pulling up in his identical pickup truck. It is not really happening, just a movie trick reinforcing the idea that Vucovich has picked up where Chance left off and even become like him through shared experiences.
I believe it was either a flashback or simply a daydream. Either way, the pickup truck obviously wasn't meant to be physically present. Although one might wonder if the scene was intended to insinuate the possibility that Richard Chance had miraculously survived, the idea of it being a flashback or daydream carries much more weight, and that it was supposed to be a reflection of the fact that Vukovich has now taken over for the late Richard Chance. Besides, it was well-established that Chance was dead, as he couldn't have possibly survived such a gunshot blast to the face. In any case, I agree with you.
do have a question though. At the very end after Vukovich says "You're working for me now" there's a truck that pulls up and then the end credits start. What is the significance of that truck or who's in it?
You are correct, Green Eye
shareI'm going to go with flashback.
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.
Since it's Vukovich in the truck at the end, it's definitely not a flashback.
shareNot saying you're wrong, but your eyes are obviously better than mine, and/or your HDTV is considerably bigger than my 60" Sony, since I certainly can't tell with any certainty who's driving the truck. I agree though that what makes the most sense is if it IS Vukovich driving the truck, but that scene certainly should've ran before he knocked on her door in the film's timeline. Him pulling up in Chance's truck like Chance used to, dressed in similar clothing, and with a similar demeanor/style, better establishes that nothing's going to change for her, and it's business as usual.
Fact of the matter is that all of these opinions about that scene don't make any good sense, though it's not their fault, because the scene itself simply doesn't fit (in that spot at least) no matter how you slice it. Vukovich is already in the house when this flash occurs, so it doesn't make sense for it to be him in the truck. But every other explanation fits even less. Definitely makes no sense for her to have a flashback of Chance next to the bed and groping her when Vukovich tells her she's working for him now, and THEN some seconds later, have a flashback of Chance pulling up in his truck at the very end. You've already very effectively established what you need to establish with the scene that was without any doubt a flashback of him beside the bed, so if the truck scene were a flashback too, it's completely redundant and out of order. Ending after the flashback that she had of Chance would've been logical, and a proper bookend to a great movie. No matter how many times I've seen the movie, this one little scene always annoys me, and I suspect I'm not alone.
You know, it could just be purely editing resources. Friedkin loved Wang Chung's Wait (it's why he contacted them to compose the score) and probably wanted to play the whole track at the end. Using that shot extended the running time to allow the entire track to be used. It's probably also why that bizarre shot of Chance stairing into space, almost in a zombified state is repeated again after the credits.
I never earned a nickel from another man's sweat!