MovieChat Forums > The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Discussion > The ending ruined the movie

The ending ruined the movie

posted 6 years ago by [deleted]
32 replies | jump to latest

Hannibal Lector's escape was completely unrealistic and unbelievable. Suddenly Dr. Lector becomes superhuman and he manages to overpower and kill some dim witted cops, then he physically arranges their bodies in high and akward areas. Then some other doofus cops and dumb paramedics don't realize that Hannibal cut off a dead cop's face and placed it on his own face to hide his identity. Lector fools everyone, he ends up unnoticed and unharmed on an ambulance. He conveniently escapes. So dumb. Completely ruined the ending of the movie.

[–] Jones70 (6870) 6 years ago

agree to disagree I found it really well done

[–] Redsfan001 (6218) 6 years ago

If memory serves, he did not really overpower the officers. Lector hancuffed the larger one to the cage, quickly used mace on the other. I found the brief 'fight' plausible. Lector then created a scene of horror to highten the emotion, so the officers would not look to close at his 'mask'.

Look, this is just a movie. I guess the writers could have had a guard drop a key, but that would not have been as good.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 6 years ago

But that’s part of his point. How could he arrange for him to be hung so high up. Especially in such short period of time and still surgically unmask him and go without notice.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

The skinned guard was on top of the elevator and wasn't found for his true identity until the ambulance already departed.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 6 years ago

Another plot hole. How could he put him on top of the elevator, had time to skin him, and had time to hang the other guard?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

My guess is that he opened the door on the elevator shaft with the elevator on the next floor. I've actually done this and it's really not as difficult as one may think. I didn't do it to do a body dump, no, but I have opened an elevator door with the car on another floor.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

You've done it yourself?? Go on, who did you kill?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Reading is fundamental: "I didn't do it to do a body dump, no,"

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

If you didn't do it, why mention it at all? ;)

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Again, reading is fundamental.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 5 years ago

Yea but he didnt have the car, nor the
Time, nor the patience. To still have to do surgery, and hang them on a top security inmate impossible.

[–] Redsfan001 (6218) 6 years ago

Do we know how much time went by? 20 -30 min is reasonable For Lector to accomplish these tasks. Pullys make lifting heavy objects easy.

You also have to remember that Lector was written as smarter than 99 percent of the population, which means that he had this pre-planned and knew that time was a issue, Lector had time in his cell to think of ways of optomal efficiency for preforming these tasks.

The Lector characters intelligence was best displayed in the original Red Dragon where he was given a phone in his cell and in quick order obtained the home address of an advasary.

Putting Lector in the middle of a gym in a cage with a platoon of guards/policemen is more strange to me than the escape.

But then I remember this is Hollywood and dramatic affect trumps pragmatism.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 6 years ago

Lots of plot holes in this one and the rest.
Why would a young FBI attractive woman open up to an old psychopathic serial killer and accept his advances. It is never really understood though it is the main point of it all.

[–] TheHungryHippo (821) 6 years ago

She saw it as a way to make the lambs stop screaming.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 6 years ago

😂

[–] ebhaynz (3759) 6 years ago

She's just a rube.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 6 years ago

True.

[–] GordianNott (137) 6 years ago

I liked the movie, but I hate his escape part. The other really stupid thing is they have a dozen or so cops in the lobby, but only two in the room with him. And no cameras on him from the lobby.

It would have made more sense for a guard to drop a key, or for his ex-girlfriend to smuggle in a cake with a file in it.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

I can't watch any of the Hopkins ones anymore. Now that I've seen Mads do it right in Hannibal, all other renditions pale by comparison. I find SotL to be corny and silly now.

[–] Lampedusean (498) 6 years ago

It's called being star struck and it will pass.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Oh. Thanks.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I don't even compare the two, they're completely different takes on Lecter.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 5 years ago

Correct. One vacillates between serious and zany. The other one remains serious and sublime. I compare them and find one to be the lesser by severe degree.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

The escape is definitely the weakest part of the movie, looking back. And he does it only with a ball point pen or something. But at the time we all thought it was the most amazing and daring escape we'd ever seen. The screenwriters could've done a better job selling it, but audiences were very naive in the 1990s (they bought anything), so they didn't really try that hard to make it realistic.

[–] Redsfan001 (6218) 6 years ago

? Naive back then? Audiences today seem to buy every model thin kick-ass 120 pound female action movie ever made w/o question.

Naive is a bad word to use...I think the audience was transfixed on the Lector character with his combination of ruthlessness, sophistication and intelligence, he was such a uniquely written character that we were all beguiled and looked past the semi-implausible escape attempt.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

No, the problem is that you believe it's impossible to pick handcuff locks with a simple piece of metal. Google for it, it's trivial. Handcuffs are not some sophisticated technology, most are based on a design that had been around for well over a half a century at the time of SOTL's release.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

No, the problem is that you believe it's impossible to pick handcuff locks with a simple piece of metal.

No, the problem is that you were naive enough to think that just because it was plausible for him to break out of his handcuffs, the rest of his escape was plausible, too.

Google for it, it's trivial. Handcuffs are not some sophisticated technology, most are based on a design that had been around for well over a half a century at the time of SOTL's release.

Handcuffs are not some sophisticated technology? Gosh, no kidding. Really? Who'd a thunk it?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

You've brought nothing to the discussion but to claim someone else is wrong. I'm simply not convinced and you certainly haven't done anything convincing. You said "And he does it only with a ball point pen or something. But at the time we all thought it was the most amazing and daring escape we'd ever seen." then turn around and act like the ability to pick one's way out of handcuffs is as trivial as I pointed out. That makes no sense.

[–] Lampedusean (498) 6 years ago

It's Lecter, not Lector. I won't bother with your other observations.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Lecter's escape wasn't the ending, the showdown in Buffalo Bill's basement was the ending.