Did Bobby die at the end?

THANK YOU! I remember watching this movie when it first came out, I was just a kiddo then and was so happy that he was able to fly away in his little machine and escape the King's abuse. It would have really upset me if I had to find out that after all this time he had really died at the end!

Did the director and writer say what the hell happened?




Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

I am as "dumb" as the other posters ... I wanted him to be alive. And at the same time, we all had doubts (like about Santa!) because in our hearts we knew it didn't make sense. A story with the grim reality of child abuse is unlikely to include magic.

I mentioned the ending to my sister (who got hit every day of her childhood, but no bruises, blood or broken bones) and she sneered at me and said "Of COURSE he died, the stepfather killed him." She also claimed "it was in the book," but if so, the writer interview makes no sense.

I often feel confused by writing credits. By themselves, the writer and screenwriter make sense: one wrote the original and the second made it filmable. But then the writer of the "from the movie" post-movie cash-cow book turns up, and blurs the lines. Alan Dean Foster has written a dozen - there's no way he "wrote" the originals! Sometimes the original writer comes back and makes the screenplay back into a new book, and blows my mind! (Trace Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" from its 1960s original as "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price. The movie matched the paperback faithfully, omitting his imprisonment but including the end, and yet Matheson disowned the movie?! And then BOTH alternate endings of the Will Smith movie polluted the 1960s paperback, but Matheson liked it?! Or maybe at this point he just liked the royalties, lol.)

The writer wrote something different. The director, didn't like the version he put out, so in interviews later, he lamented. But yes in analysis of what is in the movie, likely you could say that yes Tom Hanks character appears to be in denial of what actually happened, or fudging the retelling for the children. Which seems more like real-life.... tragic. But it also the preserved the possible 'Fantastic!' at the same time be 'Brilliant!!'

#1, I just wondered about. after watching this many times, & over the week-end. why doesn't Bobby come back? looks like the King is out of the picture. think the movie should have had Bobby come back home as an adult.

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he left u NAKED in a DITCH!

In the movie Bobby is shown flying away with Samson the turtle. Towards the end Mikey is asked by one of his sons if that was when they got Samson. So, if Mikey grew up with the turtle as a pet, I believe that Bobby did die or was murdered by King. Terribly sad movie and too close to real life stories of child abuse. I don't think I will be watching it again.

The dog was killed by The King at the house. Bobby was killed by The King at the cliff. It made Mike feel better to think that the dog lived and Bobby flew away. But sadly, thats not what happened. Older Mike came right out and said the story he told is the story he WANTS to remember, and it's not the ACTUAL story.

Seriously, do people actually believe a 7-year-old flew around the world in an airplane made from a lawnmower and survived all on his own? Ask yourself this, how did he keep refueling the plane with no money? Did he work odd jobs at 7-years-old??

yeah, Wood says, there were 2 director: the first one, last just one week and in the script he dies, but then The new director went on and they recast, so Wood was this time selected and also they changed the ending.. ( check wood talking about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOLgNlqsvLc&t=763s at 47:04 )

the alternate persona doesn't make sense; the mother references to BOTH of them trough out the movie and searches for the other at the end - sad reality the kid crashed and died