Popular film critic Roger Ebert griped that the ending is unsatisfying the more you think about it. Actually, the ending makes a powerful statement and is reminiscent of the spectacular translations of Elijah and Enoch in the Bible. Let's just say Powder was too good, too spiritual, for the simpleminded and mundane.
shareHe got struck by lightning while running in a field during a storm. How is that spiritual? Everybody was trying to stop him because they knew it was a crazy thing to do, that ending made the movie. I showed it to my students last year to emphasize that 75 people in the US are struck by lightning each and every year, it is an easily avoidable problem.
shareNo, he was translated from this earth, which left the four onlookers in awe. There was no burnt corpse, which would've elicited a completely different response. This corresponds to the story arc: Powder was too enlightened and transcendental for the ape-headed and mundane. It's an allusion to Enoch and Elijah.
But if you want to believe he was a puke-inducing charred, bloody carcass, that's fine with me.
Oh, I thought they were taking artistic license in not showing the remains. But if they intentionally didn't show the charred corpse because he was never struck by lightning and simply transferred into a different realm, then I'm going to have to stop showing that film in class. I teach environmental safety and that ending would be more for the woo woo department.
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shareI think so. I loved the ending. It was incredible.
shareUnfortunately, powder won't return to smite the unbelievers and make the world pure.
shareWell, since the sequel to "The Sword and the Sorcerer" (1982) didn't come out until 28 years later under the title "Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire" there may yet be a sequel to this one, perhaps called "Powder: The Second Coming."
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