MovieChat Forums > What Dreams May Come (1998) Discussion > Good movie, but worst alternate ending E...

Good movie, but worst alternate ending EVER.

posted 14 years ago by carbohydrates
9 replies | jump to latest

The last time I saw this, it was on VHS, so when I finally saw the DVD, I made the mistake of watching the alternate ending.

Where does one begin? Annie being encouraged for no apparent reason (other than to give Cuba and Rosalind more screen time) to see her own children disguised as other people (apparently forever) was bad enough, but the anticlimactic slap in the face of mentioning religions to justify another lifetime of pain and suffering for both Annie and Chris was just way too much. Once I saw that someone was literal-minded enough to actually film the whole Sri Lanka thing, I just laughed and turned it off.

Has there ever been a worse alternate ending? Did the book end that way, too? I certainly hope not. It's surprising that enough people could have thought for long enough that such an ending was a good idea that it would be filmed.

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I'm only five foot one
I got a pain in my heart

[–] Heidi_Smiles 14 years ago

Did the book end that way, too?

SPOILERS for the book!!!

After the incident in Hell, Chris wakes up in Heaven and finds out that Annie has reincarnated. She decided to go back to Earth in order to "repair" her soul after the suicide. It's explained that this is the only way for her to ultimately be able to come back to Chris. (As it turns out, everyone gets reincarnated, but they usually wait and "study" for a very long time between incarnations.) Chris decides to go back right away so that he can be with her.

Un día después de la tormenta, cuando menos piensas, sale el sol...

[–] angelchild2882 14 years ago

I think I have another bad ending. Try the one from The Butterfly Effect. But I didn't care for this ending either.

[–] carbohydrates 14 years ago

I haven't seen The Butterfly Effect, but I just thought of another contender: the alternate "happy" ending for To Live & Die in L.A.
Oh man!

------
I'm only five foot one
I got a pain in my heart

[–] BertramWilberforceWooster 14 years ago

I didn't care for EITHER ending. The story had so much potential, and both endings were quite weak imo.

--
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
jonbkennedy.wordpress.com

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] AlfredYale 14 years ago

To each his own, but I found the alternate ending so much more "believable" than the original that each and every time I watch the DVD, I pause when I see the Tracker at the end, go to menu, and watch the rest of the movie via the alternate ending. Besides, why wouldn't kids want to be adults in heaven? Who wouldn't want to grow up? Finally, the whole notion of someone killing themselves then getting out of hell "because I'm pretty and he loves me" is way too fake for even a Hollywood movie.

My vote for the worst alternate ending is RENT: when angel just rises from the dead without warning to join the cast on stage to sing a song -- borring -- vs. the montage of photos and his little "goodbye wave" on film (taken when he was alive).

[–] Great_Gothamite 12 years ago

the whole notion of someone killing themselves then getting out of hell "because I'm pretty and he loves me" is way too fake for even a Hollywood movie.

You would think that if you believe hell should be a permanent thing. What I got from the movie's interpretation is that hell is basically a state of mind and the woman suffered there because she couldn't forgive herself. But once she finally did, she was free to leave. I actually think it's a more realistic depiction of an afterlife than many other Hollywood movies out there.

[–] Elzna 9 years ago

I agree with Great_Gothamite.

[–] Kanano 13 years ago

Yeah, I hated it too. I liked the theatrical ending more but I wish they would have stayed in heaven but I guess a "happy ending with everyone in heaven" would have been a little surreal and weird for a hollywood movie. Better to go with the more human ending with them returning to earth which is where we all are so we can identify with it easier.(>:( )

One thing that interests me about the alternate ending is they say annie will get a disease that causes sleep deprivation. What illness are they talking about? I'm bipolar and I know that does that because I was awake for 10 days with only 30 hours of sleep before i got medication. Is that the illness? Or is it something that only specifically causes it?