There are tons of movies out there that leave their audiences feeling happily entertained as they walk out the cinema, satisfied with two hours of money and time well-spent. Films that have the tried-and-tested formula of the underdog getting the girl, the bad guy getting his bones beat, an abandoned alien returning to his home planet, or a ring destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom.
All these end the movie with a neat little bow of good vibes and happily-ever-afters. Then, you've got the other movies that go down a slightly different road... one meant to shock, upset, or keep their audiences up at night – a filmic conclusion that has its viewers discussing even decades after its release.
That's not to say that these sorts of endings are by any means "bad" (though some, just plain and simply, are), but rather consist of debatable ambiguity or sensitive issues often left uncontested. While creating quite the stir among audiences, they've also managed to become some of the most memorable finales in cinema history.
From unnecessary character deaths to abrupt, infuriating cut-to-blacks, here are the 7 Most Controversial Movie Endings Of All Time. Of course spoilers abound, so you've been warned.
1. MAN OF STEEL
Man of Steel was the first mark of hard times for Zack Snyder and the DC Cinematic Universe, garnering a wave of rage and disappointment among die-hard Superman fans.
The first installment of the expanded universe, Man of Steel was a reboot of the previous Superman movies, fixating on the legendary character's origin story and how he came to be the superhero Metropolis knows today.
While chock-full of action-packed battle scenes and a decent portrayal by Henry Caville, long-time fans of the character were up in arms at the final climactic scene between Superman and General Zod, during which Superman snaps his neck, killing him.
Being a hero with the Batman-esque moral code of never killing his enemies, this moment understandably came as an unexpected shock to most and a "betrayal" of the original comic character to others.
2. TITANIC
The 1997 James Cameron classic was a box office and critical hit for its brilliant direction, breathtaking visuals, and having created one of the most iconic romantic couples of all time: Rose DeWitt Bukater and Jack Dawson.
While providing audiences with an all-around, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride of star-crossed romance and historical destruction, if there's one thing many of us just can't get over, it's that darn ending where Jack freezes to death in the ice-cold sea, as Rose survives afloat on a piece of wooden debris among the Titanic's ruins.
The scene caused wild disputes among fans over how there must've been room on that piece of wood for Jack to fit – and even Mythbusters demonstrated how this would have been well possible.
Unfortunately, James Cameron outwardly debunked the duo's theory, adding that Jack had always been fated to die in the script, one way or another.
3. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
Christopher Nolan's masterpiece of a film franchise provided not only the false hope of future, well-made DC movies, but also an ambiguous finale for Batman fans to fervidly debate over.
At the end of The Dark Knight Rises, Batman saves Gotham City from the detonation of an atomic bomb, carrying it over the bay with his Batplane, where it ultimately explodes.
While “Batman” is pronounced dead, Alfred later catches a glimpse of Bruce Wayne, alive and well – brunching it up with Selina Kyle at a random café. We learn that he had actually turned his plane on auto-pilot, ejecting himself from the vehicle before the bomb's explosion.
Some fans have argued that Alfred's vision was more of a dream-like sequence or wishful thinking, stating that there was no way Wayne could have escaped his plane in time.
Christian Bale's interpretation, however, was that Alfred's vision was, indeed, a reality.
4. THE GREY
With Liam Neeson as the starring lead Ottway, The Grey focuses on a group of oil-men, stranded in the snowy hell of the Alaskan wilderness after surviving a plane crash. Neeson and co. are left to not only fight against the unrelenting forces of nature, but a pack of bloodthirsty grey wolves to boot.
The film then goes on a thrilling roller-coaster ride of grisly survival and bleak character deaths, until Ottway is the last man standing. Arming himelf with a knife and shards of glass, he prepares to face off an entire pack of wolves that surround him.
The movie then makes the utterly abrupt decision to end right then and there. Cut to black -- no bloody wolf fight, no Neeson in some Taken-style action. While many appreciated the film's somewhat poetic conclusion, others were simply vexed by the lack of a satisfying, resolving battle.
5. PLANET OF THE APES
Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes disastrous reboot in 2001 featured Mark Wahlberg accidentally travelling to the year 5021 (why this far into the future, we aren't sure), to a planet run entirely by human-enslaving apes who speak English.
During his time in this strange world, he works as the slave of a Senator, falls in love with a chimpanzee played by Helena Bonham Carter, and battles the evil General Thade – the ape responsible for the capture of human servants.
Eventually, Wahlberg finds a way back to Earth and returns to his timeline. Only it isn't really his timeline – because the Lincoln Memorial is replaced by a monument of General Thade. As police officers and news reporters surround him, he realizes that they, too, have been replaced by apes.
It's an ending that doesn't make much sense, betraying viewers with a completely disjointed "conclusion" to the story's previous events.
6. PASSENGERS
Passengers focuses on a man named Jim Preston, who wakes up 90 years too soon in a starship hibernation pod – bound for another planet with thousands of other sleeping passengers. Desperate for companionship, he awakens a female passenger named Aurora Lane.
The two eventually fall in love and all is good and well – until Aurora discovers that Jim had purposefully tinkered with her pod to wake her. Conflict arises between the two, until they realize the ship is suffering from multiple system failures.
Long story short – they manage to repair the ship, and find an alternative hibernation pod for Aurora.
However, the ending shows that Aurora has instead decided to live a life on the ship with Jim, continuing their romance. Many have criticized this finale as a sort of "Stockholm Syndrome fantasy", wondering how she could have possibly chosen to stay with him after his cruel and selfish actions.
7. INCEPTION
Inception is, without a doubt, one of Christopher Nolan's finest works, and possibly one of the more thought-provoking sci-fi movies in recent times.
The concept centered on the ability to infiltrate one's subconscious through dreams, implanting information or ideas in the process. Our leading man, Dominick Cobb, possesses a top that infinitely spins in the dream world, though falls over in reality.
The film kicks into high gear as we see Cobb and friends attempt to incept a person's subconscious, venturing into multiple "dream levels" as they do so.
When they finally wake up and return to reality, we see Cobb return to his home and children, and spins his trustworthy top to prove that he is, indeed, back in the real world.
Only the film cuts to black before we ever see the top fall, causing sleepless nights among fans and heated debate on Cobb's true fate.