The Mist

[Gareee]

Ah, well.. too dark for my tastes.

I prefer my monster movies with some upbeat ending of sorts.. most of the older classics are like that.

[Crazy1van]

Remember THE THING and THE BODYSNATCHERS?  Bleak would be putting it mildly.  PLANET OF THE APES, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE GRUDGE, EVIL DEAD, and plenty of other movies have endings that result in very bad things happening to everyone involved.  True, few are quite as bad as THE MIST without going post-apocalyptic, but I find it harder to be scared when I know everything's gonna be alright and the good guys wil ultimately be victorious everytime.

Just my opinion, naturally.

[Gareee]

I guess I just draw the line at blowing your own kid's brains out.

[Crazy1van]

Point taken.

[Gary D Macabre]

The ending didn't suit my tastes either.  It seemed kind of shallow and more like a publicity ploy more than anything else.  And as bleak as things looked it didn't really seem consistent with the character's actions and motivations up to that point.  They were willing to kill to take a chance at escape and leave the supermarket, but when faced with the obstacle of being out of gas they just decided to pack it in and commit suicide.  And after the Koolaid speech earlier too.  I thought it was the weakest part of the movie by far.  The shock factor blinds the audience to it's serious shortcomings.  But watch it again and I'm sure you'll agree.

As for what the movie had to say, well really the ending is the final statement on everything that comes before.  And with this ending all it says is life is worth nothing, perseverance is a waste of time and ultimately fighting for what you feel is important will only cause you failure and pain.  Humanity inevitably will always make the wrong choices.   

I think the original ending is far superior story telling.

[poseablemonster]

I took the ending as more of a cautionary warning that we shouldn't give up, even when things look like they are at their worst.  We recognize that this was the main character's mistake, and it ties in with the "koolaid/suicide" thing earlier in the film.  The main character gave up, instead of remembering that "the darkest hour is just before dawn."   

Initially, I was shocked and put off by the ending, but as I put some distance on it and reflect a little, I can really see it as more of a "don't give up - things will get better" message.  Maybe that's where the director was coming from on it, I don't know.

[Gary D Macabre]

I suppose it could be reasonably be taken that way too.  For me it just doesn't work when you figure they had a partially full tank of gas in the Land Rover which means they were driving for perhaps 6, 8 hours tops before they ran out.  I don't see how a despair so great that suicide is a viable option after what they went through only hours before especially when not facing imminent and/or immediate death (nothing attacked the vehicle once they were inside it).  It took a very solid movie and inserted impractical weakness at it's most critical point IMO.

As for the directors' message?  Well I actually doubt he had one here other than wanting a dark ending with a pointless death scene.  I say this because he did state that Romero's NOTLD was his inspiration and a huge influence.  I think he just wanted to mimic that surprise/pointless death ending as a creative choice and really it had little to do with the story.  And it plays out that way too.  A great story and this awkward ending that doesn't hold up under scrutiny like it was just stapled on.

That's my take anyway